Paul_Wolodko@mindlink.UUCP (Paul Wolodko) (02/18/91)
I'm trying to learn about afew "possibilities" to upgrade an Amiga 1000. As I understand it, Commodore has dropped the 1000 from its production line, & it is no longer supported by them. But, afew aspiring young techies have figured out how to vamp the old 1000 hardware, to allow the 1000 owner to use the new up & comming software ... ect. Afew of the names he has heard of are the Rejuvinator & the DV Wonder Board; also a beast called the Pheonix board. The first two are addins (remove a couple of chips & plug in the board in their place?); the last is supposed to be a mother board replacement? Can anyone tell me if I'm miss informed, outright wrong, ect. Especially, if you have used one of these; what are the pros/cons (i.e. can the motherboard be further upgraded if that is desired). If you have had problems, what sort of technical support have you received? Also, a Xetec extrenal hard drive is connected to the existing system, possible problems? (He would probably have to ask the manufacturer about this, I figure). The last important part, what sort of dollar range is he looking at (student, big dreams). Any advise I can get for him would be appreciated, thankyou. P.S. Addresses would be nice if you have them on hand. I think his purpose in life is to receive mail!
bing@mcnc.org (Carter E. Bing) (02/20/91)
In article <4836@mindlink.UUCP> Paul_Wolodko@mindlink.UUCP (Paul Wolodko) writes: > > > Can anyone tell me if I'm miss informed, outright wrong, ect. Especially, if Greetings, I`m in the same boat as Paul and would be interested in hearing from anyone who has gone through the upgrade process. If you can pass on your upgrade experience to me I would be grateful. Carter bing@mcnc.org
m0154@tnc.UUCP (GUY GARNETT) (02/20/91)
I don't know anything about the Phoenix motherboard replacement, except that it is made by an austrailian company (*NOT* MAST, although they may know who does make it). The Rejuvenator and the DVS Wonder both REPLACE* the KickStart Daughter Board in the A1000. They also plug into and replace the custom chipset. The Rejuvenator is an available, shipping product. It will give you 1Mb of CHIP RAM, just like an Amiga 2000. I believe it will also allow you to use the new Enhanced Chip Set (and therefore, all of the neat new video modes under AmigaDOS v2). There are sockets on board for the Kickstart ROM's, compatible with the standard Commodore ROMs. The Rejuvenator will allow you to use v1.3 or the new v2 ROMs (whenever the v2 ROMs become available). The Rejuvenator also has one nifty feature: it contains a partial Video Slot (designed so that you can add a FlickerFixer to your Amiga 1000). I have seen this board installed in a stock A1000; it does work. Installation requires some patience, and a bit of knowledge of the innards of a 1000. Installing it is not for the faint-hearted, nor is it for someone who has never had their machine open before. The DVS Wonder may or may not be real. I talked to the designer about it (before the board was produced). The design had some interesting features, I don't know if it was ever produced. The DVS Wonder is less expensive than the Rejuvenator (mainly because it doesn't have the video slot, and it uses a less-expensive interconnection scheme). The DVS product also had sockets for up to four sets of ROMs, and a selector program, so you could choose which set to boot from (making it easy to switch between v1.3 and v2, for example). Disclaimer: The above is from my memory, and only seems to make sense. I also vaguely remember that one or both of the above boards could handle a second meg of chip memory, if the ECS chips were installed. Wildstar PS: My recommendation is the Rejuvenator; I don't believe that the DVS is available, and I don't know enough about the Phoenix board. Will someone please post information about this product?
