Conference hydra::amiga_v1

    I have one ordered too!
    
    Now to find 4 256K ram chips cheap.

    A good place to get 256K DRAMS is from Microprocessors Unlimited.
    They give excellent service and low prices. Their current price for
    the DRAMS is around $2.55/each. Call them at (918)267-4961

    Make sure you try to get CMOS 256K DRAMS, because 2 Meg of NMOS
    RAM will probably draw more current then is allowed off the
    bus connector.
    
    -Jeff

    We've gotten memory expansion chips for our Rainbows from uP Unlimited
    with no problems. Its a good source: cheap, fast, reliable. I think
    that you can even request specific brands of chips if you want.
    

    Well Ed, I beat you to it...I got mine today at the Memory Location
    (got the last one.)  The extra memory is great.  There are a few
    bugs tho.  I can't get Textcraft to work under 1.2 now.  Deluxe
    Paint doesn't seem to recognize the extra ram yet.  Occasionally
    you get funny lines of noise while running Deluxe Video.  On the
    good side, AEGIS DRAW RUNS FASTER!!!  Finally, the screen refresh
    rate for the drawings seems faster than before.  I could open five
    windows at once (albeit, 5 sized down windows.)  The unit looks
    great.  It matches the style of the Amiga unlike some other add-ons
    out there.
    
    I did not buy any of the options at this time, so I can't report
    on them.
    
    So far, I'm pretty happy.
    
    Also, it includes two screws that allow you to securely attach the
    module to the Amiga (for those of you who live in earthquake zones
    like California or New Hampshire...)
    
    Randy
    

    Randy, do you mind if I ask what Memory Location charged for the
    box?  I ordered mine on 11/2. they claim they shipped on 11/11,
    and here it is 12/22, and no sign of it yet!
    
    Some programs that do not like to work with external memory can
    be fixed with patches to the startup-sequence.  There are a bunch
    of little patches floating around, and I am not sure which ones
    do what, but some of them are 'Make512', 'FixHunk', 'AddMem', and
    'Memgrab'.

    $495.00
    
    Here are some more bugs:
    
    Aegis Draw:  After opening five windows, I checked how much memory
    had been used.  Only half.  For some reason it refuses to use the
    other half that's left.  It does use some of the new memory because
    with only 512K, you can only open 2 windows.                               
                                                            
    Aegis Animator:  Refuses to recognize additional memory.
                                                
    Oh well.  With time, I'll probably figure all this out.  As for
    DeluxePaint, I plan to upgrade to DPaint II.  That should eliminate
    the memory problem with that.
    

    How much CHIP ram is used when five Aegis Draw windows are open?
    Half?  Most?  Chip ram may be the limiting resource.
    
    -jim

    Good question.  I'll check tonight.  All I know is that the memory
    available bar at the top of the screen said I still had over 512K
    left.
    

    I just talked with my "good" friends at Aegis.  Here's what they
    said about my memory experiences.
    
    To use the extra memory in Animator, you must start it from CLI.
    There are details about this on page 85 of the Animator manual.
    From CLI you can specify how much memory you want the program to
    use.
    
    As for Aegis Draw (he said they were shipping Draw+, and that I
    should see my copy of it soon), he said that the program was limited
    to opening only 5 windows.  However, the additional memory is still
    available to use WITHIN those windows.  I'll test it tonight.
    
    The mystery unfolds...
    
    Randy
    

    Well, I took the advice from the guy at Aegis.  Sure enough by starting
    Animator by typing "Run Ani -m700000" (or any other number), the
    program sets aside 700K of memory.  It worked.  In fact, I can now
    load the entire Christmas demo, with all its separate windows, pics
    and masks, with plenty of room to spare.
    
    As for Draw, yes, you are limited to five windows, but there seems
    to be unlimited space within those windows.  I was never able to
    run out of memory, no matter how much junk I filled the windows
    with.  The additional memory really seems to bring this program
    to life.  (Gee, if I fiddle around with the display colors, it looks
    just like a Textronics display, especially the way it re-draws the
    image...each line or figure flashes white then becomes the selected
    color...just like the real thing.)
    
    Now to figure out what's going on with DeluxeVideo...
    
    Randy
    

    Hey, Randy, I have uploaded the 'FIXHUNK' file to my directory.
    It resides in Jake::User2:[Acciardi.Amiga]FixHunk.arc;1
    
    I ran it on Textcraft and it now works perfectly.  You should run
    it on a backup copy, since it seems to modify the original code.
    
    Next, I'm going to try it on my Musicraft .8 Beta.  Everything else
    seems to work so far.
    
    By the way, I think the Microbotics board is a teriffic piece of
    hardware.  Looks great, installs in a flash, and the price can't
    be beat.  They even shipped me the second board already socketed
    for my second megabyte.
    
    What a feeling to see workbench come up with '1,402,000 bytes free'.
    

