thomas@eklektik.UUCP (/dev/tty000) (04/05/90)
In article <3RXG4AM@drivax.UUCP> liberato@drivax.UUCP (Jimmy Liberato) writes: >This one is almost verging on comp.sys.ibm.pc. Sorry! > >I have been experimenting with a Genoa Super VGA card -- not mine, :-( >in the A2088. Though I have had complete success I am puzzled about >something. How is it that I am able to have both CGA and VGA exist >simultaneously? That is, both the Amiga CGA emulation and the VGA >are active at the same time. I had thought this was impossible; that >the video bios areas would overlap. Now, I've often seen Mono and VGA >coexist on the same machine (a common debugging setup on '386 machines) >and that is how I thought I would have to do this but it works fine from >the PC Color window with another monitor for the VGA. Am I simply >incorrect in what I thought was true or are some naughty things happening >in the video bios addresses that will bite me when I'm not expecting it? Ok, for everything I know about the PC you should be fine. If I remember my PC memory map right, the area for the VGA adapter in memory is in a different area than for a CGA adapter. In the memory for the PC there is a certain area, (about $A000 I believe) for video boards to occupy and I think the CGA board goes into a lower address than the VGA board. I will have to look this up in Peter Norton's book tomorrow and let you know for sure. If someone else knows otherwise on this please set me and Jim straight. >Jimmy Liberato ...!amdahl!drivax!liberato -- ____ / / / Amiga 1000 | Thomas "Maverick" Schwarz - Sirius Software / / / The Machine | Box 349 Caromar Dr. Mars, PA 16046 ____ / / / That Made It | (412) 443-8916 \ \ \/ / / Possible! | \ \/ / / -- |UUCP: {allegra,cadre}!pitt!darth!floopy!maverick \/_/_/ First! | or: ...uunet!nfsun!eklektik!thomas
blf@churchy.ai.mit.edu (Bill Frandsen) (02/14/91)
I have a couple of questions regarding the bridgeboard. My system consists of an Amiga2000/6.2 motherboard, ECS Agnes, 2 Megs fast ram, A2088 BB. I also have a CMI 14.28 MHZ processor accelerator installed, with a 68881 co-processor. (This is the board that pops in the 68000 socket, not the CPU expansion slot) My first question is: Why can't I use the Bridgeboard with the accelerator on? I have to leave it at 7.14 MHz. Any attempts at any point running the toggling program will cause the bridgeboard janus software to crash. If I accelerate the machine at boot time, the system cannot find the command.com file, and will refuse to boot from anything except the 5.25" disk. If I switch the speed after booting, file writes will cause corrupted blocks on the hard disk and/or full IBM system crashes. I should also mention that I have a Supra WordSync Hard Card with a ST-157N1 (48meg/28ms) drive attached. I have 39Megs partitioned with FFS for the Amiga with auto-boot from KS1.3. I have a 8 meg partition set for the Bridgeboard that has a 7.9 meg file in it created as a psuedo hard-drive as specified in the Janus 2.0 software manual. Is the speed increase affecting the Bridgeboard, or is it affecting the Supra WordSync controller? Since the BB seems to still work with floppies, I am now beginning to assume it is the HD controller. If anyone else has expierenced similar problems, I would appreciate a solution. Is there a flag I can set in the config portion of the Supra Utilities to let it work with the faster processor? (The wierd thing is that I have no problems with accessing any file on the Amiga partition with the increased speed!) 2nd BB question: How come some times after working on the BB, and switching windows to the Amiga (like the CLI), when I type, only ALT characters seem to appear. Same thing goes for the term program, or word processor on the Amiga side. I sometimes can get it out of this lock, but often have to reboot the Amiga. (No CAPS LOCK isn't down) :) 3rd question: How come Janus insists at looking at the A: drive all the time? It is very annoying to be working on the C: drive, moving files, zipping stuff, or running Quatto, and any time it comes to accessing C:, the light for A: comes on, and it sits there for about 20 seconds, unless I put in a disk for it to read, then it goes on its merry way. Also, it sits there for about 20 seconds at boot time before booting from the C: partition. Is there a way to alter the time required that it hunts these drives? It is really annoying. Any help is appreciated. Don't mail me---the mailer here is broken for incomming messages right now, it will just bounce. Please post if it is of importance for others. Thanks.