dah@zoot.avgrp.cr.rok.com (Dave Haverkamp) (02/24/91)
In article <1991Feb22.054424.10130@phoenix.pub.uu.oz.au> dweaver@phoenix.pub.uu.oz.au (Justin Deeley) writes: >as regards the Phoenix Board - It IS a total replacement mother-board. > It is now in production although things are slow and I know someone >who now has one installed. He has had no problems with it and all the features (SCSI port, extra memory - internal connectors etc) work fine . > >I'll post the full whack of info when I get the chance. > >Justin When you post more info about the Phoenix Motherboard. How about some info on projected availability in the States. :-) I have been waiting for a year to purchase one if they sell it here. Especially since they have a 68020/881 option. -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- David A. Haverkamp Collins Commercial Avionics Division Rockwell International MS 124-211 INTERNET: dah@zoot.avgrp.cr.rok.com Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52498
dweaver@phoenix.pub.uu.oz.au (Justin Deeley) (02/27/91)
In <1991Feb23.220639.22031@zoot.avgrp.cr.rok.com> dah@zoot.avgrp.cr.rok.com (Dave Haverkamp) writes: >In article <1991Feb22.054424.10130@phoenix.pub.uu.oz.au> dweaver@phoenix.pub.uu.oz.au (Justin Deeley) writes: >>as regards the Phoenix Board - It IS a total replacement mother-board. >> It is now in production although things are slow and I know someone >>who now has one installed. He has had no problems with it and all the features (SCSI port, extra memory - internal connectors etc) work fine . >> >>I'll post the full whack of info when I get the chance. >> >>Justin > When you post more info about the Phoenix Motherboard. How about >some info on projected availability in the States. :-) I have been >waiting for a year to purchase one if they sell it here. Especially >since they have a 68020/881 option. Here is the information: ********* **** **** ****** ******** ****** **** ***** **** **** *** ** *** *** *** *** ******** ****** *** *** *** *** *** ** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ** ********** *** *** ****** *** *** *** *** ***** *** ** ********** *** *** ****** *** *** *** *** ***** ******** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ******** *** ****** *** *** *** **** **** **** ****** ******** **** ****** ***** **** **** The Replacement MotherBoard for the Amiga 1000 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Commodore have been working on the Enhanced Chip Set (ECS) for months now. You must have heard about it. One megabyte of chip RAM, Blitter operations of up to 32x32K (a 1024 times improvement), a PRODUCTIVITY mode of 512 lines (400 NTSC) non-interlaced, a SUPER-HIRES mode of up to 1280 pixels across the screen on a standard monitor. The software (KickStart 1.4) and hardware to make all this possible is soon to be released. Fantastic, right? Wrong. Commodore have now made it official that the Amiga 1000 has been dropped. The ECS will not work in the 1000. A500/A2000 only. YOU know the 1000 is a great machine, I know the 1000 is a great machine, but Commodore? So now you are considering your options. One megabyte of chip RAM means you can now run your drawing program in the 640x512 16 colour mode, and still have the undo and alternate page options available to you. 32x32K blits means faster operations in graphics programs, games, and any operations that make use of the Blitter. And the only way all this is possible is if you sell your old, faithful 1000, and buy a 500 or a 2000. Not so. Andrew Wilson, the original developer of the popular Proton memory boards, now making the even more popular 8-meg memory board, has a design plan for a REPLACEMENT Amiga 1000 MotherBoard. The PHOENIX BOARD will include : - FULL SUPPORT for the ECS Chip Set. - The ability to use your existing expansion connector peripherals. - Up to 2 Megabytes of switchable RAM on the main board. - Up to 10 megabytes of INTERNAL, switchable autoconfiguring RAM using an 8 Meg daughterboard. - INTERNAL Real Time Clock and Calendar (500/2000 compatible). - Provision for up to three INTERNAL KickStart ROMs, allowing SWITCHING between KickStart 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4, including provision for INTERNAL KickStart EPROMs allowing customised KickStarts. - INTERNAL Disk Drive Connector allowing internal fitting of DF1:, DF2:, and DF3: (if fitted in a larger case.) - Drive swap switch to allow booting off other disk drives. - A500/2000 style switchable Audio Filter. - INTERNAL space for a 68881 maths coprocessor. - FULL B2000 style VIDEO SLOT. - One Amiga 2000 slot, allowing an 2000 board to be plugged in, or a 2000 type multi-slot backplane to be used. (Only in a bigger case) - Provision for a SCSI Port for Hard Disk, CD ROM etc. - BOARD FULLY SOCKETED. 