ACATune

[mrmoonlight]

Hi I am trying to reinstall start up ,but cant remember where I go to add the start up details ,I remember if I drag ACATune in to the c directory ,and then enter ed s:user-startup a editor comes up and I have to enter the start up details but I am not quite sure where as there is no mention of ACATune on the page I have opened in the ed , so how do I find this ,sorry if this is confusing but I am a little confused mysif

[paul1981]

Hi I am trying to reinstall start up ,but cant remember where I go to add the start up details ,I remember if I drag ACATune in to the c directory ,and then enter ed s:user-startup a editor comes up and I have to enter the start up details but I am not quite sure where as there is no mention of ACATune on the page I have opened in the ed , so how do I find this ,sorry if this is confusing but I am a little confused mysif

If you have an ACA1232, then the line needed is:

C:ACATune -cache on -burst on -vbrmove  -maprom * >ram:acaoutput.txt

This line will need adding to the beginning of your Startup-Sequence, not User-Startup...

So type in a shell:

ed s:startup-sequence

And add the line before any other command (usually). It depends on your setup though. Once typed in, click save in the file menu.

If you only have a 3.0 Kickstart you could use this line to softkick 3.1:

C:ACATune -cache on -burst on -vbrmove -maprom DEVS:Kickstarts/Kick40068.A1200 >ram:acaoutput.txt

After your Workbench appears you can open the text file RAM:acaoutput.txt to have a peek at the output of the ACATune command in order to make sure everything's okay (ie. no errors or anything). That's what I've always done anyway.

Honestly though, with a different ACA card it's probably a slightly different line you'd need...so could really do with knowing your ACA model.

[giZmo350]

Thanks for this Paul! I sure hope it helps mrmoonlight. It sure helped me! I had bought an ACA1232 when they first came out and went by the readme file (or maybe EAB) to setup ACATune. So, just for the heck of it I thought I would compare what you have with what I had set up a long time ago. (never checked output message as I had it set to >nil: Well, turns out I was doing it wrong!

I had this for my ACATune command line:
ACATune -maprom * p -cache on - burst on >nil:
After adding an output file I was getting the following error:
ERROR: maprom already active

So I guess I was never mapping the ROM to FASTRAM!

With your command line I get no error, with a message:
VBR is moved to fastram

THANKS Paul!!!  

[mrmoonlight]

Hi thank you so much for your help ,my board is a ACA620, or that's what it shows when it detects the board has been fitted ,I have not added any start up command yet because I am still not sure what is needed for this board ,what I don't understand is how come the A600 shows a marked performance already as show by sys info in yet I have not finished the start up yet and the figures show its not far behind the A 3000 lol infact should I just leave it as it lol ,best wishes Brian.

[paul1981]

Thanks for this Paul! I sure hope it helps mrmoonlight. It sure helped me! I had bought an ACA1232 when they first came out and went by the readme file (or maybe EAB) to setup ACATune. So, just for the heck of it I thought I would compare what you have with what I had set up a long time ago. (never checked output message as I had it set to >nil: Well, turns out I was doing it wrong!

I had this for my ACATune command line:
ACATune -maprom * p -cache on - burst on >nil:
After adding an output file I was getting the following error:
ERROR: maprom already active

So I guess I was never mapping the ROM to FASTRAM!

With your command line I get no error, with a message:
VBR is moved to fastram

THANKS Paul!!!  

Hello gizmo,

I've slightly edited the line as I forgot to use the maprom * feature in my post (I always softkick 3.1). So basically, here's the line you need:

C:ACATune -cache on -burst on -vbrmove  -maprom * >ram:acaoutput.txt

The reason the -maprom argument should be used last is because of a bug in AcaTune (even up to 17) whereby if maprom is already active (which it is after a reboot) it doesn't read other arguments (such as -cache on & -burst on -vbrmove etc etc). Not sure why this keeps escaping the programmers. So enter the line exactly as I have written it.

If after a reboot you get a black screen and it doesn't boot then you will need to use the -maprom * p which will add a delay upon reboot to allow slow hard drives to spin up in time. But if this isn't needed then don't use it because it adds a delay to the startup which is undesirable.

As for your message "maprom already active" - this is normal after a reboot. First boot should say "Copying 512K Kickstart...done!" instead.

[paul1981]

Hi thank you so much for your help ,my board is a ACA620, or that's what it shows when it detects the board has been fitted ,I have not added any start up command yet because I am still not sure what is needed for this board ,what I don't understand is how come the A600 shows a marked performance already as show by sys info in yet I have not finished the start up yet and the figures show its not far behind the A 3000 lol infact should I just leave it as it lol ,best wishes Brian.

You're in luck. I have an ACA620 too.

