GVP A2000-HC+8 Series II - 4.15 .bin ROM, RAM Select...

[RiP]

Does anyone have the working v4.15 ROM in .bin format?

And what does it mean? 8M [ 4M x 1 ]

[Jope]

Download from Ralph Babel's site, convert if applicable, burn. If you need to find a conversion tool, the file format is "Intel hex"

4Mx1 is the geometry of the SIMM modules you would have to use if you were to choose that jumper setting.

[Toni Wilen]

Check the zone. (expansion_boot_roms.zip)

[RiP]

Thanks Jope, I know but I'm worry because some people were failed to get it to work with the .hex format before.
Does it mean 4MBits or 4MBytes? If 4MBytes, then can I use 2x4MBytes SIMM in the first and second slots?

@Toni Wilen: Thanks a lot, I didn't know that it's there too lol x)

[thebajaguy]

The jumper/memory answer is this:

Original HC8 units supported only 1Mbx8 (or 9) SIMMs in pairs for the common 2-4-6-8MB settings.

Boards that gained the U8 74F244 buffer chip gained support for using one pair of 4Mbx8 (or 9) SIMMs to get to 8MB, the jumper setting used J14, and the 4MB pair of modules went in the first bank position.

And in the case of MB vs Mb, it's the latter, as in 1 Megabit by 8 bits, or safely, 1 Megabyte capacity modules, or in the matching larger capacity case, 4 Megabyte modules.

As for the EPROM programming, one should program a 27C256 (32K capacity) with the code in both higher and lower 16K zones just to cover all the bases. Reason: There was a time when the other half of the address space was used for the AT ROM boot code on the old A3001's, and they didn't want to have to burn and stock two different ROM updates. I think the higher 16K address range is what is decoded by the HC8's, so if one programs the lower 16K space only, only blank is read at boot time.

[RiP]

Big thanks, can I use 27C128 too? and what about the latency of the EPROM chip?

[thebajaguy]

27C128 is a 16K EPROM. It will therefore appear in the first 16K of address space. There is no harm in trying (otherwise pin compatible), but my hazy memory is pretty sure it won't work (no boot driver found). I think the HC8 reads from the address 16K-32K range for it's code, and therefore a 32K EPROM is needed. I vaguely recall some of the Combo/G-force boards had a jumper to read the other (lower 16K) bank, but the Zorro II slot cards had no such option.

The other reason this seems right: GuruROM adapters have a jumper that alter the location that the ROM code window appears at - A2091 IIRC is in the first 16K, and the GVP is (because of what I described) in the second 16K.

I don't recall any specs from back then, but 150ns ROMs or faster are fine. I've never tried anything slower. The code is read from the chip into memory at init time once, and runs from RAM. It's running on the 7Mhz bus, so typical timing for that clock speed applies.

[Jope]

If you fit a small chip and the card decodes a larger address space, the data just gets mirrored.

[RiP]

Thanks guys, finally I could burn v4.15

[RiP]

Originally Posted by thebajaguy

The jumper/memory answer is this:

Original HC8 units supported only 1Mbx8 (or 9) SIMMs in pairs for the common 2-4-6-8MB settings.

Boards that gained the U8 74F244 buffer chip gained support for using one pair of 4Mbx8 (or 9) SIMMs to get to 8MB, the jumper setting used J14, and the 4MB pair of modules went in the first bank position.

And in the case of MB vs Mb, it's the latter, as in 1 Megabit by 8 bits, or safely, 1 Megabyte capacity modules, or in the matching larger capacity case, 4 Megabyte modules.

Well, I found some 4MB SIMMs and filled the first 2 slots and set the jumpers as J5 & J14 but got the red expansion board diagnostic screen

[Jope]

Originally Posted by RiP

Well, I found some 4MB SIMMs and filled the first 2 slots and set the jumpers as J5 & J14 but got the red expansion board diagnostic screen

I never got that to work with my GVP either. In the end I just dug out eight 1MB SIMMs and used those.

[RiP]

Thanks Jope, I think it means 8MB memory by using eight 4MB SIMMs to fill all of the slots for those who doesn't have 1MB SIMMs =/

[Jope]

I didn't actually try that, but it sounds very counter intuitive.

But based on these two experiences, I guess this just won't work, even though the jumper legend would lead you to believe it would.. I think I tried slots 1 + 2 and 1+5 when I gave it a go.

[RiP]

Thanks Jope, wish I could use only 2 ram sticks

[ShK]

Does GVP A2000-HC+8 Series II provide a parity bits?

[RiP]

Originally Posted by ShK

Does GVP A2000-HC+8 Series II provide a parity bits?

Good question!
From what I was heard before, parity is useless in amiga

[ShK]

It does not seem to have any effect, whether it is ON or not.

[RiP]

Originally Posted by ShK

It does not seem to have any effect, whether it is ON or not.

Is there any jumper for parity on the board?

[ShK]

Some Amiga SCSI controllers have a jumper, but HC+8 does not have it. I do not know if it is always in enabled with the HC+8, so I tried to change its mode from the hard disk.

[RiP]

Ah you meant the scsi parity not the parity for the ram stick, still no idea...