Commodore Amiga could get a mini/classic version next year(vintageisthenewold.com)
vintageisthenewold.com
Commodore Amiga could get a mini/classic version next year
https://vintageisthenewold.com/retro-games-the-maker-of-thec64-teases-an-amiga-500-for-2021/
77 comments
The title is misleading since this has nothing to do with Commodore. Assuming it's based on nothing more than a software emulator core (just like their previous C64 project), you're better off getting a MiSTer [1] or just using WinUAE.
For extra points, it's not hard at all to setup the MiSTer board in a used Amiga 500 case with the original keyboard.
And of course, one can always buy a classic Amiga 500 system from AmiBay, there are lot of them out there and prices are still reasonable. Moreover, there's a galaxy of modern expansion boards and hardware accessories that can be used to bring them into the 21st century.
[1] https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Main_MiSTer/wiki
For extra points, it's not hard at all to setup the MiSTer board in a used Amiga 500 case with the original keyboard.
And of course, one can always buy a classic Amiga 500 system from AmiBay, there are lot of them out there and prices are still reasonable. Moreover, there's a galaxy of modern expansion boards and hardware accessories that can be used to bring them into the 21st century.
[1] https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Main_MiSTer/wiki
Indeed the title of the article is "Retro Games, the maker of TheC64 teases an Amiga 500 for 2021"
Similar to MiSTer, if you want a more modern Amiga take, the Vampire 4 has a standalone version now - overclocked Amiga with tons of RAM.
>Similar to MiSTer
Not similar at all, as miSTer is all about the openness, and the minimig-aga core is of course Open Hardware.
Vampire, while being fully proprietary and closed, implements CPU and Amiga chipset extensions that are not found in any original Amiga hardware. If these are utilized, the possibility of vendor lock-in arises, as there's no alternative implementations.
Not similar at all, as miSTer is all about the openness, and the minimig-aga core is of course Open Hardware.
Vampire, while being fully proprietary and closed, implements CPU and Amiga chipset extensions that are not found in any original Amiga hardware. If these are utilized, the possibility of vendor lock-in arises, as there's no alternative implementations.
It’s similar in a lot of ways except the one you’ve pointed out. Thanks for adding that clarification.
Both have their places.
That said, I'm a MiSTer user.
I do think what Apollo is doing with Vampire is doing is amazing as well. Lots of respect for them for what they've done, even if it's closed source. I fully understand people wanting to make a living off their hard work.
That said, I'm a MiSTer user.
I do think what Apollo is doing with Vampire is doing is amazing as well. Lots of respect for them for what they've done, even if it's closed source. I fully understand people wanting to make a living off their hard work.
>For extra points, it's not hard at all to setup the MiSTer board in a used Amiga 500 case with the original keyboard.
Or an ULX3S[0], which works with the open FPGA yosys/nextpnr workflow.
[0]: https://www.crowdsupply.com/radiona/ulx3s
Or an ULX3S[0], which works with the open FPGA yosys/nextpnr workflow.
[0]: https://www.crowdsupply.com/radiona/ulx3s
Got mine. Not sure what to do next.
I was obsessed with the Amiga when it was announced in the mid-80s. I saved my paper route money (when that was a thing) and bought the Amiga 1000 as soon as it was available. I loved the computer and I am thankful for how it set me up for my expectations about what personal computing should be.
HOWEVER...
I'm perplexed how I keep seeing all these projects over the years to revive the platform. AmigaOS was good for its time but there's nothing it offers now that any modern OS doesn't do now. For how cutting edge it was, it was an unstable POS too.
GAH!
HOWEVER...
I'm perplexed how I keep seeing all these projects over the years to revive the platform. AmigaOS was good for its time but there's nothing it offers now that any modern OS doesn't do now. For how cutting edge it was, it was an unstable POS too.
GAH!
> but there's nothing it offers now that any modern OS doesn't do now
Did you ever go past your A1000? Did you use AmigaOS2.1 and up?
...like...scripting all your productivity applications with the same scripting language and have them interchange data, this way, orchestrating workflows I still dream about on other systems?
...like... mounting RAM: or SOUND: or HTTP: or IMAP: or FTP: or ARC(hives): or (raw) MEM(ory): ? All without any Virtual File System? Just real device level mounts?
And so much more...
Yes, you can do all these things, the one way or other, on today's systems (except the mounting example,afaik). But with the Amiga these things were built-in. Which means, that, instead of system administration and time wasted on setup and tooling, you would just use the things and enjoy more productivity.
