Allocating Fast RAM as Chip?

Fingerlickin_B · 07 November 2008, 00:22

Hi all,

Is this possible? Probably not, but hey, you never know until you ask

My A1200 has 64mb on the Blizzard & the 2mb Chip on the motherboard, but I was wondering if there is any way of allocating some of the Fast RAM as Chip?

I did a search first, but came up with nothing.

PZ.

fryguy · 07 November 2008, 00:31

I don't think it's possible. Done the other way around though, used chipmem as fast to get Best of the best to run on unexpanded A1200.

alexh · 07 November 2008, 00:51

Fast RAM cannot be allocated as chip RAM because AFAIK there is no DMA connection between the accelerator and the mainboard chips. The CPU must copy the data between the two.

Fingerlickin_B · 07 November 2008, 01:12

Ok, well that clears that up for me. Thanks Alex.

PZ.

AlfaRomeo · 07 November 2008, 02:02

In other way I think A1200 and A4000 are prepared to have 8Mb ChipRam but WB can´t manage that chip memory, I wonder if it´s possible to solder the missing 6Mb ChipMem and use it in another way..

Charlie · 07 November 2008, 02:14

Ahh, if only...
Sadly 2mb is as far as the AGA chipset goes.
The next one 'AAA' was to have 8mb & the A4000 was to have had it (hence the mobo jumpers)but the new chipset got cancelled.

NovaCoder · 07 November 2008, 05:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie

Ahh, if only...
Sadly 2mb is as far as the AGA chipset goes.
The next one 'AAA' was to have 8mb & the A4000 was to have had it (hence the mobo jumpers)but the new chipset got cancelled.

I look at chipram as graphics memory, I'm over-simplifying it but it seems logical to me.

Paul_s · 07 November 2008, 09:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie

Ahh, if only...
Sadly 2mb is as far as the AGA chipset goes.
The next one 'AAA' was to have 8mb & the A4000 was to have had it (hence the mobo jumpers)but the new chipset got cancelled.

Then we must rebuild it! Go forth and multiply the A into AAA

/runs

Thorham · 07 November 2008, 09:50

As said already, it's not possible. However, there's quite some things that can work in fastmem instead of chipmem. Check out Fblit from Aminet (and it's companion program Ftext).

For example, if you're using NewIcons with aga, you can use the rtg option when using Fblit, and have the icons stored in fastmem instead of chipmem. There are of course more uses for it than just that.

Links:
Fblit
Ftext

Charlie · 07 November 2008, 10:50

Agree:
It's frankly a pain in the bottom to tweak right, but the above +/- a few other patches can go a long way to offset this.
FI: Because I'm an eye-candy junkie my WB is 1024x768, 128 colours with a large backdrop + every other groovy patch I know of & I still have 1300+ k left. It would stand 256 colours too but the redraw gets a bit slow.
I'm sure others who with a better idea of what they are doing could do better.

utri007 · 07 November 2008, 11:26

At least it can promote some craphics and programs to fast memory.

It is good program, but hard tto get work well, you need to really read manual. If I remember right there is alternative eway to configure it wich worked with my amiga many ways better. It is mentioned manual.

With fblit many strategy games are much more playable with hires graphics. AGA really fly with it

Long time a ago asked support from developer and asked some queastions and he anwered to me. His future plan was make a Picasso /CGX style driver.

Thorham · 07 November 2008, 12:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by utri007

At least it can promote some craphics and programs to fast memory.

Exactly! Get as much as possible to work from fastmem, and not only do you have more chipmem when booted, but you'll also find that when you're doing things, the chipmem goes down slower.

Quote:

Originally Posted by utri007

It is good program, but hard tto get work well, you need to really read manual.

Quite true. To get the most out of it, you'll have to tell the program which programs to patch, and which not, etc. Not that hard once you get the hang of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by utri007

With fblit many strategy games are much more playable with hires graphics. AGA really fly with it

It makes things faster, yes. But I've yet to try it with games. Seems SimCity2000 is a prime candidate.

FOL · 07 November 2008, 14:31

What about the PCMCIA, I noticed that when using a mem card as fast ram. Upon loading wb, it shows the PCMCIA as chip and the chip as fast.

I could be wrong, would have to double check.

Offtopic: zetr0, give me a shout. Still need to sort you out, .

Fingerlickin_B · 08 November 2008, 09:49

Hmm, thanks for the suggestion guys!

PZ.

utri007 · 10 November 2008, 00:12

Napalm was fast with fblit

Fingerlickin_B · 10 November 2008, 12:03

Can somebody please explain this:

3.1 fully installed to HDD with a few extras like IDEfix in start-up & still more than 2mb Chip when booted?!?!

Sixth Sense Investigations runs quite nicely though...until I get bored with it, which is less than 2 minutes

PZ.

killergorilla · 10 November 2008, 12:08

That's not more than 2mb.

2mb = 2,097,152 (2 * 1024 * 1024)

Fingerlickin_B · 10 November 2008, 12:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by killergorilla

That's not more than 2mb.

2mb = 2,097,152 (2 * 1024 * 1024)

Sorry KG, but I'm a retard & have no idea what you are saying

Ok, not entirely no idea, but thanks for pointing that out to me...the dumbass dude

PZ.

killergorilla · 10 November 2008, 12:19

the number in your pictures is in bytes.

