Any real benefit to use Kickstart 2.0 on A500 (not plus)?

nobody · 30 August 2018, 16:53

I have a spare kickstart from my A500+, version 2.04.
The mb is rev 6A and has 512k chip+512 slow (ECS agnus). No hard disk there. Is there some reason to update to newer ROM ? Are there some programs that will require kickstart 2 and run on disk to justify the update?

Nibbler · 30 August 2018, 16:58

Hmm, maybe for booting fom DF1: instead of DF0: ? (maybe usefull if you have a Gotek Drive)

ajk · 30 August 2018, 16:59

I would say no. Most things that need 2.x are only useful when combined with extra resources. You will lose a lot of compatibility with things that expect 1.3.

Nibbler · 30 August 2018, 17:02

True, best compatibility with 1.3 for old and stubborn games.

nobody · 30 August 2018, 17:07

What about hacking motherboard for 1mb chip? I see some stuff especially new that require that. Isn't that a kick2 feature?

Daedalus · 30 August 2018, 17:23

No, Kickstart 2 doesn't change the memory allocation - the trapdoor is normally wired to use the expansion as slow fast RAM. It is easy to modify the 6a motherboard for 1MB of chip RAM, which will help some games and software to work where they otherwise wouldn't. But some old games expect the expansion RAM to be slow fast RAM, not chip RAM, and will fail because of this. So, it will affect compatibility either way, though just how many and which games would be affected, I don't know.

Paulee_Bow · 30 August 2018, 17:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by nobody

What about hacking motherboard for 1mb chip? I see some stuff especially new that require that. Isn't that a kick2 feature?

These are two things that happened around the same time.

With the A500+ C= brought out Kickstart 2.04 and 1MB Chip.
But you don’t NEED 2.04 to have 1MB chip.

alexh · 30 August 2018, 17:59

I bought my A500 in 1990/91 and it was a half-ECS machine had a fatter Agnus (but no ECS denise) and KS2.04

I found that a high percentage of "backup" floppy disk games were incompatible with KS2.04 and I had to fit a Kickstart switcher for compatibility.

As a gamer I gained nothing from KS2.04 and had it permanently set to KS1.3

That was until I got a HDD, a GVP HD8+, when you have one you find that lots of HDD "apps" require OS2+

Hewitson · 31 August 2018, 11:12

If you don't have a HDD I'd say don't bother.

30 August 2018, 16:53	#1
nobody Registered User Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: GR Age: 47 Posts: 1,416	Any real benefit to use Kickstart 2.0 on A500 (not plus)? I have a spare kickstart from my A500+, version 2.04. The mb is rev 6A and has 512k chip+512 slow (ECS agnus). No hard disk there. Is there some reason to update to newer ROM ? Are there some programs that will require kickstart 2 and run on disk to justify the update?

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Kickstart 2.04 on A500	appiah4	support.Hardware	27	03 January 2017 18:55
Kickstart 3.1 (40.63) into A500+	Mogsy	support.Hardware	6	02 February 2013 19:49
Kickstart 2.05 on A500	Kakaboy	support.Hardware	43	08 March 2010 02:43
WTB 2.04 Kickstart for A500	beanz	MarketPlace	4	10 July 2007 06:35
Benefit's of a Real Amiga vs Emulation	Ian	Retrogaming General Discussion	41	29 December 2004 22:36

30 August 2018, 16:58	#2
Nibbler namm namm AMIGA Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Austria Age: 44 Posts: 734	Hmm, maybe for booting fom DF1: instead of DF0: ? (maybe usefull if you have a Gotek Drive)

30 August 2018, 16:59	#3
ajk Registered User Join Date: May 2010 Location: Helsinki, Finland Posts: 1,341	I would say no. Most things that need 2.x are only useful when combined with extra resources. You will lose a lot of compatibility with things that expect 1.3.

30 August 2018, 17:02	#4
Nibbler namm namm AMIGA Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Austria Age: 44 Posts: 734	True, best compatibility with 1.3 for old and stubborn games.

30 August 2018, 17:07	#5
nobody Registered User Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: GR Age: 47 Posts: 1,416	What about hacking motherboard for 1mb chip? I see some stuff especially new that require that. Isn't that a kick2 feature?

30 August 2018, 17:23	#6
Daedalus Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Dublin, then Glasgow Posts: 6,346	No, Kickstart 2 doesn't change the memory allocation - the trapdoor is normally wired to use the expansion as slow fast RAM. It is easy to modify the 6a motherboard for 1MB of chip RAM, which will help some games and software to work where they otherwise wouldn't. But some old games expect the expansion RAM to be slow fast RAM, not chip RAM, and will fail because of this. So, it will affect compatibility either way, though just how many and which games would be affected, I don't know.

30 August 2018, 17:59	#8
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,354	I bought my A500 in 1990/91 and it was a half-ECS machine had a fatter Agnus (but no ECS denise) and KS2.04 I found that a high percentage of "backup" floppy disk games were incompatible with KS2.04 and I had to fit a Kickstart switcher for compatibility. As a gamer I gained nothing from KS2.04 and had it permanently set to KS1.3 That was until I got a HDD, a GVP HD8+, when you have one you find that lots of HDD "apps" require OS2+

31 August 2018, 11:12	#9
Hewitson Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Melbourne, Australia Age: 41 Posts: 3,773	If you don't have a HDD I'd say don't bother.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)