Frequently Asked A-Max Questions List ------------------------------------- Version 09/7/91 Copyright 1991, Kurt Tappe The text contained herein may not be published in any form without prior written consent of the author. This file [may[ be distributed, posted, and uploaded to national on-line information services and bulletin board systems only in its unaltered entirety and only for non-commercial use. The author is in no way affiliated with ReadySoft Inc. and the contents of this file have not been authorized by ReadySoft. This file is intended to answer all common (and some not-so- common) questions about A-Max, the Macintosh Emulator package by ReadySoft for the Amiga. If your question is not answered herein, or if you find an error or omission, please contact Kurt Tappe via whichever of these methods you prefer: USPS: 184 W. Valley Hill Rd. Malvern, PA 19355-2214 E-Mail: tappek@infonode.ingr.com (preferred) OR jkt100@psuvm.psu.edu (expires 8/15/91) or "KurtTappe" on Quantum Link Phone: (215) 458-5000 (work) or (215) 363-9485 (home) Many thanks to those who have contacted me with corrections and additions since the last incarnation of this file. Your contributions have made this file much more accurate and youUve helped ease the confusion of hundreds of A-Max users. First, a bit about me, my qualifications, and why I created this file: I'm a technical writer who is an avid user of both my Amiga 2000HD at home and a Mac IIci at work. As a result, I'm in a position where I know both the Amiga and the Mac well, and I use A-Max on a daily-basis. After reading many different discussion areas on various networks, I kept seeing the same questions about A-Max popping up repeatedly. It took me years to learn what I know about the Mac and Amiga and how best to bridge the Commodore-Apple gap, and I would like to help ease the learning process for others. I hope this file helps clear the fog. :-) Kurt - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Contents ======== (* = new, changed, or fixed from 5/2/91) (** = new since 8/1/91) Overview of A-Max Theory (or How The Heck Did They Get Mac Software To Run On Amiga?) * How Compatible Is A-Max? What Will Run On It? What Is Needed In Addition To The Basic A-Max Package? What Else Can I Add To A-Max? * What Are The Differences Between The Macintosh ROM versions? Is ReadySoft Planning A Version Of A-Max To Use The Newer ROMs? Will A-Max MultiTask With The Amiga? What Macintosh System Versions Work With A-Max? * Will System 7.0 Work With A-Max? * How Can I Save PRAM Settings? Is There A Way To Automatically Accelerate the Mouse? How Do I Reduce Title Bar Flicker? What's This I Hear About Apple Cutting Off The Supply Of ROMs? Are There Alternatives To Using Apple ROMs? Are There Legal Alternatives To Using Apple ROMs? * Is There A Way To Make The ROMs Load Faster? Can A-Max Read Macintosh Disks? What Is An A-Max Format Disk? Why Can't A-Max Read Macintosh Disks In Amiga Drives? * Do I Really Need To Buy A Macintosh Disk Drive? * What is "SYBIL"? What Methods Can I Use To Transfer Files To And From A-Max? * Can A-Max Read High Density Macintosh Floppies? * Where Can I Find The DB-19 And DB-23 Connectors To Make Make My Own Mac Drive Interface? * What is A-Max II+? Can I Use A Hard Drive With A-Max? * What Hard Drive Controllers Are Supported By A-Max? **What If My Hard Drive Controller Is Not Supported? * Is There A Way To Get Rid Of The A-Max Partition Icon? Can A Macintosh External Hard Drive Be Connected To The Amiga And Used With A-Max? * Can A Macintosh CD-ROM Drive Be Used With A-Max? * Can I Use A Modem With A-Max? Should I Buy A-Max Or An Actual Macintosh? What Are The Cost/Benefit Comparisons For A-Max vs. An Actual Mac? How Much Of The Amiga's Memory Can Be Used By A-Max? How Does A-Max Use The Second Amiga Mouse Button? How Do You Run A-Max As An Option From The Startup Sequence? What Video Modes Can A-Max Use? Is A Special Monitor Needed? **How Do You Change The Default Colors? * What Printing Options Are Available From A-Max? * JetLink Express or MacPrint? What Do All These Accessories for A-Max Cost? How Fast Is A-Max Compared To An Actual Macintosh? Can A-Max Be Accelerated? What Accelerators Are Compatible with A-Max? * Will use of a 68040 accelerator cause any problems with A-Max II? What Are The Differences Between The Original A-Max and A-Max II? Why You Should Get A-Max II If You Own The Original A-Max What Problems Were Corrected With Version 2.06 Of A-Max II? How Do You Tell What Version Of A-Max You Have? * Where Can I Obtain Public Domain Mac Software? **What Are ".hqx," ".sit," and ".cpt" Files