Amiga questions you've always been too embarrassed to ask

[Nobby_UK]

If you mean quit back to Workbench ?

I can if I click in the Top Left corner of the Screen.

Older versions run off their own disk might not have this ?

[demolition]

Don't know what you mean by 'reset' either. I have always been able to both quit X-Copy (click in top left corner) or reset using Ctrl-A-A. Although if you use 'killsys', it disables the exit function since there is no longer any OS to exit to. Reset still works though.

[Thomas Richter]

Originally Posted by demolition

A guru is shown when an unrecoverable error has occured. The numbers in the box tells where in memory the error happened and which type of error it is. It has the same purpose as a BSOD on Windows.

It is actually the address of the task structure of the task that crashed, not the PC of the failure. Thus, it is in general a useless piece of information.

Originally Posted by demolition

Don't know what you mean by 'reset' either. I have always been able to both quit X-Copy (click in top left corner) or reset using Ctrl-A-A. Although if you use 'killsys', it disables the exit function since there is no longer any OS to exit to. Reset still works though.

That depends on the system. On the keyboard Amigas, you cannot block or delay the reset. It is a hardwired keyboard function. On the desktop machines, one can.

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by Thomas Richter

That depends on the system. On the keyboard Amigas, you cannot block or delay the reset. It is a hardwired keyboard function. On the desktop machines, one can.

A1200 supports "reset warning". Only A500 and A600 does not.

[NLS]

Originally Posted by Hewitson

I've asked this before but didn't receive an answer. Is there a technical reason you can't reset while running X-Copy, or was the programmer just an asshole?

As other I also don't understand why you couldn't reset. It resets fine.
As for calling the programmer of something so much "worshiped" by so many people, "an asshole"... yeah, I cannot agree.

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by NLS

As for calling the programmer of something so much "worshiped" by so many people, "an asshole"... yeah, I cannot agree.

Fighting fire with fire here. Somewhere between worshipped and asshole lies the truth.

[StingRay]

Originally Posted by Hewitson

I've asked this before but didn't receive an answer. Is there a technical reason you can't reset while running X-Copy, or was the programmer just an asshole?

There never was any problem for me to perform a reset while X-Copy was running. If it didn't work for you it might have either been a problem on your end or there might have been a bug in X-Copy. Both are valid possibilities and neither should be a reason the call a coder "asshole"...

[rabidgerry]

What is scsi and why would I want it? What can be done with it? I sort of know what scsi is but not really if you get me.

[ajk]

SCSI stands for small computer system interface. It's a peripheral bus that can be used with various kinds of devices, internal or external. Amigas commonly used it for hard drives, CD-ROM drives and scanners, for example.

SCSI was less commonly used with IBM PC compatibles, so IDE (and later SATA, USB etc.) took over the consumer market in the 1990s and beyond as PCs became the dominant platform.

In Amiga use today, SCSI can allow for faster hard drives with less CPU use, when compared with IDE. However, SCSI devices are more expensive and less readily available.

[NLS]

To add to the reply above, SCSI was considered the more "pro" alternative to IDE.
Even IBM PC used this in workstations and all servers used it.

There are many versions of SCSI, very different is speed in technology, so if you don't know it, keep it that way and don't bother.
I still have 5-6 different cables (and terminators) for those...

[rabidgerry]

Thanks for those replies. That information is appreciated. Not saying I am going to do this but for example, I have a 060 card on the way to me and I think it can take a scsi kit, so could I connect my CF hard drive to this had I got the correct cable and adapter? This is a hypothetical I probably wouldn't bother with this.

[demolition]

To connect a CF card to a SCSI bus you'd often use an SCSI-IDE bridge like an ACARD AEC-7720U. They are quite expensive though and not easy to find. There's also some SCSI card readers that I think could be viable (also not easy to get a hold of).
The cheaper option for using modern flash storage is probably to use something like https://amigakit.amiga.store/product...oducts_id=1264, although the speed is not as high as what you would get from using the AEC-7720U.

[crazyc]

I think that link goes to the v5, whereas I think there is a version 6 that goes faster?

Also, having gone down the acard route etc I am really not convinced it was worth the hassle and cost, but when is it ever with this hobby.

On my blizzard the scsi kit restricts overclocking, not sure about on apollo cards.

[demolition]

Oh right, I see that rev. 6 is much faster, although the price is as well:
http://amigakit.amiga.store/product_...oducts_id=1314
In an 060, that extra speed would definitely be noticeable.

[Jope]

I run ACard SCSIDE bridges with CFIDE adapters on my "production Amigas" and am quite satisfied with the performance and reliability. A4000: CybSCSIMK2, A3000 internal SCSI, A2000: A2091.

I have a pair of SCSI2SD V6s as well, but the only controller I've had reliable success with is the A590.

[rabidgerry]

Having had a look about for some scsi stuff including those adapters on Amigakit, it does seem a bit expensive for the luxury. I just wonder how slow my CF card will be read once I switch from ACA1233n-40 to the Apollo 1260. This is all trivial though cause I should be/will be/am in good place I guess for enhanced Amiga experience I guess The ACA IDE speeder is pretty good.

[brett71]

So, the Amiga 4000 has a jumper on the mainboard to select between 2MB of CHIP RAM and 8MB of CHIP RAM. This option was never actually implemented though. Is there something in the motherboard design that prevents the 8MB option from being operational, or is it a limitation in the current versions of Kickstart or Amiga OS? (i.e. is the place where modifications would need to be done to implement this option lie in the hardware or the software?)

[Rotareneg]

The AGA chipset doesn't support 8 MB of chip ram. I'm not clear on if they originally expected the AA chips to support 8 megs or if the later AAA chips were to be drop-in replacements to allow the full 8 megs, but it never happened, leaving that jumper useless.

[NLS]

Indeed 8MB chip also needed different chipset.

[Locutus]

Originally Posted by rabidgerry

Having had a look about for some scsi stuff including those adapters on Amigakit, it does seem a bit expensive for the luxury. I just wonder how slow my CF card will be read once I switch from ACA1233n-40 to the Apollo 1260. This is all trivial though cause I should be/will be/am in good place I guess for enhanced Amiga experience I guess The ACA IDE speeder is pretty good.

Main benefit with SCSI nowadays is lower CPU consumption which makes a system feel more responsive and also makes some workloads faster then just the difference in bandwith would suggest.


However the Apollo 1260's SCSI card is very basic and doesn't support DMA which is what helps with the CPU offloading. IIRC it doesn't even have a real host controller and the CPU has the completely drive the SCSI bus by itself.



You might get some higher linear write speed but no lower CPU load.


Personally i think it's not worth the money.