HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: wscc90r@ecs.soton.ac.uk (Wilson Chiu)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
Subject: CDTV hardware & Commodore UK
Date: 7 Oct 92 14:03:24 GMT



Hi there,

I bought a 2nd hand CDTV a short while ago, and I have decided to connect a
joystick (or two) to it. After asking around I found out that its not
all straight forward. I realised that I need to but this trackball
controller beofre I can connect joysticks to a CDTV. That's a bit of a
pain, I thought, but what the hell, I got my CDTV cheap.....and I
decided to splash out for one of these expensive trackball units.


But after ringing around for ages, I failed completely to get hold of
the said unit. Not only that, I was told by numerous dealers that it
is not possible to buy one at the moment, as distributors have not
been able to get any from Commodore UK for months. This is weird,
considering also the dealers seem very fed up when talking about the
CDTV, in fact, many of them don't even want to know as soon as I
mention the CDTV.


I rang up Commodore UK and made an enquiry about the trackball unit. I
spoke to some marketing woman who told me to get intouch with dealers
who will order one for me if they don't already stock them. Back to
square one.

What's going on? What do I have to do to get hold of one of these
blasted things? Anybody know if this is the same in the US? Can anyone
help?


Thanks in advance for any advice....


Wils


-- 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Wilson S.C. Chiu                              wscc90r@uk.ac.soton.ecs
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
From: skip@tacky.cs.olemiss.edu (Skip Sauls)
Subject: Re: A4000 Processor
Organization: University of Mississippi, Dept. of Computer Science
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 15:20:33 GMT

In article <jbono.05au@tension.UUCP> jbono@tension.UUCP (John Bono) writes:
>In article <jorngh.35.718830930@dhhalden.no>, jorngh@dhhalden.no (JORN GUNNAR
>HALONEN) writes:
>>In article <19.2ad76157@ivgate> John.Haubrich@mtask.omahug.org (John Haubrich)
>>writes:
>>>Someone stated recently that the A4000
>>>had a 68EC040 processor (without MMU or FPU).  Is this true?
>>
>>NO NO NO !!!
>>
>>As stated before, the A4000 has a full blown 040 ... who are spreading 
>>rumours anyway ???
>>
>>*JORN* (email : jorngh@sofus.dhhalden.no)
>>
> 
>Unfortunately, C= is spreading that rumor.  If you open up the A4000 manual 
>it states how to upgrade from the 68EC040 to the 68040.  Also, if you look 
>inside, it give directions for upgrading from 1M to 2M of chip ram.  It 
>really shows how much they rushed it out the door.  Another manual gem that 

It also shows that there might indeed be EC040 versions of the A4000 planned.
I'd like to see the Amiga line broadened, offering an array of 030, EC040,
040, etc. machines with 1M Chip/1M Fast, 2M Chip/4M Fast, 2M Chip/8M Fast, etc,
IDE or SCSI drives in sizes from 40-50M to 500M, tower cases, desktop cases,
pizza box cases, etc.  Apple has done this with the Macs, as have IBM and all
the hordes of Clones.  The result is that the end-user has a much wider array
of choices and the line appears to be much stronger.

>I know of is in the Excel 3.0 *and* 4.0 manuals for Q+E.  Both manuals state 
>that the windows version can hook up to a OS/2 EE database, and even tell how
>to do it, but then the facility was written out of the program!  The response,
>"Oh, gee, we forgot."  Grrr. . . 

Unless you're an EE, who cares?  :-)
 
>John

Skip Sauls
skip@tacky.cs.olemiss.edu
From: rovero@attu.oc.nps.navy.mil (Josh Rovero)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
Subject: Re: Printer sharing
Keywords: printer sharing
Date: 10 Oct 92 22:59:20 GMT
Organization: Naval Postgraduate School,Monterey CA

There are a number of serial and/or parallel port based printer sharing
buffers/spoolers available.  Look in computer shopper, in the index.

I have two at work, brand name IDC, but many companies seem to OEM
the same basic units.

Look for a unit with a fair amount of RAM if you don't want to hold up
the computers.