Did you ever go past your A1000? Did you use AmigaOS2.1 and up?
...like...scripting all your productivity applications with the same scripting language and have them interchange data, this way, orchestrating workflows I still dream about on other systems?
...like... mounting RAM: or SOUND: or HTTP: or IMAP: or FTP: or ARC(hives): or (raw) MEM(ory): ? All without any Virtual File System? Just real device level mounts?
#> mount HTTP:
#> COPY HTTP:hostname.tld/~user/index.html TO folder/
And so much more...
Yes, you can do all these things, the one way or other, on today's systems (except the mounting example,afaik). But with the Amiga these things were built-in. Which means, that, instead of system administration and time wasted on setup and tooling, you would just use the things and enjoy more productivity.
Not the OP, but I understand the sentiment. Despite the many advantages of the platform, there are so many things that have evolved in the meantime:
- Compatibility with international character sets (UTF-8) for data exchange
- Support for modern peripherals like LCD monitors, printers, wi-fi cards, etc.
- Access to external filesystems (Ext4, NTFS, remote storage, etc.)
- Other
I have never used Amigas, so maybe these points are all addressable with a recent version of AmigaOS, but I understand the OP's concerns.
- Compatibility with international character sets (UTF-8) for data exchange
- Support for modern peripherals like LCD monitors, printers, wi-fi cards, etc.
- Access to external filesystems (Ext4, NTFS, remote storage, etc.)
- Other
I have never used Amigas, so maybe these points are all addressable with a recent version of AmigaOS, but I understand the OP's concerns.
> - Compatibility with international character sets (UTF-8) for data exchange
>
> - Support for modern peripherals like LCD monitors, printers, wi-fi cards, etc.
>
> - Access to external filesystems (Ext4, NTFS, remote storage, etc.)
This is all supported with the current version of the OS (AmigaOS 4), however, due to no market share, only select devices are supported (the situation is like Linux (was), but much more extreme: printers (non-postscript) and WiFi cards, especially).
It is other things, where the system did not age well: no memory protection and no multi user support.
However, I do not want to place the Amiga as a viable solution for today's use. I just wanted to address the comment, I replied to, which was a bit too 'absolute' in tone for my taste. I did not find the criticism to be justified. Currently there is a hardware scene, that builds FPGA systems, that are fully compatible and meant to be run as stand alone, or as add-in systems and which can cope with most modern tasks, albeit CPU and GPU power is a limit, of course.
This is all supported with the current version of the OS (AmigaOS 4), however, due to no market share, only select devices are supported (the situation is like Linux (was), but much more extreme: printers (non-postscript) and WiFi cards, especially).
It is other things, where the system did not age well: no memory protection and no multi user support.
However, I do not want to place the Amiga as a viable solution for today's use. I just wanted to address the comment, I replied to, which was a bit too 'absolute' in tone for my taste. I did not find the criticism to be justified. Currently there is a hardware scene, that builds FPGA systems, that are fully compatible and meant to be run as stand alone, or as add-in systems and which can cope with most modern tasks, albeit CPU and GPU power is a limit, of course.
> All without any Virtual File System? Just real device level mounts?
Mounting "HTTP" counts as a virtual file system unless you have a real physical HTTP object plugged into your Amiga, surely?
> scripting all your productivity applications with the same scripting language and have them interchange data
Theoretically possible with both AppleScript and the much-hated VBA, but never quite as easy. Probably never will be as easy, as you can only have this kind of tight integration when there are no security boundaries between applications.
Mounting "HTTP" counts as a virtual file system unless you have a real physical HTTP object plugged into your Amiga, surely?
> scripting all your productivity applications with the same scripting language and have them interchange data
Theoretically possible with both AppleScript and the much-hated VBA, but never quite as easy. Probably never will be as easy, as you can only have this kind of tight integration when there are no security boundaries between applications.
It's nostalgia aimed at people who had these computers as kids. I know it worked for me with their pretty cool TheC64.
Why not buy a real vintage home computer then? Well, in the case of the C64, vintage ones are unreliable, hard to get to work with modern screens and hard to get stuff in/out of them. You end up needing expensive extra hardware for all these things and for what? -- the retro remakes are pretty convenient out of the box, and give you the convenience of an emulator with the look & feel you remember from your childhood.
However, if you didn't own one of these as a kid, then you'll find them pointless.
