ACA500+ and Kickstart ROM Chips

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Don't Panic. Please wash hands.

    I have just inherited an Amiga 500, Rev 5 and Kickstart 1.2. I fully intend to upgrade this machine with an ACA500+ soon, and I know I'll need to upgrade the Agnus chip to be able to make use of the "1MB Chip RAM using the trapdoor 512K expansion" feature of the ACA500+.


    The other thing I might have to upgrade is the Kickstart socket to upgrade the ROM to v3.2. The thing is, I believe one can flash the ROM to the User ROM space on the ACA500+ and use that instead of the on-board ROM.


    My questions:

    1. Does it matter what physical ROM is installed in the machine if I hope to use 3.2 in the User ROM? Can I do that without having to upgrade the socket & ROM from 1.2?
    2. Is it better to have the physical ROM installed? Is it perhaps better to rely on the one flashed in the User ROM space? Does it make not discernable difference at all?

    I'm very much looking forward to getting myself an ACA500+; it's not the fastest accelerator in the Amiga world, but it offers so much more than just a speed increase and it'll do absolutely everything I need it to do. If I can upgrade this old Rev 5 machine without having to update the Kickstart socket that's one step fewer to worry about. :)

    Quote from LineOf7s

    The other thing I might have to upgrade is the Kickstart socket to upgrade the ROM to v3.2. The thing is, I believe one can flash the ROM to the User ROM space on the ACA500+ and use that instead of the on-board ROM.

    Correct: There is no need for a physical ROM. You can just program V3.2 into the flash of the ACA500plus. You may even leave the Kickstart ROM socket empty if you intend to keep the ACA500plus connected all the time. The physical ROM chip does not matter at all - it neither has advantages, nor disadvantages.


    Quote from LineOf7s

    I'm very much looking forward to getting myself an ACA500+; it's not the fastest accelerator in the Amiga world, but it offers so much more than just a speed increase and it'll do absolutely everything I need it to do. If I can upgrade this old Rev 5 machine without having to update the Kickstart socket that's one step fewer to worry about.

    You have pretty much summarized the reasons why the ACA500plus has been such a successful product since 2016. Even if your A500 is partially damaged (maybe from a previous Kickstart mod, or a failing disk drive that suffered from years in a humid basement), you get all the functionality back with the ACA500plus.

    Excellent, excellent. I'll save the 3.2 ROM upgrade for my Rev6 machine (and save myself one more upgrade) and just concentrate on the 1MB Agnus (which, sadly, I'm way too late to the party to get from you) and the ACA500+.


    And if I have to get another ACA500+ later for my Rev6 machine, then that's just what I'll have to do. :)


    Thank you for your help (and for your great products).


    (oh, and if anyone is wondering why I don't just use the ACA500+ on my Rev6 machine instead? It's currently not working, and the Rev5 is)

    Quote from LineOf7s

    (oh, and if anyone is wondering why I don't just use the ACA500+ on my Rev6 machine instead? It's currently not working, and the Rev5 is)

    ...which makes me wonder why you don't take the 8372a Agnus from the Rev.6 machine and put it into the Rev.5 machine - no need to buy any part!

    That would indeed be logical. But... the Rev6 is mine from new (1990) and the Rev5 is from a friend of mine.


    It doesn't feel right to "break" my "better" one. ;(8o


    ...


    Perhaps I'll borrow it for a while until I replace it. :/:)

    Another great benfit with the ACA 500 + is because it's based on a 68000 CPU you get full compatability with floppy games/demos without the need to remove the ACA 500 +. And the fact that it can add slow RAM even if you have an A500 Plus or ACE2B with chip RAM only setups.


    When overclocked, it will rival many 020 accelerators and be even faster than some of them. It will give you more CF card speed than most other (if not all other) solutions. Also, since it's based on the 68000 CPU you will not suffer from slowdowns in certain whdload titles. Like you get with 020/030 accelerators when paired with A500/A600. Which can somtimes be solved partly by adding 'Cache' in tooltip for the whdload slaves.

    Quote from turrican9

    Another great benfit with the ACA 500 + is because it's based on a 68000 CPU you get full compatability with floppy games/demos without the need to remove the ACA 500 +. And the fact that it can add slow RAM even if you have an A500 Plus or ACE2B with chip RAM only setups.


    When overclocked, it will rival many 020 accelerators and be even faster than some of them. It will give you more CF card speed than most other (if not all other) solutions. Also, since it's based on the 68000 CPU you will not suffer from slowdowns in certain whdload titles. Like you get with 020/030 accelerators when paired with A500/A600. Which can somtimes be solved partly by adding 'Cache' in tooltip for the whdload slaves.

    Indeed. All this and more appeals to me. PAL/NTSC switching. Choice of Kickstart ROMS at boot. Two CF cards to more easily enable the addition of more files without networking. etc etc

    Quote from LineOf7s

    ...and just concentrate on the 1MB Agnus (which, sadly, I'm way too late to the party to get from you)

    A quick question about the bold part above: last I looked, you were well and truly out of stock of ECS 1MB Agnus chips (hence my comment). Today it's showing as in-stock and ready to ship.

    Am I dreaming, or did you get some more in recently (like, in the last couple of weeks)?

    https://icomp.de/shop-icomp/en…roduct/ecs-agnus-1mb.html


    (I sure hope I'm not dreaming since I just ordered one... as well as a couple of other things.)

    Quote from LineOf7s

    last I looked, you were well and truly out of stock of ECS 1MB Agnus chips (hence my comment). Today it's showing as in-stock and ready to ship.

    Just checked the database: Yes, there are a few units shown. Verifying with what's actually there, I have opened a few of the antistatic boxes to see if one of the employees has confused the parts - not the case, they're all the correct ones.


    Quantity is not huge - corresponds to "about one tube". I guess that while digging out a few OCS Agnus chips for A500 Rev.5 repairs (had to do some product maintenance to find a rarely-showing bug), a tube of ECS Agnus was found when I asked for a 8371 Agnus to be taken to my desk. Just a guess, though - will ask the employees when they show up in two hours.


    So nothing to worry about; your order will be served as placed. The direct connection from shop to stock-database is working - much better than with many other shops :-)

    Quote from LineOf7s

    Wait until my wife finds out!

    Spend time with her! A game of IK+ might release some aggression :-)


    The question about 1MB ECS Agnus chips is answered: It's NOS, but some chips show signs of testing (have been inserted and removed from a socket), and date codes go back to 1988. I have updated the product description in the shop accordingly. Let me know if this makes you change your mind about ordering one.

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