Shopping for cheap Fast RAM tomorrow

Fingerlickin_B · 04 May 2007, 16:46

Before I go to the "computer fair" tomorrow and hit up all the second-hand sellers, I just wanted clarification on something.

For an A1200 is the following correct?

PCMCIA cards can be used, but must be 4mb or under and must specify themselves as being SRAM?

Also, will this work to give me the 4mb I need to install & use OS3.9?

Double also, will this memory be available without booting Workbench (say for bootable game disks, etc)?

Sorry about all the questions, but I searched and couldn't find a definitive answer, almost, but not quite

PZ.

killergorilla · 04 May 2007, 16:54

I think OS3.9 requires 6MB of Fast RAM. It was OS3.5 that needed 4MB

Even if you had the 6MB, OS3.9 would still run very, very badly. It's bad enough on my 68030 with 32MB of Fast RAM.

Fingerlickin_B · 04 May 2007, 16:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by killergorilla

I think OS3.9 requires 6MB of Fast RAM. It was OS3.5 that needed 4MB

Even if you had the 6MB, OS3.9 would still run very, very badly. It's bad enough on my 68030 with 32MB of Fast RAM.

Hmm, well buying 3.9 will have to be chalked up as being one of the supidest purchases I've ever made then

If only 3.5 was out of copywrite, I could dowload it...but of course it isn't

PZ.

tootoid · 04 May 2007, 17:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fingerlickin_B

Hmm, well buying 3.9 will have to be chalked up as being one of the supidest purchases I've ever made then

PZ.

Nah, just means you have an excuse to buy an accelerator now.

I was thinking of trying 3.9, is it really that bad KG? Using an '030 A1200 with 64Mb RAM and OS3.1 now.

killergorilla · 04 May 2007, 17:13

Well from my experiences I found it extremely sluggish and really not worth the extra eye-candy. But that's just me. You may be happy with it, but I'd recommend against buying an accelerator just for OS3.9.

Give 3.9 a try in WinUAE, see what you think of it, but remember to try it with a realistic setup, not a P96 screenmode, uber gfx card beast. Your A1200 ain't gonna reproduce that now is it

I'm just not a fan of OS3.5/OS3.9. I'm a classic Amiga user and am more than happy to use ClassicWB over 3.5/3.9 any day. It's more responsive, comes packed full of tools and it's free. Oh and it runs on a classic Amiga

Fingerlickin_B · 04 May 2007, 17:15

Thanks for the replies guys, it has been very helpful & stopped me from going on a fruitless install mission, but 3.9 aside, I'd still like to clarify as to wether the following observations are correct or not:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fingerlickin_B

is the following correct?

PCMCIA cards can be used, but must be 4mb or under and must specify themselves as being SRAM?

Also, will this memory be available without booting Workbench (say for bootable game disks, etc)?

*edit* - KG, I've been to the Classic WB site and had a look, but wasn't sure if it was for me.
Is it an actual OS, or just a skin?
My main concerns were loosing memory if it was a skin and loosing functionality if it was a true OS.
Any downsides?

killergorilla · 04 May 2007, 17:23

Nah it's not a skin. It's a workbench replacement of sorts.

I use ClassicWB FULL and it's very resource friendly. It'll leave you with most of your precious chipram free and use your Fast RAM instead.

I'd recommend at least trying it out, see if you like it. I'd also recommend installing a replacement filesystem on your Amiga too. Smart File System (SFS) really does speed up your Amiga.

http://classicwb.abime.net/classicweb/introduction.htm

That page should explain anything you need to know but I can answer any specific questions if you need me to

Mad-Matt · 04 May 2007, 17:30

i never tried os35/39 on aga, but via 040/rtg, its pretty slick

i certianly would never clean install my own miggy with anything less then 3.9. starting an install from scratch with 3.1 in uae and i had to wonder how the hell we managed as ypu need to install a load of extras to get it running nice n modenish. even further back i still dont know how we made it though with os 1.3, it lacks ..everything

Fingerlickin_B · 04 May 2007, 17:32

Cool, I'm downloading both the Lite & Full versions right now...connection speed is very low now...lol

Thanks for clearing that up KG

Anyone gunna' tell me about the PCMCIA SRAM stuff now?

