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- * We have had a number of enquiries regarding the SCSI and Floating Point
- expansion cards. I would like to take this opportunity to clarify the
- situation regarding these expansions on the 300 series and 440 Archimedes.
-
- SCSI Expansion
-
- The SCSI expansion card will work on the Archimedes 300 series and 400
- series computers. The 440 and 300 series (not the 400/1 Archimedes series)
- require the MEMC1a chip to be able to use this expansion. (This new memory
- controller chip is fitted to the 400/1 series of Archimedes computers as
- standard). If you own a 305/310 or 440 you should specify to the dealer that
- you will need a MEMEC1a upgrade when you have the Card fitted. The Dealer
- will be aware of the actions he should take to get a replacement MEMC1a
- upgrade. The MEMC1a upgrade is supplied free of charge and free of fitting
- charge when you purchase either the SCSI or Floating Point Expansion cards.
- Only 1 MEMC1a upgrade is supplied per expansion card therefore if you wish
- to use the SCSI expansion on more than 1 computer you must purchase the
- MEMC1a upgrade separately, this is available as a product from your Acorn
- Dealer. This chip also provides 300 series and 440 owners with the 10% speed
- increase which the A3000 and 400/1 series Archimedes owners have.
-
-
- Floating Point Unit
-
- Almost the same situation applies the Floating Point Unit as to SCSI but it
- should be noted that as to original specification the Floating Point Unit
- card will only work on the 440 and 400/1 series Archimedes. The Floating
- Point Unit also requires MEMC1a to run and the same situation applies here
- as with the SCSI. The same policy applies when using the Floating Point Unit
- Unit on more than 1 440 Archimedes.
-
- * The Master Compact is supplied as standard with a 3.5 inch disc drive. It
- is however possible to attach a 5.25 inch disc drive to the Master Compact
- via a ribbon cable. Customer Services are able to supply a copy of an
- application note which details how to make you own cable(A number of dealers
- sell cables already made). You will then need either an 80 track or a 40/80
- track disc drive, you will need to consult your Acorn dealer regarding this.
- The most obvious reason for connecting 5.25 inch drive is to run BBC
- software on the machine. To read the majority of discs supplied for use on
- the BBC B you will need a sideways RAM image of the DFS chip. The DFS
- sideways RAM image has been supplied on the Welcome disc in the LIBRARY
- directory, the filename of the image will be one of the following:
-
- DFSx,xx (x,xx will be three number ie 2,25) DFSimage
-
- This can be loaded using the following:
-
- Insert Welcome Disc, type
-
- *MOUNT 0
- *.LIBRARY (to find out what the filename of the DFS image is)
- *SRLOAD filename 8000 6
-
- This will load the DFS into page 8000(sideways RAM) at position 6, this
- position can change if you wish. Please note that if you have had any of the
- internal links of your Master Compact moved(ie. ROMs have been inserted into
- the machine) sideways RAM banks may no longer be available. If the image
- does not show up on the ROM table then try loading the image into a
- different bank if this does not work then it is very likely that you will
- have to move links to load the image in. You should consult your user guide
- for information regarding this. We cannot guarantee that all BBC software
- will work, if the software is produced by a third party, we therefore
- suggest that you contact the manufacturer of the software to check it will
- work before purchasing.
-
-