CU Amiga Super CD-ROM 27/CU Amiga Magazine's Super CD-ROM 27 (1998)(EMAP Images)(GB)[!][issue 1998-10].iso/GoodBye/JohnKennedy/April94.lha/AprilQ&A.LHA/Q&A.doc

Text File | 1994-02-11 | 23.5 KB | 705 lines

Q&A - April 94


Note:  if the advert which appeared at the end of this
section in the February issue appears again, I'm not doing
Q&A again. Ever.







Icon: Expansion
Title: A600 EXPANSION


I'm close to buying an A1200 and selling my A600. But now
it's rumoured that M-Tec does accelerator boards called
68020i and 68030MMU for the A600. Is this true, and if so
what kind of speed increase will this give me?

I also own a Commodore 1084 colour monitor, and if I buy an
A1200 will this monitor be adequate? I mean I have heard
that the A1200 supports flicker-free interlace screens and
that the 1084 does not, but will this be the only problem?

T.S. Nielsen, Langå, Denmark


M-Tec?  Never heard of them, but judging by the number of
letters we receive from A600 owners wanting to upgrade
they'd do well to advertise in CU Amiga.

It's impossible to say how much faster the (rumoured) accelerator
card would go because you don't mention the clock speed.
14MHz? 25MHz? 33MHz? 50MHz? It makes a big difference, but
even a 14MHz 68020 will run at least twice as fast as a the
A600.

As long as you don't try and use the new flicker-free
DoublePAL, DoubleNTSC, Super72 or Multiscan productivity
screen modes the 1084 will continue to give a good, clear
crisp image.





Icon: Expansion
Title: CDTV (1)

In the February issue you said you couldn't upgrade a CDTV
to Kickstart 2.04.  Well you can but first you need to fit a
switch to turn off the CD-ROM.  I have also fitted the ECS
in my CDTV.  You are quite right to say that the megachip
expansion is the only way to expand memory.

By the way, turning off the CD-ROM allows you to load a lot
more programs than normal. In fact, the only incompatible
game I have found is Humans! The only down side to turning
the CD-ROM drive off is that it disables the SCSI interface
so you would have to turn it on again if you were going to
fit a hard drive.

John Alfred, Hyde, Cheshire.

p.s. I went out with my mates one night and in my local
pub in Hyde, guess who was sat in the corner
with a pint? Tom Jones, no honest he was. I went over and
got his autograph for my mum. Honest.


What I actually hoped to imply in the February issue was
that you could fit the 2.04 ROMS to a CDTV, but as they
didn't include the CD-ROM code there wasn't really much
benefit. You might as well have bought an A600 or A500Plus.

Turning off the CD-ROM drive can actually be done with
software alone (check your local PD library for 'cdoff' and
'cdon' written by Almathera guru Jolyon Ralph. The CDTV
doesn't come with a SCSI interface as standard so I don't
know how it could be switched off.

p.s. I nearly ran Robbie Coltraine over in Glasgow. I didn't
stop to get his autograph for my mum. Honest.



Icon: Disks?
Title: GIVE IT A BOOT

Please, please help me. I have been trying for weeks and
weeks now to make a boot-block on a blank disk so I that can
make a stand-alone disk. To attempt this I have been
following a guide from another magazine and have got to the
point where I have to use a small program called VILBM. Can
you tell me where this can be found?

Martin Bell, Stoke-on-Trent.

I know it's been easy to pick up other magazines by mistake,
what with the covers all being identical and everything.
In fact, I head that certain other Amiga magazines are going
to try a red cover as well to see if that will boost their
flagging sales.

In the meantime, I'm not really sure what use VILBM will be
to you.  VILMB doesn't have anything to do with making a
disk boot - it is a utility to display pictures.

Here is how to make a disk bootable.  Boot from your
Workbench disk and format a fresh disk.  Rename it to be
called Brian, at least for the moment.  Open a shell and
enter:

        install brian:  <return>

If you only have one floppy drive you'll need to enter the
following first:

        resident c:install <return>

When this disk is inserted, the Amiga will look for a file
called startup-sequence in a directory called 's'.  At the
moment neither exist, so enter this at the shell:

        makedir brian:s

To create the startup-sequence, use a text editor program
like ed.  Enter:

        ed brian:s/startup-sequence

Now you can enter the commands you want the Amiga to execute
when is is switched on.  If you do want a picture displayed,
add something like:

        brian/vilbm mypicture.iff

But you must remember to copy VILBM and your picture to the
disk.  Getting hold of VILBM isn't difficult - it's in every
PD library in the land.  Ask your favourite library for a
disk full of graphics utilities and you are bound to find it
or one similar.

