Path: utzoo!utgpu!utstat!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ulowell!cbmvax!daveh
From: daveh@cbmvax.UUCP (Dave Haynie)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: A2000 vs B2000
Message-ID: <5940@cbmvax.UUCP>
Date: 9 Feb 89 20:45:03 GMT
References: <8286@louie.udel.EDU>
Organization: Commodore Technology, West Chester, PA
Lines: 52

in article <8286@louie.udel.EDU>, KENNEDAM%WWPS@dupont.com (Tony Kennedy) says:

> 	How can I tell which one my 2000 is? A or B. Mine has Amiga 2000 in
> little letters on the system box as opposed to the new ones I've seen with 
> Amiga 2000 in BIG letters.

If you bought it in the USA, it's a "B" (or someone hosed you).  The easiest
way to tell is to look at the phono jacks on the back of the machine.  The 
"A" has two, the "B" has three (that extra one is a monochrome video output
that I got basically for free when using the A500 video hybrid).

> 	If I do indeed have the first (A right?) kind, is there anything
> I can do to it to make it compatable with B, so I can use all the stuff
> that fits and works with B. Am I stuck with a dinosaur 2000??? 

Most stuff works in both.  What doesn't probably can't be easily added,
though with a minor modification to the case, a board swap is possible.  But
I suspect you've got nothing to worry about.

> I got it in late '87 (December I think maybe Jan '88) and the writting on 
> the box is mostly in German.

We kept using boxes from Germany long after switching to the US designed
motherboard.

> 	Will all the hardcards/SCSI interface/genlock/whatever cards fit in the
> A2000?? Or am I screwed there too?

As long as 100 pin cards are in spec, they'll work fine on both machines.  All
Genlocks should work similarly.  The B2000 video slot has many more signals,
but the only thing I know of on the market that's currently taking advantage
of that slot is MicroWay's flickerFixer, which won't work on the "A" board.

> 	If I've got the 68020 in my 2000 (which I don't yet) what would be the
> purpose of booting from the 68000??? 

I put that feature in to allow developers who develop on the 68020 based Amiga
an easy way to test their software on a 68000.  It has the side effect of
allowing you to run software on your machine that doesn't work with the 68000.
I've found a better use for such software -- reformatting the disks it comes
on.  Really, though, there's very little software that can't be used on the
68020.

> 	Do I ask too many questions?

Did I answer enough questions?

> | Tony Kennedy	       | What I say and what   |      ///          |
-- 
Dave Haynie  "The 32 Bit Guy"     Commodore-Amiga  "The Crew That Never Rests"
   {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh      PLINK: D-DAVE H     BIX: hazy
              Amiga -- It's not just a job, it's an obsession