24.Nov.2000
Amiga Update
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Amiga Update Newsletter 001123
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_ __ _ <>_ __ _ ||
/\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || A M I G A U P D A T E
/__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || -News and Rumors-
/ \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_|| (An Occasional e-mail
"SO THE WORLD MAY KNOW" || News Source)
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AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Amiga, Inc.
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001123
O C T O B E R E X E C U T I V E U P D A T E
A M I G A L O S E S A F R I E N D
S D K O N W I N D O W S
W O A 2 0 0 0 A N N O U N C E D
A M I G A X M A S P A R T Y I N O R E G O N , U S A
A M I G A C L U B C O N T A C T S N E E D E D
E L B O X O N A M I G A O N E
A N O T H E R F E U D , P A R T 1
A N O T H E R F E U D , P A R T 2
E Y E T E C H O N C L A S S I C U P G R A D E S
S U R V I V O R O R G . H A S C S & E R I G H T S
M A J E S T Y : T H E F A N T A S Y T O A M I G A
Editor's Thoughts and Introduction:
We don't have a press release for perhaps the most important bit of
news in some time. This is the retirement of Petro Tyschtschenko. The
German office of Amiga will be closed by the end of the year. In our
opinion, there would be no Amiga at all if it weren't for Petro's
tireless promotion and work during the worst of the hiatus after the
death of Commodore. Whether his organization was called Amiga
Technologies, Amiga International GMBH, Amiga Germany or any other
name that might have been used, the heart and soul of our community
dwelt where Petro was for many years. We owe him a lot and we'll miss
him.
Another item we didn't receive a press release for is the "ending" of
YAM, perhaps the most popular mailer ever for the Amiga computer. The
program's author, Marcel Beck, has decided to discontinue development.
He as released the source code through the GNU General Public License
though, so a future for this marvelous program is possible. We hope
someone picks it up and runs with it.
Sometimes you just can't win for losing. Last month's issue went out
with a letter from a reader who was, rightly, unhappy about a
Microsoft ad on the top of AU. We pointed out the ad was placed there
by our free distribution service, e-Groups, which retains the right to
include any ads it chooses in return for providing its services free.
Almost as if someone were having a joke at our expense, that issue
also went to you readers with the exact same ad included! Two months
in a row. I sincerely hope this issue arrives in your e-mail box with
something less irritating attached.
The service we use is first rate, reliable, and as professional an
organization as we've ever worked with. This is the first time one of
their ads has caused such consternation, so we are not prepared to
abandon them. Since we have no control over these ads, and don't even
see them until after the issue is sent, it could easily happen again.
We hope it won't.
Another feud in the Amiga Community is brewing, and again it involves
the very innovative company Elbox. We attempt to sort it out for you
in the feuders' own words below. It should be obvious to everyone we
don't need such things, regardless of the merits of anyone's position.
We'll try to keep you posted on developments in this tasteless mess.
Innovation abounds in this issue. Read the very interesting proposal
from Bob Sharp, the force behind the Amiga 2K show in St. Louis, USA.
If you're involved with an Amiga club, there's a real treat in store
for you if you participate.
Many interesting things for you this issue - we hope you enjoy it.
Brad Webb,
Editor
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E-mail to the E-ditor:
23 Oct 2000
Hi Brad
I was wondering if you have heard this one?? I have a 2000 with a GVP
060 with built in scsi. When I connect my syjet it hangs up something
fierce amd only by either shutting down the syjet or disconnecting the
cable will it release the buss. Also I can no longer do a warm reboot.
I have disabled all the wbstartup softeware in an attempy to fix this.
but to no avail. Any thoughts anyone?? Keep up the good work! Yours in
Amiga
Dan
~~~~~~
Dan,
That sounds like a miserable problem. This involves products I don't
have access to. Anyone out there have a answer for Dan?
Brad
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O C T O B E R E X E C U T I V E U P D A T E
October 21, 2000
Dear Amiga Family:
I am writing this as I fly back from a wonderful two days at the ACE
2000 Amiga show in Melbourne, Australia. It was indeed a great delight
and pleasure to meet with all the wonderful members of the Amiga
Family Down Under, and I already look forward to my next opportunity
to visit Australia.
I especially want to thank all the dealers, developers and end users
who attended the seminars and the hundreds of you who joined for the
banquet dinner. Amiga truly is a global family, and too much of an
unknown phenomena. It is the Amiga Family who has kept this amazing
system alive and growing.
