@MacSociety

You must have robbed a bank recently or something, right? All the stuff you've been getting lately must cost a pretty penny

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Doing stupid things for fun...

@MacSociety

The only thing that would worry me would be the reliability issues those CS/PPC boards seem to have. I had to make a similar choice and once I found that I could get a new 4060, I jumped on it.

Hopefully your CS/PPC board will give you years of service!

@Moto

Quote:

Moto wrote: @MacSociety The only thing that would worry me would be the reliability issues those CS/PPC boards seem to have. I had to make a similar choice and once I found that I could get a new 4060, I jumped on it. Hopefully your CS/PPC board will give you years of service!

So, if these cards ever go bad, who all repairs and services them? In USA anyone? I found this one site in France I think.

http://www.amigacenter.com/Homer.html

Anyone ever use them to service PPC boards and are they the place that knows these cards best?

tj

Way cool a new A4000T owner. I also have an A4000T/040 when they were first available from Quickpak. Some things you need to know is that the A4000T has the workbench.library on disk and not in ROM like the A4000D/A1200/CD32. And that is because of having both IDE and SCSI2 interfaces, the drivers fit in ROM but they had to take workbench.library out. So if you use a workbench disk from other models and then workbench.library is missing, the loadwb command will fail(no workbench screen, just the title bar). If I remember correctly If if present on the hard drive but not on the floppy and you boot from the floppy it will find it on your hard drive and still work fine it just needs to be in the system.

The first thing you may want to do when you get your computer is to backup workbench.library

Also, if you are having any issues with new CD/DVD/Harddrives you may want to look into this IDE controller. Also you can add a 4gb flash card to it if you deside to get one. I order one with the flash card but I have not installed yet.

Buddha Flash Phoenix Edition (All Zorro Amiga)
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=42&products_id=486

Can anyone in the know tell me if this following 4.3GB Seagate IDE drive would be a model that will work in the A4000T that I am getting? The price seems really good and this IDE again is to just get the ball rolling, test the waters, then eventually adapt to new faster wide SCSI drives later.

Here is the link.

http://tinyurl.com/ye97kr3


Or... I see all the bays in the A4000T are 5.25". The internal back bay is 5.25". So, maybe the 3.%' above is not a good idea (how would the 3.5" mount) so how about this quantum bigfoot that is 5.25".

http://tinyurl.com/yhnx8ww

Let me know if either of these type of drives that will work on the A4000T IDE bus.

Thanks

tj

Last edited by MacSociety on 31-Jan-2010 at 07:58 AM.

@MacSociety

at least for what its worth, i've heard in the past lots of good things about the man behing amigacenter in france.
he's said to be the last hope when all you precious hardware finally gives up, he could do wonder and he's very skilled, for what i've heard again.
he's the last one in france who repair damaged or dead amiga professionally i think.

but anyway, about buying an A4kT in 2010 ... even with a CSPPC board ..
well you'll have a powerful retro machine.
still if you wanted to go for amiga, i don't understand why you didn't go for the sam-flex board..

the A4kT was an excellent machine, probably the best amiga ever but.. the circuit are very old now.. cost a lot, to buy, maintain and eventually repair.
for what? a machine at 233mhz ? i don't want to spoil your fun but..
it seems to me unless you really know what you're doing and really do want that particular machine, it seems to me you're 15years old late to the party..
unless you do wanted specificaly an A4kT for retro coomputing fun..

Last edited by freeaks on 31-Jan-2010 at 06:47 AM.

@freeaks

Hey :) Better late than never to join the party :) I still have much fun with my Classics...retro computing, hobby, fun...tweaking and updating.

Plus he's buying a new-old-stock A4000T. Should last him many years.

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AmigaOS 4.x Beta Tester - Classic Amiga enthusiast - http://www.hd-zone.com is my Amiga Blog, check it out!

