From: "robert buonincontro" <robert.buonincontro@canrem.com>
Subject: a3000 help (kids stuf
Reply-To: "robert buonincontro" <robert.buonincontro@canrem.com>
Organization: Canada Remote Systems
Distribution: comp
Date: 24 Jan 93 00:08:27 EST


David Crooke (or is it Crook?) writes,

DC>I have a long history as an Amiga user, however, I have just bought an A3000 (second
DC>hand, of course :-) and I would be grateful if some experienced 3000 owners could
DC>mail me answers to any the following:

DC>1. The machine has the arrangement where it loads 1.3 or 2.03 Kickstart from the hard
DC>disk. I have the opportunity of getting the 2.04 file for free (I think!) form the
DC>original dealer, but this may be a bit of hassle. What are the ups and downs of the
DC>following options (in price, performance and reliability):

DC>    - Pirate the 16-bit 2.04 ROM image from my 500+ (is this possible?)
DC>    - Pirate the 3.0 ROM image from my friend's A1200
DC>    - Buy the 2.04 32-bit ROMs and ROM tower
DC>    - Wait for 3.0 ROMS to be released

First, I would like you to stop using the word Pirate in the manner that you 
are using. It's people like you that not only give the Amiga a bad name but
keep the Amiga from gaining acceptance amongst large software houses. The Amiga
is at a very crucial stage. It all hinders on the success of the Amiga 
1200/4000 systems. It also depends on how many people start purchasing 
software. 100,000 Amiga 1200 users who purchase software regularly is better
then 1,000,000 Amiga 500 users now. It doesn't help alot when messages such
as yours pop up using the word pirate in this way.
 
This paragraph is not meant to flame you are anyone else but to educate 
everyone. I don't understand how people can invest 1000s of dollars into a
computer and then deflate the value of the computer by pirating software.

DC>2. Is it worth buying the 2.1 software-only upgrade, and will it work over 2.03 or do
DC>I need 2.04 again.

Go with WB 2.1, it's much better then WB 2.04. It has Cross Dos built in, it's
a little faster and easier to use. For example you no longer have to create a 
mountlist to mount devices. All you have to do is copy the device you wish to
mount in the devs directory. It's as simple as that! 

DC>3. How does the mechanism which loads devs:KickStart actually work? In particular,
DC>how can I make all partitions visible all of the time so I can merge the 2.0/Work
DC>partitions, and have a tiny bootstrap for 1.3 which reassigns sys: C: Libs: etc. into
DC>subdirectories on the 2.0 one - I have this arrangement on the 500 and I like it :-)
DC>and it has the benefit of allowing as large a partition as possible, essential with
DC>only a 50MB HD!

There really isn't any easy way to set the A3000 up so that all partitions are
useable at once. You could create 1 partition if you wanted and simply switch
the Kickstart file before booting up but this can be a real pain. After all
you will have to reassign all the directories to the  other version of OS. It
can become quite messy.

My not just decrease the size of the WB 1.3 partition if you aren't going to
be using it. Or even better, get rid of it entirely!

          robert.buonincontro&canrem.com
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