-- 
Josh Rovero   (rovero@oc.nps.navy.mil) | or Internet 5346p@cc.nps.navy.mil 
Department of Oceanography, Code OC/Rv |      Bitnet 5346p@NAVPGS 
Naval Postgraduate School              |              
Monterey, CA  93943   (408) 646-2084   |
From: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
Subject: Re: The Real A4000 Argument.  Barrett Bashing, Too... :)
Date: 12 Oct 92 19:25:52 GMT
Reply-To: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins)
Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA

In article <1992Oct11.151358.27772@src4src.linet.org> bill@src4src.linet.org (Bill Lanides) writes:

> My whole problem with the A4000 is:
> -Commodore says there won't be any trade-in's for another 9 months!
> -Commodore says they are working on a 16-bit sound Amiga with 33mhz 040 and
> they can't guarantee the A4000 will be upgradable to it.
> -Commodore says they will be releasing new models like the A500 & A2000 but
> with AGA chips.. but not for at least 1 year. (They also say they have no
> plans to discontinue the A500 or A2000.)
> -Commodores marketing is down the tubes..
>  The flyer on the A4000?  I could do better in PageStream!

You want to say who "Commodore" is in this case?  Some of your "Commodore Says"
doesn't ring true, could be interpreted in different ways (add-in vs. built-in
vs. 3-rd party) or could be significantly different depending on the country
involved.

By not citing/qualifying  your source you spread confusion in the guise of fact.

-- 
George Robbins - now working for,     work:   to be avoided at all costs...
but no way officially representing:   uucp:   {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr
Commodore, Engineering Department     domain: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
From: eas3714@ultb.isc.rit.edu (E.A. Story)
Subject: Re: I want 736x554 NO-Interlace
Originator: eas3714@ultb
Organization: Rochester Institute of Technology
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 01:11:58 GMT

In article <1992Oct7.060914.5905@news.iastate.edu> barrett@iastate.edu (Marc N Barrett) writes:
>In article <1BC216D8TA@tron.gun.de> ludwig@tron.gun.de (Ludwig Kamphenkel) writes:
>> This question is mainly to the C= developers. I just got my A4000 and I am
>>allready mad, because there is still interlace. Is C= going to comme out
>>with a flickerfixer (displayenhancer) for the A4000 in about 2 weeks or
>>so??
>
>   Probably not.  It has already been mentioned that a "flicker-fixing" device
>for the A4000 would be very, very expensive.  It would require at least twice
>as much memory as an ordinary FlickerFixer, and the memory would have to be
>much higher-speed memory as well.  

Yep.. If the A4000's are successful, then we might see a thrid party
producing one tho.

>   Basically, you are stuck with the flicker.

True, unless... (see below).

>> I had a 736x554 workbench on my A500+ thanks to a flickerfixer but now
>>I am back to interlace :(I do not want an answer like: 'user the Double Pal
>>screenmode' because I am using it. Works great exept that most programs
>>with open an own screen are using interlace. This is particular annoying
>>when using PageStream (that's why I had a displayenhancer in the first
>>place) Other than that I don't realy know how healthy it is for my monitor
>>(Mitsubishi EUM-1471A) to swich between two frequences all the time. Since
>>I payed about $3000 (DM 4400) I think I got a right to know (hopefully C=
>>doesn't think otherwise)

There is already a utility/patch program out that patches the
OpenScreenTags vector so programs that don't know about 2.0 can look
nice, and PAL programs can open autoscrolling screens on NTSC monitors.

Why can't someone just add to that program and add a patch that will force
any program opening a normal NTSC/PAL screen to go to DblPAL/NTSC?  

Just a thought.
-- 
"THAT is a DRY turtle.  That turtle is NOT moist!"
Ezra Story, a student at RIT, and
eas3714@ultb.isc.rit.edu, his trusty(?) mailing address.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
From: boberg@lysator.liu.se (Stefan Boberg)
Subject: Re: A4000 ?'s
Organization: Lysator Academic Computer Society, Linkoping University, Sweden
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 15:37:15 GMT

tcarter@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Tim J Carter) writes:


>     Well, I must say I am really confused.  To use a phrase someone posted a 
>few hundred posts back, I am a hapless new amigoid.  I have owned an A500 for a
>few months and am just now finding some real time to have fun with it.  Well, I
>have had some fun and I want to make a switch..to an A4000.  <......>

> What monitors are there that handle the widest 
>range of Khz and/or screen sizes that the A4000 uses? 

  The A1950 and A1960 monitors from Commodore work fine.

> What software and 
>hardware can I and can't I use that were usable by previous Amiga models?  

  Depends on what you mean with software. If you mean ultra-K00L eurodemos
probably not much (most don't even work on an A3000). If you mean "real"
software such as programming tools, utilities and productivity software
in general, almost everything will work. Most newer games will also work
with the A4000. Everything that works on the A3000 will probably work.

>Can I add more chip RAM?  

