childs@cadnetix.COM (David Childs) (07/20/88)
Does anyone know of the company in Germany that has the 68020/68881 boards
that can plug into the Amiga 1000's 68000 slot? If so could you please either
mail or post the information to contact these people?
Thanks,
David
David Childs Internet: childs@cadnetix.COM
Cadnetix Corp UUCP: cadnetix!childs
5775 Flatiron Pkwy {uunet,boulder,nbires}!cadnetix!childs
Boulder, CO 80301Gary_D_Walborn@cup.portal.com (08/01/88)
M.A.S.T. (Memory and Storage Technology) announced a new accelerator board for any Amiga that plugs into the 68000 slot. The board features a 14 MHz 68000 and a socket for a 68881. In addition the board contains 8K of RAM with a battery backup that will function as autoboot ROM and allows you to autoboot from hard disks without the ROM (such as a 2090). I am extremely interested in this item. According to M.A.S.T. this board will be available in about 6 weeks for $139. For further information, contact: Memory and Storage Technology, Inc. 7631 E. Greenway Scotsdale, AZ 85260 (602) 483-6359 Gary D. Walborn
melnik@topaz.rutgers.edu (Ofer Melnik) (08/02/88)
In article <7797@cup.portal.com> Gary_D_Walborn@cup.portal.com writes:
!M.A.S.T. (Memory and Storage Technology) announced a new accelerator board
!for any Amiga that plugs into the 68000 slot. The board features a 14 MHz
!68000 and a socket for a 68881. In addition the board contains 8K of RAM
!with a battery backup that will function as autoboot ROM and allows you to
!autoboot from hard disks without the ROM (such as a 2090). I am extremely
!interested in this item. According to M.A.S.T. this board will be available
!in about 6 weeks for $139. For further information, contact:
Sounds very interesting... BUT,
1) How compatible is it with current software?
2) How does it compare to a 14 Mhz 68020? w/68881?
3) Will it upgradeable to 68020?
Thanks
-Ofer
--
Ofer Melnik Rutgers University
melnik@topaz.rutgers.edumelnik@topaz.rutgers.edu (Ofer Melnik) (08/02/88)
One more thing: Is it compatible with the 500?
I'm going to write them and ask, so if no one comes up with the
answers, I'll try to post them...
Thanks
-Ofer
--
Ofer Melnik Rutgers University
melnik@topaz.rutgers.edudaveh@cbmvax.UUCP (Dave Haynie) (08/09/88)
in article <Aug.2.11.16.16.1988.6490@topaz.rutgers.edu>, melnik@topaz.rutgers.edu (Ofer Melnik) says: > In article <7797@cup.portal.com> Gary_D_Walborn@cup.portal.com writes: > !M.A.S.T. (Memory and Storage Technology) announced a new accelerator board > !for any Amiga that plugs into the 68000 slot. The board features a 14 MHz > !68000 and a socket for a 68881. ... > Sounds very interesting... BUT, To venture a guess, based on the assumption they did it right... > 1) How compatible is it with current software? Very, like probably 99.9%. What's likely to die? Only thing that occurs to me is the R-C type dongle, as used with X-CAD. These things are very sensitive to CPU speed, generally depending on CPU dependent timing loops. Under V1.3, the 68881 interface will be supported if they did it right. > 2) How does it compare to a 14 Mhz 68020? w/68881? The 68020's 68881 interface is much faster, but the internal operations should be about the same. In a 68020 system without 32 bit wide memory, a fast 68000 will sometimes do a little better, sometimes a little worse. The trick is that the 68020 always does 32 bit pre-fetches, even if it only needs 16 bits. However, it has an instruction cache which usually makes up for this, and in some cases goes far beyond. If you've got fast, 32 bit wide memory in the system, the 68020 will show up way out in front of a fast 68000. > Ofer Melnik Rutgers University -- Dave Haynie "The 32 Bit Guy" Commodore-Amiga "The Crew That Never Rests" {ihnp4|uunet|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh PLINK: D-DAVE H BIX: hazy "I can't relax, 'cause I'm a Boinger!"