Why not buy a real vintage home computer then? Well, in the case of the C64, vintage ones are unreliable, hard to get to work with modern screens and hard to get stuff in/out of them. You end up needing expensive extra hardware for all these things and for what? -- the retro remakes are pretty convenient out of the box, and give you the convenience of an emulator with the look & feel you remember from your childhood.
However, if you didn't own one of these as a kid, then you'll find them pointless.
Also with the c64 you do not really want to go back to that keyboard, do you?
I'd rather use it than the Apple Butterfly keyboard. I used to bang out BASIC on a C64 with the hunt&peck method. Sure, I was 10, but I know I beat on it harder than I do now with actual typing. That keyboard never had keycaps fall of it. I cannot say the same thing about this keyboard on my MacBook Pro 2017 model.
Why, it wasn't bad, at least I don't remember anything bad about it.
I enjoyed the imposing physicality of the C64 keyboard, especially compared to today's flimsy laptop keyboard and cheap external keyboards (disclaimer: never used a good quality external keyboard, I'm sure they are awesome... but they lack the nostalgia factor).
Of course, it's mostly a nostalgia trip. Just like I fondly remember green phosphor CRTs.
Of course, it's mostly a nostalgia trip. Just like I fondly remember green phosphor CRTs.
The C64 keyboard used 2 cursor keys to implement the functionality of 4 (using shift). Programming with that was a PITA (at least for me).
Ah, right, it was strange when I think of it now, but it didn't bother me then.
My programming was mostly rewriting code from magazines and I didn't have any IDE so arrows were out of the question either way (AFAIR).
My programming was mostly rewriting code from magazines and I didn't have any IDE so arrows were out of the question either way (AFAIR).
When I used it, I didnt notice, but when I used it again years later (after having typed on pc keyboards), ... boy you really need to press the keys, almost hammer them, no more fluent typing. Give it a try (maybe your experience is differen)
Yeah, bad was the Atari 400. The C64 was a dream compared to that. I was so jealous of the Sinclair owners that had ready third-party replacements available for their crap membrane keyboard. Typed a lot of code on that thing though.
MechBoard64 to the rescue! https://www.breadbox64.com/blog/the-mechboard64/
> Also with the c64 you do not really want to go back to that keyboard, do you?
I bought TheC64 because I wanted the keyboard. Why else use a C64 lookalike instead of an emulator on a regular computer?
I bought TheC64 because I wanted the keyboard. Why else use a C64 lookalike instead of an emulator on a regular computer?
It's coveted by musicians and a number of other specialty applications.
Specialty groups are rather time agnostic. The Technics SL-1200 turntable for instance (look it up, you've seen it) hasn't changed much in 50 years and Technics brought it out of retirement because the demand for used ones was so high
So a 68020 is perfectly fine for these types of things. It's not a general purpose tool, it's a specific thing just like the Technics are for hobbyist and professional "turntablists" and not meant to substitute say Spotify
Specialty groups are rather time agnostic. The Technics SL-1200 turntable for instance (look it up, you've seen it) hasn't changed much in 50 years and Technics brought it out of retirement because the demand for used ones was so high
So a 68020 is perfectly fine for these types of things. It's not a general purpose tool, it's a specific thing just like the Technics are for hobbyist and professional "turntablists" and not meant to substitute say Spotify
The Technics SL-1200 is used by DJs all over the world to entertain millions.
What is the amigs used for??
What is the amigs used for??
Techno and electro by artists which you may have not heard of but who have prestigious awards and Wikipedia pages. Along with the Prophet, Roland SH-101, TR-808 and TB-303, the Amiga is coveted vintage equipment. (For instance, this coldwave producer: https://www.discogs.com/artist/3805670-Equinoxious ... That's almost exclusively 35 year old equipment)
This album for instance, was produced on an Amiga and even has it in the album title https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=35Lv8J1VMog
Might not be your thing, sure, fine. That's not the point. There's a significant scene that uses amigas for this.
Vintage Commodores have a fanbase all on their own in the electronic music world and get featured prominently in some videos such as (1:50) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-UdW-lmHSNY
There's after market hardware, such as an Amiga 500 SCSI -> SD bridge because at one time old 50 pin SCSI drives were going for hundreds of dollars and people in this community started making modern retrofits so they didn't have to pay high prices for failing hardware.
This album for instance, was produced on an Amiga and even has it in the album title https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=35Lv8J1VMog
Might not be your thing, sure, fine. That's not the point. There's a significant scene that uses amigas for this.