@MacSociety

Stick with the 3.5" drives, the 5.25 bays are for CD burners. The "T" has an IDE header on the front of the board. Its only PI0 mode & only supports 2 drives. My scsi HD died, so I bought an IDE card with UDMA mode. I was getting slow bootup times because it would search the scsi buss first before booting off the IDE drive. I solved this by putting in an old scsi ROM drive. I have a 9.1GB Seagate Cheetah wide scsi HD I can put in it when I get a 50/68 pin adapter. Bought mine with an 060, PIV gfx card, & 128Mb of ram. It doesn't get used much anymore after I bought a micro.

Think the IDE drives use the 2nd.scsi.device, something you need to get right if you're going IDE.

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Hate tends to make you look stupid...

@sundown

I don't show any 3.5" slots at all per resource on Internet. Here are the ports they say the Escom 4000T has.

3× 5.25" horizontal front bays
2× 5.25" vertical front bays
1× 5.25" vertical rear bay

So, I was talking about the vertical 5.25". Would not that 5.25" 4GB drive I made link to be the one of choice here? I don't think the vertical slot is for a CD or removable style drive??

How would a 3.5" fit in the 5.25" vertical tray?

tj

@MacSociety

There are adaptors for 3.5" drives. The "T" has a rail inside that drive can be mounted on & it makes no sense to use an external type bay for a HD. Stick to the modern 3.5" drives. That 4.3Gb 3.5" drive should work just fine.

_________________
Hate tends to make you look stupid...

Quote:

MacSociety wrote: ...I feel like I am getting married and having to change my last name or something.... and I am the guy! hehehe By the way, just for the record, my Amiga is the new Escom model from Soft Hut... not one of the 200 Commodore models. . To me, the escom is perfectly acceptable, new, and the way to rock the boat in 2010. tj

wtf, SoftHut still sells those

hehe like I said before most of us here have that infectous bug you're talking about..glad to see you're having fun with Amiga btw, i understand about the name change thing but still think AmiSociety sounds better

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c64-2sids, A1000, A1200T-060@50(finally working!),A4000-CSMKIII
! My Master Miggies- Amiga 1000 & AmigaOne X1000 !
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X1000 I BELIEVE

@MacSociety

Quote:

2nd request.... post pictures of your A4000T at your desk, under the desk, in the bathroom... where it resides. I want to see what the A4000T looks like in your jungle.

Well I don't own an A4000T sadly, but I've always lusted over them, off topic maybe, but I think my AmigaOne XE case is just as hot :)

http://i44.tinypic.com/2rxtx1w.jpg

@danwood

Yes, that is sweet.

Is that the official case they used or just you happened to have got?

I never seen that case before. I think I saw some Amiga Gaming case that looked like that but not an official Amiga branded model.

tj

OK, need better understanding of stock RGB video I will get from the A4000T when I get it. Until I get a Picasso IV or Cyvervision video card, I will be using either a A1080 or A1084 monitor. What kind of resolution will I be getting via the stock RGB port? Is double-scanning and flicker fixer stock on A4000T or will I need a solution there on stock RGB port to give me at least a crisp clean video until a new card and LCD screen come my way.

Thanks

tj

@MacSociety

The Amiga 4000 without a graphics card will output AGA screen modes. There are a ton of possible resolutions but here are some basic ones:

(d=doublescan, i=interlace)

15KHz;
NTSC (without going into overscan modes which add a few pixels on the border)
320x200
320x400i
640x200
640x400i
1280x200
1280x400i

PAL
320x256
320x512i
640x256
640x512i
1280x256
1280x512i

31KHz;

DBLNTSC
320x200d
320x400
640x200d
640x400
640x800i

DBLPAL
320x256d
320x512
640x256d
640x512
640x1024i

Multiscan Productivity
640x480

Many other modes as well

All of these modes can display planar graphics from 1 to 256 colors
HAM6 (4096 color pallet)
HAM8 (262,144 color pallet)

Be warned the Multiscan/31KHz modes are SLOW in HAM colors.

The A4000 series does not include a scan doubler in hardware like the A3000s do, so you will definitely want to use a 15KHz capable monitor.

If you get a Picasso IV card, it comes with a scandoubler to allow 15KHz modes to display on a 31KHz monitor.

Hope that helps!