peterk@cbmger.UUCP (Peter Kittel GERMANY) (02/14/91)
In article <1991Feb14.034710.11646@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> blf@churchy.ai.mit.edu (Bill Frandsen) writes: >I also have a CMI 14.28 MHZ processor accelerator installed, with a 68881 >co-processor. (This is the board that pops in the 68000 socket, not the >CPU expansion slot) > >My first question is: Why can't I use the Bridgeboard with the accelerator >on? I have to leave it at 7.14 MHz. Any attempts at any point running the >toggling program will cause the bridgeboard janus software to crash. Can't tell you, but on my A2000 I run an A2620 card that is rather fast and gives null problems with my AT bridgeboard. I also have a PC-side hardcard working fine plus an A2090A with 20 MB disk on the Amiga side. No problems. >2nd BB question: How come some times after working on the BB, and switching >windows to the Amiga (like the CLI), when I type, only ALT characters >seem to appear. Same thing goes for the term program, or word processor >on the Amiga side. I sometimes can get it out of this lock, but often have to >reboot the Amiga. (No CAPS LOCK isn't down) :) This also happens to me sometimes, though very rarely. Don't know the cause but I come around it by hitting as often the Alt key as is needed to bring it back to normal operation. >3rd question: How come Janus insists at looking at the A: drive all the time? >It is very annoying to be working on the C: drive, moving files, zipping >stuff, or running Quatto, and any time it comes to accessing C:, the light for >A: comes on, and it sits there for about 20 seconds, unless I put in a disk >for it to read, then it goes on its merry way. Also, it sits there for about >20 seconds at boot time before booting from the C: partition. Is there a >way to alter the time required that it hunts these drives? It is really >annoying. Never experienced that, also not with an XT bridgeboard. My BBs boot fine from their PC side disks and never access the floppy as far as I don't tell them. Perhaps you should check your AUTOEXEC.BAT for a path that includes A:. If present, remove this entry. -- Best regards, Dr. Peter Kittel // E-Mail to \\ Only my personal opinions... Commodore Frankfurt, Germany \X/ {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!cbmger!peterk
guy@ns.network.com (Guy D'Andrea) (02/14/91)
In article <1991Feb14.034710.11646@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> blf@churchy.ai.mit.edu (Bill Frandsen) writes: >I have a couple of questions regarding the bridgeboard. My system consists >of an Amiga2000/6.2 motherboard, ECS Agnes, 2 Megs fast ram, A2088 BB. >2nd BB question: How come some times after working on the BB, and switching >windows to the Amiga (like the CLI), when I type, only ALT characters >seem to appear. Same thing goes for the term program, or word processor >on the Amiga side. I sometimes can get it out of this lock, but often have to >reboot the Amiga. (No CAPS LOCK isn't down) :) > >3rd question: How come Janus insists at looking at the A: drive all the time? >It is very annoying to be working on the C: drive, moving files, zipping >stuff, or running Quatto, and any time it comes to accessing C:, the light for >A: comes on, and it sits there for about 20 seconds, unless I put in a disk >for it to read, then it goes on its merry way. Also, it sits there for about >20 seconds at boot time before booting from the C: partition. Is there a >way to alter the time required that it hunts these drives? It is really >annoying. > Well the 2nd question rings true for me too but can be fixed by tapping on the ALT and CTRL keys a couple of times... 3rd question: That doesn't happen to me... maybe you have A:\ in your "path"?
daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) (02/15/91)
In article <1991Feb14.034710.11646@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> blf@churchy.ai.mit.edu (Bill Frandsen) writes: >I also have a CMI 14.28 MHZ processor accelerator installed, with a 68881 >co-processor. (This is the board that pops in the 68000 socket, not the >CPU expansion slot) >My first question is: Why can't I use the Bridgeboard with the accelerator >on? I have to leave it at 7.14 MHz. Any attempts at any point running the >toggling program will cause the bridgeboard janus software to crash. Offhand, it sounds like the accelerator isn't properly emulating the 7.16MHz 68000 signals when it runs at 14.3MHz and talks to the Bridge Board. The C= A2620 and A2630 work with fine with Bridge Boards, so I can only assume the problem lies with the CMI board. >Is the speed increase affecting the Bridgeboard, or is it affecting the >Supra WordSync controller? The speed increase should not affect the hardware at all. Any accelerator card must effectively slow down when accessing Zorro II bus hardware or Amiga motherboard resources. The speedups attained are only from faster CPU clock speed (governing internal operations) and from faster CPU memory, if any is provided. >Since the BB seems to still work with floppies, I am now beginning to assume >it is the HD controller. That's a hard call without poking around in the system with a timing analyzer or at least an 'scope. All three devices are involved in a Bridge Board access to Amiga hard disk. But even with a DMA driven hard disk, the Bridge Board and the hard disk controller are never involved in a single transaction; its either CPU to BB, or CPU to HD. I have no experience with the Supra board in an Amiga system, so I can't say offhand whether that's a likely problem or not. >3rd question: How come Janus insists at looking at the A: drive all the time? >It is very annoying to be working on the C: drive, moving files, zipping >stuff, or running Quatto, and any time it comes to accessing C:, the light for >A: comes on, and it sits there for about 20 seconds, unless I put in a disk >for it to read, then it goes on its merry way. Also, it sits there for about >20 seconds at boot time before booting from the C: partition. Is there a >way to alter the time required that it hunts these drives? It is really >annoying. Sounds like something is messed up in your Bridge Board setup. You don't have the MS-DOS search path pointing at something on A:, do you. I have a setup here with a hard disk and floppy, but I only rarely use the floppy, and have never had the floppy mysteriously accessed. Also, it could be some of the software you're using. In a primitive system like MS-DOS, some programs are hard wired to look at A:, C:, or other letters of the alphabet. Especially older programs. -- Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests" {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh PLINK: hazy BIX: hazy "What works for me might work for you" -Jimmy Buffett
drysdale@cbmvax.commodore.com (Scott Drysdale) (02/15/91)
In article <1991Feb14.034710.11646@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> blf@churchy.ai.mit.edu (Bill Frandsen) writes: >I have a couple of questions regarding the bridgeboard. My system consists >of an Amiga2000/6.2 motherboard, ECS Agnes, 2 Megs fast ram, A2088 BB. > >I also have a CMI 14.28 MHZ processor accelerator installed, with a 68881 >co-processor. (This is the board that pops in the 68000 socket, not the >CPU expansion slot) > >My first question is: Why can't I use the Bridgeboard with the accelerator >on? I have to leave it at 7.14 MHz. Any attempts at any point running the >toggling program will cause the bridgeboard janus software to crash. If I >accelerate the machine at boot time, the system cannot find the command.com >file, and will refuse to boot from anything except the 5.25" disk. If I >switch the speed after booting, file writes will cause corrupted blocks on the >hard disk and/or full IBM system crashes. > >I should also mention that I have a Supra WordSync Hard Card with a ST-157N1 >(48meg/28ms) drive attached. I have 39Megs partitioned with FFS for the Amiga >with auto-boot from KS1.3. I have a 8 meg partition set for the Bridgeboard >that has a 7.9 meg file in it created as a psuedo hard-drive as specified >in the Janus 2.0 software manual. > >Is the speed increase affecting the Bridgeboard, or is it affecting the >Supra WordSync controller? Since the BB seems to still work with floppies, >I am now beginning to assume it is the HD controller. If anyone else >has expierenced similar problems, I would appreciate a solution. Is there >a flag I can set in the config portion of the Supra Utilities to let it >work with the faster processor? (The wierd thing is that I have no problems >with accessing any file on the Amiga partition with the increased speed!) the problem with the cmi-bridgeboard combo is probably the way the cmi handles the TAS instruction (a supposedly forbidden instruction in the amiga in general, but the janus 2.0 and earlier stuff uses it). the janus software assumes TAS works on the expansion bus - probably CMI doesn't handle TAS - understandably. the forthcoming janus software avoids TAS, and *might* fix