I have chatted with Kipper2K about the ability to use 1 MB ROM images on the Romulator, and a very small mod does need to be done. Here it is... "To fully use a 1 MB Rom will require pin 1 of the romulator to be connected to pin 47 of the CPU (Rev 3, 5, and 6a). Rev 8 and Rev 8A use the 42 pin ROM so it should be good for 1 MB." I am thinking a simple clip will be good enough to link them both, and not really require any soldering. I will pick one up this week and test it out.
I’ve had the best weekend in a long time... all thanks to your videos that inspired me to boot up my A4000 and open up my A3000 after a very long time. Pure joy!
I just placed my order after watching this video - thank you for creating and sharing it! My A2000 is going to be even more awesome with this, alongside my Zeus 68040 board, SCSI2SD, Ethernet board, CD-ROM, etc. I'm super excited!
I will pass along all the requests for the A1200 versions - that version might even support 2 MB ROMs and I think we could do some amazing things with it!
This will be a great device for the 1200/4000 but I can see that version costing even more than the $80 for this one, add shipping to the UK it'll be over $100. That makes this a bit of a luxury imo, think i'll be sticking with blizkick / remapollo for the time being. Great review btw it is a very good looking piece of hardware which I would buy (for the 1200 or 4000) if the price was right for what I would use it for.
Excellent review. Great thought about the diagrom. I (stupidly maybe) didn’t think of that use case. I’d love a future tutorial on building the custom 1mb 3.1.4 kickstart with intuition. It’s something I’ve heard about but didn’t know where to start. I’m also wondering if the aca500+ supports the possibility. If I ever get the a2000 working (side glance at my two kids “hint”) then I can see one of these finding a home there.
I was so happy the Diagrom worked so well on it. I think it might be less useful if used on our ACA500+, but I imagine it might work for some testing. I will try it out.
Is there a way to set it to avoid seeing the menu every time? Say, hold down a key to invoke the menu on boot, for example? If you don't hold down a key, it just boots whatever you used last time? Oh I see - I guess that's what the timer is for? Like, I could set the timer to 1 second (or zero) to avoid that menu each time?
That would be the best way - Just set the timer. You MIGHT be able to disconnect the reset pin and it MIGHT just use the last ROM, but I have not tried that...
@@10MARC I mean, I would want the ability to access the menu, but it would admittedly be a rare occurrence. Sort of a poweruser feature to jump into once in a blue moon. For example, my 3000 can boot into 2.0 (by default) or 1.3 as it was shipped from the factory. But I live in 1 KS 99% of the time (you know which one). Yet, sometimes a doc might be only legible in 2.0, so I can always flop over there when the need arises. So it's handy. Just not very common. So I wouldn't want to be messing with that menu much. Cool feature, too (and they are back in stock today, too...).
Great video, would be nice for my A1200. Have WB3.1, 3.1.4 and DiagROM on the ACA500Plus. For the ACA1233n-55 the MAPROM is not so great. If i want the 3.1.4 ROM in ACAtool or Command. Now ii switch the ROMS chips in my A1200 with KS 3.1 and 3.1.4. Not the best way but for me the only way. There is alot to do in my A1200. Have now a nice Indivision AGA MK2CR in it for VGA PAL High Res Laced. My A500 is a beast but my A1200 is nice to have a Romulator.
I just got 2 of those puppies in today. Unfortunately they did not come with instructions so here I am reviewing your video again to learn how to install them in my A500 and A2000HD. Loading the ROMS is a no brainer but I might take it a step further and make the SD Card accessable external just so I don't have to open up cases to gain access to the SD Card more so on my A2000HD because an A4000 lives on top of it and who wants to take apart 2 computers just to service 1. I will most likely mount the SD Card reader on top of the GOTEK in the A2000 since it has space and screwing it in the GOTEK is less destructive than a floppy drive.