I would like to take a moment to recognize the efforts of two people
who especially made my stay in Australia an enjoyable and educational
experience. Jeff Rose, of Unitech, the d'Amiga distributor for
Australia, and Basil Flinter the Secretary of the Amiga Down Under
Group or ADUG. I want to thank them both for taking the extra time to
help me truly understand what Australia and New Zealand mean to Amiga,
and what Amiga can do to help our its Family Down Under. I can
certainly say that on my next trip I will take the time to also visit
New Zealand and say hello in person.
Upcoming Products
There are many exciting things happening with Amiga and I wanted to
tell the entire Amiga community what the attendees of ACE 2000 learned
at the show.
Amiga will release an upgrade for the Classic AmigaOS! Version 3.9 of
the AmigaOS will be shipped and ready for the 2000 holiday season.
AmigaOS 3.9 is being developed in concert with Haage and Partner GmbH.
A new website devoted specifically to OS3.9 will be online shortly and
it will include an OS feature list and other bits of useful
information. OS 3.9 will be made available to classic Amiga users for
the affordable price of under $40.00 US. Watch our main website,
www.amiga.com, for more details of OS 3.9 and its new website.
Because Amiga is still a Benevolent Dictatorship-and not a democracy
or even a republic-we listen closely to the feedback and input from
the community. Based on this feedback we strive to create products
that you want, need and enjoy.
We are pleased to announce to the community the first in a series of
new hardware that has been designed by Amiga and soon manufactured by
Amiga OEM partners. The first in our AmigaONE series of products are
the AmigaONE PPC 1200, and the AmigaONE PPC 4000 cards from Eyetech.
These products will become available to developers in December this
year and are designed to meet the specific needs of the Amiga
Community. We have also announced another partner, bPlan GmbH, who are
creating a new AmigaONE PPC based desktop computer.
More details will emerge shortly about bPlan, Eyetech and the new
AmigaONE products, so visit the AmigaONE web site at
www.amiga.com/products/one/pr.shtml to stay informed.
I would also like to announce new versions of the Amiga SDK. AmigaSDK
version 1.1 will begin shipping on October 24, 2000. In addition to an
upgrade for the Linux version, we are please to release the Windows
version of the Amiga SDK as well.
There was a mistake in the September 28 Executive Update. As
erroneously printed in the update, the Amiga SDK 1.1 does not include
the sound, UI, or 3D pieces. These will be found in version 1.2, which
itself will be released shortly. I am sorry for the error, but take
comfort in the fact that purchasers of an Amiga SDK receive free
updates and upgrades for 12 months from the date of purchase.
Possible Amiga Community Investment Opportunity:
Another announcement made in Melbourne was the possibility of a
Registration A filing for Amiga. Since the announcements of the Amiga
Inc. plan and strategy, we have continually received questions and
offers of investing in Amiga.
We at Amiga have been trying to find ways to give something back for
all of your efforts and continued faith in what we are doing. We are
investigating a method where we can offer 10% of Amiga to the
community in a Registration A filing. We have not decided on whether
or not we are going to do this, but to date we have investigated many
opportunities and this looks to be a great option.
We are investigating this in earnest, but before we continue down
this path much further we wanted to see what the community thought
about the idea. We have established an email address at
investor@amiga.com where members of the Amiga community can send us a
message with their interest. We are looking for no less than $250.00
US per investment. If you are interested please send an email message
along with the dollar amount that you would be interested in
investing.
Each country has its own rules about Registration A filings, so you
should check with local authorities to learn what rules may apply to
each of you. As with any investment there is associated risk, and
before anyone decides to invest we encourage them to read the plan,
prospectus, and inherent risks involved with this offer if it is
eventually implemented.
Closing
It has been an amazing 10 months since we started Amiga Incorporated.
The community has seen the delivery of the Amiga SDK, an upgrade to
the SDK, an upgrade to the Classic AmigaOS, and now the announcement
of three PPC based AmigaONE products. We still have a long way to go
and many more battles to fight, but I am confident that with the
community behind us, and the enhancements to the product line
continuing, there is a long and exciting future for Amiga.
To the user group members around the world, it is time to start
calling the members who have drifted away and let them know what is
happening with the new Amiga. We want them to know they can again be
part of continuing the legacy that is Amiga.
Again thanks to Greg, and Michael, and the thousands of other Amigans
Down Under who made ACE 2000 such a great event.