@MacSociety

As you are getting A CyberstormPPC I'd recommend getting a CybervisionPPC. It has 8MB and a more modern GPU with 3D support.

Other than flicker in interlaced modes the native graphics from the RGB output should look crisp on those monitors. A list of native mode can be found in the following link;

http://www.amigahistory.co.uk/resolute.html

The A4000 doesn't come with a Scan Doubler/Flicker Fixer but as you will be upgrading to a graphics card I wouldn't worry too much. Once you have the graphics card set up you'll want to run Workbench and your applications on the graphics card's display because you'll find the native modes to a little limited in terms of resolution, colour depth and speed.

For a scandoubler I'd recommend the Indivision AGA but an A4000T version doesn't exist so you'd have to get in contact with Jens Schoenfeld at individual computers to find out what chance there is of making them. It might be better to keep the RGB port connected to the A1084 for native modes instead of getting a scandoubler anyway, especially if you have the desk space for multiple monitors.

If you opt for the Picasso IV that comes with a built in Scan doubler/flicker fixer with a video pass through so that native AGA modes and and VGA modes go through the same connector.

An internal scan doubler does not affect the operation of the RGB port as it will have it's own VGA compatible output, although external scan doublers do plug into the RGB port.

@Rob



Quote:

It might be better to keep the RGB port connected to the A1084 for native modes instead of getting a scandoubler anyway, especially if you have the desk space for multiple monitors.

So, I am able to keep both a stock Amiga 1084 monitor on the RGB Port all the time and also a LCD on the new Cybervision PPC, both running at same time?

Is this a multi-monitor setup then that I can actually display stuff on both monitors at same time? Like a game that needs RGB old Amiga monitor and on main LCD, web browsers and pro apps?

tj

@MacSociety

Quote:

Is this a multi-monitor setup then that I can actually display stuff on both monitors at same time? Like a game that needs RGB old Amiga monitor and on main LCD, web browsers and pro apps?

Exactly! This is one of the great things about amiga os and classic boxes. you could actually run multiple gfx cards wtih multiple monitors all displaying different screens at the same time! I used to run a 3 monitor setup when I had a 4000T PPC :

1. RGB 1084s monitor for Native 15hz modes (toaster/vid etc)
2. Dell flat screen hooked up to Cybervision for workbench
3. NEC multisync for painting/gfx with a picasso II_+

fun fun fun

@MacSociety

Yes, you can run two monitors on the A4KT. With mine, I had a 19-inch VGA connected to the CV64/3D and a sweet 20-inch Toshiba TIMM connected to the RGB port. I used to amaze friends by surfing the web on the 19-inch, while running ChaosPro on the TIMM. The TIMM also came in real handy for games. Breathless looked fab at 1x1 pixel mode on the 20-inch, and Doom looked incredible. Genetic Species and Nemac IV also looked good on the TIMM. Those things are very hard to find nowadays. Much easier to go for a 1084. But if you get lucky . . .

Worth noting . . . I ordered my A4KT from an actual Amiga store, the late, lamented Zipperware in Seattle. They set it up for me and called me in when it was ready. When I walked in the door, they were running Mac emulation and playing Marathon 2 on a 27-inch TV, with excellent frametrates. I was mighty impressed.

And as was said earlier, you can get spacers for the 3.5-inch drives to fit in the 5.25-inch bays.

Have fun!

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A4000/040 18MB
AmiKit
Mac Mini G4 1.5Ghz, OS X 10.4.11 and MorphOS 2.4

@EmperorLongo

Thanks again for the drive rails mate! My A4000T is still going strong and did some video titling/graphic overlays for my sister in law's wedding last year with it - very fun!! I have sourced some extra kit so it will be similar in spec to your old machine,! Any advice as to what programs to source to use with it? I currently have Deluxe Paint V, Scala MM400, Blitz Basic 2, Photogenics 5.0, Draw Studio 2 etc, but I guess with a 060 I could even use Image FX and Lightwave! Which versions of those graphics packages would you recommend? Is there any way to get Photogenics to run more stably?

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"Art challenges technology. Technology inspires the art."
John Lasseter, Co-Founder of Pixar Animation Studios