Check their website, and I have a link to an abridged install video, too. I think on my video description I have a link to the EAB thread that has some pretty good instructions about it
@@10MARC I read through the EAB Link earlier and Kipper2K has nothing on his site about it but another ROM Product. It's not the first Amiga Product I have purchased new that came without documentation but I do find it rather annoying. Thank God you did a very thorough review on the ROMULATOR. I am confused about it because it looks like they have a different board for the A600 so I am happy I only bought one for the A500 and A2000 although there is a board you can install in the A2000 Processor Eaxpansion Slot and then install the ROMULATOR and I have no clue why someone would want to do that except for easier access to the SD Card but you can do that with SD Cable Extender which is what I am going to do.
@@stephenbruce8320 this one should work fine with the A600 too, really. The reset pin just goes to another location. I don't know why Kipper2K recommends the CPU slot adapter either. Seems like just going into the ROM socket would be fine
@@10MARC Not recommend to use the CPU Expansion Slot on the A2000 but another option for installation. My guess is for easier access to the SD Card provided you don't have an accelerator board installed.
Nice video and I am really looking forward to this for my 2000. I really dig what you are doing with your channel, the videos are great. Not sure about the name though, as I don't think I have seen a video here be 10 minutes. (Edit: It's not clear, but I was kidding about the 10 minute thing)
Thank you doug for the excellent and thorough review. Also thanks in advance for the tutorial on how to build a complete 3.1.4 rom. keep up the good work. :)
That's a wicked cool device. Beats the hell out of swapping out ROM's and while I can burn my own ROM's or install a ROM Switcher its always a pain to physically swap the ROM's or perform a MAPROM command if you have the hardware which I do. I really like flexibility of that board so I will have to order one but the only difference I would do is install a card reader extender so I would not have to open my case just to pull the SD Card out but that's just my preference because I try not to open my Amiga's up as much as possible. I have 5 Amiga's I can install one of those into right now but @ $80 that's quite a bit of coin but I will bring in one maybe 2 just to play with. I do have an A2000 that would be a nice fit for and the other would be used in an A500 or A600 that I am working with now. I do have DIAG ROM's already burned but just to place them on a ROMULATOR and call them up on the fly is much better than swapping out the ROM's. Everytime you insert or pull chips your bound to flex the motherboard a bit and these old boards are delicate so I always worry about fracturing the traces and something like the ROMULTOR reduces that risk.
When I was speaking with the creator of the Romulator, he specifically said that the USB header was for those people who don't want to open their Amiga's to add files - just run a USB cable out the back, plug it into your PC, and you will be able to push files to it that way.
@@10MARC I have been playing with the SD Card extension ribbon cables which work ok but the SD Card slots have proven to be a bit temperamental. I have on installed on an A600 with a Vampire2 and I plan on adding another so I can swap cards externally with the Vampire. I think I would like to do the same with a ROMulator but the USB Option sounds like a better solution. I have been checking AOTL throughout the day to see if the ROMUlator is available because I want to order 2 of them one for the A2000 and the other for an A500.
@@stephenbruce8320 I spoke to the guys this morning and they will have them available early in the week. Feel free to reach out via email or call them to light a bit of a fire under them!
They are quite useful for sure. I think we will get an A1200/A4000 version. They have one designed, but are waiting to see the response to this one before they sink money into it.
I would say some really early games that came out for the A1000 might need an earlier Kickstart. I do remember ROM switchers back in '89 to swap between 1.2 and 1.3 - For me it is more as a historical curiosity. It is kind of fun to boot Kickstart 1.0 and Workbench 1.0 and see how far we came!
This is a great review. I had no idea this existed. I had been looking for a ROM switcher that I could but 3 chips in, one being for DiagROM but the only thing I found took 4 chips and was a bit on the big side. Thanks for this Doug :-)
This will be a great tool for us for sure! I have been having a lot of fun with it, and can see a lot of uses. Chucky's DiagROM is really nice, and works like a dream from this. I think it will find a permanent home in my A2000, as my A500 generally has my ACA500+ in it.
I noticed it has an RX TX labelled port. I wonder what that is. If there was the ability to interface and control things via a serial command system too that would be interesting. Probably a stretch too far though :-) I do like having switches though, I can see the convenience of boot up menus, especially with lots of ROMs. But there is something nice about a bunch of chrome toggle switches.