Here's the line you need. Enter it exactly as I write here:

C:ACATune -cache on -vbrmove -maprom * -maxram >ram:acaoutput.txt

Or if you don't want to debug its output just redirect ouput to NIL: (you can do this once you're confident you have it set up right. Personally I like to have the output available so I can read it if need be).

C:ACATune -cache on -vbrmove -maprom * -maxram >NIL:

There you go. Remember, it needs to be the 1st line in your Startup-Sequence (below the ; $VER: startup-sequence xx.xx (xx.x.xx) etc...).

It will be much faster if you use this line Brian than not using it. You'll notice a big difference. Also it allows you to use all the ACA620's RAM.

[giZmo350]

NICE! Thanks Paul! So I guess I partly had it correct. I never knew about the ACATune bug. And, before I replied yesterday I didn't go back and look up what * & p arguments were for. Again, THANKS! :laugh1: Arrrrg! Can't test till later tonight! :razz:

[paul1981]

NICE! Thanks Paul! So I guess I partly had it correct. I never knew about the ACATune bug. And, before I replied yesterday I didn't go back and look up what * & p arguments were for. Again, THANKS! :laugh1:

You're welcome. Enjoy your new Amiga!

[mrmoonlight]

You're in luck. I have an ACA620 too.

Here's the line you need. Enter it exactly as I write here:

C:ACATune -cache on -vbrmove -maprom * -maxram >ram:acaoutput.txt

Or if you don't want to debug its output just redirect ouput to NIL: (you can do this once you're confident you have it set up right. Personally I like to have the output available so I can read it if need be).

C:ACATune -cache on -vbrmove -maprom * -maxram >NIL:

There you go. Remember, it needs to be the 1st line in your Startup-Sequence (below the ; $VER: startup-sequence xx.xx (xx.x.xx) etc...).

It will be much faster if you use this line Brian than not using it. You'll notice a big difference. Also it allows you to use all the ACA620's RAM.

Hi thanks again ,I must be totally in the wrong place for the startup because I don't see the $VER: that you refer too ,to get to the startup I input ed s:startup-sequence ,is this wrong? I am using 3.9 ,best wishes Brian

oops right I found it but below the $VER: it says startup-sequence for amigaos 3.9 should I go below or above which will put me directly below $VER: lol best wishes Brian

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Hi thanks again ,I must be totally in the wrong place for the startup because I don't see the $VER: that you refer too ,to get to the startup I input ed s:startup-sequence ,is this wrong? I am using 3.9 ,best wishes Brian.

You scrolled all the way to the top?  I suspect if you take a screenshot of your Startup-Sequence or post a photo of it from your phone he can tell you exactly where this command goes. That's what I'd do.

[mrmoonlight]

You scrolled all the way to the top? I suspect if you take a screenshot of your Startup-Sequence or post a photo of it from your phone he can tell you exactly where this command goes. That's what I'd do.

 LOL now why did I not think of that ,thanks very much ,I have just included it in a post ,best wishes Brian

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

The $VER: statement that Paul mentioned is right in the middle of your picture. It looks like you've got some other stuff going on above that, however? You'd probably want to put the ACAtune command all the way at the top, before your CardReset patch and wireless drivers (and whatever else you've got going on there) kick in.
 
Not trying to be a smart-ass but you may want to post a better picture, for clarity sake. Here's how to take a photo of a screen. I did this with my cheapo camera phone, or you can use a screenshot capture utility (no special camera required).
 
You can use the "Manage attachments" button to attach it to to post, rather than having to embed it.
 
In other words, if your startup-sequence were mine, you'd probably want to put the command directly below those first two lines. The ; (semicolon) at the start of them means they're commented out. Or you might want to put it after all of the 3.9 ROM updates. That's a question for Paul. If your startup-sequence looks anything like mine, that is. :confused:

[fitzsteve]

Better still you should compile a custom 3.9rom and use ACATune's MapRom to load it in instead of having them load via OS3.9 and do away with the slow reboot.

ACATunes MapRom is a very fast reset at the start and then loading commences

BTW, I always use the command -maxmem on my ACA620, I guess -maxram is the same?

All the best,

Steve.

[mrmoonlight]

Better still you should compile a custom 3.9rom and use ACATune's MapRom to load it in instead of having them load via OS3.9 and do away with the slow reboot.

ACATunes MapRom is a very fast reset at the start and then loading commences

BTW, I always use the command -maxmem on my ACA620, I guess -maxram is the same?

All the best,

Steve.

Woe I love all this but it is some time a little over my head lol  but I will eventually find out what all this means  ,but thanks anyway very best wishes Brian.

[mrmoonlight]

Sorry about the pic quality ,but is this where I should put my new startup info,best wishes Brian.