  No. The current Alice chip only supports 2MB chipmem.

>Would it be best to wait for a while and 'let all the bugs shake out'?

  In my experience Commodore products are very well-tested and I wouldn't
expect any major problems to arise. I have a pretty early A3000 and I 
haven't had one single problem with it.

>Thanks much in advance for responses and for taking the time to read such a 
>long post!!

  Oh, if you think your post was long you should see the posts in advocacy 
:-)

>Tim Carter
>tcarter@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
-- 
Stefan Boberg - AP & EE student at Linkoping Institute of Technology, Sweden
 Author of LhA, ArjA and LhArcA. Co-author of Alien Breed, Project X ...
  EMail: boberg@lysator.liu.se, lha@augs.se           FIDO: 2:204/404.7
    UUCP:  {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!cbmehq!cbmswe!team17!boberg
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
From: markm@microware.com (Mark Millard)
Subject: CDTV Authoring Platform
Summary: Emulation Hardware/Software Question
Keywords: CDTV,Emulation
Organization: Microware Systems Corp., Des Moines, Iowa
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 17:34:33 GMT


I have a question that may have been previously addressed.  Please email me
any responses if the information is not normally of interest to others in
this group.

I am wondering what hardware/software is available for authoring CDTV
titles? I have a background in CD-I development and Amiga programming.
In the CD-I world, emulators are available for testing an application
without burning a WORM or mastering the optical disc. These emulators
provide a 1.5Mb bit stream to the CD-I player; reading the CD-I image
from a hard disk (650 Mb). The emulator replaces the CD-ROM drive.

Is there an equivalent product for developing CDTV titles?  I don't
want to have to burn test discs during the development of my application.
But I need to test my application within the context of the CD-ROM
file manager (file paths and directory structures). How is this done?

All help is greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Mark Millard
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
From: oahvenla@robin.cs.hut.fi (Osma Ahvenlampi)
Subject: Accelerating A500
Summary: Looking for cheap accelerators
Keywords: accelerator a500
Organization: Helsinki University of Technology, CS lab
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 20:16:45 GMT

I would like to boost the performance of my A500, as cheaply as possible, but
so that there's real speed increase (ie. no 14MHz hacks, they're not worth the
trouble..). 68020 would be enough, but a math processor is necessary, as well
as some 32 bit RAM. What's the cheapest way of achieving this? If there's a
well documented PD project like the LUCAS for A1000, that would be just great.
Any recommendations would be really appreciated.
--
Osma Ahvenlampi  -  oahvenla@niksula.cs.hut.fi
My opinions are mine, and though someone else may share them, that's not my
fault. You may freely agree or disagree with me, I don't much care.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
From: barrett@iastate.edu (Marc N Barrett)
Subject: Re: Photo-CD on Amiga/CDTV
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 05:22:36 GMT

In article <1992Oct5.210257.27182@ncar.ucar.edu> rsc@hao.ucar.edu (Bob Campbell) writes:
>IMO, however, I think Kodak should give C= a hand.  Sell 'em together as a 
>package.  (Get Kodak to advertise ;-) )

   Why should Kodak waste their time with Commodore?  Phillips is giving more
than adequate support for PhotoCD, and has vastly better hardware for 
displaying PhotoCD pictures in standard hardware, without needing expensive
(and non-existant) extensions.

>***********************************************************************
>* Bob Campbell                 *    Well that's, er, very interesting *
>* rcampbell@cudnvr.denver.     *   because, er, I am, in fact, made   *
>*           colorado.edu       *   entirely of wood.                  *
>* rsc@hao.ucar.edu             *                     - Scotsman, MPFC *
>***********************************************************************
>DISCLAIMER: "Nothing I say affects anyone else in any way."

---
| Marc Barrett -MB-  |  email: barrett@iastate.edu
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACH WANTED.  Absolutely *NO* qualifications required
(we'll take *ANYBODY*).  Contact the ISU athletic office for details.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
From: rsc@hao.ucar.edu (Bob Campbell)
Subject: Re: Photo-CD on Amiga/CDTV
Keywords: Photo-CD, CDTV
Reply-To: rsc@hao.ucar.edu (Bob Campbell)
Organization: High Altitude Observatory/NCAR, Boulder CO
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 18:28:57 GMT