Get Boinged!
Bill McEwen and the rest of the Amiga Team
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A M I G A L O S E S A F R I E N D
Bob Cosby
1948-2000
10-23-00
To the Amiga Family:
I write to you today with heavy heart, as I announce the passing of a
member of the Amiga family: Bob Cosby.
Bob, or Coz as I often yelled it out, was always a smiling supportive
team member. Coz was always here to encourage and support the team and
our efforts.
As frustrations would flare, or concerns arose Coz was there in the
middle of it helping to keep the sanity.
It was Coz who was first to offer his opinions, and today the office
is quieter and we miss him very much.
Coz was planning and bringing up his Harley, and he and I were
planning on a long ride through the mountains next year with our
wives.
Well, Coz, I look forward to our ride another time.
My prayers, and heart felt condolences go out to his wife and his
family.
We at Amiga dedicate the AmigaOne to Coz.
I would ask the members of the Amiga Family to pray for Marsha, his
wife, and always remember Coz.
Mr. Cosby - I miss you.
Bill McEwen and the rest of the Amiga team.
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S D K O N W I N D O W S
Oct 30, 2000, Snoqualmie, WA - Amiga Inc., developer of multi-media,
multi-platform digital environments announced the release today of its
software development kit for Microsoft WindowsTM.
The Amiga Software Developers Kit provides the initial tools and
examples for developers to create applications that can run on
desktops, information appliances, set top boxes, PDAs, and game
systems without modification. Amiga uses Virtual Processor (VP)
technology to erase the boundaries that separate different hardware
architectures. Once a program is written, the same binary will run on
every platform that Amiga supports. Software Developers running
Microsoft WindowsTM can focus on developing applications instead of
porting to different platforms.
Amiga Digital Environment Graphical Interface running on Microsoft
Windows
For developers, the new SDK creates a single environment that is
scalable from handheld devices such as cell phones to multiprocessor
servers. Current and future versions will enable compact, high
performance and robust media solutions to be used across a broad range
of devices using identical binary files. The New Amiga SDK is
available through local retailers for $99.00 and from the Amiga web
site.
"Amiga is committed to delivering operating environments to a
plethora of platforms. The Amiga SDK for Windows is an opportunity to
deliver a development environment to a large community that creates
applications and for that community to deliver applications to
different markets with no additional development costs," said Amiga
Product Manager Matt Fontenot.
"We are very excited to be able to add Windows developers to the
thousands of Linux developers already creating content for the new
Amiga," said Bill McEwen, CEO of Amiga.
Amiga Digital Environment Command Line Interface running on Microsoft
Windows
Amiga based applications can run directly on x86, PowerPC, M Core,
ARM, StrongARM, MIPS R3000, R4000, R5000, SH 3, SH4, and NEC V850
processors. The Amiga OS can run hosted on Linux, Embedded Linux,
Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT, CE, QNX4, OS/9, and soon Palm, EPOC,
VxWorks, and others.
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W O A 2 0 0 0 A N N O U N C E D
2 November, 2000
Announcement of WOA 2000
Now it is official - the first AMIGA-only show since years will again
be held in Cologne. From 9.-10. December the MediaPark in Cologne will
be the destination for all AMIGA fans.
The highlight of the show will be the first official presentation of
the new AmigaOS 3.9. This day sales of AmigaOS 3.9 will start too.
There will also be hourly seminars on AmigaOS 3.9 and other
interesting AMIGA Software and Hardware.
There will be a lot of dealers and manufacturers as well as Bill
McEwen, who will tell his vision of the AMIGA future to the AMIGA
fans.
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A M I G A X M A S P A R T Y I N O R E G O N , U S A
05 Nov 2000
December 2nd is the 2nd Annual Christmas Party hosted by Northwest
Amiga Users Group. This will also mark the celebration of 15 year
anniversary of the group.
The event will be held in the Presidential Suite of the Embassy
Suites in Tigarg, Oregon.
We would like to invite all Amiga enthusiast to join our celebration.
We strongly invite officials of Amiga Inc. to join us. After all it is
only a 3 hour drive from the Amiga headquarters to Portland.
For more information please email me.
TTYL
----
Daniel Reichen-Vice President
Northwest Amiga Group
webmaster@nwamiga.org
NAG Home Page: www.nwamiga.org
Web-NAJ: www.nwamiga.org/Web-NAJ
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A M I G A C L U B C O N T A C T S N E E D E D
3 Nov 2000
Amigans,
We are requesting your assistance.