Incidentally, Workbench 2 comes with 'display' and Workbench
3 with 'multiview' which are more powerful.  To use these
programs make sure you have copied the LIBS:  drawer to your
new boot floppy.





Icon: Expansion
Title: CDTV (2)

As an owner of a CDTV I feel very hard done by. I bought by
machine 12 months ago, with the promise of more good things
to come for the CDTV scene, and no doubt other CDTV owners
feel the same.

Now we are told the CDTV is dead and the new CD32 is out:
with lots of up to date games available. The only thing
wrong is that you can't play them on a CDTV - does this mean
there will not be any new games for the CDTV?

Don't get me wrong, I like my machine all apart from it's
shortfall in memory that is. I've heard it's possible to
switch off the drive to get the memory back?

Lastly, I see in advertisements that you can buy an Encore
SCSI interface. As I am new to computing, please tell me
what it is and what it actually does.

J.A. Davies, Barnstaple, North Devon.


Every machine will be superseded eventually, and the CDTV's
time came just a little to soon. However, there are a going
number of compatible disks stuffed full with PD utilities
and games, so it's wrong to say that the CDTV is not
supported any more.

As you'll have read in the previous letter, regaining the
RAM taken by the CD-ROM drives is possible without resorting
to hardware.

The Encore SCSI controller connects inside the CDTV and
allow all manner of hard drives and other SCSI peripherals
to be connected.  It currently costs £59.99 from Indi (tel:
0543 419999) and just about any old SCSI drive will work
with it. You should be able to pick up a used 80Mb drive for
peanuts, and will make a huge difference if you use
Workbench a lot.





Icon: Programs
Title: DEGRADING EPISODE

Having replaced by trusty A500 with a sparkling new A1200, I
find to my dismay that I can no longer run my beloved Video
Studio (v3). Moreover, the originators, ZVP, have apparently
put up the shutters.

I've tried Fakemem and Degrader, as well as the 'two button'
start-up menu suggested by Commodore but without success.

Am I missing a trick somewhere, or have I really got to
scrap the program?

W.W. Windsor, Winslow, Buckingham.


There comes a time when you have to give up, and I'm afraid
that time is now. No matter what version of Kickstart your
Amiga thinks it is running, no matter what caches you have
switched off, and no matter how fake your memory is, some
programs simply won't work on the A1200.

The problem is with the new AGA chipset. Commodore have been
telling programmers for years not to poke around but to
follow the guidelines, but do they listen? No - well, not if
they want to push the hardware that little bit further.

In this case you'll have to give up. But it's not all bad
news as there are new graphics and video programs coming
onto the market all the time - and most will not just
support the AGA chips, they actually take full
advantage of all the new modes. Search out a replacement,
and let Video Studio rest in peace.


Icon: Expansion
Title: SEEDY CONNECTIONS

After waiting and waiting for a CD ROM add-on for my A1200,
and then finding out that it is not going to be available
for a while, I went out and purchased the CD32 console
instead - I'm very impatient, you see.

What I would like to know is, will it be possible to link
the two machines together and if so, will my A1200 recognise
and make use of both the CD drive and the extra 2Mm of RAM?

Also, if they can't be linked together will I be able to use
demos, anims and games from one of the many PD CD collections
on the CD32?

P.D Sprakes, Henlow, Beds.

Commodore made a lot of people upset by announcing a CD
add-on for the A1200 and then snatching it away. I suspect
and lot of A1200 owners held back from buying a CD32 in case
the drive appeared, and probably got so bored waiting that
they bought something else instead (like a PC).

Anyway, yes it is possible to network the CD32 and the A1200
together, but you will need to by the forthcoming SXI.  Indi
(tel:  [phone]) are taking back orders for them, and
when I spoke to them promised availability by the time you
read this.

When you have the SXI connected to the CD32, the PD program
ParNet (on the coverdisk of the February 94 issue) and a
special cable is all that is needed.  The A1200 can then
access the CD-ROM drive and the 2Mb of RAM as though they
were normal AmigaDOS devices.

Many game and demo CDs will work on the CD32 already.


Icon: Printers
Title: GOBBLEDEGOOK

I purchased a second-hand Epson MX100:111 for my son to use
with his Amiga 1200. On a self-test it prints perfectly, but
when connected to the Amiga using all the Epson drivers
available it prints gobbledegook.

