chris@zork.cc.binghamton.edu (Chris Peck) (09/19/90)
I've seen alot of messages about AMAX II lately and it's made me become VERY interested in this product. But, I've a few simple questions about it... -How does it work? I know that it's a hardware/software product - you plug the ROMS (which you purchase separatly) into a cartidge that connects to the external disk port(??). Then I assume you run some Amiga program to boot into Mac mode. At this point I'm confused.... Does A-Max come with the Mac System disk or do I have to purchase one separately??? Can I boot from a standard Mac system disk (without an Amig-a-tosh disk)? Can I read Mac disks with A-Max without a Mac disk drive? If not, how do I get software from a Mac to A-Max? The product looks interesting for around $240 (AMAX II and the ROMS) - but - if I have to shell out another $170 for a disk drive I'm a little leary (used macs are pretty cheap). I've read that they provide support for hard drives - is the Commodore A590 supported (if so - do I have to create a special partition for Amax, and are the utilities and device drivers provided to do so)? Can I run multitask between Amiga software and Amax??? -thanks (i hope) -chris -- chris@zork.cc.binghamton.edu Chris Peck chris@bingvaxa.bitnet SUNY Binghamton, NY --"Any opinions expressed above are mine, ALL MINE!"--
mikep@hpmwtd.HP.COM (Mike Powell) (09/20/90)
Does A-Max come with the Mac System disk or do I have to purchase one separately??? Can I boot from a standard Mac system disk (without an Amig-a-tosh disk)? Can I read Mac disks with A-Max without a Mac disk drive? If not, how do I get software from a Mac to A-Max? The product looks interesting for around $240 (AMAX II and the ROMS) - but - if I have to shell out another $170 for a disk drive I'm a little leary (used macs are pretty cheap). I've read that they provide support for hard drives - is the Commodore A590 supported (if so - do I have to create a special partition for Amax, and are the utilities and device drivers provided to do so)? Can I run multitask between Amiga software and Amax??? Some Answers: No. AmaxII does NOT come with a system disk... You can boot from a Mac system disk if you have a Mac drive connected to the Amiga. You cannot read Mac disks without a Mac drive (although AmaxII Plus is supposed to allow Amiga drives to do the job. The Plus is a zorro II board that will provide Mac serial ports, Mac scsi [if I recall correctly], and Appletalk compatibility) The only way to get Mac ware to Amiga Format are through the serial port (file transfers), or Atari ST MagicSac or Spectrum disks (these are Atari Mac emlator systems, Amax can read these disks directly) Yes. The A590 is supported. A special partition is needed for use by Amax.... drivers are provided in some cases (A590 included). No. You cannot have your Amiga and Amax (Mac) at the same time. Hope this helps.... -Mike- "No quotes are better than bad quotes...." M.P.
donb@bushido.uucp (Donald Burnett) (09/22/90)
In article <1990Sep19.101528@zork.cc.binghamton.edu> chris@zork.cc.binghamton.edu (Chris Peck) writes: >I've seen alot of messages about AMAX II lately and it's made me become >VERY interested in this product. But, I've a few simple questions about >it... >-How does it work? I know that it's a hardware/software product - you >plug the ROMS (which you purchase separatly) into a cartidge that >connects to the external disk port(??). Then I assume you run some >Amiga program to boot into Mac mode. At this point I'm confused.... >Does A-Max come with the Mac System disk or do I have to purchase one >separately??? Can I boot from a standard Mac system disk (without an >Amig-a-tosh disk)? Can I read Mac disks with A-Max without a Mac disk >drive? If not, how do I get software from a Mac to A-Max? The product >looks interesting for around $240 (AMAX II and the ROMS) - but - if I >have to shell out another $170 for a disk drive I'm a little leary (used >macs are pretty cheap). I've read that they provide support for hard >drives - is the Commodore A590 supported (if so - do I have to create a >special partition for Amax, and are the utilities and device drivers >provided to do so)? Can I run multitask between Amiga software and >Amax??? > >-thanks (i hope) >-chris > >-- >chris@zork.cc.binghamton.edu Chris Peck >chris@bingvaxa.bitnet SUNY Binghamton, NY >--"Any opinions expressed above are mine, ALL MINE!"-- Here's an update to AMAXII questions. I was on the phone a LONG time with their tech support. Here are the known problems: 1) Doesn't work with some A3000s (UPDATED DISKS AVAILABLE MONDAY) 2) Why with some?? Mac doesn't like 16 bit memory cards in an all 32 bit bus. 3) Printing probs: If you are getting ERRANT dots in printouts (not using their imagewrite emu, but a specific driver? There is a fix now available from readysoft. 4) GVP owners might require some new roms from GVP (if you have an old controller). 5) A590 HD formatting difficulties or just formatting probs in general? Just detach the mac drive, aft copying the SYSTEM disk over to an Amiga drive, and boot from the Amiga drive. This one works if you get a SOLID non-blinking question mark appearing when you try to boot. -- **************************************************************** ********* donb@bushido.uucp ****** ********* "My Opinions are my own, not anyone else's ****** ********* Organizational Affiliations ****** ********* CreativEdge Systems, the Multimedia Solution ****** ********* The Computer Shoppe, Ypsilanti-Ann Arbor, MI's ****** ********* Commodore-Amiga Education Dealer ******