PZ.

Fingerlickin_B · 04 May 2007, 17:34

Matt, you've convinced me, 3.9 sounds like a PITA, so I'll go with what you said (aside from actually using it, I'll sell it)

*edit* - Out having a smoke I just realised that reasons for getting 3.9 were the net access, newer audio & video players, etc.
Classic WB won't give me those...and here I am having just purchased 3.1 ROMs & other stuff I couldn't really afford in order to install 3.9 after Amigakit's site NOT telling me I need well over 32mb of RAM...stuff from the UK costs an arm & a leg too...oh f*cking joy!!!!

Zetr0 · 04 May 2007, 20:59

Heys fingers,

okies... you can only use SRAM memory cards in the PCMCIA port as you know.. the limmitations are 4MB or under! (any more either wont work or will only string up *upto* 4MB)

I would recomend using the pcmcia on the a1200 rather than attempting to get hold of (somewhat overly expensive sram pcmcia memory) instead i would use the pcmcia for either a wirless network card or in conjuntion with a compact flash card and adapter!.

save your redies m8y, and plumb for an accelerator card...

ppill · 04 May 2007, 21:18

3.9 has nothing you can't live without or can't replace with software that runs just as well on a 3.1 setup. There were some major changes (especially with the IDE drivers and FFS filesystem) and a TCP/IP stack thrown in but why not use Miami or AmiTCP? People bought these upgrades in hope that a PPC OS would follow as good sales were to convince Amiga inc. that developing such a version would be financially feasible.
As for the memory expansion it'a a good idea but investing in a accelerator would definitely give you a better Amiga experience. I remember my switch from an 8 meg expansion to an Apollo40/40. Me and my twin brother almost hit the roof when Workbench booted up in under 10 seconds

amigarobbo · 04 May 2007, 22:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fingerlickin_B

If only 3.5 was out of copywrite, I could dowload it...but of course it isn't

PZ.

There's a folder, sorry drawer, on the 3.9 CD called 3.5, not had a play with it, but would you just copy those onto your Boot Partition and give you 3.5?

Thinks for a bit....

or maybe that's just the thing that get's copied when you select 3.8 update over 3.5?

probably!

Sorry, can't help with the Sram questions, I've just (2 Hours ago) won one off ePay, and I'm hoping it'll work!

dambuster · 05 May 2007, 14:55

wb 3.5 is on the cd, youll have to show all files/folders as it dont have an icon. No installer tho

Fingerlickin_B · 09 May 2007, 14:21

Ok, so the general consensus seems to be that I should get an accelerator instead.

I don't really plan on using the PCMCIA slot for anything else anyway, but that's cool.

Yep, no luck getting PCMCIA SRAM anyway

Well here's the bit, I don't really want an accelerator, nor can I afford one...they are just far to expensive.

I really just want a simple memory expansion now, but does such a thing exist?

I've searched eBay & Googled heaps, but just keep finding accelerator upon accelerator

PZ.

*edit* Have taken up the advice regarding 3.9 and won't be using it now either.

killergorilla · 09 May 2007, 14:28

You can grab RAM cards which fit in the trapdoor slot of your A1200. They are usually quite cheap and can take up to 8MB of RAM I think.
(if you don't plan on using the pcmcia slot as well)

They shouldn't be too expensive nowdays.

Fingerlickin_B · 09 May 2007, 14:33

Thats the kind of thing I'm looking for KG, but can't find one anywhere

killergorilla · 09 May 2007, 14:41

ah yeah, just noticed you are in Aus...