I have made a parallel lead using both manuals but leaving
the 5 volt line from the Amiga disconnected and altering the
printer DIP switches to suit.

What's going on?

R. Carter, Canvey Island, Essex.


Looking at the print-out (which consists of about 1 letter
in 10 being correct) I have to say I suspect the cabling.
Nothing personal, but are you sure every line is connected
correctly?  D0 to D0, D1 to D1 and so on?  Is the wiring
used up to the job? Leaving out the 5 volt line was a very
good thing to do - if you had left it in, the printer may
have been damaged.

After spending many years as a student being forced to use
homebrew printer cables I know all about dodgey wiring, and
now consider that £10 spent in Dixons on a proper lead as a
real investment in saving time, paper and tempers.

To discover exactly what is wrong you will need to check
your Amiga, your printer and your cable.  Find a friend with
another computer and printer (or visit your local computer
club) and try connecting your printer to his computer.  Then
connect his printer to your computer.  Then try again using
your lead.  This will help you trace the fault.

There are several pitfalls when buying printers second hand.
Firstly, you can never be sure that the thing works unless
you see it:  a self-test isn't good enough, as it only tests
the print head and not the interface.  Secondly, if you get
an obscure piece of kit, you can bet that you'll spend the
rest of your life trying to track down a printer driver.


Icon: help
Title: RIP OFF!

Is the Amiga buying public being conned?

I refer to your Clash of the Consoles article in the
February 1994 issue. It states that the Philips CD-i is
equipped with a 15MHz 68040 processor, total price £399.99.
If this is correct please could you tell me why the price of
the Amiga A4000/40 is around the £2000 mark for basic
models?

Even allowing for the extra RAM, expansion slows and a 25Mhz
68040 can it really be worth an extra £1400? Even worse is
the fact that you say the Jaguar has a 64bit processor with
some impressive specifications and costs only £199.99.

So much is said about high software prices while hardware
never gets a mention. How about some powerful home computers
from Commodore? I might be missing something here, but can
anyone tell me why I spend good money buying an A1200 with a
processor that was made to run a washing machine?

P, Mclennan, Marblethorpe, Lincolnshire.

Look what happens when you get someone from a games magazine
to write for you...  Contrary to what you might have read,
the CD-i doesn't have a 68040.  It actually has a custom
Motorola chip designed especially for Philips, equivalent to
a 68030 with some extra bits stuck on.  It's not that great
really.

Likewise, the Jaguar doesn't have a 64 bit processor.  It
has a bog standard central processor but with a huge custom
chip to handle graphics and sound.  The Atari advertising
team counted up some numbers and came to the conclusion that
the Jaguar was 64 bit.  That's pure hype, so don't believe a
word of it.

The Amiga A1200 and CD32 are still the most powerful home
computers/consoles around.  What other hardware even
approaching the price has a 16.7 million colour palette with
up to 262,144 different colours on-screen in 640 by 512 or
greater?

The price of the A4000/40 is certainly high, but the best
comparison is with Apple Macintosh machines rather than game
consoles.  The big-box Amiga is definitely too expensive to
seriously compete, but that is all to do with market forces,
supply and demand and good old fashioned greed.

The processors used in machine machines are rarely 68020s,
rather variants with built-in EPROMs and A/D convertors.



Icon: Help
Title: TOO FAST?

I own an Amiga A1200 with an internal 120Mb hard drive. Here
is my problem: a few games loaded from the hard drive don't
work. The sound is good but the pictures are all mixed up.
What's going on?

Versmissen Thierry, Athus, Belgium and
S. Ratcliff, Hollywood, Birmingham.

Apparently some hard drives can work too fast for some
software, and as a result some data gets corrupted as it is
read.

Search out the program called HDToolbox on your Workbench,
and select the 'Partition Drive' option.  For each
partition, click on the 'Advanced Options' button and then
click on the button marked 'Change' which will appear.

Find the box labelled MaxTransfer, it should read 0xFFFFFF
as a default setting.  Change this so that it reads 0xFFFF
instead and click on OK until you reach the first screen.

Finally click on 'Save changes to drive' and leave the
program.  When you reboot, the new settings should come into
effect and with any luck your graphics will be fine.





Icon: Music
Title: Octa-Linking

Please can you tell me how to connect two Amigas together so
the Ext.  Sync function of OctaMED will give me four more
precious sound channels.  What do I need?  Where do I get
it?  And most importantly, how much?  If this is possible,
would an A500+ be compatible with my pride and joy - an
A1200 of course.

