Amiga 500 4/8mb fastmem boards with IDE

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I'm interested in at least one of the 8MB units, possibly two.

I have a couple of questions:

  • Which Kickstart ROMs allow the CF card to autoboot?
  • I have an A570 CD ROM drive, will this have problems with the memory address stated above like the CDTV????
  • My A500+ has a 68010 CPU, any known compatibility problems?
  • When used in an A1000, will any extra adaptors be required (due to space/arrangement of devices in the A1000)
 
I had a chance to do a bit of testing on a board that i haven't packed yet.

It is a PAL Rev5 A500 with 512k RAM. I wanted to test it with a 3.1 ROM and also the Fastmem/IDE board

(i should really think of a name for this board lol). So, the first obstacle was for me to get the REV 5 board recognising the 3.1 chip and fortunately for me the answer was easy to find.

Thanks to the owner of this website (http://www.nyx.net/~rdavis/AmigaHints2.html#v31rom). the solution is...

__________________________________

Solder a thin wire to pin 1 of the ROM IC. Leave the other end of this wire free.
Solder a thin wire from pin 21 of the ROM IC to pin 31 of the ROM IC.
Bend up pin 31 of the ROM IC so that pin will not go into the ROM socket.
Insert the ROM IC into the socket, taking care that pin 31 of the IC touches *no* other pin or wire.
Insert the free end of the wire from pin 1 into the socket at location 31, taking care that
the wire does not touch any pin on the IC or any other possible connection.
Check for bent pins, test the computer before re-assembling.
rdavis@nyx.net

________________________________________

Mabbe i can make a small adapter board later :)


here is picture of the mod

a500rev31modsmall.jpg



and supersized - www.kipper2k.com/amiga/a500rev31mod.jpg


___________________________________

k, next to do is to verify it booted to purple splash screen ... (yes it did)

Next, verify that the fastmem board and ide board recognised and boots the CF.


here is picture...

a500rev31moddisplaysmall.jpg




and

supersized

You can see on the pics the version of ROM/Agnus, amount of chip/fastmem etc so all looks good. My fastmem board is a prototype so you can see all the extra wires on the fastmem board itself. I put a heatsink on one of the IC's, it doesnt really need it but lets give it the look of speed lol.
 
Amiga 500 4/8mb fastmem boards with IDE

Tbh Kipper I think you'd be better off patching ppl's 1.3 rom for them, 3.1 just isn't worth the effort on a500's - jut too many compatibility issues with games etc as I found on my 500+ project which I ended up selling.
 
djos said:
Tbh Kipper I think you'd be better off patching ppl's 1.3 rom for them, 3.1 just isn't worth the effort on a500's - jut too many compatibility issues with games etc as I found on my 500+ project which I ended up selling.
Click to expand...

To get round the compatibility issues (I had a A1200) Just use relokick, as that works great on Amiga's that has a 3.1 rom fitted, cos I used it with my A1200 and had no compatibility issues when using the program (if a older game didn't run then I booted off the Relokick disk first), as the disk loads 1.3 kickstart into the ram first. Anyway. I don't think Whload games will run on 1.3 kickstart (Please prove me wrong)

Mike..
 
Last edited:
britlord said:
To get round the compatibility issues (I had a A1200) Just use relokick, as that works great on Amiga that has a 3.1 rom fitted, cos I used it with my A1200 and had no compatibility issues when using the program (if a older game didn't run then I booted off the Relokick disk)

Mike..
Click to expand...

Yeah I have an a1200 too but an unaccelerated a500/+ just isnt fast enuf to run WHDLoad well and the best result I found is to run a largely stock a500 Chip mem/slow ram config + fast ram (most disk games dont know it's there and dont use it) + HxC SD-Card floppy emulator + FDD boot drive selector + CF-IDE + patched KS1.3 Rom.

This gives the maximum compatibility for playing disk games and games that can be natively loaded to HDD like Sierra and LucasArts adventure games.

all imo of course but having built a few a500's and a 500+ I think i've found the right balance now. :cool:

---------- Post added at 09:12 ---------- Previous post was at 09:08 ----------
woodycool said:
I'm interested in at least one of the 8MB units, possibly two.

I have a couple of questions:

  • Which Kickstart ROMs allow the CF card to autoboot?
  • I have an A570 CD ROM drive, will this have problems with the memory address stated above like the CDTV????
  • My A500+ has a 68010 CPU, any known compatibility problems?
  • When used in an A1000, will any extra adaptors be required (due to space/arrangement of devices in the A1000)
Click to expand...

1/ KS2.05 - KS3.1 but you can also patch the scsi.device from KS3.1 into KS1.3 and have it support Gayle IDE.

2/ yes, they wont play nice together as the suto-config ID's clash

3/ no, CF-IDE works fine on 500+ machines with the rev8 motherboard

4/ yes, Kipper has an a1000 adapter board with will allow his expansion boards to fit in. http://kipper2k.com/amigaforsale/

hope this helps. :)
 
Yeah I have an a1200 too but an unaccelerated a500/+ just isnt fast enuf to run WHDLoad well and the best result I found is to run a largely stock a500 Chip mem/slow ram config + fast ram (most disk games dont know it's there and dont use it) + HxC SD-Card floppy emulator + FDD boot drive selector + CF-IDE + patched KS1.3 Rom.