the problem, if indeed it is a TAS related problem. can't say when it'll be out. >2nd BB question: How come some times after working on the BB, and switching >windows to the Amiga (like the CLI), when I type, only ALT characters >seem to appear. Same thing goes for the term program, or word processor >on the Amiga side. I sometimes can get it out of this lock, but often have to >reboot the Amiga. (No CAPS LOCK isn't down) :) pcwindow and intuition fight over the input stream. if a key is pressed while pcwindow is active, pcwindow will register the press. now hold the key, and flip to another screen/window and release the key. now pcwindow thinks that key is still down, when it isn't. vice versa for starting in another screen/ window and moving to pcwindow. this should be fixed in the forthcoming release as well. >3rd question: How come Janus insists at looking at the A: drive all the time? >It is very annoying to be working on the C: drive, moving files, zipping >stuff, or running Quatto, and any time it comes to accessing C:, the light for >A: comes on, and it sits there for about 20 seconds, unless I put in a disk >for it to read, then it goes on its merry way. Also, it sits there for about >20 seconds at boot time before booting from the C: partition. Is there a >way to alter the time required that it hunts these drives? It is really >annoying. i have *no* idea what this is. of course it'll look at drive A: first during boot, but after that... the only thing i can think of is you've got a PATH which points to A: or something similar. examine your autoexec.bat and check PATH, ASSIGN, APPEND, and other stuff in there for references to A:. make sure your application doesn't look there either. >Any help is appreciated. Don't mail me---the mailer here is broken for >incomming messages right now, it will just bounce. Please post if it >is of importance for others. Thanks. --Scotty -- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Scott Drysdale Software Engineer Commodore Amiga Inc. UUCP {allegra|burdvax|rutgers|ihnp4}!cbmvax!drysdale PHONE - yes. "Have you hugged your hog today?" =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
drysdale@cbmvax.commodore.com (Scott Drysdale) (02/15/91)
In article <18991@cbmvax.commodore.com> drysdale@cbmvax.commodore.com (Scott Drysdale) writes: >In article <1991Feb14.034710.11646@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> blf@churchy.ai.mit.edu (Bill Frandsen) writes: >>2nd BB question: How come some times after working on the BB, and switching >>windows to the Amiga (like the CLI), when I type, only ALT characters >>seem to appear. Same thing goes for the term program, or word processor >>on the Amiga side. I sometimes can get it out of this lock, but often have to >>reboot the Amiga. (No CAPS LOCK isn't down) :) > >pcwindow and intuition fight over the input stream. if a key is pressed while >pcwindow is active, pcwindow will register the press. now hold the key, and >flip to another screen/window and release the key. now pcwindow thinks that >key is still down, when it isn't. vice versa for starting in another screen/ >window and moving to pcwindow. this should be fixed in the forthcoming >release as well. should have also mentioned how to fix it once it happens! simply press and release each modifier key on the keyboard once (ctrl, l shift, l alt, l amiga, r amiga, r alt, r shift). that'll unstick and stuck keys (they're not physically stuck, just mentally :) -- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Scott Drysdale Software Engineer Commodore Amiga Inc. UUCP {allegra|burdvax|rutgers|ihnp4}!cbmvax!drysdale PHONE - yes. "Have you hugged your hog today?" =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
blf@churchy.ai.mit.edu (Bill Frandsen) (02/16/91)
In article <18991@cbmvax.commodore.com> drysdale@cbmvax.commodore.com (Scott Drysdale) writes: >In article <1991Feb14.034710.11646@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> blf@churchy.ai.mit.edu (Bill Frandsen) writes: >>I have a couple of questions regarding the bridgeboard. My system consists >>of an Amiga2000/6.2 motherboard, ECS Agnes, 2 Megs fast ram, A2088 BB. >> >>I also have a CMI 14.28 MHZ processor accelerator installed, with a 68881 >>co-processor. (This is the board that pops in the 68000 socket, not the >>CPU expansion slot) >> >>My first question is: Why can't I use the Bridgeboard with the accelerator >>on? I have to leave it at 7.14 MHz. Any attempts at any point running the >>toggling program will cause the bridgeboard janus software to crash. If I >>accelerate the machine at boot time, the system cannot find the command.com >>file, and will refuse to boot from anything except the 5.25" disk. If I >>switch the speed after booting, file writes will cause corrupted blocks on the >>hard disk and/or full IBM system crashes. >> >>I should also mention that I have a Supra WordSync Hard Card with a ST-157N1 >>(48meg/28ms) drive attached. I have 39Megs partitioned with FFS for the Amiga >>with auto-boot from KS1.3. I have a 8 meg partition set for the Bridgeboard >>that has a 7.9 meg file in it created as a psuedo hard-drive as specified >>in the Janus 2.0 software manual. >> >>Is the speed increase affecting the Bridgeboard, or is it affecting the >>Supra