ejkst@cisunx.UUCP (Eric J. Kennedy) (08/09/88)
In article <4447@cbmvax.UUCP> daveh@cbmvax.UUCP (Dave Haynie) writes: >> 1) How compatible is it with current software? > >Very, like probably 99.9%. What's likely to die? Only thing that occurs to me >is the R-C type dongle, as used with X-CAD. These things are very sensitive >to CPU speed, generally depending on CPU dependent timing loops. Under V1.3, >the 68881 interface will be supported if they did it right. If my Superbase Professional dongle dies, (same company) I'm going to be SCREAMING mad!! I've already had it not work on me a couple of times, for god-only-knows what reasons; had to cold start to get at my data. Damn ##$$@^%$! dongles -- ------------ Eric Kennedy ejkst@cisunx.UUCP
daveh@cbmvax.UUCP (Dave Haynie) (08/12/88)
in article <11655@cisunx.UUCP>, ejkst@cisunx.UUCP (Eric J. Kennedy) says: > In article <4447@cbmvax.UUCP> daveh@cbmvax.UUCP (Dave Haynie) writes: >>> 1) How compatible is it with current software? >>Very, like probably 99.9%. What's likely to die? Only thing that occurs to me >>is the R-C type dongle, as used with X-CAD. These things are very sensitive >>to CPU speed, generally depending on CPU dependent timing loops. Under V1.3, >>the 68881 interface will be supported if they did it right. > If my Superbase Professional dongle dies, (same company) I'm going to > be SCREAMING mad!! Actually, isn't X-CAD from the folks who make Aquisition? I know both are British companies, but I didn't think they were the same. The Dongle Snooper I use tells me that the SuperBase Professional dongle I have here is of the resistor-on-a-pot-line variety (13k-16k). Providing that's correct, this dongle should be immune to CPU speed variations. The X-CAD dongle we tried here was identified as the R-C constant varitey. That's real bad news, and it didn't surprise me that the darn thing failed. The theory behind is that a capacitor is charged and discharged under program control, with one input line to sense the capacitor's charge. While that's a purely digital sensing, what they do is start a timer and read that port line until a "1" is sensed. Same thing can be done with a discharge of the cap. The problem is that, unless the programmer was smart enough to use a timer, the count produced is just going to be a CPU based count, and that's 100% dependent on CPU speed. And I should mention that Commodore-Amiga definitely doesn't support this kind of dongle, since Commodore-Amiga doesn't support anything that's dependent on a fixed CPU speed. > Damn ##$$@^%$! dongles I'll agree with that in any case. > ------------ > Eric Kennedy > ejkst@cisunx.UUCP -- Dave Haynie "The 32 Bit Guy" Commodore-Amiga "The Crew That Never Rests" {ihnp4|uunet|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh PLINK: D-DAVE H BIX: hazy "I can't relax, 'cause I'm a Boinger!"
ejkst@cisunx.UUCP (Eric J. Kennedy) (08/12/88)
In article <4480@cbmvax.UUCP> daveh@cbmvax.UUCP (Dave Haynie) writes: >in article <11655@cisunx.UUCP>, ejkst@cisunx.UUCP (Eric J. Kennedy) says: >> If my Superbase Professional dongle dies, (same company) I'm going to >> be SCREAMING mad!! > >Actually, isn't X-CAD from the folks who make Aquisition? I know both are >British companies, but I didn't think they were the same. Right, I was thinking of another cad program, (UltraCad?) this one marketed by Progressive Peripherals, who market SBPro. Sorry. >The Dongle Snooper I use tells me that the SuperBase Professional dongle I >have here is of the resistor-on-a-pot-line variety (13k-16k). Providing that's Hmm, that's not at all what my snooping told me. My multimeter tells me I might have a couple diodes in there. I'm not done snooping, though. The family electronics expert has better equipment, which I'm going to borrow. I _will_ make a backup of that thing, because I _will_ lose it someday. Maybe I'll try and get it x-rayed :-> >> Damn ##$$@^%$! dongles Just had to repeat that. -- ------------ Eric Kennedy ejkst@cisunx.UUCP