Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!cbmvax!daveh
From: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Wrong board size for Amiga 3000
Message-ID: <15005@cbmvax.commodore.com>
Date: 9 Oct 90 23:05:44 GMT
References: <12879@encore.Encore.COM>
Reply-To: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA
Lines: 47

In article <12879@encore.Encore.COM> rnollman@maxzilla.encore.com (Richard Nollman) writes:

>I went into my local Amiga dealer to get some prices on the 3000.  I was
>just about convinced that the 3000 was the machine I wanted.  Then the
>salesperson I spoke with blew my mind.  He told me that if I wanted to
>do video work that I should stick with the 2500 because third-party vendors
>due to a misunderstanding with Commodore, created 12-inch boards instead of
>10-inch boards.  The oversize boards do not fit into the 3000. Things like
>videotoaster will not be available for the 3000 until vendors redesign the boards correctly.  The salesperson gave me the impression that if I wanted a genlocl that it would not be available for a quite a while.  

Well, the end result is true -- some video slot boards don't fit in the A3000.
But it's not due to any misunderstanding on the part of the 3rd parties, it's
due to their ignoring of published Commodore specifications.

Set the wayback machine for 1987, when the A2000 was released.  Commodore
published a manual at that time, called the "A500/A2000 Technical Reference
Manual", which, amoung other things, had a mechanical drawing for the video
slot board, also indicating the area of the card's end that could be used
for connectors.  This was out before ANY video slot cards were released.

Well, these 3rd parties found all kinds of clever things to put on these
video cards.  Some required more connector space on the card end than Commodore
supported.  Some required extra PCB space in the form of a "tail" that sticks
up under the disk drive assembly in the A2000.  Both of these were going 
against the Commodore specs, but I suppose they made these cards easier to
build.

In any case, the A3000 comes along, and the Video Slot is, surprise!, moved to
a different location, now in-line with a Zorro III slot.  Cards that cheated 
only a little, like growing a short tail, will still fit.  Cards that cheated
alot, by growing a long tail or too many card-end connectors won't fit.  Which
is exactly what you would expect -- specifications are published for a reason,
not to make anyone's life difficult.

>What about other vendors?

Other than the toaster, I think there's an internal Genlock or two that might
be a problem.  Other goodies fit fine, and of course external Genlocks 
shouldn't be a problem.

>Rich Nollman


-- 
Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests"
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	Standing on the shoulders of giants leaves me cold	-REM