WordSync controller? Since the BB seems to still work with floppies, >>I am now beginning to assume it is the HD controller. If anyone else >>has expierenced similar problems, I would appreciate a solution. Is there >>a flag I can set in the config portion of the Supra Utilities to let it >>work with the faster processor? (The wierd thing is that I have no problems >>with accessing any file on the Amiga partition with the increased speed!) > >the problem with the cmi-bridgeboard combo is probably the way the cmi >handles the TAS instruction (a supposedly forbidden instruction in the >amiga in general, but the janus 2.0 and earlier stuff uses it). the >janus software assumes TAS works on the expansion bus - probably CMI >doesn't handle TAS - understandably. the forthcoming janus software avoids >TAS, and *might* fix the problem, if indeed it is a TAS related problem. >can't say when it'll be out. > Ok---I'll just _assume_ that is what is wrong :) Your answer seems as good as Dave's. Forthcoming Janus Software??? In the immortal words of every person who wants to know when 2.0 will be in ROM, may I ask the same of this? [WHEN???][WHAT???] BTW-If "TAS" is forbidden, why is a Commodore product using it? Doesn't that go against the whole idea of following the programming rules? >>2nd BB question: How come some times after working on the BB, and switching >>windows to the Amiga (like the CLI), when I type, only ALT characters >>seem to appear. Same thing goes for the term program, or word processor >>on the Amiga side. I sometimes can get it out of this lock, but often have to >>reboot the Amiga. (No CAPS LOCK isn't down) :) > >pcwindow and intuition fight over the input stream. if a key is pressed while >pcwindow is active, pcwindow will register the press. now hold the key, and >flip to another screen/window and release the key. now pcwindow thinks that >key is still down, when it isn't. vice versa for starting in another screen/ >window and moving to pcwindow. this should be fixed in the forthcoming >release as well. > Well, by hitting the qualifier keys repetitively it does seem to unlock itself. >>3rd question: How come Janus insists at looking at the A: drive all the time? >>It is very annoying to be working on the C: drive, moving files, zipping >>stuff, or running Quatto, and any time it comes to accessing C:, the light for >>A: comes on, and it sits there for about 20 seconds, unless I put in a disk >>for it to read, then it goes on its merry way. Also, it sits there for about >>20 seconds at boot time before booting from the C: partition. Is there a >>way to alter the time required that it hunts these drives? It is really >>annoying. > >i have *no* idea what this is. of course it'll look at drive A: first >during boot, but after that... the only thing i can think of is you've >got a PATH which points to A: or something similar. examine your autoexec.bat >and check PATH, ASSIGN, APPEND, and other stuff in there for references to >A:. make sure your application doesn't look there either. > Thanks. I did check my AUTOEXEC.BAT, and sure enough, I had a remnant from floppy disk: APPEND A:\SYSTEM. It doesn't show up when you just type PATH, and that is what I thought it should do (like Path add on the Amiga). This seems to help immensely! >>Any help is appreciated. Don't mail me---the mailer here is broken for >>incomming messages right now, it will just bounce. Please post if it >>is of importance for others. Thanks. > > --Scotty >-- >=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= >Scott Drysdale Software Engineer >Commodore Amiga Inc. UUCP {allegra|burdvax|rutgers|ihnp4}!cbmvax!drysdale > PHONE - yes. >"Have you hugged your hog today?" >=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) (02/19/91)
In article <1991Feb16.044402.12664@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> blf@churchy.ai.mit.edu (Bill Frandsen) writes: >In article <18991@cbmvax.commodore.com> drysdale@cbmvax.commodore.com (Scott Drysdale) writes: >>the problem with the cmi-bridgeboard combo is probably the way the cmi >>handles the TAS instruction (a supposedly forbidden instruction in the >>amiga in general, but the janus 2.0 and earlier stuff uses it). >BTW-If "TAS" is forbidden, why is a Commodore product using it? Doesn't >that go against the whole idea of following the programming rules? The only proper use of TAS is for bus locking of memory in a shared memory coprocessor type environment. In other words, just what you have with a Bridge Board and its shared memory. TAS can't reliably be used on arbitrary chunks of memory; Chip RAM and most Zorro II memory cards don't support it, because of the weird, special case 68000 cycle TAS generates on the 68000. Since Bridge Board memory was designed with TAS in mind, it can support the TAS instruction. However, it probably shouldn't anyway, and I think they're eliminating it in the future. Most accelerator cards don't generate a proper bus lock for TAS. Most 68020/68030 cards will generate two separate unlocked cycles. The A3000 will generate a real TAS read-modify-write cycle, but it may vary by a clock or so from what the 68000 does, based on synchronizations between the 68030 and 7MHz clock. I don't what a fast 68000 would do. In general, the 68000 TAS cycle was a good idea with a very poor implementation. I wouldn't recommend it for use on any Zorro II system, since you can't guarantee it'll generate a bus lock at best, or that it'll work at all at worst. Use a software spin-lock or similar to arbitrate for a semaphore that does the actual locking of any shared structures. TAS, CAS, and CAS2 can be used on Zorro III boards just fine. They won't lock Chip RAM on any system, though you don't need bus locking between Agnus and the CPU anyway. -- Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests" {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh PLINK: hazy BIX: hazy "What works for me might work for you" -Jimmy Buffett