In article <1992Oct9.163721.11599@knight.vf.ge.com>, ganoe@sde.mdso.vf.ge.com (Craig Ganoe) writes:
> In article <1992Oct5.210257.27182@ncar.ucar.edu>, rsc@hao.ucar.edu (Bob Campbell) writes:
> > A guy asked that question at the Keynote presentation given by the Pres of C=.
> > The big cheese said that no, it doesn't handle that format, and didn't really
> > think it was a profitable venture to make the CDTV to be able to, since
> > he doesn't think those CD Cameras by Kodak were selling well enough.
> > 
> There's no such thing as a Photo-CD camera, 

I've gotten quite a lot of good mail about this since my posting, and while I
was mistaken about a necessarily CD-camera, I did have mail confirming digital
"still frame" cameras that write to 3.5 floppies.  These cameras are no bigger
than current 35mm (from the commercial I remember).  It seems conceivable to me
that such a camera could be converted to write to the "single" size WORM CD. (I
don't know exactly how big those are)
-- 
#######################################################################
# Bob Campbell                 #  Yes! Well, thats just the sort of   #
# rcampbell@cudnvr.denver.     #  blinkard, philistine, pig-ignorance #
#           colorado.edu       #  I've come to expect from you        #
# rsc@hao.ucar.edu             #  *non-creative* garbage!       -MPFC # 
#######################################################################
DISCLAIMER: "My views are not necessarily those of my employer."
From: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
Subject: Re: Should there be a M of 16bit ram in A3000?
Date: 15 Oct 92 07:16:26 GMT
Reply-To: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins)
Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA

In article <1992Oct14.142008.25550@city.cs> lionel@cs.city.ac.uk (Lionel Tun) writes:
> Sysinfo shows that of the 2M chip ram and 4M fast ram, most is
> 32 bit but not all - over 1M is listed as 16 bit.
> 
> I thought the A3000 was 32 bit throughout? Is this not so then?

Sounds like the program is confused, you couldn't get 16-bit RAM
to work if you tried!

-- 
George Robbins - now working for,     work:   to be avoided at all costs...
but no way officially representing:   uucp:   {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr
Commodore, Engineering Department     domain: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com
From: weaver@castor.cs.uga.edu (Mike Weaver)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
Subject: Patching a VGA monitor to A500
Date: 13 Oct 92 22:44:07 GMT
Organization: University of Georgia, Athens
Originator: weaver@castor

Can this be done?

My amiga's monitor died a horrible death, I was wondering
if there was any way to channel the video from the A500
to my VGA monitor?


Thanks for the info!
-- 
________________________________________________________________________________
Michael Weaver            |"Where ever you go, There will be something in your
weaver@castor.cs.uga.edu  | way." --Banzai Clutter Theorm
DoD#0529    KotGB         | 1982 Yamaha Vision 550 --  It's feeling better.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
From: nilsco@ifi.uio.no (Nils Liaaen Corneliusen)
Subject: Re: A4000 graphics
Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 09:59:11 GMT
Originator: nilsco@fenris.ifi.uio.no


In article <35747@cbmvax.commodore.com>, lassa@cbmvax.commodore.com (Paul Lassa) writes:

> With the A2320's bypass switch set, all new AA display resolutions will route
> through the A2320 on a single cable to your monitor.
> Realize however, that the A2320 only resolves to the 12 bit color of the older
> Amigas, while the AA chipset now produces 24 bit color.

So I only get 12 bit with the bypass set? If yes, it's useless. If no, I am
convinced.

------------------------------------------------------------
INCLUDE "disclaimer.i"                     snail-mail:
Nils Corneliusen                           Heyerdahls vei 17
internet: nilsco@ifi.uio.no                OSLO, Norway
From: wipeout+@CMU.EDU (Sean Michael Goller)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
Subject: Accelerators without processors?
Date: 15 Oct 92 01:16:12 GMT
Article-I.D.: andrew.werHPQ200VpI88IH1Y
Organization: Senior, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA


Is it possible to obtain Accelerator boards for the Amiga without the
020/030/040 in them? Can anyone give me phone numbers for companies that
sell these?

Thanks,
	Sean Goller
wipeout+@cmu.edu
From: kevint@hpsad.sad.hp.com (Kevin Taddeucci)
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 16:43:00 GMT
Subject: SW failure #81000005: memory problems?
Organization: HP Signal Analysis Division - Rohnert Park, CA
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware


 While trying to use Polyfonts in VideoTitler3D version 1.5, I get a 
 software failure #81000005. According to the 2.04 includes and autodocs 
 manual this number indicates a "Corrupt Memory List Detected in FreeMem.
 
 I have been talking to Oxxi and they said they have never seen this 
 problem and can not re-create it. 