Vintage Commodores have a fanbase all on their own in the electronic music world and get featured prominently in some videos such as (1:50) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-UdW-lmHSNY
There's after market hardware, such as an Amiga 500 SCSI -> SD bridge because at one time old 50 pin SCSI drives were going for hundreds of dollars and people in this community started making modern retrofits so they didn't have to pay high prices for failing hardware.
There was a great video on jungle production by Pete Cannon where he demonstrates his Amiga setup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDn7ZDcx9w0
Oh absolutely. Amen break slicing and sequencing on Amiga trackers was essentially THE junglist instrument.
Amen style has fallen out of fad but it's not dead by a longshot. (ex, 2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRkfrpgLpeQ and 2020: https://youtube.com/watch?v=D4y0X2zzzXM - compare to 1995: https://youtube.com/watch?v=GhopRCAFQ2k). I'd be shocked, literally shocked if these weren't done in a protracker-style piece of software.
It was also the hardcore tool of choice for classic rave (ex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PcHOHfwdOs) ... you can almost visualize the vertical scroll.
Amen style has fallen out of fad but it's not dead by a longshot. (ex, 2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRkfrpgLpeQ and 2020: https://youtube.com/watch?v=D4y0X2zzzXM - compare to 1995: https://youtube.com/watch?v=GhopRCAFQ2k). I'd be shocked, literally shocked if these weren't done in a protracker-style piece of software.
It was also the hardcore tool of choice for classic rave (ex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PcHOHfwdOs) ... you can almost visualize the vertical scroll.
I assumed that rognvald used a tracker but his Rognmashine plugin seems to run only on Max for Live: http://rognvald.com/Rognmashine.html which suggests that Live is his Daw of choice (though I can't independently confirm that.)
Breakcore in particular.
In Germany in the late 80s to early 90s the Amiga was the platform of choice for playing video games. It had great graphics and games were widely shared in the community. I wonder how much of the nostalgia is for the culture and experiences than the actual platform.
>(AmigaOS) For how cutting edge it was, it was an unstable POS too.
AmigaOS 1.0 release sure was. From 1.2 onward, it's trivial to get higher uptimes than windows 9x.
I consider 2.0+ (~1991) pretty modern. I haven't seen a crash in a very long time, and I always have some Amiga running.
AmigaOS 1.0 release sure was. From 1.2 onward, it's trivial to get higher uptimes than windows 9x.
I consider 2.0+ (~1991) pretty modern. I haven't seen a crash in a very long time, and I always have some Amiga running.
The only real problem with the AmigaOS architecture is the lack of memory protection.
It's only really a problem if your software isn't designed for it. Most of the problems people had with DOS memory protection issues were due to the lack of standardization around memory management. Similarly so with Windows 3.x, running DOS programs from Windows on top of DOS was never going to work well. Even Windows95 had its problems.
On the Amiga it didn't have this problem. There was AmigaOS and that was it. The base hardware was for the most part tightly coupled to the OS and the architecture was designed to provide standardised mechanisms for accessing hardware that were fairly stable. The Amiga had different stability issues of course, but my A4000 manages fine without memory protection despite having a full MMU on-board.
On the Amiga it didn't have this problem. There was AmigaOS and that was it. The base hardware was for the most part tightly coupled to the OS and the architecture was designed to provide standardised mechanisms for accessing hardware that were fairly stable. The Amiga had different stability issues of course, but my A4000 manages fine without memory protection despite having a full MMU on-board.
I mostly meant in terms of security in the modern age. Few people in their right mind (in the realm of computing enthusiasts) would use AmigaOS as their only daily driver because of it. There’s a reason all modern OS architectures have memory protection as a core feature. In 2020 you really don’t want any process on your system to be able to access, let alone clobber any other process space.
> I'm perplexed how I keep seeing all these projects over the years to revive the platform AmigaOS was good for its time but there's nothing it offers now that any modern OS doesn't do now.
Maybe you are perplexed because you misunderstand the intent of the project, and judge it on a basis that is unrelated to its intent. Considering the various other "mini" computers and consoles, including Retro Games' previous such project, THEC64, the idea here probably isn't to revive the platform as a competitor to a modern OS, or even what AmigaOS offers at all, but to create a toy for retro computer/retro gaming enthusiasts.
Maybe you are perplexed because you misunderstand the intent of the project, and judge it on a basis that is unrelated to its intent. Considering the various other "mini" computers and consoles, including Retro Games' previous such project, THEC64, the idea here probably isn't to revive the platform as a competitor to a modern OS, or even what AmigaOS offers at all, but to create a toy for retro computer/retro gaming enthusiasts.
there's nothing it offers now that any modern OS doesn't do now
This is why of any old OS I’d like to see revived, it’s BeOS[0]. To this day I’ve never used a desktop OS so fluid, so responsive and stutter-free.