1 OF 3 1.05 OTHER FEATURES THAT WILL BE INCLUDED TIME AND SPACE PERMITTING - Support for 68020/030 and 32 bit RAM/ROM. - KickStart in RAM as per existing 1000. If you have other features that you think should be included, please write them down and send to the address below. We will not be able to put much more on the board but simple, useful things will be of benefit to all. The expected price of the PHOENIX BOARD is $600 with 1 Meg of RAM. The board will also be available bare if possible. A trade-in on the old A1000 is also a possibility. The A1000 chips such as the 68000 processor, Denise and Paula custom chips and CIAs will be reused to reduce costs, all other chips will be supplied. The PHOENIX BOARD will be a complete drop in replacement for the existing motherboard and will enable you to continue to use your existing external hardware. We will maintain the position of the 68000 chip in relation to the case internal fittings so that internal memory boards should still work but actually trying these will depend on their availability to us. The advantage of retaining the A1000's keyboard, power supply and mouse will be apparent to all who have compared theirs to the 500/2000 setup. There is a possibility of a local installation point in each state, so you will be without your computer for the least possible time if you do not feel confident to install the board yourself. We welcome inquiries from suitably skilled individuals or organisations to do this work. The PHOENIX Board will suit all model Amiga 1000s, not just the NTSC versions, and is a local, AUSTRALIAN MADE product. There is one hitch. Andrew Wilson currently has over twenty products in development, including an Audio/Video Digitiser, Colour Splitter, FAX Board for the Amiga, SCSI Board, 68020/68881 Board, A500 Internal 2 Meg board, and a Board allowing Workbench in ROM. As well as all this, he is also struggling to keep up with the demand for his 8 megabyte memory boards, hard drives, and other products. At present, Andrew is doing all the work himself, and as a result, development has a low priority. Of course, the PHOENIX BOARD is on the top of the list, but if present trends continue, it could never eventuate. That's why we need YOUR help. We have formed a company, SPANDUCT PTY. LTD., soon to be renamed PHOENIX MICRO TECHNOLOGIES PTY. LTD., that will employ people to assemble, test and market Andrew's present products, leaving Andrew to work on development. The first project of the company will be the PHOENIX BOARD. Development time for the PHOENIX BOARD is expected to be three to four weeks from commencement. If you would seriously be interested in investing in the PHOENIX BOARD, and increasing the potential of your Amiga 1000 to beyond that of even the Amiga 2000, please consider helping us. Place a $100 deposit on the board with us, and in less than three months, you could have a new computer sitting on your desk. Of course, if enough people do not place this deposit with us, the board will never eventuate, and the A1000 will fade into insignificance. People placing deposits with the company will receive a 20 percent discount on the price of their PHOENIX BOARD. Orders will be filled in the order in which they are received, ie first come first served. A closing date for deposits has been set at the 30th of November 1989 at which time we will be able to assess demand and make a decision on the viability of continuing with the project. All deposits will be refunded if, due to lack of response, we do not go ahead with the PHOENIX BOARD project. Once work has started no refunds will be possible. The sooner you place your deposit, the sooner it will all happen. Please consider helping us. You will really be helping yourself. 2 OF 3 1.05 Contact Andrew Wilson on : (08) 293-3960 (6.00-7.00pm Except Friday) or write to : 2 Meredyth Avenue Millswood South Australia 5034 Send Deposits and Orders to : Spanduct Pty Ltd P.O. Box 41 Goodwood South Australia 5034 ***** TO ENSURE THAT THE AMIGA 1000 SURVIVES INTO THE NEXT DECADE, PLEASE CONSIDER THE ABOVE PROPOSITION. AND PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THIS DOCUMENT AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE. ***** ROSS MOLDEN. JONATHAN POTTER. ANDREW WILSON. 10/10/89 Version 1.05 Subject to upgrade and improvement as the project advances Prices are approximate but should not vary by more than 10%. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Please complete this form and forward with your payment to the above P.O. Box. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I, _____________________________, wish to register an interest in the PHOENIX BOARD project by placing a deposit for ___ PHOENIX BOARD(S) at $100 each. I enclose a cheque/money order for $______. Yours sincerely, _______________________ Address : ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ Phone (work) : ___ _______ (home) : ___ _______ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 OF 3 1.05 That was the original information. The board is now complete and is being shipped. Things are a little slow but things are getting there. A friend of has just received his and it works fine in all areas. The actual price is AUS$ 695.00 for the bare board and the above address is wrong The address is Phoenix Microtechnologies Pty Ltd 18 Hampton Road Keswick South Australia 5035 Australia Phone +61-8-293-8752 Fax +61-8-293-8814 As far as I know you would have to order a board from trhem directly - give thema ring and find out - anyway - best of luck with your a1000 in the future and to all other a1000 owners out thre - LONG LIVE THE AMIGA 1000 Justin Deeley dweaver@phoenix.pub.uu.oz.au >-- >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- >David A. Haverkamp Collins Commercial Avionics Division > Rockwell International MS 124-211 >INTERNET: dah@zoot.avgrp.cr.rok.com Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52498