@@10MARC Thank you Doug and Amiga Retro Cast team, great profile of the Romulator. Have been planning on ordering a ACA 500+ for my good 'ol Rev 5 NTSC 500 setup, and I still might, but the idea of internal expansions instead of external is preferable to me. I really like the sound of being able to customize my bootup details as you discussed in this. Side thought, I wonder if the three finger reset salute time can be easily reduced to 2 seconds...
@@scotthorne94 I never tried two seconds. The normal restart still just restarts the machine with whichever ROM you last chose - so I suppose the three second is there to prevent you from going back into the interface accidentally
What was with the graphics corruption in the scroller across the bottom? If they bring out the A1200 version it will be mine! I have a RapidRoad (so do you) so instead of relying on another system to flash, could we use that?
I wondered that myself. I don't know if was the font they used, but it was odd. Everything was readable, it just looked like a few pixels out of place. I will ask the developer
i wish romulator would be available for sale at amiga34 show next week so i could purchase it directly there instead of ordering it in america, having to pay additional expensive shipping costs from usa to europe. :(
Nice piece of hardware. I had to boost up my Vampire for the 500 in the same way to get it to clear the ACE2 2mb chipmem expansion. (Then everything had to go into a Checkmate A1500+ case because it wouldn't fit in the original anymore. :P I thought using a 1MB rom on A500/2000 required a wire to be added between a pin on the socket and the 68000?
@@10MARC Unfortunately not, the use of 1M sized images is based on available address lines - if you have a 40 pin socket (A500 before Rev8, A2000) you'll be limited to 512K ROM files without a modification. If your motherboard revision has the 42 pin socket you should be fine without any changes (1M needs A18).
Hi Doug, I was very interested in the Romulator and checked Amiga On The Lake to see if they have them but no mention. I sent them an email and no response. This was 3 weeks after you said they would be available. Do you know if they are available yet? I would love to get one.
@@10MARC Thanks Doug that will be appreciated by me and I am sure many others who would like to have this great device. Amiga On The Lake should be following through as this is no good for their business going forward. But keep up the great work on your reviews. I have watched several of them now and like your style and particularly the info you provide. Thanks.
Thanks. It is a quality product for sure. I have been having fun playing with some of the old ROM files! Now I need to learn how to add things to my 3.1.4 ROM images to create a custom ROM. Then the real fun begins...
Awesome device.....i wonder how it will work with other boot screen devices like the ACA500+ or RPI drive emulator....? Ive got very little room near my A600 Furia and Rom socket....I currently have a Rom switcher in the socket....that is on a flat cable...so the rom switch is away from the Furia....i guess there is no reason why the Romulator wont work in the rom switch ?
No need for a ROM switcher with this. It will replace it. It does not work with the ACA500+ because both devices capture the Amiga on reset. If a device captures the reset it probably won't play nice
Thanks for the reply....ive not bought the ACA500+ yet....i keep thinking about a TF530 but dont know if it will be compatable with my z-500 Retina card.
@@10MARC Any updates from Amiga on the Lake on availability? I would love to have one of these for my Amiga 2000, and maybe my Amiga 1000 (I have a kickstart switcher installed).
Is this device still available for the Amiga 500? I've been waiting for several MONTHS for them to get them back in stock and it doesn't look like they have anything but the 600 version.
@@10MARC I haven't but I keep intending to. Just the same, I keep turning to check (daily for the first few months) and they've never restocked as far as I can tell. Finding it hard to believe they're still making them, at this rate. I'll mail them and see what they say.
I'm learning a lot from your channel, I do have a good question do you know if there is plans on rebooting the amiga line of mother boards and chips into a modern platform that will play the older games. i dont mean emulation, but real hardware. I'm still looking for a system until then emulation is all i can do.
Well we do have a few options - You can always use Amiga Forever to use an Amiga Emulator on a PC. We also have the Vampire Version 4 shipping in a few months that is a standalone Amiga for about $500. You can also set it up on a raspberry pi for about $150 or so.