 My configuration is a 16MHz A3000 with 6Megs of RAM. 2 CHIP / 4 FAST.
  
 My question are: 
 
 Could this failure be caused by a bad memory chip? 
 
 If so, does anyone know of a shareware/PD memory test program?
 
 Any other ideas on what the problem could be?
 

                           THANKS IN ADVANCE!
       ----------------------------- ------------------------------------
      | Kevin J. Taddeucci          | e-mail: kevint@hpsad.sad.hp.com    |
      | Hewlett Packard Firmware QA | HPDesk: Kevin TADDEUCCI /HP5300/A0 |
      | Telnet: 794-4192            | HP Mailstop: 2LR-N                 | 
       ----------------------------- ------------------------------------
From: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
Subject: Re: A4000 Hardware questions
Date: 11 Oct 92 23:00:17 GMT
Reply-To: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins)
Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA

In article <1992Oct11.142040.6304@ecsvax.uncecs.edu> urjlew@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Rostyk Lewyckyj) writes:
> In article <1992Oct10.192643.7005@TorreyPinesCA.ncr.com>, jgrimm@TorreyPinesCA.ncr.com (Jeffrey Grimmett 9999) writes:
> > >> 
> > >> I assume the A4000 still uses the 8520's.  Are there any plans to fold
> > >> the functionaliy of these into a CMOS ASIC design?
> > >
> > 
> > I wouldn't recommend doing it until something is done about Human Error,
> > ie folks blowing CIA's sky-high when plugging modems/printers into live
> > circuits.  I know of and work on several systems which do NOT have this
> > problem, so I know it's possible.  So, puh-LEEZE take care of that little
> 
> I am under the strong impression that a part of the RS232c standard
> is a statement that it is supposed to be safe to plug and unplug
> from the circuit while it is live. So the decision by C= to not
> protect the expensive chips behind the ports from damage in case oc
> inadverant pin shorting or mildly out of spec signals is poor
> engineering design. It is So that the engineers involved don't feel
> personally insulted, I will blame the decision on corporate chintz
> rather than their lack of skill or forethought.

The problem has little to do with the RS232 standard and more to do with
the printer port and floppy and IBM's wretched choice of using DB25's
for both serial and parallel ports.

In the original A1000 design, the 8520's had their outputs directly
wired to the I/O connectors.  This isn't very rugged, but is the most
flexible as far as supporting both input and output, especially for
ad-hoc peripherals that use the parallel data lines for random bit
I/O control/status signals.

Theoretically, 8520's were cheap and easily replacable, but in the
systems where they are surface mounted, we have added some protection
circuitry on the most frequently blown pins.

We zapped a pile of 8520's trying to determine what kinds of things
caused failures and what could actually prevent the failures.  Still,
the best advice is to make sure that your Amiga and parallel printer
are turned off (or unplugged) before plugging in the parallel port
cable and don't plug an RS232 cable (+/- 12 volts) in the parallel
port (+5 volts).  Touch metal on the connector to metal on the system
before jabbing in the connector to minimize any static charges or
ground potential differences.

-- 
George Robbins - now working for,     work:   to be avoided at all costs...
but no way officially representing:   uucp:   {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr
Commodore, Engineering Department     domain: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com
From: jpotter@sirius.ucs.adelaide.edu.au (Jonathan Potter)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
Subject: Re: Avoid the Amiga 4000
Date: 14 Oct 92 02:23:27 GMT
Organization: Information Technology Division, The University of Adelaide, AUSTRALIA
NNTP-Posting-Host: sirius.itd.adelaide.edu.au

In article <n0ba0t@ofa123.fidonet.org> Aric.Caley@ofa123.fidonet.org writes:
>> at 15Khz no matter what.  The "Promotion" feature of the OS only works for
>> a tiny few, well-written Amiga programs, and no games.  This means that a
>
>And who's fault is that?  NOT COMMODORE'S!  Its the fault of the programers
>who didnt properly write their programs.  Complain to them, not commodore!

That's not strictly true. Promotion will only be applied to screens that
open using the 2.0+ functions using tag lists. Anything written before
2.0 will not be promoted, but this does not mean it was not well written
software.

Lack of a display enhancer is the only major flaw I can find in the
4000.

Jon
-- 
| Jonathan Potter |                              | A                       |
| P.O. Box 289    | jpotter@itd.adelaide.edu.au  |   Suffusion             |
| Goodwood, SA    | FidoNet : 3:680/829          |               Of        |
| Australia  5034 |                              |                  Yellow |