This gives the maximum compatibility for playing disk games and games that can be natively loaded to HDD like Sierra and LucasArts adventure games.

all imo of course but having built a few a500's and a 500+ I think i've found the right balance now. :cool:

---------- Post added at 09:12 ---------- Previous post was at 09:08 ----------
My input is. If you want to run WHDload games on a A500 or plus, then fit a 68010 (which I have) and then WHDload will think it's a 68020 (lol) and you can even use the one of the keys to get out of the game (not sure which) cos you can't do that with just a 68000 cpu.. Oh yeah if you want to in-stall classic wb to the CF card then you'll need a 3.1 rom fitted..

Mike..
 
britlord said:
My input is. If you want to run WHDload games on a A500 or plus, then fit a 68010 (which I have) and then WHDload will think it's a 68020 (lol) and you can even use the one of the keys to get out of the game (not sure which) cos you can't do that with just a 68000 cpu..

Mike..
Click to expand...

yeah it's not that simple, I had an 010 in my 500+ and found that while you get the quit key, many many games were ported to WHDLoad with an 020 a1200 as the target machine and as a result many games crash or produce weird results.
 
woodycool said:
I'm interested in at least one of the 8MB units, possibly two.

I have a couple of questions:

  • Which Kickstart ROMs allow the CF card to autoboot?
  • I have an A570 CD ROM drive, will this have problems with the memory address stated above like the CDTV????
  • My A500+ has a 68010 CPU, any known compatibility problems?
  • When used in an A1000, will any extra adaptors be required (due to space/arrangement of devices in the A1000)
Click to expand...


should autoboot all patched (definitely 2.0 and higher, If you have memory already allocated in the $200000 - $9fffff range then you can use the no autoconfig code (Ask me for that instead of autoconfig) and use the add fastmem command to manually add fastmem to specific areas.

There is compatability problems with the 68010, not so much with the board but generally... for example some psygnosis games (originals) will not load with a 68010. I do have an adapter to relocate the fastmem board in an A1000

One thing... The Rev 5 board case will not close properly with the fastmem board attached due to height issues so you should buy the adapter to give the board extra height and move it back further in the case. The Rev 6 and higher boards should "just be able to close without the need for the adapter to be attached. For better clearance i recommend spending the $4 for the adapter (I'm not making any money on it). it will help with sitting over the caps on the board

I have designed a small CPU adapter that will work in all Revs of the A500 that will make a much better fit. Once i receive it then i will show pics. Price will be $4 if you are buying the Fastmem board.

Everything is packed now for the move so i won't be able to do anything for the next couple of weeks.
 
You know what the most fun thing about this whole thing...I could be reallly twisted :twisted::twisted::twisted: and when I develop games using AMOS or AmiBlitz I will bank the registery into the 8mb fastmem boards with IDE in my game and store everything I need to make the game run on it....and.... AND ... and bang into the RAM registery of the 512 KB CHIP RAM expansion in the trap door as will....

This way if a person wishes to play my game on the Amiga they will be forced to own an Amiga 500, be forced to own and purchase the 8 MB fastmem boards with IDE and be forced to purchase the 512 KB of CHIP RAM expansion. IN FACT I CAN BE REALLY SADISTIC and go as far as requiring also the ACA RAM that will be developed PLUS THE ACA1232 card for the Amiga 1200 RAM as well...thus forcing purchasing the entire set of hardware to run the game.

THE MERE FACT I can do that....makes me go to bed today with the biggest grin in my face...BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
 
kipper2k said:
LOL,

I like that idea, you may get lynched though. With 8mb of RAM there are a lot of doors opened though :)
Click to expand...


Well....I am already sadistic as it is...I made sure and will make sure and I do not care what people say...all my games will only RUN on PAL Amiga's. This first project I am making will run on PAL Amiga only and if an NTSC is to be used it will prompt the appropriate message and refuse to go on. Until I get my hands on an A4000 or A1200 I will make all my games to run on A500...:)
 
kipper2k said:
woodycool said:
I'm interested in at least one of the 8MB units, possibly two.

I have a couple of questions:

  • Which Kickstart ROMs allow the CF card to autoboot?
  • I have an A570 CD ROM drive, will this have problems with the memory address stated above like the CDTV????
  • My A500+ has a 68010 CPU, any known compatibility problems?
  • When used in an A1000, will any extra adaptors be required (due to space/arrangement of devices in the A1000)
Click to expand...


should autoboot all patched (definitely 2.0 and higher, If you have memory already allocated in the $200000 - $9fffff range then you can use the no autoconfig code (Ask me for that instead of autoconfig) and use the add fastmem command to manually add fastmem to specific areas.

There is compatability problems with the 68010, not so much with the board but generally... for example some psygnosis games (originals) will not load with a 68010. I do have an adapter to relocate the fastmem board in an A1000

One thing... The Rev 5 board case will not close properly with the fastmem board attached due to height issues so you should buy the adapter to give the board extra height and move it back further in the case. The Rev 6 and higher boards should "just be able to close without the need for the adapter to be attached. For better clearance i recommend spending the $4 for the adapter (I'm not making any money on it). it will help with sitting over the caps on the board

I have designed a small CPU adapter that will work in all Revs of the A500 that will make a much better fit. Once i receive it then i will show pics. Price will be $4 if you are buying the Fastmem board.

Everything is packed now for the move so i won't be able to do anything for the next couple of weeks.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clearing that up. Declaring interest in 2x 8MB boards and 1x A1000 adaptor.
 
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