Optimum A600 configuration for gaming?

[Eco]

In addition to my higher powered A1200 tower project, I have put together an A600 for retro gaming purposes. The specs of the machine are now:

First revision A600 mobo (says A300 on the PCB )
Extra 1mb of chip plugged in the expansion port (2mb chip in total)
500 mb IDE drive
Kickstart 3.1 ROM
OS 3.1

What can I do to maximise the gaming compatibility of this machine? I want to be able to use WHDLoad for the games that can be run with it on A600.

I am currenly using skick to get Kickstart 1.3 for the older games, would a hardware switcher be better? At least I would have more free memory..

Even OS 3.1 seems slow on this machine, since I only have 68000 and no fast ram. Should I consider switching to 2.05 roms and an earlier WB? Would that help compatibility with WHDLoad? I get the feeling that I'm starved for RAM after OS 3.1 loads up.

I know that loading WB is not necessary to use WHDLoad, it's just more convenient. However, I will go the way of the command prompt if that is the only way to have enough resources for WHDLoad.

[x56h34]

You definitely need an accelerator if you want to run WHDLoad on A600. I have a similar A600 setup (check my sig file for details) and I find that very little installers work with 68000 CPU as it is missing some features which were only implemented with 68010 CPU (it says so in WHDLoad docs too, so I'm not suprised). Furthermore, I have 4MB of fast ram in my PCMCIA slot, and that doesn't help either. So with 4MB fast and 2MB chip ram, my memory requirements for WHDLoad are fine, however the stock 68000 CPU simply doesn't cut it, as the majority of stuff out there coded for WHDLoad requires at least 68010 CPU in order to work properly. For more info check out WHDLoad docs.

[Eco]

I don't want to plug in an accerelator, since that will only introduce more problems for the older games and demos. The primary use for the machine is to be a portable "amiga console" so to speak, mostly operating from floppies. Whatever I can run from WHDLoad is a nice bonus.

Any suggestion on how to make things better for WHDload on a standard A600? Any tooltypes? List of games that will work?

[Eco]

By the way, what kind of a RAM expansion can I plug into the PCMCIA slot? Does it have to be an amiga-specific product, or can I just pick up some generic PCMCIA memory solution and hope it will work  :-D

[x56h34]

PCMCIA memory must be 16bit S-ram type. Sizes from 1 to 4 Mbs are appropriate.

As for games working better with WHDLoad on A600, the only way would be to hack the installers and take out the parts of the code which instruct the use of 68000 incompatible registers. For example the exit key (takes you back to the OS from the game) needs at least 68010 to work, and every WHDLoad installer (or most of them) carries the exit key function in it. In my experience, some games work but you can't exit to the OS due to this, and others simply won't run and will give error requesters.

[x56h34]

And I forgot to mention that some A600 accelerators have pins which can be used for external switch installation, which can enable/disable the entire accelerator + memory. Pretty neat if you want to use the existing 68000 CPU sometimes.

[Eco]

A600 with 030 "on demand" would be undeniably neat. Take me to your A600 accelerators and mountable switches  :-D

[Eco]

Okay, I was looking at the A600 accelerators on the Big Book. There is not much of a choice in the accelerators, and they are all of the "clip over cpu" type which I don't much care for, since they're potentially much more flaky than proper expansion port ones (which A600 does not have..).

Plus, a PSU upgrade would be in order to feed the beast. Maybe I'll just make do without one for now.. unless I get a good deal one one  :lol:

[x56h34]

That's what sucks about the A600. The only way of CPU upgrades is through the clip-on method. Every single accelerator was made very poorly, and I'm not sure if this is due to the nature of the connection method or not.

I owned two A600 accelerators so far (one brand new M-tec and one used Apollo 630) and they were both dead on arrival. I've yet to stumble upon a working one. :-(

[Eco]

Thanks for the heads up! Two DOA accelerators are enough to strike the fear of Ebay into my heart..   :-o

[Cass]

WHDLoad can remap any ROM in the devs:kickstarts drawer, so the actual ROM isn`t important for the games. A limit would be the custom chips: No AGA games/demos :-(

Here are some photos of my A600 accel.
________
Blowjob Forced

[Matt_H]

I've got almost that exact same setup. With 2MB chip. 0MB fast, Lemmings does work with WHDLoad, but it's very slow in loading. On occasions I can free up enough RAM, Flashback works as well, though it will crash during the introduction unless you skip it. I think Zool works as well, but I haven't done very extensive testing.

[Matt_H]

Concerning PCMCIA ram: That stuff is still extremely expensive and difficult to find. If you find some spares, I'd definitely be interested as well.

I use CFD to get CompactFlash cards working as a drive in the PCMCIA slot, but I wonder if there's a way to get a CF card added as non-autoconfig fast ram...

[Holley]

Couldn't you configure virtual memory to point to it, which would have the same effect? (it's going to be slow anyway, so the extra time in swapping would be negligable, and because the disk's bus isn't being used up working with big files would be as fast as possible while it was accessing).

Just a thought ;-)

[Eco]

Just picked up two PCMCIA memory cards from a local used computer part store. I have absolutely no idea whether they will work in my A600, this was a long shot  :-D

The cards are Intel cards that say "Flash" and "4 MByte Memory Card" on the front. They're manufactured in Japan and Philippines (1993). The card from 1993 says "Series 2". There's nothing else of use written on the cards.

The bad part is, I don't get to try them out for a month! I'm stuck in the States with no miggy in sight..