and How Can I Decode Them? About ReadySoft - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Overview of A-Max ----------------- A-Max II (referred to as just "A-Max" for short throughout this doc) is a combination hardware/software package from ReadySoft that allows your model 1000, 500, 2000 series, or 3000 series Amiga to run Macintosh software. While A-Max is operating, your Amiga is, for all intents and purposes, a Macintosh. The package consists of a cartridge that plugs into your Amiga's external floppy drive port and two floppy disks which contain the A-Max software. Theory (or How The Heck Did They Get Mac Software To Run On Amiga?) ------------------------------------------------------------------- While A-Max is called an "emulation," there are those who justifiably refer to it as (in the words of Commodore engineer Dave Haynie) "a hostile port of the Macintosh operating system." To understand what this means, a brief description of the Macintosh OS is needed. When Apple designed the Macintosh, its designers did their utmost to keep the entire basic operating system of the computer (all the built-in functions for drawing windows, moving the pointer, activating menus, drawing graphics, etc.) down to a small size and on a single set of chips. The advantages of this design are manyfold, the most notable of which are reduced cost and ease of mass-production. So a Macintosh, at its most fundamental, is merely a set of two ROM chips containing basic machine language routines that can be called by programs. The fact that the entire Mac operating system is contained on just two chips is the key to A-Max. A-Max uses actual Macintosh ROMs in its emulation. When you run A-Max, it copies the ROMs into a section of the Amiga's RAM and then selectively modifies the ROM code. The modification makes the ROM routines interact with the Amiga hardware instead of that found on a Macintosh; graphic calls, input/output, disk routines, and memory management are some of the key routines that are modified to be Amiga- compatible. When A-Max completes the modifications, it then turns control of the system over to the Mac ROM code, and voila! You now have a Macintosh operating system running on an Amiga, and thinking it is a Mac. This method differs from an emulation in that an emulation is independently developed code that tries to act like another piece of code. A-Max is the actual Macintosh code, modified (ported) to the Amiga. This fact explains A-Max's remarkably high degree of Macintosh compatibility. How Compatible Is A-Max? What Will Run On It? ---------------------------------------------- The list of major applications that run on A-Max II is very extensive, and is too long to be listed here. A-Max is well over 90% compatible, and a better question to ask than "What will A-Max run?" is "What WON'T it run?" However, a brief sampling includes: Microsoft Word 3.02 and 4.0, Quark XPress 2.12 and 3.0, PageMaker 2, 3, and 4.0, MacWrite 4.5, 5, and IIv2, MacDraw II, MacPaint, Adobe Illustrator 88, FullPaint, SuperPaint, Canvas, Freehand, and utilities such as Font/DA Mover, Disinfectant, On Cue, Adobe Type Manager 2.0, After Dark, ResEdit 2.1, DiskTools II, StuffIt, MacTools, and Norton Utilities (all parts of NU work beautifully; Speed Disk, File Recovery, Fast Find, KeyFinder). Unless a piece of software performs direct hardware calls, it will run on A-Max just as well as on a Mac Plus. Of course, be aware that a FEW programs don't run on A-Max, but they're nearly all games. The ONE major application that I have found to be incompatible is Adobe Illustrator 3. Two major games that do not run are SimCity and Dark Castle (SimCity loads and runs, but will not advance the clock, so you build all you want, but the year is always 1900.) Many games DO work, and I play Tetris, Risk, and Strategic Conquest all the time. To demonstrate the extent of the compatibility, A-Max format disks can even be sector-edited as if they were Macintosh disks! For more information about compatibility with A-Max, you can watch for the regular (monthly?) postings to comp.sys.amiga.emulations by Rich Andrews. Rich maintains two lists ("games" and "non-games") of Macintosh programs and their compatibility with A-Max. What Is Needed In Addition To The Basic A-Max Package? ------------------------------------------------------ In addition to A-Max, you will need a set of 128K Macintosh ROM chips. This is the only other REQUIRED hardware item. However, to make your life much easier you will want some other items (listed below.) Software-wise, ...
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