drysdale@cbmvax.commodore.com (Scott Drysdale) (02/27/91)
In article <9440@hub.ucsb.edu> psycho@cs.ucsb.edu (Scot Kellan Forbes) writes: >In light of the educational discount price on the 2286 AT bridgeboard >and the removal of the restriction requiring a CPU purchase, I've had >renewed interest in buying one of these. Before I do however, I'd >like to get some questions answered/facts verified. For a starving >student, even $479 is a large sum to be spending on something that >ultimately will not serve its purpose. > >1) First of all, do I have my discount price correct: $479 for the AT >bridgeboard, at least until April 1. What version of the Janus >software is included, or is this a separate purchase? What else is >included besides the 1 Meg and the drive? you'll get janus 2.0 software, msdos 3.3, manuals and drive cable :) >2) I've heard mention of the fact that accelerater boards do not work >with the board. If this is true, could someone tell me why? Is it >related to the Amiga's CPU speed? I'd like to get a 386 accelerator >in the future. I'm thinking specifically of the 386SX board from >Microway. I'd probably be running some Windows software on the IBM >side and an 8Mhz AT is simply too slow (the 20Mhz AT with 2 Meg I use >at work is too slow). I have Commodore's 68020 board, will the two >run simultaneously? (Guru Haynie?) nobody's had much luck with 386 accelerator boards and the bridgeboard. i'm not sure why (we don't have any here to play with). there's no problem running the bridgeboard in a fast amiga. >3) Has anyone successfully used a syquest drive with both the IBM and >Amiga sides? Can a single cartridge be formatted with a partition for >each? I'd settle for separately formatted cartridges as long as it >works for both. there are a couple of ways you could do this. first, you could get a SCSI controller for the pc side and physically move the drive between pc and amiga, and format a cartridge on the pc using the normal ibm tools and then read it on the amiga using crossdos. the other way is to use the drive only on the amiga side and create a "fake ms-dos" partition (which you can boot the pc off of) on the cartridge. the "fake ms-dos" parition stuff basically creates a large amiga file which is manipulated by the bridgeboard. there are no tools at the present time to directly read these "partitions" from the amiga (you have to read them from the pc side and transfer the files to amiga disks using the aread/awrite utilities). >4) Which of the amiga ports (including mouse) can be used from the IBM >side? I have that info somewhere, but asking is easier than trying to >find it in this room. you can use the amiga's mouse with ms-dos and windows 286 applications. there is currently no support for windows 3.0 mouse emulation. you can have stuff written to LPT1: go out the amiga's parallel port. serial port (com2:) emulation hardware is in there, but it doesn't work well enough so it's not supported. >5) Will the board work with the 3000? If not, is it expected to work >with the 3500 (I'm patiently waiting...personally looks don't bother >me, you're supposed to look at the monitor anyway, not the CPU case :) it will work on the 3000, but you'll only have 2 useable slots after installing the bridgeboard. under 2.0 on a 68030 or higher you must also disable data caching, since the bridgeboard is essentially a chunk of shared memory. >Thanx in advance for any and all information. I'm particularly >interested in info about accelerating the board (hacks are perfectly >acceptable). Please Email, I'm having a hard time catching up in this >group... > >Scot Forbes >psycho@cs.ucsb.edu --Scotty -- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Scott Drysdale Software Engineer Commodore Amiga Inc. UUCP {allegra|burdvax|rutgers|ihnp4}!cbmvax!drysdale PHONE - yes. "Have you hugged your hog today?" =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
srwmcln@windy.dsir.govt.nz (02/27/91)
In article <19082@cbmvax.commodore.com>, daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) writes: >.... > the future. Most accelerator cards don't generate a proper bus lock for TAS. > Most 68020/68030 cards will generate two separate unlocked cycles. The A3000 > will generate a real TAS read-modify-write cycle, but it may vary by a clock > or so from what the 68000 does, based on synchronizations between the 68030 > and 7MHz clock. I don't what a fast 68000 would do. >.... Dave, can you give any hints on how to emulate TAS cycles with a 68020 or 68030 (running faster than 7MHz). My casual thoughts on this matter lead me nowhere!. Clive.
