bobp@amiga.UUCP (Robert S. Pariseau) (10/30/85)
The most common cause of failue in V1.0 Amigas is due to running out of memory. The V1.0 software is not particularly graceful when it runs out of memory due to windowing or graphics operations. Currently it cause the machine to halt with a "dead-end" alert. The underlying software libraries have been completely re-written for V1.1 to dramatically reduce this problem (out-of-memory conditions are reported back to the application, which can handle them as it sees fit -- partial memory allocations for failed operations are backed out). The V1.1 software should start shipping with Amigas towards the end of November and may be picked up by current owners at their Amiga dealer by just copying the new Kickstart and Workbench disk. In the interim, please keep an eye on the memory meter in the Workbench title line which will warn you when you are approaching thin ice. The problem is, of course, more severe in the 256K machine. This is particularly true for folks who have a second disk drive connected. When the disk drive is physically attached to the machine, the system allocates drive buffers for it in memory -- even if the drive is not currently in use. The memory lost to 2nd disk drive buffers may be significant if you are using most of the memory -- such as in ABasiC graphics programs. If you are experiencing any out-of-memory problems running software in 256K, I would suggest you try it with the 2nd disk uncabled. Personally, I strongly recommend that you get the expansion to 512K BEFORE you buy the 2nd disk drive. Since the Amiga has named disks and automatically recognizes disk insertion and removal, running the Amiga as a 1 drive machine works pretty well for everything except serious software development. On the other hand, that extra memory opens up whole new areas in the Amiga graphics and multi-tasking. On the topic of memory useage, large programs designed to run in the 256K machine frequently do a "Close Workbench" operation when they start up. This cause Workbench and Intuition to free up the 32K of memory used by the Workbench display. The downside, of course, is that the workbench isn't available for starting up other tasks. The Workbench screen CAN close ONLY if the only windows open in it are disk or drawer windows. In particular, if a CLI or clock window is open (or any other application window in the Workbench screen), the Workbench WILL NOT close. If you have enough memory for what you are trying to do (for instance if you have a 512K Amiga), you might want to USE this to keep the Workbench around when you start up ABasiC or some other application written to close the Workbench. On the other hand, if you are pushing the limits of memory, be sure that your Workbench can close before you start up your new application -- that extra 32K of memory could make ALL the difference.