No, but they are talking about making one eventually. I think they would be a bit less useful for those machines since WHDLOAD works so well on them. I have no need to downgrade to 1.3 on my A1200
@@10MARC Thank you. Is it configured through the keyboard or a config file for direct boot? For a machine in a bad way, direct to diagrom might be needed. Neither amigaonthelake nor kipper2k has any manual available for it which can be inspected before purchase. So I still have questions, that's why I'm grateful that you can answer.
Did you watch my video? I go over everything step by step. There is also a link in the description to Kipper2K's thread on English Amiga Board where he has some pretty detailed features.
@@10MARC Yes, I read the thread once and watched your video 4 or 5 times :) I like that it has a menu, but I don't want to have to always choose. I saw a user on the thread talked about setting timeout=0 for it to be transparent. But there's no mention of this from Kipper2k or anywhere if it's file config or on screen config. I'm sorry of if it's been said and I just missed it.
What would get it to a 6, is if there were a way that the ROMS could be swapped dynamically as loaded. Oh yeah....and a shit ton more ROM SPACE!!!! Think of it as a storage device with a 512k or 1MB window into the Processor RAM SPACE. Bank switch those ROMs and your have workbench loaded, or anything else you wanted, from ROM, No part of the the OS ever needs to be loaded from disk. the OS just needs to be able to switch to the correct ROM.
Not sure about the dynamic switching... The AmigaOS itself can't handle that. It is possible that the version for AGA machines will have a 2 MB storage space for ROMS
@Mr T. Guru there is more to it than that. In the past he has had distribution problems doing it himself. He would send products out, and many people would be dishonest and tell PayPal they were never received and he would lose money. He is switching to using a distributor now (AOTL) to get around those issues.
contrary to what you think, i dont make a lot of money doing this. Take a look at the prices of the items i have previously sold, the prices were always a lot lower than others. I won't go into my personal situation only to say that i cannot devote a lot of time to this now.This is also the reason i have passed on my latest designs to other people so they can sell.
check the shipping prices for registered mail from Canada to the UK etc... it is $45 CAD, and that is for items that weigh less than 250gram. Would you want to buy something from me ?
@@10MARC Excellent that is really good to know! Now the big question is where to get some of these boards as I want them for all of my Amigas. EDIT: I have just found the EAB thread :D
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I have chatted with Kipper2K about the ability to use 1 MB ROM images on the Romulator, and a very small mod does need to be done. Here it is...
"To fully use a 1 MB Rom will require pin 1 of the romulator to be connected to pin 47 of the CPU (Rev 3, 5, and 6a). Rev 8 and Rev 8A use the 42 pin ROM so it should be good for 1 MB."
I am thinking a simple clip will be good enough to link them both, and not really require any soldering. I will pick one up this week and test it out.
Did you test this successfully?
@@aarntsen no. I have not really had a need for a 1 MB ROM so I have not gotten around to doing it...
@@10MARC Where can I get the ROMulator
I’ve had the best weekend in a long time... all thanks to your videos that inspired me to boot up my A4000 and open up my A3000 after a very long time. Pure joy!
I love to hear things like this! How wonderful!
I just placed my order after watching this video - thank you for creating and sharing it! My A2000 is going to be even more awesome with this, alongside my Zeus 68040 board, SCSI2SD, Ethernet board, CD-ROM, etc. I'm super excited!
That sounds like a really nice Amiga 2000! You can just expand the daylights out of those machines!
Great and very detailed review Doug. So happy to see your subscribers has grown🤩
Keep up the good work buddy.
Greetings from Denmark, Retrocengo
Thanks! I appreciate the kind word from you!
Doug, Looking forward to your review of adding libraries etcetera to the Romulator
Me too. Maybe in December I will have time to do that one
Ahh... Morning coffee and 10 minute show. Great combo. Cheers from denmark.
Maybe a few minutes longer than 10 minutes.... But you are used to that by now! 😂😂
@@10MARC True... 😁 Yet it was nice to drink coffee and watch it. 👍
@@10MARC :D
I just found your channel, and what a great first video for me to watch!