[0] Yup, there’s Haiku. I guess I just want that to be successful!
This is why of any old OS I’d like to see revived, it’s BeOS[0]. To this day I’ve never used a desktop OS so fluid, so responsive and stutter-free.
[0] Yup, there’s Haiku. I guess I just want that to be successful!
The BeOS demos at MacWorld Boston in 1997 were incredible. I've also never since seen a multitasking operating system with that level of user interface responsiveness. It really was wonderful engineering.
Lots of have these what-if computers/operating systems of the past (Xenix, OS/2, AmigaOS, etc.). It's mostly just harmless nostalgia.
The way that later AmigaOS versions integrated UI and command line workflows through OS APIs and design-guidelines is still mostly unmatched today IMHO, from today's point of view this is like a dead end in the tree of operating system evolution. Linux, Windows and MacOS all were behind in different aspects (and of course ahead in some others) but then developed into entirely different directions. I would like to have seen the ideas of AmigaOS ca. '92 developed further (instead of just merely keeping it alive and adding a new UI skin from time to time). Instead the command line and UI drifted further apart in all surviving operating systems.
Because it could be fun? Or is that not HN worthy?
Toy OSes are fun, that's why there's haiku and the open source windows xp.
I did corn detasseling to save up for my Amiga 500. My first C program was on an Amiga. Good for nostalgia, not for modern times.
My first C program was also in the Amiga! I taught myself C from those “Abacus” books when I was about 14. I was using Lattice C. Fun times.
Dice C for me, the author (Matt Dillon) is the guy who created Dragonfly BSD..
I also used Dice C, starting with the free version that I got from one of the Fish Disks. I didn't have dialup access to anywhere but a local computer retailer used to charge NZ$5 for Fish disks, which were my main source of software in small-town NZ.
For a school project (fractals!) I needed floating point support, which the free version of Dice C didn't have. I wrote a letter to Matt Dillion and he very kindly sent me the 3 disks of the full Dice C by return post (about 4 weeks). I still remember what a pain it was to arrange an international money order to actually pay him.
That must have been 1991. My program very slowly drew a 320x256 Mandelbrot set in 32 colors - as I recall it took about 90 seconds on a A500.
By coincidence I was mucking around with Cuda the other day and wrote a short un-optimized program to draw a 2048x2048 Mandelbrot in 256 colors - over 80 times more data - in about 2 seconds. This 2 year old laptop is about 3680 times as fast as my old A500.
For a school project (fractals!) I needed floating point support, which the free version of Dice C didn't have. I wrote a letter to Matt Dillion and he very kindly sent me the 3 disks of the full Dice C by return post (about 4 weeks). I still remember what a pain it was to arrange an international money order to actually pay him.
That must have been 1991. My program very slowly drew a 320x256 Mandelbrot set in 32 colors - as I recall it took about 90 seconds on a A500.
By coincidence I was mucking around with Cuda the other day and wrote a short un-optimized program to draw a 2048x2048 Mandelbrot in 256 colors - over 80 times more data - in about 2 seconds. This 2 year old laptop is about 3680 times as fast as my old A500.
Lattice C occupied two 3.5 disks so when I was compiling a program I had to switch the disks many times. Then I bought a second external disk drive and it was 10x improvement. As far I remember an executable was very slow for some reason. AMOS was much better for graphics and audio.
There one thing it did, and OS/2 did that I really really really miss.
Having different sized icons.
I miss my giant Battletech icon :(
Having different sized icons.
I miss my giant Battletech icon :(
It would be cool if one of the makers of these throwback devices would reboot a classic platform for real, instead of just as a nostalgia box. Like this mini Amiga, what if it was a system with a SDK and its own future, something that rides on the good name of its predecessors but also continues in the same spirit.
Closest these days is the ZX Spectrum Next - which just ended a second Kickstarter - basically an overclocked ZX Spectrum with an onboard FPGA to give it some extra commands/video modes.
I would love a similar thing for the Commodore - I think the Commander X-16 is a close proxy.
I would love a similar thing for the Commodore - I think the Commander X-16 is a close proxy.
Next is an exemplary example of a reboot.
Tasteful enhancements that may create a scene without losing the overall spirit make a lot of sense. I wish I could spare the cycles to participate! Looks fun!
