User avatar
jdryyz

Posted Wed Apr 19, 2023 7:22 pm

I wasn't sure what category this post would go in since it has to do with both hardware and software.

Yes, I got my hands on an A3000....again. It has a motherboard rev right before the last one produced (9/01). It does not have a ROM tower but it does have the Kickstart 1.4 ROMs.

I want to take advantage of the dual boot capability mostly for the Workbench 1.3 side, but I am running into trouble when it comes to setting up my storage with greater partition sizes compared to the defaults created by the very old Workbench 2.0 installer.

The storage device I am using is the relatively new ZuluSCSI. A 1GB image file is being used . The Workbench 2.0 installation will create three partitions: 1) WB_2.x, WB_1.3, and "Work" which will take up the remaining drive space. The first two partitions use 6 & 2 megabytes respectively. This default setup was tested and both sides boot fine.

Storage is cheap these days and there's no way I need to be confined by the tiny space allocated by the old installer script. So, I took a few different steps to expand the space. I was partially successful. My goal is actually use a 2GB image with the space divided equally. With this setup, I will not exceed the old limitations from kickstarts/scsi controllers of the time period (2GB maximum drive size and partitions <1GB). The HD preparation was patterned after the original script settings. The WB_2.x sides boots fine. When I try to boot the WB_1.3 side, I can see a brief notice in text that the kickstart 1.3 is loaded, then a pop-up window that says "NOT A DOS DISK in DEVICE WB_1.3"

I tried to see if halving the second partition down to <500MB would change anything. Nope! Same error.

The volume is readable when I softkick 1.3 from floppy. :?

I just don't get it. Certainly this can be overcome somehow. I have my doubts that lovers of the KS 1.4 A3ks are actually sticking to tiny slivers for partition space.





Return to “Hardware”