A4000 Mediator

[TheMrKocour]

Hi, i would like to upgrade my A4000/040 (stock A4000 with A3640) . I decided for Mediator, mainly because of his price. For me the biggest benefits are USB, Gfx and networking. My question is what I should avoid and what to watch out for (like mb revisions, 3V or 5V support etc.). I would also like to buy a Mediator witch supports Sonnet G3. I found that I can buy one here http://eu-shop.elbox.com/en_GB/p/Mediator-PCI-4000Di-3V-MK-III/675 Its is good deal or it is better to wait for one on amibay?

[Bennymee]

Hi, i would like to upgrade my A4000/040 (stock A4000 with A3640) . I decided for Mediator, mainly because of his price. For me the biggest benefits are USB, Gfx and networking. My question is what I should avoid and what to watch out for (like mb revisions, 3V or 5V support etc.). I would also like to buy a Mediator witch supports Sonnet G3. I found that I can buy one here http://eu-shop.elbox.com/en_GB/p/Mediator-PCI-4000Di-3V-MK-III/675 Its is good deal or it is better to wait for one on amibay?

The advantage of Amibay is that people offer the Mediator with Voodoo/Radeon/networking etc. cards, so you don't have to find compatible cards yourself.

As long as it support 3.3 , it is ok for Crescendo cards. I bought my Mediator at amigatore.eu which is imho a good source.

[Acill]

The Sonett cards are going to cost you in excess of $600 now be warned. The Amiga tax has now been applied to it and people know they sort of work. For the money, it would cost you to beef up that 4000 I would wait and see what the Amiga 1222 due out by the end of next month is like.

That being said... I would get a new one from Elbox or AMigastore.eu. Amigakit also has them from time to time in stock. That way you get better support.  They are a pain to get stable and everything installed. The hardware you use is very specific and can be extremely picky at getting configured so read up on it all before you make a purchase!

Some A4000D models just refuse to work well with the mediator as well. I know several that got endless crashes and yellow screens with them installed. I use one in my 4000T and love it though, zero issues for several years.

[trixster]

I can heartily recommend going down the Mediator route now mine's working ok... but it was a long and frustrating road. As the others have said, it can be a frustrating item to set up correctly even if you follow the many guides and wikis fully and especially if you're trying to add it to an already established amigaos installation. In my case a rogue LoadModule entry which I missed, and a not directly related but corresponding hardware issue, caused many weeks of head scratching and I came close to selling the lot. All that said... now it works it's great, it's more powerful and (possibly) cheaper than going down the Picasso IV/CV64 + rapidroad/x-surf100 route.

As one who's paid through the nose (twice) for a G3 Sonnet.... well, it might be madness but it is a fantastic upgrade and will only get better as the driver matures. Who knows what's next - may ifusion and OS4?

[Motormouth]

That being said... I would get a new one from Elbox or AMigastore.eu. Amigakit also has them from time to time in stock. That way you get better support.  They are a pain to get stable and everything installed. The hardware you use is very specific and can be extremely picky at getting configured so read up on it all before you make a purchase!

Some A4000D models just refuse to work well with the mediator as well. I know several that got endless crashes and yellow screens with them installed. I use one in my 4000T and love it though, zero issues for several years.

I can heartily recommend going down the Mediator route now mine's working ok... but it was a long and frustrating road. As the others have said, it can be a frustrating item to set up correctly even if you follow the many guides and wikis fully and especially if you're trying to add it to an already established amigaos installation. In my case a rogue LoadModule entry which I missed, and a not directly related but corresponding hardware issue, caused many weeks of head scratching and I came close to selling the lot. All that said... now it works it's great, it's more powerful and (possibly) cheaper than going down the Picasso IV/CV64 + rapidroad/x-surf100 route.

As one who's paid through the nose (twice) for a G3 Sonnet.... well, it might be madness but it is a fantastic upgrade and will only get better as the driver matures. Who knows what's next - may ifusion and OS4?

We a similar thread a couple months back,  I had the same issues that Acill is mentioning Ie yellow screens etcs.  When it worked is was very nice.  I sent mine back to Elbox for warranty repair.  Hopefully it comes back working.  

If you can get the 3.3V version I would, not only does it work with sonnet, but it is easier to find pci cards (like a radeon 92x0) for it.

[Bennymee]

About the installation: everything went well after the 5th Radeon PCI card, I finally could got my hands on a Sapphire card which is 100% compatible. Others gave me guru's.

The Combination of Voodoo3 (or Radeon Sapphire) , ethernetcard , PCI soundcard and X-Surf 100 always boot with OS4 FE in my Mirage tower (with Mediator v1) or A4000 desktop (with Mediator V3 3.3volt). In my case it is not less stable, but by nature how more hardware and software you add: RTG, AHI, PowerPC, Petunia 68K emulation, more software will guru sometimes, then e.g. an AGA system with a 68030.

I have also installed AmigaOS3.1, the upgrade to OS3.9 and the Mediator drivers on the same Mediator system (CyberstormPPC with 68060-80MHz, 15K UW drive) and runs Great too.