Kevan Gordon, Travent, Scotland

p.s. Sad to see Dan Slingyerhook go. He's been an
excellent editor. Not!


This is a good trick to get 8 track audio.  OctaMED can send
and receive timing signals so that two Amigas will remain
locked together.  You can even start both playing by
clicking on one Amiga.

I used to think this require a MIDI connection, with each
Amiga fitted out with a MIDI interface and leads.  However,
I've just discovered that you can do away with MIDI totally
- you simply need a NULL MODEM cable, the same sort that is
used to link Amigas when playing games such a Stunt Car
Racer and Populus.

Connect the computers together in this way, and then select
the MIDI options page in both copies of OctaMED.  Ensure
MIDI ACTIVE is on, then set SEND SYNC on one Amiga, and EXT
SYNC and INPUT on the other.  When you click on Play on the
first Amiga, the second will start at the same time.

As this trick uses the serial port, it will work on any two
Amigas.

p.s. Wait until you see who the replacement is!




Icon: Help
Title: My perfect cousin

I am Quang from Norway and I am 15 years old.  I own an A500
and an A600.  However, my cousin has a clicking thing from
an electric lighter and he has clicked by A500.

He clicked on the mouse port and now my A500 is dead.  The
red light is on but then you put a disk in it doesn't do
anything.  Did he crash my A500?  What's wrong?  Is it a
chip?

Nguyen Duc Quang, Oslo, Norway.


Tut, tut.  The old clicking thing ploy, eh?  A clicking
thing is actually a piezo electric static electricity
generator.  By quickly altering the shape of a
piezo-electric crystal, a large electric potential is
created and a spark jumps to a nearby earth.

In your case the nearby earth happened to be an A500's mouse
port.  Clicking this was a terribly stupid thing to do, as a
gigantic voltage spike (several thousand volts) would have
shot into the Amiga's chips, blowing them to smithereens.
It's probably not one chip that's broken, but all of them.

This is definitely a case where you should threaten to grass
on your cousin unless he buys you a CD32.  And take that
damn clicky thing off him too before he breaks anything
else.


Icon: Programs
Title: C FOR YOURSELF

I'm 14 years old and I would love to learn how to program
the Amiga. I've already dabbled with BASIC, but I'd rather
learn a language which would be accepted by a software
company if I ever decide to aim for a career in programming.

According to a reply in the January issue, the best language
is C, however I get the impression that it is only really
suitable for programming serious applications. Am I right in
thinking this, or is it possible to program top games such
as Body Blows or Zool2?

Also I've been looking at the prices of some C compilers.
SAS/C costs £250 and I can't afford that. However, one of
your rival magazines is offering the full DICE C package
including manual, compiler and all the necessary files for
£25. Is this a good quality C implementation?

M. Buckley, Chesterfield, Derbyshire.


C is an excellent language, and yes, you could use it to
write top games.  Modern C compilers produce code which is
almost as quick as hand written assembler - the fastest code
possible.  More and more games companies will be moving
towards C when the realise the time and money this
cross-platform language can save.  Further, any really time
critical code can be written in assembler and included in
the C program very easily.

As the DICE system is being sold by a rival, I couldn't
possibly tell you that it is an excellent program and well
worth getting.  Although the rivals have yet to send us a
review copy, this could be the most affordable way yet to
program the Amiga.

Unfortunately, it takes a very long time to learn enough
about C and the Amiga before you could write a game like
Body Blows.  For this reason I recommend that you try
BlitzBasic2 first.  Blitz is based on BASIC but has some
very advanced C-like features.  Even better, it comes with
lots of routines for handing graphics and sound, routines
which you would have to write yourself if you were using a C
system.



Icon: Help
Title: QUESTION TIME


Could you please answer me a few simple questions?


1. Is my Amiga 500+ outdated and worth flogging in the
local paper?

2. Is it cheaper to buy an Amiga 1200 with a CD-ROM or a
fully expanded CD32?

3. Is there a trapdoor expansion on the CD32?

4. With the port block for the CD32. Will I be able to use
my external disk drive?

5.  What version of Kickstart is in the CD32 and what
version of Workbench does it need?

6. Will any of the famous programs like AMOS and Delux Paint
AGA be available on CD?

7. How long do CD's last?

8. Will an FMV module come out for the A1200's CD-ROM?

9. Will the existing Amiga mouse work on a CD32?

10. Will Microprose come out with a CD version of Formula 1
GP?

11. What is the best Amiga alive?

12. Will it ever be possible to save on CD and if so would
it be called a CD BSD (Big Storage Disk)?

13. I have heard things about Amiga VR. Is this true and if
so when will it be available?

14. Is there going to be an AAAA chipset and if so would it
have more than 16.7 million colours?

15. Lastly, when are Commodore going to have transformers
built-in because at the moment I have a house brick missing
and I am using my transformer in its place.

