ACA1234 questions

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Don't Panic. Please wash hands.

    Hi all, hi IC,


    Have some questions about ACA1234.


    I recently got A1200 gifted from a friend of mine. Back in a days I had A500 but since 1990 I did not have Amiga any more.


    My main purpose for this Amiga would be to play the games with my 8yo son (we are playing C64 games now on the Ultimate64, so I want him to feel the "upgrade" :)).


    I was thinking of getting memory expansion only as I see it is a requirement for WHDL and it allows full use of 2MB chip ram and also increases the speed of A1200 ca. 2,3x.


    But I do not know anything about games that came after 1990 and I see some suggestions on forums that the accelerator, although not a must have, really helps with some titles that were made after 1990.


    So I am thinking of buying ACA1234 (also with RTC module and Indivision AGA MK3 for which I have some questions also but will post in the appropriate forum). I checked what is available from the accelerators on the market today and think that ACA1234 is the way to go.


    So my questions are:


    1. My understanding is that if I would purchase 25Mhz accelerator version, I would get a chip that is guarantied to do 25Hz, but that the same chip would maybe be able to go to 33, 40 or even 50MHz. But it is not guaranteed? Is that correct?


    2. Is more than 25MHz on A1234 accelerator really necessary for games? I mean, if it would go to more MHz I would be inclined to buy a license later (as the initial investment for accelerator and mk3 is somehow high, at least for me).


    3. If I understood correctly, I would not need to flash ROM chips anymore as I would just need to put ROM images on the card as they are released?


    4. In the "stealth mode", does amiga have access to any portion of the ACA1234 memory or everything is disabled?


    Thank you very much for your support in advance.


    PS. I already had A1200 recapped by the people that do that stuff. Also, they corrected some timing issues on the board (they said it is a common issue on the board and is usually done with the service/recap). The new power supply I got "Amiga PSU Boost" from c64psu (not sure how good it is, but was recommended from my local retro group and seems to be working OK)

    Quote from IgorK

    1. My understanding is that if I would purchase 25Mhz accelerator version, I would get a chip that is guarantied to do 25Hz, but that the same chip would maybe be able to go to 33, 40 or even 50MHz. But it is not guaranteed? Is that correct?

    Correct. The CPU on the 25MHz card is labelled 25MHz, but Motorola has a history of labelling CPUs slower when orders for slower CPUs came in. So a lot of CPUs actually run a lot faster than their designation. However, since I can't look into the chip itself, I cannot guarantee that. That's what the trial runs are for: You can attempt to run the card faster up to 20 times (no matter what speed). If you find that the card is stable at your desired speed, you can make it permanent by buying the license.

    Quote from IgorK

    2. Is more than 25MHz on A1234 accelerator really necessary for games? I mean, if it would go to more MHz I would be inclined to buy a license later (as the initial investment for accelerator and mk3 is somehow high, at least for me).

    Most games are happy with 25MHz, but if you're going for 3D/egoshooter games, you can't have enough speed.

    Quote from IgorK

    3. If I understood correctly, I would not need to flash ROM chips anymore as I would just need to put ROM images on the card as they are released?

    Correct - you can flash a Kickstart ROM into the flash of the ACA1234 and cold-start from your own Kickstart ROM.


    Quote from IgorK

    4. In the "stealth mode", does amiga have access to any portion of the ACA1234 memory or everything is disabled?

    Truly everything is disabled, including memory. You'll find that with WHDload, you hardly ever need to disable the card.


    Quote from IgorK

    The new power supply I got "Amiga PSU Boost" from c64psu (not sure how good it is, but was recommended from my local retro group and seems to be working OK)

    That's a known-bad PSU. I recommend to send it back for false advertising, as it's using a good chassis, but that doesn't know about the distant power sink. It regulates locally, then voltage drops on the cable, and insufficient voltage arrives inside the Amiga. Modern hardware uses linear regulators that may go into oscillation and permanently damage the 3.3V parts on the new hardware.


    I recommend to use the original PSU, but re-cap that. More technical explanations in our PSU FAQ.


    Jens

    Dear Jens,


    Thank you very much for your fast response and the time you took to write it. That answers all my questions.


    Too bad for the PSU... Damn I thought I got a good one as their description on the website is that it can run any Amiga with variety of accelerators including ACA, and tested for 150% overload...


    I still have original PSU. Will send it for test/service/recap.


    Thank you once again.

    Hi Jens,


    finally ordered ACA1234 and some other stuff. Can't wait for it to arrive. Also did some keyboard and housing modification. Will post once it is finished.


    As this is my first amiga since 1991 and my first a1200, just a few more questions if I may:


    1. I have AmigaOS 3.2. I see when it is unpacked that it has 3 rom files for A1200. Hi, lo and .rom. Which one should I put on the ACA?

    2. Do I need to delete 3.1 roms and OS from ACA or there is enough space for 3.2.2?


    Thank you.


    Igor

    Quote from IgorK

    1. I have AmigaOS 3.2. I see when it is unpacked that it has 3 rom files for A1200. Hi, lo and .rom. Which one should I put on the ACA?

    That would be the ROM file. The Hi and Lo files are for programming into chips, but you won't need that, as you have the MapROM function of the ACA1234.


    Quote from IgorK

    2. Do I need to delete 3.1 roms and OS from ACA or there is enough space for 3.2.2?

    The 3.1 installation files are in a part of the ACA1234 flash that you use for installing the OS, so you don't have to worry about space there. If you're setting up a fresh system, you will most likely use the CF card slot on the ACA1234, and no matter what you buy these days, you'll have enough space there :-)


    Jens

    Thank you.


    Yes I will use the CF slot on ACA. I will prepare CF on PC and plug it in.

    I presume in the config tool I will just need to point to a new rom file and boot the system.


    Igor

    I recently got an ACA1234 and I am trying to launch the acatool. I downloaded it (ver 3.4), extracted and when I double click the gui does not come up. Is there any problem with the latest version? Should I expect the gui up ?

    Why do you make it so complicated? The latest version of the ACAtool is on the virtual install disk that is auto-mounted if you launch to a WB. If you don't have a proper WB installed, the ACA1234 helps you do that as well - no need for installation disks, everything is in the flash of the card.


    Jens

    I saw that but I thought it was something else. I was trying first to install it

    Good to know

    If I disable the ACA1234 do I need to install it on the main CF or the virtual disk does not work in this case

    Yes, if the ACA1234 is disabled, the virtual disk won't mount. For going back to 68030 operation, you'll either need the ACAtool on a floppy of the internal harddrive/CF, or just power-cycle the Amiga. The "disabled" state is volatile, meaning, the ACA1234 will always come up in 68030 mode after a power cycle.


    Jens