anderson@mrcnext.uiuc.edu (Brent James Anderson) (02/27/91)
drysdale@cbmvax.commodore.com (Scott Drysdale) writes: >>2) I've heard mention of the fact that accelerater boards do not work >>with the board. If this is true, could someone tell me why? Is it >>related to the Amiga's CPU speed? I'd like to get a 386 accelerator >>in the future. I'm thinking specifically of the 386SX board from >>Microway. I'd probably be running some Windows software on the IBM >>side and an 8Mhz AT is simply too slow (the 20Mhz AT with 2 Meg I use >>at work is too slow). I have Commodore's 68020 board, will the two >>run simultaneously? (Guru Haynie?) >nobody's had much luck with 386 accelerator boards and the bridgeboard. >i'm not sure why (we don't have any here to play with). there's no >problem running the bridgeboard in a fast amiga. I know you work for Commodore so I mean no disrespect when I say that there appears to be counter evidence to your statement that _no-one_ has had "much" luck with 386 accelerator boards and the Bridgeboard(s). The following BB compatibility list is from Compuserve. Obviously it's not very recent, so the companies listed may no longer exist (I hope not because I have an A2088 that I intend to turbocharge up to a '386 if possible this summer) but each of the three '386 boards are all listed with "positive satisfaction" (albeit, a highly interpretable phrase :-). BridgeBoard Add-On Product Compatibility List 7/11/90 - Steven D. Kapplin, CIS 70055,1021 If you have additional information, please send me EMAIL at above CIS ID on CompuServe. Your contributions are appreciated. Type Make Model Manufacturer A2088 Compat A2086 Compat Price Satisfaction Suppli ---------------------- --------------------- ---------------------- --------------------------- ----------------------------------- --------------------------------- ---------------- ---------------------------------------------------- ------ Accelerator SOTA 386si State Of Art Technology Yes Yes $400 Yes J & R Accelerator 286 Shortcut286 Tallgrass Technologies Yes 399 Yes Accelerator 386 Sota386i Sota Yes Yes Most P Data Acquisition Digital I/O - A/D IBM Yes Yes Digitizer Tablet MM-1218 Summagraphics Yes Yes EMS Exp. Memory Maxi-Magic Yes Yes Ethernet None 5010 Micom Yes Yes Ethernet None 5210 Micom Yes - Conflicts With Exp. Memory Yes - Conflicts With Exp. Memory Expansion Chassis Memory Machine Peachtree Technology Yes Yes - Mfg. Out Of Business Fax Complete Fax 4800 The Complete PC Yes Yes $200 Yes Graphics Card VGA-Wonder W/512K And ATI Yes Yes ~310 Yes Elek-T Graphics Card VGA Plus Paradise Yes Yes Graphics EGA EGA Wonder ATI Tech Yes Yes Yes Most P Graphics VGA VGA Plus Paradise Yes Yes Yes Graphics VGA VGA Wondercard No No No Graphics VGA Video-7 VEGA ? Yes ? ? Graphics VGA Paradise Compatible Ultra Hires Yes But No Color Partial Hard Card Kardisk KDK 30 BSM Yes Yes $299 Yes SoftWa Hard Drive 8225 RLL Miniscribe Yes Yes Yes Any HD Hard Drive Controller Above Board 1002-27ax RLL Western Digital Yes Partial $300 With Drive Yes Most P Hard Drive/controller ST-157R Pair Seagate Yes Yes 699 Yes HD Controller MFM Western Digital Yes 100 Yes Local HD Controller WDX1 Western Digital Yes Yes 60 Yes Most P Host Adapter Wordsync Supra Corp Yes Yes Yes Memory Above Board EMS 3.2 Intel No Partial Limited J & R Memory Intel Above Board Intel No No Memory OverAchiever Above Board Intel No No Memory Rampage 2 AST Yes Yes Memory Thesys EMS 3.2 Thesys (Out Of Bus. Yes Yes Yes J & R Memory Board Above Board + I/O Intel Yes Yes $450 Yes Elek-T Modem Internal 2400zi Supra Corp Yes Yes Yes Modem Card Evercom 24 Everex Yes Yes Multi Function Persyst SB-III FastRAM IV Emulex Yes - I/O + EMS Memory Yes $100 Yes - Out Of Production Surplu Multifunction AST Sixpack+ AST Yes 150 Yes Scanner Scanjet None Hewlett Packard Yes Yes Serial Card Genoa Yes Yes - Mouse Problem W/Norton Commander Serial Port Rampage 2 Daughterboard AST Yes Yes Yes Sound AdLib Card AdLib ? Yes 160 Yes Sound SoundBlaster Creative Music Systems ? Yes 240 Yes Sound Card LAPC-1 Roland Yes Yes Twin Screen Graphic Co H-16 Verticom Yes Yes VGA Card VGA600 512k SuperVGA Card Cardinal ? (Sorry about the formatting. Please capture to a file and view with a scrolling type file reader. This is the way I got it and appears to be the most efficient way to catalog this much info. on each item) Please, anyone care to comment/add to the list??? -Beej
daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) (03/06/91)
