Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!oliveb!tymix!tardis!jms
From: jms@tardis.Tymnet.COM (Joe Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Autoboot controllers
Summary: Pacific Peripherals Overdrive works with Fatter Agnus
Message-ID: <487@tardis.Tymnet.COM>
Date: 4 Aug 89 22:04:57 GMT
References: <62142@linus.UUCP>
Reply-To: jms@tardis.Tymnet.COM (Joe Smith)
Organization: McDonnell Douglas Field Service Co, San Jose CA
Lines: 43

In article <62142@linus.UUCP> sdl@linus.UUCP (Steven D. Litvintchouk) writes:
>Have you (or has anyone else out there) attempted to use the Pacific
>Peripherals Overdrive autoboot daughterboard together with the new Fat
>Agnus chip upgrade?  If I let the Amiga warm up for 15 minutes or so, then
>the autoboot seems to work OK.  But if I let the Amiga cool off (say
>overnight),then the autoboot fails and corrupts the partition again.
>
>When I contacted Pacific Peripherals, they told me they haven't even
>attempted to use the Overdrive with Fat Agnus yet!

I just now called Pacific Peripherals to tell them that it works for me.
	A2000 rev 4.4
	A2058 with 4 megbytes of RAM
	AmigaDOS 1.3 ROM
	Overdrive card with autoboot daughter card
	ST157N 47 megabyte hard disk

After talking to owners of other hard disk controllers, I found that some
controllers have some neat features that are not advertised.  The Overdrive
doesn't have some of these nifty features because the designer didn't know 
they were out there.

I believe that all controllers will boot off of DF0: if there is a bootable
floppy there and will boot from the hard disk if DF0: is empty.

But if there is a non-bootable DOS floppy in DF0:, my system shows the
"insert Workbench 1.3" hand instead of falling back to DH0:.  Someone told
me that the A2090A controller does this right.  I can force the Overdrive
card to boot from the hard disk by holding down the left mouse button, but
this requires manual intervention.

How many autoboot disk controllers make DH0: avaliable when you boot
from floppy?  That is, being able to boot a game or an application from
its floppy and have DH0: available for reading and writing even though the
floppy has no mountlist and no mount commands in the startup-sequence.
I've heard that C-Ltd has this feature.

Any other semi-undocumented features out there?
-- 
Joe Smith (408)922-6220 | SMTP: JMS@F74.TYMNET.COM or jms@tymix.tymnet.com
McDonnell Douglas FSCO  | UUCP: ...!{ames,pyramid}!oliveb!tymix!tardis!jms
PO Box 49019, MS-D21    | PDP-10 support: My car's license plate is "POPJ P,"
San Jose, CA 95161-9019 | narrator.device: "I didn't say that, my Amiga did!"