I've no idea where to find them then.

There is a '1202 DKB expansion board' on this site but that's all I dug up

http://mc1.boing.net/mc1amiga/usedpart.htm

Fingerlickin_B · 09 May 2007, 14:58

That's cheaper than anything I've seen so far thanks man

Oh, and thanks for searching, I didn't expect you to do that

PZ.

Fingerlickin_B · 09 May 2007, 15:30

I've found a 32mb DRAM PCMCIA card.

Would it work? (of course only providing the permissible 4mb)

04 May 2007, 16:46	#1
Fingerlickin_B Amiga Nut Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Belco, Australia Posts: 2,242	Shopping for cheap Fast RAM tomorrow Before I go to the "computer fair" tomorrow and hit up all the second-hand sellers, I just wanted clarification on something. For an A1200 is the following correct? PCMCIA cards can be used, but must be 4mb or under and must specify themselves as being SRAM? Also, will this work to give me the 4mb I need to install & use OS3.9? Double also, will this memory be available without booting Workbench (say for bootable game disks, etc)? Sorry about all the questions, but I searched and couldn't find a definitive answer, almost, but not quite PZ.

04 May 2007, 17:34	#10
Fingerlickin_B Amiga Nut Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Belco, Australia Posts: 2,242	Matt, you've convinced me, 3.9 sounds like a PITA, so I'll go with what you said (aside from actually using it, I'll sell it) edit - Out having a smoke I just realised that reasons for getting 3.9 were the net access, newer audio & video players, etc. Classic WB won't give me those...and here I am having just purchased 3.1 ROMs & other stuff I couldn't really afford in order to install 3.9 after Amigakit's site NOT telling me I need well over 32mb of RAM...stuff from the UK costs an arm & a leg too...oh fcking joy!!!! Last edited by Fingerlickin_B; 04 May 2007 at 17:48.*

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04 May 2007, 16:54	#2
killergorilla Lesser Talent Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: UK Age: 42 Posts: 7,957	I think OS3.9 requires 6MB of Fast RAM. It was OS3.5 that needed 4MB Even if you had the 6MB, OS3.9 would still run very, very badly. It's bad enough on my 68030 with 32MB of Fast RAM.

04 May 2007, 17:13	#5
killergorilla Lesser Talent Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: UK Age: 42 Posts: 7,957	Well from my experiences I found it extremely sluggish and really not worth the extra eye-candy. But that's just me. You may be happy with it, but I'd recommend against buying an accelerator just for OS3.9. Give 3.9 a try in WinUAE, see what you think of it, but remember to try it with a realistic setup, not a P96 screenmode, uber gfx card beast. Your A1200 ain't gonna reproduce that now is it I'm just not a fan of OS3.5/OS3.9. I'm a classic Amiga user and am more than happy to use ClassicWB over 3.5/3.9 any day. It's more responsive, comes packed full of tools and it's free. Oh and it runs on a classic Amiga

04 May 2007, 17:23	#7
killergorilla Lesser Talent Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: UK Age: 42 Posts: 7,957	Nah it's not a skin. It's a workbench replacement of sorts. I use ClassicWB FULL and it's very resource friendly. It'll leave you with most of your precious chipram free and use your Fast RAM instead. I'd recommend at least trying it out, see if you like it. I'd also recommend installing a replacement filesystem on your Amiga too. Smart File System (SFS) really does speed up your Amiga. http://classicwb.abime.net/classicweb/introduction.htm That page should explain anything you need to know but I can answer any specific questions if you need me to

04 May 2007, 17:30	#8
Mad-Matt Longplayer Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Lincoln / UK Age: 45 Posts: 1,853	i never tried os35/39 on aga, but via 040/rtg, its pretty slick i certianly would never clean install my own miggy with anything less then 3.9. starting an install from scratch with 3.1 in uae and i had to wonder how the hell we managed as ypu need to install a load of extras to get it running nice n modenish. even further back i still dont know how we made it though with os 1.3, it lacks ..everything

04 May 2007, 17:32	#9
Fingerlickin_B Amiga Nut Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Belco, Australia Posts: 2,242	Cool, I'm downloading both the Lite & Full versions right now...connection speed is very low now...lol Thanks for clearing that up KG Anyone gunna' tell me about the PCMCIA SRAM stuff now? PZ.