    
	I tried FIXHUNK on musicraft 1.0 (beta) no go, also does'nt
	work on dpaint, or Dvideo.

	/Steve.

    Steve:
    
    Just out of curiosity, are you trying to modify the protected or
    unprotected versions of Dpaint and Dvideo?  I wonder if copy protection
    would snarl things?  I have an unprotected copy of Dvideo, and I'll
    give fixhunk a try.
    

    I had the same thought too.
    
    Fixhunk fixed my Textcraft too.
    

    What does FIXHUNK do?

    I am told that fixhunk forces the some 'Hunks' of the program to
    reside in fast memory, and others in chip memory.
    
    By the way, Dpaint and Dvideo run fine with my extra memory and
    1.2 Workbench.  Only thing is, they don't recognize the extra memory.
    
    There is another utility or two I'll try...Memgrab is supposed to
    force naughty programs to see the fast ram, and I suspect that
    'Make512' will be necessary on real stubborn jobs like Musicraft.
    Mkae512 forces the program to IGNORE the fast ram!
    Isn't it ironic that CBM's own programs seem to be the worst offenders?
    Sheeeeshhh...
    

    I got Fixhunk to work on Musicraft by typing....
    
    	Ram:FixHunk -i df1:Musicraft
    
    The -i switch forces FixHunk to ask whether or not each program
    hunk should reside in chip, fast, or public memory.  Just reply
    'c' to every prompt.  This will force the entire program to load
    into chip memory.
    
    By the way, I still can't understand why some folks are having trouble
    with Dpaint and Dvideo.  Mine work fine, I can even run both programs
    at the same time.

	I'm interested in comments on current ram board prices,
	and availability.  I currently have a COMSPEC board,
	which at the time was cheap at $675 (I'm interested in
	1-2 meg boards).  However, I believe the COMSPEC board
	is no longer competitively priced; although I am pleased
	with mine.

	.0 mentions the microbotic board, at $525 for two megs.
	Any comments on this board.  Anyone with the phone number 
	for microbotics?

	How about the RAM-BOard from Technisoft.   This is priced at
	$600.  (801) 268-4961.  Advertised in this months Amazing computing.
	Any reviews of this?

	Another is Alphanetics' 2 meg board for $450 (800) 321-5346.
	Also in this months Amazing Computing.

	Last and, who knows, maybe least that I'll mention here:
	the MEGABOARD 2 for $600 from Progressive Peripherals & Software
	(303) 825-4144.

	Comments/Information anyone?  Who's pleased with their
	ram boards?

		Dave

    See the note regarding Abel Supply's price list.  Abel will sell
    a Microbotics board, fully populated with 2 megs, for $430.00.
    
    I think the Insider is an interesting board.  This 1 meg widget
    goes inside of the Amiga and includes a battery-backed clock and
    autoconfiguration hardware.  Abels's price is around $250.00
    
    The nice thing about an internal expander is that it frees up the
    expansion buss for a SCSI board.  Not that you can't pass the buss
    thru to an expansion board, but it can get risky hanging multiple
    boards onto the buss.

re:	.19

I bought the Starboard 2 from Abels... nothing but good things to say.

dave

    I have the Starboard 2 (Microbotics) from Computer Best. Very pleased
    with it. Looks better than most of the others too! Same height as
    the Amiga's system box.
  

    I just purchased the INSIDER directly from Michigan Software, cost
    $350.00 plus $5.00 for BLUE Label two day delivery shipping.  I
    ordered the INSIDER tuesday and got it on friday.  Installed the
    board inside the Amiga last night, took a total of 1 hour 20 minutes.
    
    It is 1 meg of FAST memory complete with a REAL TIME clock with
    a lithium battery good for 10 years (the battery is internal to
    the chip; therefore you replace the chip).  The memory runs just
    like memory that plugs onto the external buss.  There are no Forced
    Wait States and the board only draws about 600ma power.
    
    The INSIDER will automatically configure under 1.2 Kickstart and
    add the memory into the system.  1.1 users are supplied a disk with
    ADDMEM on it, it's purpose is to tell the Amiga system that it has
    extra memory.
    
    The INSIDER works with the Amiga SideCAR.  Also, you can still add
    up to an additional 8 meg to the external buss giving a total of
    9.5 meg of memory.  The INSIDER can be configured for different
    addresses, the default address is C00000 thru CFFFFF.
    
    I really enjoyed opening my Amiga, first you get to see all the
    signatures on the cover, then the famous 68000 CPU.  You remove
    the 68000 and add an extender after removing the shield and disk
    drive, then you clip three clips to the Amiga boards and add the
    68000 to the INSIDER board.  Finally the INSIDER board plugs into
    the extender.  Then comes the real test, plug it in and does it
    work?  Yes!  It's nice to have alot of memory without having alot
    of add-ons.  If your a success you get to add a sticker under the
    Amiga logo stating "INSIDER One-meg ram".
    
    -drew