<LEEK@QUCDN.QueensU.CA> (06/28/90)
One thing would be nice to have is a disk controller that can be programmed to handle variable data rates (say from 100K bits/sec to 1 M bits/sec). Kind of handy for reading off 1.44 Meg (or bigger) and MAC varible rotational speed floppies with a standard Amiga disk drive (Think of all the new non-grind- grind-grind disk based protection..:) Can we have it ?? Please... Please.... K. C. Lee
rlsmith@mcnc.org (Robert L. Smith) (06/30/90)
What all Amigas need is to be acceptable to general business use.
I have banker friends who absolutely refuse to buy a computer that
omits parity on DRAM; no Mac and no Amiga for them! And bankers are
not alone. I don't know what the sales improvement would be with
parity, but the Amiga multitasking and (slight) graphics advantages
over IBM and its clones would weigh into that market if RAM parity was
available.
The other major improvement that all Amigas need is a hardware
change enabling use of the principal 68K-family program debugging
tool. I'm speaking of Bus Error, returned for an unrecognized value
on the Address Bus. A single-shot plus a trifle of logic would
implement that, especially if DTACK were properly left to each
peripheral.
When Commodore wants to get serious, it should seriously consider
these fundamentals.
(Let me hasten to add that while I've studied the 1000 closely,
I'm ignorant of detail on the 500, 2000 and up. If Commodore has
implemented either of the above on any of those, I apologize and offer
congratulations.)
Regards, rLsjms@tardis.Tymnet.COM (Joe Smith) (07/03/90)
Sure, it's possible to add all those things. But who want's to spend
$10,000 for a "home computer".
--
Joe Smith (408)922-6220 | SMTP: jms@tardis.tymnet.com or jms@gemini.tymnet.com
BT Tymnet Tech Services | UUCP: ...!{ames,pyramid}!oliveb!tymix!tardis!jms
PO Box 49019, MS-C41 | BIX: smithjoe | 12 PDP-10s still running! "POPJ P,"
San Jose, CA 95161-9019 | humorous dislaimer: "My Amiga speaks for me."zeno@milton.u.washington.edu (no such thing as a point) (07/03/90)
In article <1146@tardis.Tymnet.COM> jms@tardis.Tymnet.COM (Joe Smith) writes: >Sure, it's possible to add all those things. But who want's to spend >$10,000 for a "home computer". Why Not? IBM tried to do it, and with lesser powered equipment. -- | Sean T. Lamont | | |University of Washington | "Wave upon wave of demented avengers | |ZENO@milton.acs.washington.edu| march cheerfully out of obscurity | | Savery hall, room 135. | into the dream"- P. Floyd |
daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) (07/04/90)
In article <2386@speedy.mcnc.org> rlsmith@mcnc.org (Robert L. Smith) writes: > The other major improvement that all Amigas need is a hardware >change enabling use of the principal 68K-family program debugging >tool. I'm speaking of Bus Error, returned for an unrecognized value >on the Address Bus. While that's hardly the principal 68K family program debugging tool (most debugging tools are far more sophisticated, and on any 68030 machine, the generation of the level 2 exception that this bus error circuitry gives you can just as easily be added via software traps). >A single-shot plus a trifle of logic would implement that, especially if >DTACK were properly left to each peripheral. Well, of course there's no DTACK* on the 3000 execept on the expansion bus. But we do have several bus timeout options offered via a programmable register in the GARY chip. Basically, at powerup, any cycle that isn't terminated by DSACKn*, STERM*, AVEC*, or any externally generated BERR* will get both DSACKs yanked for it after an 8uS timeout. This mode allows software to poll various memory areas that might actually contain things, without wasting an undue amount of time during boot up. Once the system is up, the timeout mode is changed to generate a BERR* after 1/4 Second with no proper cycle termination. > When Commodore wants to get serious, it should seriously consider >these fundamentals. Well, I don't want to restart YALDOPD (Yet Another Long Drawn-Out Parity Discussion). But regardless of it's actual utility, most of the folks who think they need parity (like the bankers you mention) don't have a single clue about the actual tradeoffs involved. They are simply superstitious. Which makes the issue of parity a Marketing issue, something I'm not going to speak on. If Marketing wants it, Marketing will have it. Of course, any expansion memory board can support parity memory, and fail just as miserably as any PClone in the extremely unlikely event it encounters a parity failure. >Regards, rLs -- Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests" {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh PLINK: hazy BIX: hazy "I have been given the freedom to do as I see fit" -REM