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| Andy Mills of SWAG decided to write us a nice FAQ on PowerPCs, and we've included it on the CD. Remember these are all his opinions and nothing to do with Amiga Format. | |
| How do I flash upgrade the ROM on my PPC card? | Finally, Phase5 have been including full details on how to do this with the flash upgrade software. Be sure to read the instructions fully (preferably, print it out first) and follow it to the letter - failure to do so can cause you to ruin the flash ROM and your PPC card will have to be returned to Phase5 for repair. |
| Setpatch crashes when I boot up and/or my Amiga will totally refuse to boot (may happen at varying intervals, the computer will just sit there with a black screen and a dim power light). |
This happens with 3.0 ROMs fitted. There are three ways to get around
this problem:
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| What memory can I use with my BlizzardPPC? |
The BPPC has 2 SIMM slots to take 72pin SIMMs, in parity, non-parity
and EDO flavours. Either or both slots can be used to house a maximum
of 128Mb. Avoid `cheap' non-branded EDO SIMMs as some may not be fully
compatible with the BPPC, in that only half of the memory will be
recognised. It may be a good idea to buy memory at the same time you
get your card, if you're not going to fit memory that you're already
using in an existing card.
The CyberstormPPC has 4 slots and requires matched pairs, EG. 2x16Mb, 2x32Mb, etc. |
| My PPC'd A1200 is really unstable! | This may be due to the motherboard revision. Revisions 1d.4 and 2B have timing problems that manifests itself when it's expanded, and when accelerators higher than an 68040 are fitted (this can also affect non-PPC cards). You can find out what modifications are needed by contacting Power Computing. If you are not sure about attacking your motherboard with a soldering iron, Power Computing and Eyetech can do it for you. |
| Yes, but, I have a "stable" revision motherboard/the modifications have already been carried out... |
You're more likely to encounter stability problems when using the 68040
versions of the BPPC cards, due to the fact that the 68040 is renowned
for being power-hungry (and the hottest) of the 68k family. Because of
this, the A1200 cannot always supply enough power to the BPPC through
the motherboard. Things you can try are:
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| My BPPC used to be stable until I fitted a BVisionPPC graphics card. |
Take in the notes above as they still apply to here. As well as the
notes mentioned above, the 68k and/or Permedia2 chips can overheat
(symptoms can include lockups/crashes after about 10 minutes use).
People have had success with fitting a fan to cool the BPPC/BVisionPPC
combination.
Remove all graphics hacks, such as FBlit.... Buy the CGX4 driver package, this includes newer driver software and (apparently) a faster BvisionPPC GFX card driver. If all else fails, speak to your dealer, as your PPC or GFX card may be faulty and will have to be sent back to Phase5 for repair :(. |
| Can I use WarpOS software with only PowerUp installed? | Er, no... |
| Can I use PowerUp software with WarpOS? | Some, yes. Some, No. Depends on the application and your system. The recent version 4 release of WarpOS has improved upon the v3 PowerUp emulation. The only definitive way to know is to try it for yourself. |
| What is this WarpOS, anyway? | It's Haage & Partner's answer to Phase5's PowerUp system software that's supplied with their PPC cards. WarpOS is reputed to be faster and generally better than PowerUp (I can't comment myself as I've never tried it). The only main disadvantage is that not all PPC software can be used with it (and requires to be compiled for WarpOS). |
| If you'd like to contribute a FAQ to our CD, simply send it in to the normal address. You don't have to write it in HTML (in fact, unless you use one of these pages as a template it'll probably be more trouble than it's worth) and it'll go on the next AFCD available. | |
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