Since the completion of the fantastic Amgia 2K show, in St. Louis
this last March 31st - April 2, I've hit upon an idea that will help
Amiga Clubs even more.
To do this project properly, I need to acquire the names and
addresses of all the Amgia Clubs I can, including a contact person and
phone number where possible. I already have a good number, but I don't
want to miss anyone.
I know this is a little work for you, but it will greatly help all
the Amiga Clubs, and I would certainly appreciate your assistance.
So please take the time to fill in this note and email it back to me
with as many ACCURATE club names and information as you can. Please
fill it in as completely as possible.
To all of you who have helped so far, many thanks.
Club Name:
Club Abbreviation:
Club Address:
Club State or Province:
Club Zip Code:
Club Country:
Club website:
Club Contact Person:
Club Contact Person's Phone:
Club Contact Person's email:
Send replies to bscharp@icon-stl.net
This project involves placing each qualified club on a list to
receive the new Bounce-back Video tapes free of charge. The first tape
was of the Amiga 2K Banquet. The second tape was titled "Nova Design &
more!", This next tape will cover more of this summers Ami-West show
and information on SoftLogiks PageStream program. Sign your club up
and get on the list to receive the future tapes free.*
These tapes are for Amiga Clubs to use as a demos at their meetings.
It is expensive to do this, so I ask my fellow Amigans to send only
real club information. Don't send for a tape just for yourself, or you
will deprive other Amigans the ability to receive one. I have a
limited number of tapes, and wish to get them into the hands of as
many clubs as possible. Each club will be contacted by phone before
tapes are mailed.
We currently are distributing tapes to over 150 clubs in the U.S.A.
and Canada.
* The tapes are currently only in NTSC, and only available for clubs
in the U.S.A. and Canada, but if you are outside of this area, please
keep in touch. We may expand in the future.
Sincerely,
Bob & Diana Scharp
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E L B O X O N A M I G A O N E
Krakow, 30 October 2000
Elbox comments on AmigaONE 1200/4000
A few days ago, Amiga Inc. proposed the direction, in which the Amiga
Classic computer line should evolve.
This direction assumes the necessity of equipping Amiga Classic
computers with PCI-standard slots, the G3 or G4 processor with fast
SDRAM memory and a slot for a the Next Generation MATROX graphic card.
In order to fully use the new AmigaDE system, Amiga Classic must be
fitted with several basic pieces of equipment.
The AmigaONE 1200 idea assumes connection of this hardware directly
to the CPU expansion slot in Amiga 1200.
We are really glad to inform all the owners of Amiga Classic
computers that this is exactly the way, for which Elbox was the
pathfinder in their designing and marketing of the MEDIATOR PCI 1200
busboard.
The most important thing is the proper decision of following our path
and connecting the new busboard to the CPU slot in Amiga 1200 -- not
to local connectors in turbo cards. The latter would result in some
limitations (see our previous announcement of 21 Sep 2000).
MEDIATOR PCI vs. AmigaONE 1200/4000
The basic differences between AmigaONE 1200 and MEDIATOR PCI
1200 are as follows:
AmigaONE 1200 MEDIATOR PCI 1200
* connection to A1200 edge * connection to A1200 edge
connector connector
* six PCI slots * four PCI slots
* No * logic for supporting A1200
68k & 68k/PPC turbo card
* logic to connect A1200 * logic to connect A1200
motherboard motherboard
* No * five ZORRO II slots, one Video
slot (with MEDIATOR ZIV
& ZIV busboard)
* PowerPC G3/G4 processor * PowerPC G3/G4 processor
(on Macintosh-type card) (on SharkPPC/SharkPPC+)
* two SDRAM sockets for * two SDRAM sockets for up to 1 GB
up to 512 MB memory memory (on SharkPPC/SharkPPC+)
* one AGP slot * one AGP slot (on SharkPPC+)
* USB 1.0 & FastEthernet * USB 2.0 & FastEthernet
& UDMA/EIDE/ATAPI & UDMA/EIDE/ATAPI
(on custom PCI card) (on SharkPPC+)
The basic shortcoming of the AmigaONE 1200 project is that its
designers will not implement logic for AmigaONE 1200 working with 68k
and 68k/PPC turbo cards. Such implementation would require expanding
AmigaONE 1200 logic and, most of all, its designers having knowledge
of the technical intricacies of the design of all the currently
available turbo cards.
