Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!maytag!xenitec!usenet!wcbcs!akcs.clemon
From: akcs.clemon@wcbcs (Craig Lemon)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech
Subject: Re: Why put Kickstart on A3000 ROM? (was Re: 512K FastRam)
Message-ID: <[26e59e42:1640.4]comp.sys.amiga.tech;1@wcbcs>
Date: 5 Sep 90 21:15:04 EDT
References: <1990Sep1.133213.6765@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu> <45332@cornell.UUCP>

Lines: 30

>>> 	On the EPROM versions of the 3000 (read that, any 3000 before 2.0
>>> has been installed as a ROM) the Kickstart is loaded into memory and
>>> executed from there. That makes it easy for you to update differing
>>versions
>It's easy to understand why Kickstart is on ROM in A2000s and A500s, but I
>don't understand why you would want to put it on ROM in an A3000 when it's
>clearly not necessary.  Every time an OS upgrade comes out, I'll have to
>change the ROM to get the new version.  The A3000 is nothing like the A1000 -
>it takes very little time to load kickstart from the HD.


   IMHO, I feel that there is another possibility.  Instead of ROMs in the
A3000, some sort of EEPROM could be used.  Make the Kickstart disk actually
be an autobooting disk with EEPROM installation code on it.  You could put a
protect switch on the rear of the case so that a weird, incredibly
destructive new type of virus doesn't come about.  To upgrade : switch to
WRITE, insert KS disk, turn on power.  Remove disk when instructed, reset
switch and reboot.  This would also possibly make things like UNIX easier to
live with.  Just have a different type of KS if needed.  Heck, someone with
a lot of brains, money and expansion could even have the first chip burned
to produce a menu for different systems (much like the 2620, 2630 and demo
A3000s).  Simply having it on disk would allow this to a certain extent BUT
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THERE'S A HARDDRIVE CRASH???  How do you boot the machine
to run that pesky backup program.  I don't own a 3000 so I don't know
exactly how they work in the booting respect but I can see this as a problem.

NOTE the mail address is different than my current sending address!
--
 Craig Lemon - Kitchener, Ontario. Amiga B2000/10--2400 bps--AmigaUUCP 1.03D
 lemsys!clemon@xenitec.on.ca  or  ....!{uunet}!watmath!xenitec!lemsys!clemon