Tasteful enhancements that may create a scene without losing the overall spirit make a lot of sense. I wish I could spare the cycles to participate! Looks fun!
The MEGA65 might be up your alley. It's half resurrection of the c65 prototype, half it's own thing.
It's been in dev hell for YEARS but actually looks like it might be coming out next year so fingers crossed.
It's been in dev hell for YEARS but actually looks like it might be coming out next year so fingers crossed.
Yep, definitely checked it out, earlier this year the dev boards were for sale for a (for my purposes) ridiculous amount. I'd love to see it make more progress, though I'm pretty excited about the commander x-16, though have doubts about it coming to market.
For the Sinclair ZX81 / Commodore PET / Jupiter ACE Tynemouth software do clones (available via The future was 8 bit) which are accurate. I suspect however that doesn't really hit the "Reboot" you're looking for.
[deleted]
We already have that. It's called minimig. It is a free and open hardware reimplementation of Amiga as HDL, originally shipped with its own open-hardware board which used a real m68k chip.
Its current incarnation uses the tg68k open m68k CPU, and supports the original chipset as well as AGA.
It runs well on miSTer[0] boards and the open FPGA stack friendly ULX3S[1].
[0]: https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Main_MiSTer/wiki
[1]: https://www.crowdsupply.com/radiona/ulx3s
Its current incarnation uses the tg68k open m68k CPU, and supports the original chipset as well as AGA.
It runs well on miSTer[0] boards and the open FPGA stack friendly ULX3S[1].
[0]: https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Main_MiSTer/wiki
[1]: https://www.crowdsupply.com/radiona/ulx3s
If it doesn't run ProTracker it's not an Amiga.
Some truth to that!
I can still vividly remember the day we bought the RAM upgrade for the Amiga 500. Can't recall if it took it from 500K to 1M or 1M to 2M. Had to flip it over and slot it into the bottom of the computer and it was HUGE.
But once it was there, you could play the high RAM version of sim city instead of the low ram version, so life was good. Things were simpler back then.
But once it was there, you could play the high RAM version of sim city instead of the low ram version, so life was good. Things were simpler back then.
If it was an A500, and all you did was slot it in, then it was a 512k upgrade, giving you 1Mb total. If it was an A500+ then it could have been a 1.5Mb upgrade.
Interestingly, modern 512k upgrades for the A500 are tiny now, just the edge connector and a single ram chip.
Yes, I'm an Amiga[1] nerd... :D
---
[1] http://www.jaruzel.com/amiga/collection
Interestingly, modern 512k upgrades for the A500 are tiny now, just the edge connector and a single ram chip.
Yes, I'm an Amiga[1] nerd... :D
---
[1] http://www.jaruzel.com/amiga/collection
>If it was an A500+ then it could have been a 1.5Mb upgrade
A500+ came with 1MB chipram onboard, you could get 1MB more via trapdoor, reaching the ECS Agnus 2MB maximum.
Then typically you'd get fastram (exclusive to the cpu, thus cpu can't be stalled by chipset, thus fast) via the left expansion slot.
A500+ came with 1MB chipram onboard, you could get 1MB more via trapdoor, reaching the ECS Agnus 2MB maximum.
Then typically you'd get fastram (exclusive to the cpu, thus cpu can't be stalled by chipset, thus fast) via the left expansion slot.
1.5Mb Upgrades were available for regular A500s. I have one in mine. A500+ Models could have 1mb Chip, 1mb Slow. A500s upgraded to KS1.3 (like mine) could use 0.5Mb Chip, 1.5Mb slow.
Definitely just slotted it in! So I must've been working with a massive 1Mb :-)
I vividly remember spending $180 for the 512K upgrade for my A500. $180 for 512K!!!
I upgraded mine to 3 megabytes. I had the trapdoor expansion, and also a Supra HD and RAM expansion (30 megabyte HD and another 2 megs RAM.) That was actually pretty good for the time (1990.) Most Amiga users were using floppies!
I'll get one, if it can pretend to be an Amiga 3000 and run Unix. Extra points if it emulates a C65 and a C128.
One thing that makes emulating an Amiga easier than, say, a Spectrum or C64, is that most software of the time was clock-agnostic, so you don't need to emulate the timings as precisely as you'd need to do with an older machine.
One thing that makes emulating an Amiga easier than, say, a Spectrum or C64, is that most software of the time was clock-agnostic, so you don't need to emulate the timings as precisely as you'd need to do with an older machine.
I'd personally rather it be an A1200 clone rather than an A500, but maybe that's just me :)