04 May 2007, 20:59	#11
Zetr0 Ya' like it Retr0? Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: United Kingdom Age: 49 Posts: 9,768	Heys fingers, okies... you can only use SRAM memory cards in the PCMCIA port as you know.. the limmitations are 4MB or under! (any more either wont work or will only string up upto 4MB) I would recomend using the pcmcia on the a1200 rather than attempting to get hold of (somewhat overly expensive sram pcmcia memory) instead i would use the pcmcia for either a wirless network card or in conjuntion with a compact flash card and adapter!. save your redies m8y, and plumb for an accelerator card...

04 May 2007, 21:18	#12
ppill CON: artist Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Poland Age: 43 Posts: 1,250	3.9 has nothing you can't live without or can't replace with software that runs just as well on a 3.1 setup. There were some major changes (especially with the IDE drivers and FFS filesystem) and a TCP/IP stack thrown in but why not use Miami or AmiTCP? People bought these upgrades in hope that a PPC OS would follow as good sales were to convince Amiga inc. that developing such a version would be financially feasible. As for the memory expansion it'a a good idea but investing in a accelerator would definitely give you a better Amiga experience. I remember my switch from an 8 meg expansion to an Apollo40/40. Me and my twin brother almost hit the roof when Workbench booted up in under 10 seconds

05 May 2007, 14:55	#14
dambuster Zone Friend Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Dundee / Scotland Posts: 151	wb 3.5 is on the cd, youll have to show all files/folders as it dont have an icon. No installer tho

09 May 2007, 14:21	#15
Fingerlickin_B Amiga Nut Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Belco, Australia Posts: 2,242	Ok, so the general consensus seems to be that I should get an accelerator instead. I don't really plan on using the PCMCIA slot for anything else anyway, but that's cool. Yep, no luck getting PCMCIA SRAM anyway Well here's the bit, I don't really want an accelerator, nor can I afford one...they are just far to expensive. I really just want a simple memory expansion now, but does such a thing exist? I've searched eBay & Googled heaps, but just keep finding accelerator upon accelerator PZ. edit Have taken up the advice regarding 3.9 and won't be using it now either.

09 May 2007, 14:28	#16
killergorilla Lesser Talent Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: UK Age: 42 Posts: 7,957	You can grab RAM cards which fit in the trapdoor slot of your A1200. They are usually quite cheap and can take up to 8MB of RAM I think. (if you don't plan on using the pcmcia slot as well) They shouldn't be too expensive nowdays.

09 May 2007, 14:33	#17
Fingerlickin_B Amiga Nut Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Belco, Australia Posts: 2,242	Thats the kind of thing I'm looking for KG, but can't find one anywhere

09 May 2007, 14:41	#18
killergorilla Lesser Talent Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: UK Age: 42 Posts: 7,957	ah yeah, just noticed you are in Aus... I've no idea where to find them then. There is a '1202 DKB expansion board' on this site but that's all I dug up http://mc1.boing.net/mc1amiga/usedpart.htm

09 May 2007, 14:58	#19
Fingerlickin_B Amiga Nut Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Belco, Australia Posts: 2,242	That's cheaper than anything I've seen so far thanks man Oh, and thanks for searching, I didn't expect you to do that PZ.

09 May 2007, 15:30	#20
Fingerlickin_B Amiga Nut Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Belco, Australia Posts: 2,242	I've found a 32mb DRAM PCMCIA card. Would it work? (of course only providing the permissible 4mb)

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