A kilobyte is 1024 bytes
A megabyte is 1024 kilobytes

So therefore... 2 megabytes in bytes is 2 * 1024 * 1024 = 2,097,152 bytes.

The number in your pic is about 1.9mb

Fingerlickin_B · 10 November 2008, 12:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by killergorilla

the number in your pictures is in bytes.

A kilobyte is 1024 bytes
A megabyte is 1024 kilobytes

So therefore... 2 megabytes in bytes is 2 * 1024 * 1024 = 2,097,152 bytes.

The number in your pic is about 1.9mb

Cool, cheers man

PZ.

07 November 2008, 00:22	#1
Fingerlickin_B Amiga Nut Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Belco, Australia Posts: 2,242	Allocating Fast RAM as Chip? Hi all, Is this possible? Probably not, but hey, you never know until you ask My A1200 has 64mb on the Blizzard & the 2mb Chip on the motherboard, but I was wondering if there is any way of allocating some of the Fast RAM as Chip? I did a search first, but came up with nothing. PZ.

07 November 2008, 00:51	#3
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,400	Fast RAM cannot be allocated as chip RAM because AFAIK there is no DMA connection between the accelerator and the mainboard chips. The CPU must copy the data between the two. Last edited by alexh; 07 November 2008 at 11:18.

07 November 2008, 10:50	#10
Charlie . . Mouse . . Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Nowhere Age: 55 Posts: 1,792	Agree: It's frankly a pain in the bottom to tweak right, but the above +/- a few other patches can go a long way to offset this. FI: Because I'm an eye-candy junkie my WB is 1024x768, 128 colours with a large backdrop + every other groovy patch I know of & I still have 1300+ k left. It would stand 256 colours too but the redraw gets a bit slow. I'm sure others who with a better idea of what they are doing could do better. Last edited by Charlie; 09 November 2008 at 23:35.

07 November 2008, 11:26	#11
utri007 mä vaan Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Finland Posts: 1,664	FBlit can do it At least it can promote some craphics and programs to fast memory. It is good program, but hard tto get work well, you need to really read manual. If I remember right there is alternative eway to configure it wich worked with my amiga many ways better. It is mentioned manual. With fblit many strategy games are much more playable with hires graphics. AGA really fly with it Long time a ago asked support from developer and asked some queastions and he anwered to me. His future plan was make a Picasso /CGX style driver.

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07 November 2008, 00:31	#2
fryguy Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Skarabörg, Sweden Age: 44 Posts: 1,020	I don't think it's possible. Done the other way around though, used chipmem as fast to get Best of the best to run on unexpanded A1200.

07 November 2008, 01:12	#4
Fingerlickin_B Amiga Nut Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Belco, Australia Posts: 2,242	Ok, well that clears that up for me. Thanks Alex. PZ.

07 November 2008, 02:02	#5
AlfaRomeo A1200 040 SAM440EP 667 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Lisbon / Portugal Posts: 873	In other way I think A1200 and A4000 are prepared to have 8Mb ChipRam but WB can´t manage that chip memory, I wonder if it´s possible to solder the missing 6Mb ChipMem and use it in another way..

07 November 2008, 02:14	#6
Charlie . . Mouse . . Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Nowhere Age: 55 Posts: 1,792	Ahh, if only... Sadly 2mb is as far as the AGA chipset goes. The next one 'AAA' was to have 8mb & the A4000 was to have had it (hence the mobo jumpers)but the new chipset got cancelled.

07 November 2008, 09:50	#9
Thorham Computer Nerd Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Rotterdam/Netherlands Age: 47 Posts: 3,797	As said already, it's not possible. However, there's quite some things that can work in fastmem instead of chipmem. Check out Fblit from Aminet (and it's companion program Ftext). For example, if you're using NewIcons with aga, you can use the rtg option when using Fblit, and have the icons stored in fastmem instead of chipmem. There are of course more uses for it than just that. Links: Fblit Ftext

07 November 2008, 14:31	#13
FOL PSPUAE DEV Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Wales / UK Age: 45 Posts: 6,020	What about the PCMCIA, I noticed that when using a mem card as fast ram. Upon loading wb, it shows the PCMCIA as chip and the chip as fast. I could be wrong, would have to double check. Offtopic: zetr0, give me a shout. Still need to sort you out, .

08 November 2008, 09:49	#14
Fingerlickin_B Amiga Nut Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Belco, Australia Posts: 2,242	Hmm, thanks for the suggestion guys! PZ.

10 November 2008, 00:12	#15
utri007 mä vaan Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Finland Posts: 1,664	Napalm was fast with fblit

10 November 2008, 12:03	#16
Fingerlickin_B Amiga Nut Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Belco, Australia Posts: 2,242	Can somebody please explain this: 3.1 fully installed to HDD with a few extras like IDEfix in start-up & still more than 2mb Chip when booted?!?! Sixth Sense Investigations runs quite nicely though...until I get bored with it, which is less than 2 minutes PZ.

10 November 2008, 12:08	#17
killergorilla Lesser Talent Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: UK Age: 42 Posts: 7,957	That's not more than 2mb. 2mb = 2,097,152 (2 * 1024 * 1024)

10 November 2008, 12:19	#19
killergorilla Lesser Talent Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: UK Age: 42 Posts: 7,957	the number in your pictures is in bytes. A kilobyte is 1024 bytes A megabyte is 1024 kilobytes So therefore... 2 megabytes in bytes is 2 * 1024 * 1024 = 2,097,152 bytes. The number in your pic is about 1.9mb

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