A-Max ][+ on A2000

shirsch · 04 June 2007, 13:44

Anyone using an A-Max ][+ card on an A2000? I picked one up at a swap meet, but am not having a lot of success installing it. Using software found on the net ("unofficial Amax page"), I was able to get MacOS 7.0.1 to boot. However, the keyboard is completely dead in the Mac environment (mouse works). If I try to initialize a hard disk partition to Amax format, it goes through the motions of writing something to the drive but the volume never appears. This somewhat limits usability, since I cannot install or use anything :-).

I'm wondering if the AMax is unhappy with the 3.1 ROM and/or AmigaOS 3.1 (since it predates both). Does anyone have this combination working?

shirsch · 13 June 2007, 13:14

As a quick followup: It turns out that the AMax predates Kickstart 3.1 and that appears to be the root of the issue. With Kickstart 2.04 it works properly.

I've posted this in another thread, but it's worth asking here: Does anyone know of a "preload" utility that would permit me to cache a 2.04 Kickstart image in RAM and boot Amiga OS over that level of ROM?

Jope · 13 June 2007, 14:28

Checkout skick on Aminet.

shirsch · 18 June 2007, 00:44

An update on my battles with the AMax ][+ board:

The driver disk images floating around on the net are problematic! All of them crow about being "cracked" and not requiring the original Apple Macintosh ROMs. That may be the case, but to the last they result in a booted Mac emulation with a non-responsive keyboard. At great pain, I was able to extract the original software from the mostly-crashed Quantum hard disk I was given with the board. Using this, and the real Apple ROMs on the AMax, it has a live keyboard; even under Kickstart 3.1

Next issue: The Apple System 7.0.1 installer refuses to see the emulated hard disk. I found that I had to boot the System 6.0.8 installer and format from there. After this initialization, I was able to reboot 7.0.1 and install successfully.

So, I'm on my way. It's now working with a GVP 68030 40Mhz. accelerator and 12MB of memory in my A2000. Not too shabby!

Just wanted to warn others about the cracked support diskettes. They may well work with the AMax on other platforms, but avoid them if you have an A2000.

Supamax · 17 May 2009, 00:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by shirsch

An update on my battles with the AMax ][+ board:

The driver disk images floating around on the net are problematic! All of them crow about being "cracked" and not requiring the original Apple Macintosh ROMs. That may be the case, but to the last they result in a booted Mac emulation with a non-responsive keyboard. At great pain, I was able to extract the original software from the mostly-crashed Quantum hard disk I was given with the board. Using this, and the real Apple ROMs on the AMax, it has a live keyboard; even under Kickstart 3.1

Hi shirsch,
do you still have the A-Max II+ board?

If so, do you think it could be possible for you to dump the board ROM? (Not the Mac ROMs, but the A-Max ROM/EPROM)

By the way, I never had any keyboard problems with any cracked A-Max 1.x/2.x release. Was your problems due perhaps to your having the original A-Max board connected?

rkauer · 17 May 2009, 06:18

If problem persists, Enforcer (the Aminet program) can be an option...

cosmicfrog · 17 May 2009, 09:06

Last Activity: 22 August 2008 12:56

lets hope he logs back on soon and he might be able to help us

Supamax · 17 May 2009, 17:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkauer

If problem persists, Enforcer (the Aminet program) can be an option...

How could it help?
Do you mean the keyboard problems? (I didn't have any)

prowler · 17 May 2009, 22:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosmicfrog

Last Activity: 22 August 2008 12:56

lets hope he logs back on soon and he might be able to help us

Maybe he's subscribed to this thread.

shirsch · 20 May 2009, 02:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Supamax

Hi shirsch,
do you still have the A-Max II+ board?

Yes, I do.

Quote:

If so, do you think it could be possible for you to dump the board ROM? (Not the Mac ROMs, but the A-Max ROM/EPROM)

Sure, but it may be a week or so before I can pull the machine apart and get to it.

Quote:

By the way, I never had any keyboard problems with any cracked A-Max 1.x/2.x release. Was your problems due perhaps to your having the original A-Max board connected?

Original? No. This is a II+

Supamax · 20 May 2009, 04:21

Hi shirsch!
Welcome back to your thread!

.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shirsch

Original? No. This is a II+

What do you mean? Isn't it an original II+ board?

EDIT (27 march 2010)

I understood what you were meaning with "original"

: your card is not the first one (vII) but the newer one (vII+).
Sorry for the misunderstanding

.

cosmicfrog · 20 May 2009, 08:11

Kewl Newz Dude, Hi shirsch & Ribbits from me 2 you

heres the thread that started all this mac stuff on the Amiga thingy

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=15719

as may see its turning in to an epic so any info you could supply would be welcome indeed.

And nice 1 supamax for sniffing this one out

shirsch · 20 May 2009, 13:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Supamax

Hi shirsch!
What do you mean? Isn't it an original II+ board?

I suspect I did not understand your question. Can you rephrase?

prowler · 20 May 2009, 23:22

WOW! We have another A-Max correspondent!

prowler · 25 February 2010, 00:58

Hi Cosmic/Supamax,

I'll be resurrecting this thread when I get the A-Max II+ card I just won on eBay. Then there'll be no misunderstandings.

The only difference is that I'll be running the A-Max II+ on an A4000.

cosmicfrog · 25 February 2010, 10:06

yay so you got it then

spose we just gota wait for shipping now

Supamax · 25 February 2010, 13:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by prowler

The only difference is that I'll be running the A-Max II+ on an A4000.

By the way, I didn't know you had an A4000...

