takeuch@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Travis L Takeuchi) (06/19/91)
aI read recently in some amiga magazine (can't remember the name either .info or AWorld) that due to a new '030 chip that motorola is producing the prices for the Mega-Midget Racer have been substantially reduced. Can anyone out in Net-Landconfirm this? How much would a 25 or 33 megahertz MMR cost after the price reduction? When does it come into effect? Thanx in advance, Trin
davem@col.hp.com (Dave K. Martin) (06/19/91)
As I understand it, what CSA is doing is taking the '030 chips that have a defective memory management unit (internal to the '030) and installing them in the 'economy versions' of the Mega-Midget Racers. They are doing some magic in firmware to mask off the non-functional mmu. You still get most of the benifits of running a faster '030, but you cannot run stuff like Un*x, etc which require a functional mmu. The prices I've seen advertised are about $150 cheaper for the economy versions of the MMR. davem
billc@cryo.rain.com (William J. Coldwell) (06/20/91)
In article <18730012@col.hp.com> davem@col.hp.com (Dave K. Martin) writes: >As I understand it, what CSA is doing is taking the '030 chips that have a >defective memory management unit (internal to the '030) and installing them >in the 'economy versions' of the Mega-Midget Racers. They are doing some >magic in firmware to mask off the non-functional mmu. You still get most of >the benifits of running a faster '030, but you cannot run stuff like Un*x, etc >which require a functional mmu. The prices I've seen advertised are about >$150 cheaper for the economy versions of the MMR. Let's get some FACTS in here... CSA is not using _defective_ chips; they are using the new plastic 'EC' 68030s from Motorola. These chips run faster and cooler than the ceramic ones with the MMU. There is NO "magic" firmware that masks off the MMU, cause Motorola didn't put one in! Motorola is marketing these chips at a reduced rate to compete with Intel's embedded controller versions of the 80x86 chips (hence the '68EC030' designation). You lose running Unix (which hasn't been released for ANYTHING other than the 3000UX (grrrr.)), popping the ROM into 32bit RAM, and running MMU toys like the Enforcer. You gain a few extra buxks to afford some 32bit RAM ;-). >davem BTW: I don't speak for CSA, and they don't speak for Cryogenic (just to get the record straight). -- William J. Coldwell Internet: billc@cryo.rain.com I ZROCK! Amiga Attitude Adjuster UUCP: tektronix!percy!cryo!billc 3-D Pro 2.0! Cryogenic Software BBX: CRYO @ 503/257-4823 [ORPOR] CSA 40/4 Magnum! This message was brought to you by the Number '3' and the Letter 'D'.
monty@sagpd1 (06/21/91)
In article <billc.3610@cryo.rain.com> billc@cryo.rain.com (William J. Coldwell) writes: To use your own words....... >Let's get some FACTS in here... ......... >You lose running Unix (which hasn't been released for ANYTHING other than >the 3000UX (grrrr.)), popping the ROM into 32bit RAM, and running MMU toys ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The "popping" into 32 bit ram is done by hardware on the mega midget racer ( unless CSA's president lied to our users group about 3 months ago). They (CSA) were bragging that they had the only board on the market that could use these reduced function 68ec030 chips due to the fact that their hardware automatically transferred the Prom image to the on-board FAST, 32 bit, static ram upon reset/power-up. So, you may lose unix and OTHER MMU functions, but you still have Prom code (I.E. kickstart) running in fast 32 bit memory. Monty Saine
billc@cryo.rain.com (William J. Coldwell) (06/23/91)
In article <1991Jun21.150958.15343@sagpd1> monty@sagpd1 writes: >In article <billc.3610@cryo.rain.com> billc@cryo.rain.com (William J. Coldwell) writes: > >To use your own words....... >>Let's get some FACTS in here... ......... >>You lose running Unix (which hasn't been released for ANYTHING other than >>the 3000UX (grrrr.)), popping the ROM into 32bit RAM, and running MMU toys > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > The "popping" into 32 bit ram is done by hardware on the mega midget > racer ( unless CSA's president lied to our users group about 3 months > ago). They (CSA) were bragging that they had the only board on the > market that could use these reduced function 68ec030 chips due to > the fact that their hardware automatically transferred the Prom > image to the on-board FAST, 32 bit, static ram upon reset/power-up. It will pop ROM into 32bit Static RAM (if you have it) using a hardware address decode to intercept any calls to F8xxxx and pass them to the SRAM. I guess that I should have clarified that statement by saying that it will not let you pop ROM into 32bit DRAM. ;-). As for the statement of it doing it automatically, that is a "marketing misconception" (a marketing F*up for non marketeers). It requires you to load the ROM image everytime the machine is rebooted since SRAM goes bye-bye when the RESET line is pulled. > So, you may lose unix and OTHER MMU functions, but you still have > Prom code (I.E. kickstart) running in fast 32 bit memory. > Monty Saine -- William J. Coldwell Internet: billc@cryo.rain.com I ZROCK! Amiga Attitude Adjuster UUCP: tektronix!percy!cryo!billc 3-D Pro 2.0! Cryogenic Software BBX: CRYO @ 503/257-4823 [ORPOR] CSA 40/4 Magnum! This message was brought to you by the Number '3' and the Letter 'D'.
matt@vrtwo.UUCP (Matt Buford) (06/26/91)
writes: >aI read recently in some amiga magazine (can't remember the name either .info >ing the prices for the Mega-Midget Racer have been substantially reduced. Can >megahertz MMR cost after the price reduction? When does it come into effect? I think the new cheaper MMRs do NOT have MMUs... That's why they're cheaper... Take a look at some of the small print on the mail order pages in the boxes advertising MMRs... -- .____________________________________________________________________________. | | | | Please send all | Sysop of the Virtual Reality BBS | | complaints to | uunet.uu.net!umich!vela!sycom!vrtwo!matt | | | 808-337-1560 * 2400 baud * C-Net Amiga | | >NIL: | USR 14400 baud DS on order - 40 megs storage | |__________________________|_________________________________________________|