Amiga 4000: Is the Fastlane Z3 the best home for a BlueSCSIv2 Upgrade?
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- Опубликовано: 6 авг 2024
- In this video, we install a Fastlane Z3 Fast SCSI2 card in my Amiga 4000 and use a BlueSCSIv2 to upgrade the machine with much faster disk IO and the potential of a CD-Rom and WIFI based networking.
However, the Fastlane Z3 did not work at first, so follow me as I trouble-shoot the card, go over its quirks, get it working, set it up for optimal performance and go on to benchmark it.
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ReAmiga A4091 Reviews
• Commodore A4091 Z3 SCS...
• ReAmiga A4091 SCSI-2 R...
00:00 - Intro
04:02 - The Commodore A4091
04:35 - Fastlane Z3 Overview
05:37 - Fastlane Extra RAM
07:47 - Fastlane Fast SCSI2
09:31 - ReAmiga Fastlane Z3?
10:31 - Install the Card
15:02 - Does it work?
16:25 - Read The Manual!
21:15 - Checksum Conundrum
25:51 - The Solution?!?
29:18 - SuperBuster 111
31:32 - Is it a fix?
33:24 - Fastlane Utilities
36:23 - Benchmark the Drive
39:01 - UnitControl on Boot
42:00 - Memory Issues
44:08 - Disk Corruption
46:18 - Conclusion
#scsi #amiga4000 #retrocomputer #harddisk #retro #amigas #computerrepair #computerknowledge
If anyone is wondering, the state of play with this card now, is that the SCSI is working, but the RAM side is iffy. Originally, when I received it, I could not get the SCSI working, hence the video. But the RAM actually worked. Well, it worked for the 4x 4mb Simms, giving me 16mb extra. Then, just before I started making the video, I decided to pop the other RAM in, starting with the 2nd 16mb. And it did not work. Yellow screen. Took it out, and tried various combos. None worked, so then went back to the 16mb again, and now that does not work either.
When testing this, I found if I held the 2nd Simm in its socket, it worked, kind of. But often if I let go, and reboot, yellow screen again. Plastic clips broken on ALL of those first 3 slots. So I decided to get the new sockets, the ones with metal clips.
I may make a video showing me fixing this. But of course, nothing is guaranteed. The Fix or the video :). Never de-soldered, soldered a simm slot before, so that'll be a fun challenge for a start eh?
I used one of these for a while with my Broadcaster Elite non linear editing suite. Eventually upgraded the Fastlane when I got a Cyberstorm PPC accelerator with built in Ultra Wide SCSI controller and its 68pin header. Used two 36GB 10,000 rpm Seagate Cheetah drives which absolutely flew!
Just wondering. Others and myself have noticed issues with disk corruption. Do you remember these being prone to this back in the day? Of course, these issues could be to do with people picking up (very old) kit?
I couldn't have done any serious multi-track audio, video or 3D animation / special effects work in my Chicagoland studio without SCSI, due to the sheer size and volume of the files. The Flyer had its own proprietary file format, but before that, Lightwave 3D used a DPS Personal Animation Recorder "PAR" card to play back the completed animations (with it's own dedicated hard drive). When the Flyer became available, the PAR was no longer needed. An external tape and Syquest drive were mandatory for backing up projects. There was a program called Tapeworm that handled that, with up to 7 devices on a single, properly terminated SCSI bus line.
Yah, SCSI, gone, but not forgotten. Personally, Id love to see the Fastlane Z3 cloned, a ReAmiga version of it would be nice. Mind you, it is a little flaky, but that could be remaining gremlins in the Super Buster 11?
Good job on these! It's not to see stuff that's not always, "under produced" and "poorly produced" for a change! 🙂 -HAM
Thanks, and hey to a fellow VFX'r :) I worked over here in UK, in first games, then TV and then Film VFX for about 12 years. More of a 3dStudio guy though. Though my first 3D love was Real 3D on the Amiga. You know, when moving to Imagine, etc, I just could not grok polygons at first. Yeah, Real 3D was odd in that respect.
It’s a long time ago now, I moved to the Mac for video editing in 2004! I do remember the Broadcaster system used separate scsi drives for video and audio. The amiga’s FFS couldn’t be used to format them, the system was supplied with PFS, Professional File System. I think it had built in file defragmentation but can’t be sure at this distance…
Great video as always, love the way you go into detail and explain everything.
I’ve recently repaired an Amiga 4000 myself and would be very interested in buying some of those SIMM sockets from you if that’s possible?
The clip on a few of mine have broken although the memory seems to work at the moment.
I do worry the detail is a bit much. But then who wants to know vague stuff about tech, and you can always skip ahead if I'm boring the toenails off you eh :).
The Sockets, well, maybe wait a couple of weeks and the ping me via the channels email address. I've not received them yet. I cant really vouch for their quality yet. But they look the biz in the photo eh?
I guess that a modern version would be tiny compared to this card, as you can get a single 64MB SDRAM IC for $3 and a 64MB DDR SRAM IC for $1. You can get DIP ICs but also BGAs at 10mm x 12.5mm!
Yes, the RAM side of things would now be one chip, even if it were the full 256mb of RAM. The SCSI side, could all be merged into one IC probably. It would only be the 50 pin SCSI socket and the backplate that would make it large. Maybe sourcing those is not so easy, but it appears it IS possible as the A4091 was made recently.
Anyone else old enough to remember Apple's marketting push to get people to pronounce SCSI as "Sexy"? They didn't want Scuzzy ports in their fancy Macs. Even back then, I'm pretty sure it just got the few people saying "Ess Sea Ess Eye" to say Scuzzy instead.
Wasn't the precursor to SCSI, SASI? Sasi and Sexy.... hrm, sounds like a bunch of men getting a bit over excited again over tech eh. Ha! Nah, not heard that one. Mind you, you do forget others do not know what SCSI is, and they give you an odd look when you say your working on a SCSI video...
New subscriber here. What's this like compared to the A4091 or the A4000T SCSI with Buster 11?
Sadly, I could not tell you. I only have the 4000D with this card. I THINK the A4091 is also a SCSI2 card, and I would anticipate VERY similar speeds. Not sure about the built in BUS on the 4000T, but I recall Chris Edwards putting an A4091 into his tower, I THINK, so that suggests its might be slower?
@@RetronautTech Yeah A4091 is SCSI-2, I think the A4000T SCSI is just a buikt in A4091 but there's probabaly a few differences along the way. Always is.
Your monitor may have a faulty backlight?
Well spotted, actually, no, its a bit more complicated. I tested the same RGB to SCART lead with my A500 and this monitor, and its nice and bright. So... this has lead to me taking the A4000 apart and some techy probing to see if there is an issue with its video DAC. Long story short, today, I THINK its all actually good so... odd.
My solution is to order a second cable, from AmigaKit, which apparently are a little more techy and aimed specifically at displaying RGB on an LCD screen. I understand that simpler (socket, wire, socket) RGB to SCART cables can work just fine for a CRT, but have issues on an LCD.
Now, this new cable may not help, but as I have 3x Amigas and only one cable, its not going to waste anyway...
Right now, with my current cable, the screen is down to about 10% brightness, so it could still be an issue with the A4000 DAC, but its certainly not an easy one to pin down. The spec for the chip says that the RGB signals should be near 15-30mV and thats what I see. Hence I began to think its a cable issue.
Is one of the PLCC sockets cracked?
Can you give me a clue, which one?