In article <18841.27cba1dd@windy.dsir.govt.nz> srwmcln@windy.dsir.govt.nz writes: >In article <19082@cbmvax.commodore.com>, daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) writes: >> the future. Most accelerator cards don't generate a proper bus lock for TAS. >> Most 68020/68030 cards will generate two separate unlocked cycles. >Dave, can you give any hints on how to emulate TAS cycles with a 68020 or >68030 (running faster than 7MHz). My casual thoughts on this matter lead me >nowhere!. There is a software technique, called a "spin-lock", which allows arbitration between two shared memory coprocessors. I don't have a reference for this offhand. I think it involves having each processor try to give the semaphore to the other, rather than the normal approach where each one tries to get the semaphore for itself. In hardware, it's pretty easy. Assuming you have some fast 68020/30 system which needs a 68000 style TAS cycle, such as the A3000 when talking to the Zorro II bus. Any such system already has a state machine of some kind which will convert 68030 signals into 68000 compatible signals. The addition to this will basically have a internally visible iAS* which breaks the lock at all times. The externally visible eAS*, the one out on the bus, is conditioned by the 68030's RMC* strobe. At the apparent end of the cycle, when the 68030 AS* is negated, I let the iAS* negate as well. eAS*, however, is held asserted by either iAS* or by RMC*. All of the other elements of the TAS cycle are very similar to the normal 68000 cycle, and naturally fall out of your state machine for basic 68000 cycles. The one slight problem with this is in the case of asynchronous processors, where the 68030 clock isn't related to the Zorro II bus clock. In this case, every 68030 cycle will have a synch-up delay, where the 68030's AS* must wait for an appropriate point in the 68000 cycle, generally the rising edge of the 7MHz clock, before starting an 68000 compatible cycle. Since both halves of the TAS cycle are separate 68030 cycles, there's in general no way to guarantee that the 68000 style TAS cycle that's generated is always exactly the same number of clocks as the standard 7MHz 68000 cycle. This should not be a problem, since the 68000/Zorro II bus really doesn't define a synchronous cycle, but anything that is depending on the pure synchronous behavior of a 68000 TAS cycle could get into trouble here. >Clive. -- Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests" {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh PLINK: hazy BIX: hazy "What works for me might work for you" -Jimmy Buffett
kholland@hydra.unm.edu (Kiernan Holland) (03/06/91)
Did anyone get the April edition of Amiga World?
There is a write-up on the 68040!!! Yeah!
It says that Supa will be selling the 68040 for the Amiga 3000 at
995 dollars. (SUPRA I MEAN, not Supa). The thing is faster
than a 486 I am told, and Amiga World says that.
They said the 68000 goes .35 MIPS, so ther 68040 is 50 times
faster than the 68000. If this is all true, this means that
a student like me can get mainframe speed for close 3000 dollars
with the student deal. Actually it cost about 200 dollars
more than that, but hey, it costs less than a NeXT color system.
Ya, that is just what I have been waiting for.
DIE INTEL, DIE INTEL, CHOKE, CHOKE.
Tommorow lets hang IBM!! He is a pretty big dude, I know.
:-)
>:-)
Laterbjames@lehi3b15.csee.Lehigh.EDU (Binoy James [890904]) (03/11/91)
Hi folks, I'm back with the bridgeboard problem. My setup: 3000, 105 Quantum, 1 meg of ram, 880k floppy, 1.44 MSDOS floppy 2286 AT bridgeboard and Amax II. Here's how I set it up. Made 4 partitions: WB1.3, WB2.x, Work and Amax. Installed Workbench2.0 and 1.3. Then I put the line: run >nil: pc/pcdisk in my startup-sequence after the binddrivers command. I ran makeab work:fake_c and created a 20 meg file called fake_c. The parameters I used was 4, 17 and 615. Then I created my ABOOT.CTRL file in sys:pc/system with the line work:fake_c in it. I reboot, run PCColor. It boots up with a Dos 4.01 floppy. The Janus handler (or library I forget which) loaded message does NOT come up! I try fdisk an it comes up with no fixed disk present message! When I first got the machine I had the same problems. However, I just opened the machine and it miraculously fixed itself. It found the hard drive. Now it's back to the old problem. Any clues to what I'm doing wrong here? I partitioned the hard drive about 10- 15 times yesterday and followed the procedures as outlined in the manual with no luck. I even opened the machine up hoping for some of that good ole luck, but I was SOL. Needless to say the Amax II is fully up and running! Help: Bin