dr.zeissler wrote:

Hi, […]
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Hi,

I have a 286 with 1MB Ram and an ET4000 with 1MB Vram. Can I dedicate 512KB Vram as regular RAM so I can use Win30 Standard-Mode and Run BattleChess (Win3-Version)

Greetings
Doc

I would say this is a clear no. The VGA memory is mapped via bank switching into the 286's address space. So Windows can't simply use it to run programs in it. Does your mainboard only support 1 MiB? Or can you expand it?

no, it's an A2286 http://www.bigbookofamigahardware.com/bboah/p … uct.aspx?id=329 and no ISA slot free.

dr.zeissler wrote:

no, it's an A2286 http://www.bigbookofamigahardware.com/bboah/p … uct.aspx?id=329 and no ISA slot free.

Oh, then you are out of luck I think... If you don't mind NOT having a case on your Amiga, there are things like this:

http://twinind.com/index.php/products/isa-pro … extender-cards/

However the 123 EXT board by Twin Industries seems to be EOL. So maybe you can find one used, or have someone design a similar PCB. After all: It is only a bus! So it should be doable only with a few edge connector sockets and maybe a bunch of capacitors / resistors to terminate the bus.

dr.zeissler wrote:

I have a 286 with 1MB Ram and an ET4000 with 1MB Vram.
Can I dedicate 512KB Vram as regular RAM so I can use Win30 Standard-Mode and Run BattleChess (Win3-Version)

Hi Doc, may I ask if you did try Win 3.1 yet ?
From what we've found out, it will run with less than 1MiB of RAM, even.
Windows 3.1 on a 386 with 640K RAM - Possible?

All it needs to be happy is an XMS driver. 😀

My attempt was to use a swapfile for win30. that is possible with using win /r => creating the swapfile => using it in standard mode, BUT
swapfile.exe is not copied within the installation. it's 386mode only perhaps, so it does not work. I'll checkout 3.1 instead.

I never got into win286 using it's own memory driver-managment, it simply does not use the upper-memory if himem is loaded in dos.
on option left is using a isa-cachecontroller that can share it's own cache-memory with the normal ram, BUT as I said, no ISA-Slot free
and I will never do an external or internal isa-slot expander. I have to deal with the limitations...that's the most fun of the retro-stuff...

Doc

Well.. are there two or more ISA cards you have that there are cards available that combine those functions?

If so, then you could add a board to expand the RAM.

Current setup:
1. 16BIT ISA: A2286 BOARD
2. 16BIT ISA: DSS24VGA ET4000 1MB (256color RamDac
3. 16BIT ISA: FORMOSA ESS-Soundcard with primary IDE interface (8GB CF-Card Ontrack DM957 4x2GB; PCDOS 5.0)
4. 16BIT ISA: 3COM NETWORK-CARD

I need the sound-card and the CF-HDD for Dos/Win. I also need the Network-Card to copy files from the NAS.
Slot 3 and 4 are normally 8BIT ISA in the A2000, but I have chosen to upgrade these to 16Bit.

You could get rid of the network card, as you are using a CF card anyway, which you can just remove and copy data from/to it using a card reader.

that does not work due to the use of ontrack dm.

I'm not 100% sure, but it looks like the bridgeboard has pin contacts for an ISA daughter card..
Could it be that some sort of memory board existed for that card back in the day ?

Look here: https://youtu.be/uuNQ_8vWrSc?t=8m37s

dr.zeissler wrote:

that does not work due to the use of ontrack dm.

Did you actually try it? On-Track Disk Manager only adds some code to provide LBA, which is how a card reader will access the card as well. I used EZ-Drive for larger CF cards in older systems and had no issues when transfering data using a card reader.

I tried it once...the OS claimed that I should format the Cf-card.

In that case, trash OnTrack and switch to EZ-Drive. That one does not mess with the partition format and gives you a properly working card.

Sounds good, doesn't work.

dr.zeissler wrote:

Look here: https://youtu.be/uuNQ_8vWrSc?t=8m37s

Ah I see. It's already in use. What about a network card for IDE/ATA or CF slots ?
I had one back in the Pocket PC days. Here's a sample, not sure if it works on plain DOS.
Maybe you'll need another one.
https://www.amazon.com/Pharos-PE-CF100-Compac … t/dp/B00006B7KV
Edit: There ara also NICs for the parallel port.
No idea if they do work with the Amiga's parallel port, that can be psssed through.

Last, but not least, there are SD cards with built-in WiFi.
They can be accessed from a PC when the card is inserted to a device.
https://nerdtechy.com/best-wifi-sd-card

Currently there is no parallel port and no real serial port, because there is no I/O controller build in,
as I mentioned above I use the primary CD-Rom IDE from the soundcard as harddisk-controller.
The Amiga-Ports are not "real pc-ports" that are not directly available from the pc-side.

But interesting suggestions!

that does not work due to the use of ontrack dm.

at least on linux it will work.
you have specify the start of the dos partition to mount as argument.

or remap it like the disc manager does it:
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/html_single/Large-Disk-HOWTO/#toc8

Anyone here to use a A2000 witrh a Bridgeboard A2286 as well?
I would be interested in the VGA Card you are using?
I am currently using a Diamond SpeedStarVGA with 1MB DRAM.

It's fast but the older Software does not alway Support it. Older D-Paint / Dpaint-Animation / Gallery do not Support ET4000. Perhaps I should change to a Card that has 1MB DRAM and better Support in those old apps? Perhaps Win2x Driver with 256 Colors would be very cool.