danbeaver wrote:An update:
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My BigRamPlus 256MB card came in, and the card is "Big" because the RAM chips are all on one side. It will only install with a Mediator board in place on my A4000T if there are no wires or connectors in the way. I found a free slot and perfecto; I do have a Zorro extender socket I got a bit back from Elbox (28 grams in weight) for 20 US Salad leaves plus 40 US salad leaves shipping (odd I sent an A2630 + DKB2632 card to that country for 18 US Salad leaves). THe BigRamPlus is great -- 256MB for the cost of a 128MB Zorro 3 RAM board from elsewhere. I plan to retask the card in a newly acquired A3000.
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OTD
Thanks, Danbeaver, for all those interesting pieces of information!
Have you already run some speed tests with that BRP card? Does it work without problems as a SWAP disk with OS 4.1 in your A4000T?
I can't tell the difference in performance between the two cards and it seems the auto config information is identical. I will post that info later though. The card does not need any support to prevent it from flexing in the slot, making me worry less about slot damage.
I had installed Update 6 and configured it to open after initializing my USB NIC, and opening my stack. It found updates and installed all but two that got saved in my "DownLoads folder" for addition later. Otherwise it seems to work. Others say not, well one person complained and I haven't read anything else, so I say it works fine.
I added a new question to the forum about RTL8139 after JohnFante mentioned it; we will see what comes up.
Nothing otherwise new with my A4000T and OS 4.1.6, working well (better than any other OS I have been working with). I'm reorganizing my office so that I will direct a (over PowerLine -- EDIMAX HP-5101K 500Mbps Adapter Kit --25 US Salad leaves off at NewEgg) to cut out wireless use. The Amy, my Laser printer, and Color laser printer all hang off a bridge connected to a wireless bridge. Retried PageStream 5.0 for the Amiga PPC OS 4 with the same results: 2 DSI errors after registration and the Amy is a brick. I'm guessing they developed it for an NG machine.
2) AmiUpdate still working well, although since I don't leave my Amiga on all the time I have done "manual scans." I mean to work out a way to do this just after booting...
3) A "non-OS oriented" description of an A4000T case mod that came up in another thread on using valuable real estate to get more "ports" in the case, hint: they are already there.
A continuation: [For the external CSPPC SCSI port I used the slot in front of (of behind of) the Deneb, now] the Deneb USB ports go up to the 9-pin size punch-out holes (there are 2 small and 2 large punch-outs in back). Now to use them you have to snap off that SCSI terminator part of the Serial-Parallel board. One sharp karate chop and it comes clean off!
Well not really, I carefully used a carbide cutting wheel on my Dremel to cut the board between the two parts of the PCB. There is about 1 - 2 mm distance between the terminator circuit (which I later attached to the power supply with double-sided sticky foam tape) and the SER-PAR part of the board. This is described online in an article on modifications to the A4000T.
To do this (I did both of my A4000Ts) required me to remove the PCB board to make an accurate cut. Both boards/computers/SCSI Terminators work fine and I use one of the large holes for my Indivision AGA MKII output. Like Calgor, I had used one for a CybervisionPPC port (now retired).
It is a lot easier and faster with the Dremel-like tool; if you live near a Wal-Mart (in the States, everyone seems to) they have the tool for less than $30 with Carbide cutting wheel. The actual time to do the cut is less than 2 minutes.
This tool is also how I used the 4 - 5 inches of "wasted" space above the PSU to cut a CF card sized slot (for a CF Card adapter). Two small holes in the case for attaching the IDE->CF bracket and self-tapping metal screws; now I just reach behind the top of the case to put a CF card on the A4000T's IDE bus.
5) For those happily using OS 4.1, could I recommend saying so when the highly reliable "squeaky wheels" troll the Amiga forums waiting to pounce and blurt out something negative. If we don't encourage the use, the support will not be there when we need it.
If you leave AmiUpdate on a scheduled scan (say midnight), it will automatically scan when you boot the machine in the morning as it detects it has missed a sheduled scan.
Sadly my 233MHz CSPPC had to make a trip to Poland (Stachu100) for repair and I've been using my backup. I bought a used DELL (Seagate) SCSI-3 DAT 36/72 GB tape drive for 14 bucks USD to make large backups and found that Diavolo works fine in OS 4.1. The drive itself is currently only working internally; my external connection needs evaluation and work up.
I have commented that the BigRamPlus works fine in OS 4.1 with my Mediator in my 2 A4000Ts; others stated this is not true. They say it is in the manual: the English side says in may not be reliable in "tower modification" boards sold by folks like Elbox, but nothing about the Mediator. The German side of the "manual" says about the same thing given my lack of use of German since high school. I could extrapolate that the A4000D Mediator may be considered a "Tower Modification" but I can not find any post in the past hour of searching that this an issue. One way to find out is to pop one in an A4000D's Mediator's board and find out; then one (I guess that is me) should actually post the finding so others can find it.
The Auto Update feature is working well for me, but I've not tried the Roll Back yet. Haven't had to. Anyone have a comment on how well it functions?
Last word for you folks using Charter as your ISP: they have increased the cost of their 15 Mbs service by $5 USD! Which I found out is the exact same cost of their 30 Mbs service (provided you use their modem) -- done. Now my Deneb-to-USB NIC can actually use its 100 Mbs connection routed at 300 Mbs to my modem. Although OS 4.1's downloads seem about the same in speed for the browser; FTP is faster than -- Er, lets say it is real fast.
I've been testing the BigRamPlus 256MB card in an A4000D with A4000Di MKII Mediator without much in the way of issues except getting logged off this forum twice before I could post this. It woorks just as well as any Mediator in any Amiga product, and removing the BRP doesn't make the setup any easier. Seems just putting the metal cover back on crashed the A4KD. Ah, but an hour later after a good pencil rubdown has her playing Lemmings in her 370MB (the Radeon has segmented memory (128 [-31] +16 + 256). Well the folly of youth.
OK, now tested and proved: THe BigRamPlus 256 MB card can easily be used with a plain Mediator [Radeon 9200, RTL8139 NIC & Spider II USB)!
danbeaver wrote:I've been testing the BigRamPlus 256MB card in an A4000D with A4000Di MKII Mediator without much in the way of issues except getting logged off this forum twice before I could post this. It woorks just as well as any Mediator in any Amiga product, and removing the BRP doesn't make the setup any easier. Seems just putting the metal cover back on crashed the A4KD. Ah, but an hour later after a good pencil rubdown has her playing Lemmings in her 370MB (the Radeon has segmented memory (128 [-31] +16 + 256). Well the folly of youth.
OK, now tested and proved: THe BigRamPlus 256 MB card can easily be used with a plain Mediator [Radeon 9200, RTL8139 NIC & Spider II USB)!
thanks for your tests mate ... next ram upgrade will be 256 big ram plus:)
AmigaOne Xe 933 mhz Radeon 9000pro Samsung 840 SSD
Pegasos2 1266mhz Radeon 9800pro Verbatib Sata3 SSD
Sam 460ex Lite 2gb Ram , Radeon 6670,Toshiba 500gb Sata/HDD
Amiga Cd32 / Amiga 600 / Amiga 500 / Amiga CDtv/ Amiga 4000 / Amiga 1200 /Amiga 2000 and many many many z3 Boards
To be honest, I've found the best way to optimize 4.1 for my classic is to remember that - other than the CPU - it's the same hardware I have in 3.x and to respect it's limitations. So, I stick to the same 16-bit display mode on my BVision and turn down the eye candy.