This means that AmigaONE 1200 in the Amiga Classic mode will provide
calculation capacity of the 68020 14 MHz processor at the most.
MEDIATOR PCI 1200 has no such limitation.
All types of Amiga turbo cards (in the Amiga Classic mode) can work
at full speed in connection with cards installed in MEDIATOR PCI 1200
slots.
All the currently available Amiga software may be executed in the 68k
(or PPC) processor of any Amiga turbo card.
In new applications to be developed, both accelerators in MEDIATOR
PCI (68k/PPC and SharkPPC) may enhance performance of each other just
the same way as it is done in advanced multi-processor systems. This
is due to the fact that processors in both accelerators work fully
simultaneously.
In both solutions (MEDIATOR PCI 1200 and AmigaONE 1200), irrespective
of the Classic mode, running Amiga Classic programmes will also be
possible in the emulation mode in PowerPC G3 and G4 processors.
The hardware compatibility from the side of G3/G4 processors in both
solutions guarantees that the entire range of software written for the
new AmigaDE operational system will work on MEDIATOR PCI.
MEDIATOR technology, unlike other technologies-to-be, is NOW
available for you to have and enjoy.
Now something special for A4000 users:
As many of you already know, we are now in the final stage of work on
the MEDIATOR PCI 4000 card. Here is the comparison of capacities
offered by MEDIATOR PCI 4000 and AmigaONE 4000.
AmigaONE 4000 MEDIATOR PCI 4000
* connection to A4000D CPU * connection to A4000D Expansion
connector Bus Connector
* six PCI slots * five PCI slots
* No * logic for supporting
A4000 68k & 68k/PPC turbo card
* logic to connect A4000 * logic to connect A4000
motherboard motherboard
* No * seven ZORRO III/II slots
& one Video slot
* PowerPC G3/G4 processor * PowerPC G3/G4 processor
(on Macintosh-type card) (on SharkPPC/SharkPPC+)
* two SDRAM sockets for * two SDRAM sockets for up to 1 GB
up to 512 MB memory memory (on SharkPPC/SharkPPC+)
* one AGP slot * one AGP slot (on SharkPPC+)
* USB 1.0 & FastEthernet * USB 2.0 & FastEthernet
& UDMA/EIDE/ATAPI & UDMA/EIDE/ATAPI
(on custom PCI card) (on SharkPPC+)
Please expect our further releases:
- Development progress of Voodoo3, Sound and TV PCI card drivers
for MEDIATOR PCI 1200.
- The MEDIATOR development line (A4000 and A3000).
- Full specification of the SharkPPC+ card: the ultimate performance
card in the SharkPPC family.
ELBOX: YOUR GUIDE TO THE FUTURE
Mariusz Wloczysiak
ELBOX COMPUTER, Press Department
www.elbox.com
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A N O T H E R F E U D , P A R T 1
13 November, 2000
Breakthrough in graphic cards from ELBOX Computer
Many Amiga fans asked us to do it.
You told us: 'No more slow play.'
You wanted the best.
You deserve it.
Now you have it.
ELBOX Computer is proud to give you access to the latest generation
graphic cards based around Voodoo3 chipsets by 3dfx.
All MEDIATOR PCI 1200 users can freely use the full capacity
of these cards: now and ever after.
This is due to proprietary software drivers for MEDIATOR PCI
for Voodoo3 cards prepared by ELBOX Computer programmers' team.
These drivers are 100% compatible with the popular graphic
system for Amiga: Picasso96.
Development of drivers will be continued by ELBOX Computer
to enable use of Voodoo3 cards also with other graphic systems
for Amiga computers.
