A\Box FAQ V2.0
1. Getting
an A\Box
2. Technical Questions
3. Amiga Compability
4. OS questions
5. Upgrading the A\Box
Q: When can it be bought ?
Phase 5 have announced that the first A\Box will
be available after the 1 quarter of 98. Developers can get their hands
on the A\Box by the end of 1997. Mass production is expected to start in
the end of the 2nd quarter of 1998.
Q: Where can I buy it ?
Phase 5 have guaranteed WorldWide availability, but you could
take a look at Phase
5's list of dealers and distributors.
Q: How much will it cost ?
The price of the A\Box have not been decided yet. But Phase
5's latest comment about the price was 2000 USD, 1300 GBP and 3000 DM,
for an A\Box with the basic features. 16 MB RAM, a hard disk in the
1 GB range and a CD-ROM drive. Since the prices of computer equipment can
change daily, it's too soon to set a price at this moment. SDRAM and hard
disk prices are expected to drop quite a lot before the release of the
A\Box. And the maximum CD-ROM speed will increase.
Q: What type of memory does the A\Box use
?
64 bit SDRAMs in pairs for fast 128 bit memory access. There
is currently no computer which can make use of SDRAMs the way the A\box
can.
Q: How fast are the busses ?
The system controller is the Caipirinha which works internally
(graphics incl. 3D, disk- and memory-access, sound, MPEG..) at 128 bit
200 MHz and externally (CPU, external busses) at 128 bit 100 MHz. The CPU-bus
works at 64 bit 100 MHz.
Q: Does the A\Box have built-in video in/out ?
Yes. Two independent video inputs in Y/UV 4:2:2 quality and
two video outputs (one for your monitor and one for PAL/NTSC or S-VHS).
Q: Does the sound hardware support hardware mixing
or must this be done by the software (that is, by mod players, etc.) ?
Hardware support for mixing (by FAME) with any number of virtual
tracks (only limited by the memory available)
Q: Can I use two monitors to the A\Box ?
Yes. E.g you could use one normal pc-monitor for normal applications,
and a second monitor (Amiga-monitor or TV) for Video output. This video-output
could be used to send out edited video to a videorecorder. So this output
will be perfect for video-editing, and making cool effects in homemade
videos.
Q: Will the A/Box support MPEG-2, MPEG-1 is software
?
(MPEG-2 is the commercial hardware method of Xmitting MPEG video.)
A/Box can support any kind of video coding because it contains
a programmable DSP (Digital Signal Processor). If new video-standards will
come in the future, A/Box will be able to support them.
Q: During the next few years, the US is going "Digital
Video", utilizing an aspect ratio of 16 X 9. Is the A/Box display
capable of this?
Same answer as above. There are no limitations to what type
of coding A/Box can support. Somebody must program this support of course.
Q: Does my old AmigaOS 3.0 software work with the A\Box
?
The A\box will be binary compatible with AmigaOS 3.0 which means
that compability will probably be very good.
Q: Can I link together an A\Box and an Amiga 1200 to
get old software to work ?
We have heard of no such plans. But there isn't really a need
for that if compability is good enough.
Q: Can I get my old Amiga partitions transported to
the A\Box ?
The A\box will use mountlists and therefor this should not be
a problem.
Q: Can I use any standard A1200, A2-3-4000 cards in
the A\Box ?
No. There is none of the old Amiga-busses (Zorro for example)
in the A\box.
Q: What OS will be used in the
A\Box ?
The A\Box will use a modern UNIX kernel as the
operating system core.
You can get more information from Phase
5's own page on this subject.
Q: Is the A/Box capable of running the BeOS ?
No not directly. I guess it would not be such a problem to port
BeOS to A/Box, but it must be ported first.
Q: Is it possible to change CPU easily, without changing
the motherboard ?
You will be able upgrade easily (without changing motherboards),
at least up to 604e 533 MHz and it is not impossible you will be able to
upgrade even beyond that.
Q: Can I upgrade the memory easily ?
Yes. Buy two (due to 128 bit mode) SDRAM:s and just snap them
into free slots. There are eight SDRAM-slots in the A\box, so you can fit
a total of 1 GB RAM into your computer.
Do YOU have a question on your mind ? Mail us to include this question on this page, and make this FAQ groooooow!