prm@usl (Patrick Royce Michaud) (08/04/87)
[ peanut butter and line sandwich ] First of all, my thanks to everyone who replied concerning vd0: (the Recoverable Ram Disk) and my special thanks to Perry and ASDG for making this program available (his reward is in the mail :-)). I had several inquiries about my Starboard 2 problems, and there have been several public inquiries about memory expansions, so I thought I'd post my story and let people chew on it a while. My apologies for the length--I have a tendency to be a little long winded--so sit back and enjoy the fire. (Warning: This message is just full of flames towards MicroBotics; don your asbestos suits and cooling fans!) Last Fall, I finally decided it was time to stop playing around on my Amiga and get to some serious programming. So, it was time to buy some of the stuff that real programmers are made of (like a compiler, etc.) One of the things I simply cannot stand, though, is a s_l_o_w compiler. I can stand to wait a couple of minutes, but any longer than that and I get antsy, especially since I have been spoiled by the speed of so many other systems. So, I decided that my next purchase would HAVE to be some expansion memory for my Amiga. Being the college student that I am, money for such luxuries didn't come easy, so I stuck it on my Xmas list and Santa (read mommy and daddy) came through for me with the money ($500) for a 1 Meg expansion board. At the time, the most important feature to me of any 1 Meg board was "how quickly could I get it?" I have no aversions to mail order, but since I was planning to visit Austin on Dec 30th anyway, I thought I could stand to wait a day or two to visit some Amiga dealers in Austin and see if anyone happened to have a 1 Meg board in stock. So, while I was in Austin, I stopped in at Computer Magic and inquired about a 1 meg board. They said they didn't have any in stock, but that they could get a Microbotics Starboard 2 (unpopulated) and 1 Megabyte of RAM for $450 (definitely a good deal at the time). Furthermore, they said they could have it to me in 2-3 days, which definitely was as good as any mail order (or so I thought). One would think that after 7 years of dealing with Radio Shack that I'd be used to delivery delays, but I was still severely disappointed as it was not 2-3 days but 2 weeks before Computer Magic had my Starboard 2 to send to me. To save shipping delays, I made a second trip to Austin to pick it up myself, and happily brought my Starboard 2 back home with me. Installing the Starboard 2 seemed simple enough -- I had done memory upgrades on TRS-80 systems before and this seemed to be pretty much the same. So, I plugged in my RAMs (all 32 of them suckers), moved the jumpers, went to plug the Starboard into the side expansion port and noticed that the jackscrews hadn't been included. According to the instructions, the jackscrews were necessary to insure a proper ground for the Starboard. Well, I certainly didn't feel like waiting any longer, so I did what any knowledgable computer person would do -- I kludged it with a couple of other screws to guarantee a ground would be made. I put everything back together, turned on the Amiga, and <nothing>. I didn't even get a Kickstart prompt. Worried, I turned off the Amiga, removed the Starboard, and turned the Amiga back on to make sure it was still working -- it was. So, I tried it with the Starboard 2 again, and <nada>. It was Sunday, so I had to wait until the next day before I could get in touch with Microbotics to explain my difficulties. I called the next day, and the person on the other end suggested that I re-socket the RAMs and try again. So, I resocketted all 32 of them buggers again, checked for bent pins and all, plugged the Starboard back onto the Amiga, and <poof!>. This time the Amiga went down and stayed down. (Yes, I even smelled the proverbial smoke coming out of my Amiga! (really!)) So, I made a (somewhat dejected) call to Microbotics to let them know of the problem, and to see what could be done to fix not only my Starboard, but now my Amiga, too. At first, Microbotics seemed extremely helpful about the situation. They told me to ship the Amiga and the Starboard to them, that they would fix both for free, and then return them to me within about 2 weeks. So, I packed up my Amiga (it was a sad parting) and sent it and the Starboard to Microbotics and hoped for the best. The best was not to come. After about 3 weeks, I had heard nor seen anything of my Amiga, so I gave Microbotics a call. They said that yes, they had my Amiga, that they were working on it, and that I could expect it the next week. So, I waited yet another week. From here, the story gets somewhat monotonous. It basically involves me making many many long-distance phone calls to Microbotics, and being told: 1) The person I need to talk to isn't in, or 2) They're still working on it, or 3) My Amiga will be shipped tomorrow, or 4) My Amiga has already been shipped. This went on for several weeks. Finally, about mid-March I decided I had had enough. Not only did I not have my 1 Meg expansion, but I didn't even have an Amiga anymore, AND, I needed my Amiga for several class assignments that were due (the excuses about my broken Amiga were wearing thin). So, I got on the phone to Microbotics again, and put their poor telephone operator through the wringer until I got some straight answers. What I did manage to get was very little. Not only hadn't my Amiga been shipped, but it hadn't even been scheduled to be shipped anytime soon. He didn't even know whether it had been fixed or not yet, and the only person who did know was going to be on vacation for another week. So, I asked to talk to someone "higher up," and he said that she was gone for the afternoon, but he'd have her call me back. She never did. Finally I managed to get in touch with the "higher up," explained my problem(s), and she said that they would be fixed & shipped to me the next day. Finally, I received my Amiga later that week, 8 weeks after I had sent it to them. But, no Starboard 2! According to the accompanying letter, it would be arriving "under separate cover." Another week later, I got tired of waiting and called Microbotics again. They still had my Starboard and it would be "shipped tomorrow" (oh, how many times had I heard that?!?). Finally, another week later, I received my Starboard in working condition and had the long-sought-after 1.5 meg Amiga. ------------------ A bit of reflection: Granted, this story is not quite so much about the Starboard 2 itself as it is about the company that makes it, but on the whole, I was quite disappointed with the whole affair. I had hoped to have a 1 Meg expansion in early January at the latest; instead it turned out to be 3 months of grief, 2 months without my Amiga, about $60-70 worth of phone calls, and an all-around pain in the cassette port. I did not feel that Microbotics treated me as a valued customer; indeed, it often felt as if they took my money and my computer and then chose to ignore me. Unfortunately, this episode sent some bad reflections into the Amiga community itself; quite a number of people (some of whom were seriously considering an Amiga) inquired about my computer; when I would tell them that it was still being fixed, the reply was often: "is it STILL broken?!? Why can't they get it fixed quicker?" Most chose to avoid Microbotics altogether; others became disenchanted with the Amiga altogether. Disregarding the above, I am fairly pleased with the Starboard itself; since I've gotten it back I've had no problems with it whatsoever. I do like the way the Starboard itself is designed--it looks as if it is meant to be part of the Amiga. As for expandability, I just received my Upper Deck this past week; once I receive my RAM chips, I'll (hopefully) have 2 megabytes so I can stick even more out there on VD0:. For those people who may be thinking of purchasing a Starboard 2, I certainly won't tell you not to buy one, because as I have said, it does seem to be a really nice piece of hardware. My word of warning is simply this: If you do have problems -- don't expect a whole lot out of Microbotics. Personally, if I had it to do all over again, I'd buy from someone else, if only to get better support. Patrick R. Michaud ut-sally!usl!prm USL NASA Project Member "My opinions do not necessarily represent anyone else's"