Here are the basic characteristics of the Voodoo3 3000 PCI
card: the fastest graphic card for Amiga computers:
* 128-bit 2D, 3D and video processor
* Voodoo3 graphics processor
* 16MB SDRAM high-speed SDRAM memory
* 350MHz RAMDAC
* 166 Megapixels/second
* 333 Megatexels per second peak fill rate
* 7 Million polygons per second peak processing
* 2.66 GB per second peak bandwidth
* Patented Single-pass multi-texturing
* Supports resolutions up to 2046x1536
* Alpha-Blending
* Single Pass, Single Cycle Bump Mapping
* Single Pass, Single Cycle Trilinear MIP-Mapping
* Programable Fog Tables
* Sub-Pixel and Sub-Texel Correction
* Gouraud Shading
Suggested street price (VAT excl.) for Voodoo3 2000: EUR 99.00
Dariusz Dulian
ELBOX COMPUTER, Support Department
{The following item was found on the net at the Czech Amiga News
site, http://www.realdreams.cz/AMIGA/index.html - Brad.}
15 November P96 "patch" VooDoo Mediator Drivers Not 'legal'
There was a message posted on one of the Mediator mailing list from
the Main author of P96:
"Hi, there is no Voodoo3 driver for Picasso96, because Elbox has
obviously created and actually _distributed_ one without any
permission from us. We will not support this driver in any way unless
Elbox legalizes this driver. Be prepared to have new Picasso96
releases that won't work at all with Mediator hardware installed.
Sorry, but we can not just let this happen... Regards, Alexander
Kneer." - I got 2 emails today from someone that had emailed the P96
authors and it says the same things.
A quick look at the P96 homepage, on the Distribution page has the
following information:
"Developing software for Picasso96 is free, development of Picasso96
hardware drivers is restricted to non-commercial projects, old
hardware or - if a licence is obtained from the authors - new hardware
products. We reserve the right to decide whether to provide support
for a certain project or not. Writing and issuing hardware drivers
without the written approval of the Picasso96 authors will not be
tolerated. Licensing Companies that want to sell graphics cards or
other products with Picasso96 as the core driver system must license
Picasso96 from: Kneer & Abt GbR. Masurenweg 6a D-89233 Neu-Ulm Germany
The licence fees are based on the complexity of the product and the
number of units sold. We request about 3 to 5 per cent of the retail
price with a minimum of about DM 10."
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A N O T H E R F E U D , P A R T 2
ELBOX COMPUTER
http://www.elbox.com
15 November 2000
1. The latest Elbox driver for the Voodoo3 chipset is a proprietary
and independent software solution written by Elbox programmers,
without any support or help on part of any outside team of
programmers, developers or companies.
2. All legal rights for the Voodoo3 driver are property of Elbox
Computer company. Actually, P96 authors did not acquire rights for
this software (although our driver provides added value to P96, no
doubt). We are open to further negotiations.
3. The Voodoo3 ver. 1.0 driver (available now for MEDIATOR PCI
registered users) is 100% compatible with the P96 graphic system.
4. Elbox does not distribute P96 software, which is available from
other sources, e.g. from Amiga OS 3.5 CD-ROMs.
5. P96 is shareware, paid by the users. Elbox provides expanded
capacities for P96 and as for now does not want to be paid for it from
P96 authors (the Voodoo3 driver is free for registered users of
MEDIATOR PCI).
6. Development of Elbox Voodoo3 drivers will be continued and updated
and they will be made compatible with OTHER graphic systems, too.
7. If the P96 authors team decide to try to make efforts to block
MEDIATOR operation with future P96 graphic system releases (strange
enough, as Elbox drivers indirectly helps P96 authors in their own
business...), Elbox will provide a completely NEW, modern and
expandable graphic system (soon...).
8. Drivers for other graphic chipsets are under development now and
will be provided by Elbox.
9. Support for all the drivers written by Elbox team of programmers
IS and will be provided by Elbox Computer.
10. Every user of MEDIATOR, who wants to use any graphic card based
around a chipset supported by Elbox, will be free to choose which
graphic system to use... and then pay the appropriate shareware fee if
this is P96.
FOR EVERY 'BAD NEWS' WE HAVE TEN GOOD NEWS.
Mariusz Wloczysiak
ELBOX COMPUTER, Press Department
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E Y E T E C H O N C L A S S I C U P G R A D E S
8 November, 2000
The AmigaOne 1200 & 4000, the Predator, GRex and Mediator boards - A
factual clarification of similarities and differences
For immediate release
We believe that all of the above products - including the Mediator -
represent very worthwhile expansion options for Classic Amiga users.
However each of the above products has been designed to give the
Classic Amiga user specific and quite different expansion and forward
progression capabilities, and it is therefore important to note that
these different product lines are not functionally interchangeable and
the type selected should be carefully chosen with regard to the
Amiga's current and intended future use.
This brief note is to highlight the differences in these product
lines by outlining the basic specifications of the Predator, G-Rex and
AmigaOne 1200/4000 products and how their design philosophy differs
both from each other and from the Mediator board from Elbox. For the
sake of clarification the summary information on the Mediator board
given here has been taken from public press releases and
advertisements published by Elbox over the past few months.
