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Amiga Forever 3.X ROM Improvements
TOPIC
Q: What are the differences between Cloanto\'s 3.X ROMs, and the original 3.1 versions released under Commodore and ESCOM?
DISCUSSION
OverviewThe 3.1 ROM, initially released in the CD³² hardware in 1993, was the last Amiga ROM version released by Commodore/Amiga. The 3.X series by Cloanto aims to remain as true to the original as possible, while merging some essential updates, the most notable of which being the ability to boot from \"large\" hard disks.
A first \"3.X\" series was released with Amiga Forever 3.0 in 1999. Further ROM improvements followed in 2006 and 2014. While the initial distribution was limited to Amiga Forever (emulation environment), since 2006 the ROMs were also compatible with \"real\" Amiga hardware. By popular demand, a \"Classic Support\" scenario was explicitly outlined in a Coexistence Agreement between Amiga, Inc. and Cloanto, for use also outside of emulated Amiga systems. This was complemented by additional acquisitions and licenses.
System RequirementsThe 3.X ROMs have a size of 512 KB, and are therefore compatible with all Amiga models except for the Amiga 1000. In order to make room for the enhancements, the 3.X ROMs employ the same technique used by Commodore for the 4000T ROMs, i.e. ROM space was freed by moving workbench.library out of the ROM. This means that a \"Libs/workbench.library\" file must be present on the boot disk, as detailed below.
ImprovementsThe current 3.X ROM (45.061) builds on the original 40.068 ROM components, featuring the following improvements:
The scsi.device updates included in the 3.X ROM make it possible to boot from disks larger than 4 GB. Additional elements, such as FastFileSystem 45.9 and Installer 44.10, are included in the Classic Support Workbench 3.1 distribution, and complement the ROM-based enhancements.
For maximum compatibility, the Amiga boot partition should be the first partition of a disk, and it should not be larger than 4 GB. In order to remain compatible with older software that uses 32-bit values to measure disk capacity, a maximum partition size of 2 GB is recommended.
For additional information on support for disks larger than 4 GB, see Amiga Forever Workbench 3.1 Improvements.
Required \"workbench.library\"Because workbench.library is not part of 3.X ROMs, a \"Libs/workbench.library\" file, as included in the Classic Support Workbench 3.1 set by Cloanto, must be present on the boot disk. This requirement is in common with later 3.1 ROMs by Commodore and ESCOM, as used with the Amiga 4000T model.
For additional information on adding the \"workbench.library\" file, see Amiga Forever Workbench 3.1 Duplication Instructions.
\"Startup-Sequence\" ModificationOlder versions of the SetPatch command may not have been designed for use in combination with newer ROMs, and thus may fail to work properly with 3.X ROMs.
In these cases, a change is required in order to detect and avoid patching 3.X ROMs. The SetPatch command itself is still required, as on the original Amiga ROMs, in order for example to enable AGA chipset features.
Edit S/Startup-Sequence as follows:
C:SetPatch QUIETreplace it with
C:Version >NIL: exec.library 45 20If WARN C:SetPatch QUIETElse C:SetPatch NOROMUPDATE QUIETEndIfDocumentation