Below are the most frequently asked questions about our products, answered by shoe.
Q: Why aren’t the designs open source like similar projects?
A: You have to understand that an unbelievable amount of time has been invested in these boards. We don’t question the benefits of open source (software), but this is not such a project. It’s one thing to clone an existing design, or do a quick prototype with minimal effort, then ask others to contribute. Once you appreciate the level of detail and quality of MrA’s work you will understand what I mean.
However – I’d like to add that some of MrA’s designs are already freely available to download and produce. You just have to know where to look. A1k.org is a good start. We are working on gathering everything related at one place (this site).
Q: Will any of the mini-Zorro2 accessories like NIC and RTG be produced and sold?
A: Short answer, maybe. Long answer, it depends on a few things. Mainly interest and available resources. We’ve got quite a few requests on the NIC, so it’s not impossible that we’ll produce a batch of those later this year.
Q: How compatible is Amy and Denise with an original Amiga 500+ or Amiga 2000?
A: Very. A lot of time has been spent studying the inner workings on the Commodore custom logic to fully understand it’s uniqueness and special quirks. A few critical bugs has been corrected, other parts have undergone complete redesign to improve both sound and image quality. The latter especially true for Denise.
Q: Will my Zorro2 card or 68k-CPU-socket accessory work on Amy or Denise?
A: If the card works on an Amiga 500+ with a SideCar Zorro2 slot – yes, then it will work on Amy and Denise. Although to fully understand the expansion limits on A500+/Amy/Denise – please read the manual. We have tested and got positive reports on everything from serial modems, 8-bit samplers, SCSI HDD controllers, SANA-II network controllers, PiStorm, PiRGB and Apollo Vampire accelerators.
Q: Which Amiga model is closest to Amy and Denise?
A: That would be the A500+. With a Zorro2 SideCar adapter and RTC they would in fact be very similar in their core design.
Q: What are the main differences between an A500+ (with a Zorro2 SideCar and RTC) and Amy or Denise?
A: That’s a good question. Besides the optimisations mentioned above there are some new functionality added.
- Auto detect AMIGA and PS/2 Keyboard & Mouse with Scroll wheel support.
- Dual/BigROM using reset / ScrollLock for bank switching.
- Autosense floppy to speed up boot time (disables df0: if no floppy is attached).
- ATX Standby power used to charge super cap for RTC timekeeping.
- Again, please see the manual for a complete list of enhancements in the design.
Q: I’m having a hard time finding the DRAM IC for Denise 72-pin 2MB SIMM, what are the compatible alternatives?
A: The following DRAM ICs should work with the 2MB SIMM:
KM416C256BJ-6
SM51C256K16-60
TC514265DJ-60
KM416C256BJ-7
MN414260SJ-08
HM514260AJ8
V53C16258HK45
All DRAM listed on https://github.com/SukkoPera/OpenAmiga600RamExpansion#memory should also work.
Thanks to everyone who’s contributed to this FAQ! We love you!