I envy you!

prowler · 25 February 2010, 19:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosmicfrog

yay so you got it then

spose we just gota wait for shipping now

CrossMAC took 14 days to ship from the USA.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Supamax

By the way, I didn't know you had an A4000...

I envy you!

I got it by collecting it from DoogUK's last November when I visited him with cosmicfrog. It seems that the PM I received from him the next day was the last time that anyone here has heard from him.

cosmicfrog · 25 February 2010, 21:20

yep he`s either lying low or kicked the bucket, lets hope its the former and not the latter

and boy was it a trip and a half to get there and back

prowler · 26 March 2010, 00:43

@shirsch,

Could you have a look at your A-Max II Plus card for me, please, if you still have it?

The IC5 chip is available in two revisions: AMAX1-G and AMAX1-H. The latter revision of this chip is an upgrade which makes the card compatible with the A-Max IV emulator.

Can you tell from the markings which revision of that chip is fitted to your card?

The A-MAX1-H chip might not offer backward compatibility with 2.x versions of the emulator regarding the way that A-Max floppy disks are formatted.

04 June 2007, 13:44	#1
shirsch Zone Friend Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Burlington, VT USA Posts: 34	A-Max ][+ on A2000 Anyone using an A-Max ][+ card on an A2000? I picked one up at a swap meet, but am not having a lot of success installing it. Using software found on the net ("unofficial Amax page"), I was able to get MacOS 7.0.1 to boot. However, the keyboard is completely dead in the Mac environment (mouse works). If I try to initialize a hard disk partition to Amax format, it goes through the motions of writing something to the drive but the volume never appears. This somewhat limits usability, since I cannot install or use anything :-). I'm wondering if the AMax is unhappy with the 3.1 ROM and/or AmigaOS 3.1 (since it predates both). Does anyone have this combination working?

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13 June 2007, 13:14	#2
shirsch Zone Friend Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Burlington, VT USA Posts: 34	As a quick followup: It turns out that the AMax predates Kickstart 3.1 and that appears to be the root of the issue. With Kickstart 2.04 it works properly. I've posted this in another thread, but it's worth asking here: Does anyone know of a "preload" utility that would permit me to cache a 2.04 Kickstart image in RAM and boot Amiga OS over that level of ROM?

13 June 2007, 14:28	#3
Jope - Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Helsinki / Finland Age: 43 Posts: 9,861	Checkout skick on Aminet.

18 June 2007, 00:44	#4
shirsch Zone Friend Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Burlington, VT USA Posts: 34	An update on my battles with the AMax ][+ board: The driver disk images floating around on the net are problematic! All of them crow about being "cracked" and not requiring the original Apple Macintosh ROMs. That may be the case, but to the last they result in a booted Mac emulation with a non-responsive keyboard. At great pain, I was able to extract the original software from the mostly-crashed Quantum hard disk I was given with the board. Using this, and the real Apple ROMs on the AMax, it has a live keyboard; even under Kickstart 3.1 Next issue: The Apple System 7.0.1 installer refuses to see the emulated hard disk. I found that I had to boot the System 6.0.8 installer and format from there. After this initialization, I was able to reboot 7.0.1 and install successfully. So, I'm on my way. It's now working with a GVP 68030 40Mhz. accelerator and 12MB of memory in my A2000. Not too shabby! Just wanted to warn others about the cracked support diskettes. They may well work with the AMax on other platforms, but avoid them if you have an A2000.

17 May 2009, 06:18	#6
rkauer I hate potatos and shirts Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Sao Leopoldo / Brazil Age: 58 Posts: 3,482	If problem persists, Enforcer (the Aminet program) can be an option...

17 May 2009, 09:06	#7
cosmicfrog The 1 who ribbits Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: leek, Staffs, UK Age: 56 Posts: 3,557	Last Activity: 22 August 2008 12:56 lets hope he logs back on soon and he might be able to help us

20 May 2009, 08:11	#12
cosmicfrog The 1 who ribbits Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: leek, Staffs, UK Age: 56 Posts: 3,557	Kewl Newz Dude, Hi shirsch & Ribbits from me 2 you heres the thread that started all this mac stuff on the Amiga thingy http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=15719 as may see its turning in to an epic so any info you could supply would be welcome indeed. And nice 1 supamax for sniffing this one out

20 May 2009, 23:22	#14
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	WOW! We have another A-Max correspondent!

25 February 2010, 00:58	#15
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	Hi Cosmic/Supamax, I'll be resurrecting this thread when I get the A-Max II+ card I just won on eBay. Then there'll be no misunderstandings. The only difference is that I'll be running the A-Max II+ on an A4000.

25 February 2010, 10:06	#16
cosmicfrog The 1 who ribbits Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: leek, Staffs, UK Age: 56 Posts: 3,557	yay so you got it then spose we just gota wait for shipping now

25 February 2010, 21:20	#19
cosmicfrog The 1 who ribbits Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: leek, Staffs, UK Age: 56 Posts: 3,557	yep he`s either lying low or kicked the bucket, lets hope its the former and not the latter and boy was it a trip and a half to get there and back

26 March 2010, 00:43	#20
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	@shirsch, Could you have a look at your A-Max II Plus card for me, please, if you still have it? The IC5 chip is available in two revisions: AMAX1-G and AMAX1-H. The latter revision of this chip is an upgrade which makes the card compatible with the A-Max IV emulator. Can you tell from the markings which revision of that chip is fitted to your card? The A-MAX1-H chip might not offer backward compatibility with 2.x versions of the emulator regarding the way that A-Max floppy disks are formatted.

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