Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!sdd.hp.com!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!rutgers!cbmvax!daveh From: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Subject: Re: A3000 Questions? Message-ID: <21449@cbmvax.commodore.com> Date: 9 May 91 18:43:46 GMT References: <1991May8.185513.14126@clark.edu> Reply-To: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA Lines: 69 In article <1991May8.185513.14126@clark.edu> danr@clark.edu (Dan Reuther) writes: > I am thinking of using the Power Up program and upgrading my A2000 to >an A3000. I have several questions that I would like answered to help me >make my decision. > 1. I know that the A3000 will support the 68040 but am I correct in > saying that the A2000 will not support the chip? A 68040 board could be built for the A2000's coprocessor slot much like the 68030 boards that exist today. A company called RCS Management has put adds for such a board in AmigaWorld a couple of time. I have no idea if this thing is real, the adds seem suspiciously like transcibed 68040 spec sheets. But the concept is certainly valid. Now, a 68040 board may wind up costing you more for the A2000. You'll certainly need 68040 bus memory, and many of these things now include hard disk controllers. A 68040 board for the A3000 doesn't have to have any more 32 bit memory, since the A3000's 32 bit memory will be reasonable for the 68040 to talk to. > 2. The 3000 has its hard disk controller on the motherboard, not in > an expansion slot, right? Can you add other hard drives to this > controller or do you have to get a new controller and take up an > expansion slot? The A3000's hard disk controller is SCSI. Like all SCSI buses, it can support a total of at least 8 devices, including the host adaptor. So you could add up to six extra SCSI devices to the A3000, assuming most of them went outside and ran off their own power supply (the A3000 can handle two 3.5" internal drives). > 3. The 3000 has fewer expansion slots than the 2000 but it has two > of the main things expansion slots are used for on the motherboard > (up to 18meg, hard disk controller) so even though it has fewer slots > it is equally if not more expandible than the 2000? In most regards, its more expandable. All four Amiga slots in the A3000 are 32 bit slots, so you can put more interesting things into those slots. The main thing its lacking in is BridgeCard support. With a BridgeCard in place, you have one free ISA slot that overlaps an Amiga slot. On the A2000, you could have three free ISA slots by overlapping one Amiga slot, or two free with no overlap. If BridgeCards are real important to you, you may wish to consider the A3000T, which has the same number of slots as the A2000. Without the BridgeCard considered, I find my A3000 has as an extra slot free over my A2500 setup (consisting of the basic A2630, A2091, and A2052, with other cards depending on which of machines you're considering...). > Now for some questions about my 2000. > 4. The battery in my clock seems to have died (I think). From what you're saying, it sounds more like the clock chip may have died. Did something zap your system? A thunderstorm perhaps? I guess if the battery were shorted somehow, your clock wouldn't respond, though when the computer's on, it does get its juice from the main A2000 power supply, so if the battery were simply not holding charge properly, it would still be visible to the software during operation. It sure sounds like something has been messed up. It will probably require a dealer's attention. The battery and clock chip are both soldered into the motherboard, so if either needs . Screwy video could be the result of a monitor problem, but it could also be the result of something mysterious going on in the video section of your computer. > Dan Reuther. -- Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests" {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh PLINK: hazy BIX: hazy "That's me in the corner, that's me in the spotlight" -R.E.M.