Finally please note that we continue to refuse to get drawn into any
unprofessional and public arguments with Elbox over their reaction to
any products which are even vaguely competitive to their Mediator
design. There are however some misleading inaccuracies in their press
release of 30 October 2000 which this note will also help clear up.
The AmigaOne 1200 & 4000 are 6xPCI + 1xAGP stand-alone G3/G4 boards
capable of running the Amiga DE directly (which is being ported to the
design by Amiga Inc). These boards are designed to fit in the most
popular A1200/A4000 tower systems, and optionally connect to the
A1200/A4000 motherboard for access to Classic Amiga chipset hardware.
In this mode the AmigaOne 1200/4000 can also be used to run the
Classic Amiga OS & software with a very high degree of compatibility -
because it has access to all the Classic Amiga custom chips.
It is however of fundamental importance to note that the A1200/A4000
'computer' now resides on the AmigaOne board - having direct
high-speed access to all the AmigaOne's PCI/AGP peripherals, and only
accessing the existing A1200/A4000 chipset (via the A1200 edge
connector or the A4000 cpu connector) as and when required. Any
existing 680x0 or PPC accelerator is entirely redundant, its function
being carried out by the AmigaOne's G3/G4 cpu & memory. For this
reason the provision of a pass-through accelerator slot on either the
A1200 or A4000 version of the AmigaOne is completely pointless. In our
view a small cardboard box provides much more cost-effective storage
for an unused accelerator card than an expensive edge connector.
For entirely hardware independent (retargetable) applications the
AmigaOne 1200/4000 hardware is capable of running them without an
A1200 or A4000 motherboard being attached at all.
The Predator and GRex boards (which are of similar - but not
identical - design) add PCI (& AGP in the case of the Predator-Plus)
facilities to an Amiga 1200 or 4000 with a phase5/DCE design of PPC
(or Cyberstorm Mk3) accelerator. These boards use the phase5
accelerator's local bus (which is not itself a PCI bus) graphics card
connector to give a high speed interface between cpu and PCI/AGP
slots. This has been implemented by using a custom-designed
'northbridge' chip on the Predator itself. The Predator also makes use
of other logic on the accelerator to interface to the Amiga
motherboard's onboard chipset & peripherals.
Using this local bus allows full linear addressing of the PCI/AGP
cards within the cpu's address space, and allows busmastering and DMA
to be implemented not just between PCI/AGP cards but between the cards
and the accelerator card's onboard memory. This design does not
require the use of any paging registers for data transfer between cpu
and PCI board, and removes any contention between the lower speed
A1200 edge connector bus (which is used exclusively for accessing the
Amiga's onboard peripherals and chipset resources) and the high speed
local bus (which is used exclusively for PCI/AGP access).
In addition the Predator-Plus also has provisi on for an on-board
G3/G4 cpu and SDRAM memory to provide a user-installable PPC
accelerator uprade.
Unlike the AmigaOne 1200/4000 the Predator and GRex boards need an
A1200/A4000 motherboard and appropriate BizzardPPC / CyberstormPPC /
Cyberstorm Mk3 accelerator installed to function.
The Mediator board from Elbox, was, in our understanding, originally
designed to be a PCI-only replacement for the Zorro II-based Z4
busboard from Apollo, primarily to allow the use of low cost PCI
graphics cards in an A1200. As with the Predator & GRex boards above,
the Mediator was not designed to run the native Amiga DE.
The Elbox design uses a bespoke paged memory mapper to allow
compatibility with all A1200 accelerators (providing they are fast
enough to drive the graphics card) and transfers all data - both to
the PCI and Amiga's on board peripherals/chipset resources - over the
A1200 edge connector bus. For its originally intended market (ie to
provide a towered A1200 with PCI sots) this is certainly a workable
option.
Since the Eyetech's original Predator announcement in September 2000
Elbox have announced a variety of add-on/upgrade cards for the
Mediator, to - we understand - provide it with superficially similar
facilities to those embodied in the design of the Predator. However -
as we understand it - these upgrades will still rely on (paged) cpu
and memory access from the existing Amiga accelerator over the A1200
edge connector.
Elbox have also recently announced an A4000 version of the Mediator
which, we understand, basically uses the same technology as the A1200
version but physically connects via the Zorro bus using the 8MB Zorro
II address space for a paged PCI memory interface.