Niki Ferrari, Stoke-on-Trent.



1. Yes, it is outdated but flogging it is a bit extreme. A
severe smack on the back of the legs should do.

2. At the moment there is no official CD-ROM upgrade. It is
possible to add a CD-ROM player, but not one that will play
all CD32 games.

3. There is a port on the back for the addition of the FMV
module.

4. Eh? Run that by me again? If you are referring to the
forthcoming CD32 expansion system, then yes - expansion
floppy disk drives is what it's for.

5.  An enhanced version of Kickstart 3 as used in the A1200
and A4000, with some extra code for the CD-ROM device and
(allegedly) some support for networking.

6.  A very interesting question.  At the moment, only games
and PD software collections are released on CD but if the
CD32 continues to sell strongly and other Amiga owners get
into CD-ROM (see the feature earlier in this magazine)
serious software will happen - and the sooner the better.

7.  Years.  I have a Genesis CD single from 1986 and it
still works fine.

8.  It doesn't look as though there is going to be a CD32
compatible CD-ROM add-on for the Amiga 1200, so an FMV
cartridge is unlikely.

9. It should, although what would you do with it?

10. If they have any sense.

11. There are no live Amigas. Contrary to popular opinion,
all Amigas are all inanimate objects.

12.  It's possible to save to CD at the moment, although the
special players cost several thousand pounds.  Unfortunately
the manufactures missed the marketing opportunity of a
lifetime and called it 'Writeable CD-ROM' and not 'CD BSD'.

13. You said you heard it, and I'm not going to call you a
liar. But it won't happen.

14. There might well be a AAAA chipset, although Commodore
might have thought of a better name by then. There is little
point in having more than 16.7 million colours, as the human
eye can't distinguish between any more.

15. Commodore will build transformers into their computers
when every country decides to standardise their domestic
electricity supplies. I like the big warm brick - I can take
my shoes off and keep my feet on top of it.




Icon: Expansion
Title: PCMCIACMIA... THINGY


I have an A600 with a Commodore 1Mb RAM expansion, a second
floppy drive and an 80Mb hard drive.

I want to upgrade by memory with the addition of a PCMCIA
smart card, but in the January 'Get Serious' you state that
most trapdoor expansions disable anything plugged into the
PCMCIA port. Does this include my 601 expansion?

David Eastwood, Huddersfield, West Yorks.

I had a quick word with Silica Systems (tel:  [phone])
who sell the Amitek PCMCIA memory cards, and they assured me
that memory fitted to the trapdoor of the A600 won't be
affected by memory fitted via the card slot.  On the A1200
this doesn't necessarily hold true, and will depend on
exactly what you have stuck in the trapdoor.

However, I think the best way to upgrade your memory would
actually be to swap the A600 for an A1200.  Not only will
you then have 2Mb of RAM as standard, but you'll get a great
increase in speed and the fabby AGA chipset.

Your external floppy drive will continue to work with the
A1200, and any good dealer should be able to take the hard
drive from the A600 and put it in the A1200 for you.



Icon: Expansion
Title: A2000 Expansion


For Christmas I got a second hand A2000 HD with Workbench
1.3. What is the best way to upgrade in the future?

N. Luxford, Colney Heath, St Albans.


For a start, get a Workbench 2 update pack with the new ROM,
Workbench disks and manuals. I have spoken to various users
who swear that Workbench 1.3 is great and hey!, we like
orange and blue anyway. This is rubbish - get a life you sad
people. Both Workbench 2 and 3 are a quantum leap away from
1.3 and you owe it yourself to upgrade to a more powerful
and more stable environment.

As you are lucky enough to have an A2000 you therefore have
lots of lovely ZorroII card slots and also a snazzy CPU and
video expansion slot.  Silica Systems (081 309 1111) are
selling a 68020 card rather cheaply and this will speed your
computer up considerably, as well as adding some useful
extra memory.

If you happen to be an eccentric millionaire, get a 68030 or
68040 expansion card and add a Picasso II video board.