We hope this helps clear up the differences between these three
significant upgrade products for Classic Amiga computers.
http://www.eyetech.co.uk
----------------------------------------------------------------------
S U R V I V O R O R G . H A S C S & E R I G H T S
2 Nov 2000
SURVIVOR ORG. to take over the Amiga branch of CS&E
After recent announcements by David Connolly, managing director of
Crystal Software and Electronics, that he will no longer be active in
the Amiga market, Survivor Org. has acquired the rights to past,
present and future Amiga games from CS&E. Managing director of
Survivor Org. is Dirk Harlaar.
Currently the educational program Cosmos Fun Class is being finished
and translated into different languages, to reach an audience larger
than only the English speaking world. On the final CD there will also
be some "bonusses" by the develloper of Cosmos Fun Class.
Survivor Org. will focus on Amiga games only, although PC conversions
may appear on "multi format" CD's, in cooperation with CS&E. Multi
format CD's (with PC and Amiga versions of the same game) have the
benefit that they wouldn't have to cost as much as Amiga only games,
since the profit on the PC-platform is just that little bit higher
than on the Amiga market. It also has the added bonus for our
customers, that they only have to buy a game once, and will be able to
play it on their Amiga at home, and the PC in the office (don't do
this when your boss is watching you!). In these first days of running
this business, I got the rights to two conversions of PC-games, and am
negotiating a third game. Details are still sketchy at the moment, but
I will keep you all informed about it when we have more solid
information.
All the best,
-------------
Dirk Harlaar
Managing Director
Survivor Org.
{The following announcement was made by David Connolly of CS&E on
October 28. Brad.}
Dear friends, maintaining a commercial business in the Amiga market
has become increasingly difficult. I don't just mean in terms of the
poor sales, but in terms of maintaining professional communication and
business relationships. I don't feel I am able to offer a truly
professional service for the Amiga as I have failed on both these
counts. I have made inproper comments on mailing lists and failed to
attract developers to sign for CS&E.
As I have made the announcement before that CS&E would leave the
classic Amiga but come back for the next generation, it is with regret
that I have to say this time the company is leaving the Amiga to
concentrate on the PC development.
Amiga Survivor will be continuing as a non-profit making magazine
through the editorial staff but CS&E will continue to lend a hand in
taking orders. I wish the Amiga all the best and will be keeping a
very close eye on all the developments as an eager customer."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
M A J E S T Y : T H E F A N T A S Y T O A M I G A
12-November-2000
Hyperion Entertainment and Titan Computer are pleased to announce
that they will be bringing Cyberlore Studios' critically acclaimed God
sim "Majesty: the Fantasy Kingdom Sim" to the Amiga.
MajestyTM is a unique sim putting you in the crushed velvet hotseat
of your own kingdom. With an epic quest before you, you make the
decisions of where to build your settlement's guilds and temples. From
these you recruit a varied cast of larger-than-life heroes. Each one
has a mind of his own and must be enticed to meet your goals, via
rewards you offer and spells you cast. Meanwhile you must make sure
that your treasury stays flush with cash to support these and other
outlays necessary to maintain a thriving medieval town. The fact that
you are being barraged by attacks from mythical beasts and fantastic
creatures doesn't make your job any easier.
"We are very excited by the prospect of bringing such an outstanding
God sim to the Amiga, the machine where the genre was born all these
years ago with Populous", says Ben Hermans, managing partner of
Hyperion Entertainment. "The people at Cyberlore Studios have been
very cooperative and our partners at Tribsoft, who are handling the
Linux version, have been instrumental in making the Amiga port happen.
We promised to expand on the genres we were offering to Amiga users
and here we are."
Majesty will be published for Amiga and Linux by Titan Computer and
is slated for release in early Q1 of 2001. A PPC equipped Amiga
(supported through WarpOS), at least 48 MB of memory, a graphics-card
and around 300MB of harddrive space will be required. The possibility
of a 68060 and AGA version is under review.
Majesty is a trademark of Cyberlore Studios. All other trademarks and
tradenames belong to their respective owners.
http://www.hyperion-software.com/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Amiga Update on the net:
All back issues available at:
http://www.globaldialog.com/~amigaupdate/index.html
Stop by and check out our archive!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2000 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified.
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[News message: 24. Nov. 2000, 05:57] [Comments: 0]
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