So glad you enjoyed it! I have about 50 more videos for you to peruse at your leisure!
@@10MARC Oh I definitely will be doing that!
This is a great device to have and pretty essential for the Amiga enthusiast. Great review Doug! 👍
I tend to watch Doug's videos with a hot cup of coffee in one hand and a credit card in the other.
I got a A 500 .5MB. When I got it home I got Workbench 1.3 up and running. Having a ZX Spectrum 128K toast rack the Amiga was a big jump up.
Very nice! That was quite a step up from the Spectrum for sure!
Fantastic project. If/when they produce a 1200 version I will be snapping one up. Thanks for posting this.
I will pass along all the requests for the A1200 versions - that version might even support 2 MB ROMs and I think we could do some amazing things with it!
Pretty sweet little gimmick there! The price is right too...good for Amiga on the Lake getting it done! Nice demo 10Marc!
Thanks so much! I really like the little device quite a bit. I hope it sells well.
This will be a great device for the 1200/4000 but I can see that version costing even more than the $80 for this one, add shipping to the UK it'll be over $100. That makes this a bit of a luxury imo, think i'll be sticking with blizkick / remapollo for the time being. Great review btw it is a very good looking piece of hardware which I would buy (for the 1200 or 4000) if the price was right for what I would use it for.
I suppose since it takes up two sockets and probably will have two MB of RAM it may be more expensive.
Excellent review. Great thought about the diagrom. I (stupidly maybe) didn’t think of that use case. I’d love a future tutorial on building the custom 1mb 3.1.4 kickstart with intuition. It’s something I’ve heard about but didn’t know where to start. I’m also wondering if the aca500+ supports the possibility.
If I ever get the a2000 working (side glance at my two kids “hint”) then I can see one of these finding a home there.
I was so happy the Diagrom worked so well on it. I think it might be less useful if used on our ACA500+, but I imagine it might work for some testing. I will try it out.
Is there a way to set it to avoid seeing the menu every time? Say, hold down a key to invoke the menu on boot, for example? If you don't hold down a key, it just boots whatever you used last time? Oh I see - I guess that's what the timer is for? Like, I could set the timer to 1 second (or zero) to avoid that menu each time?
That would be the best way - Just set the timer. You MIGHT be able to disconnect the reset pin and it MIGHT just use the last ROM, but I have not tried that...
@@10MARC I mean, I would want the ability to access the menu, but it would admittedly be a rare occurrence. Sort of a poweruser feature to jump into once in a blue moon. For example, my 3000 can boot into 2.0 (by default) or 1.3 as it was shipped from the factory. But I live in 1 KS 99% of the time (you know which one). Yet, sometimes a doc might be only legible in 2.0, so I can always flop over there when the need arises. So it's handy. Just not very common.
So I wouldn't want to be messing with that menu much. Cool feature, too (and they are back in stock today, too...).
Just ordered mine today 14 Nov
Awesome review Doug
I am sure you will enjoy it!
Great video, would be nice for my A1200. Have WB3.1, 3.1.4 and DiagROM on the ACA500Plus. For the ACA1233n-55 the MAPROM is not so great. If i want the 3.1.4 ROM in ACAtool or Command. Now ii switch the ROMS chips in my A1200 with KS 3.1 and 3.1.4. Not the best way but for me the only way. There is alot to do in my A1200. Have now a nice Indivision AGA MK2CR in it for VGA PAL High Res Laced. My A500 is a beast but my A1200 is nice to have a Romulator.
I just got 2 of those puppies in today. Unfortunately they did not come with instructions so here I am reviewing your video again to learn how to install them in my A500 and A2000HD. Loading the ROMS is a no brainer but I might take it a step further and make the SD Card accessable external just so I don't have to open up cases to gain access to the SD Card more so on my A2000HD because an A4000 lives on top of it and who wants to take apart 2 computers just to service 1. I will most likely mount the SD Card reader on top of the GOTEK in the A2000 since it has space and screwing it in the GOTEK is less destructive than a floppy drive.
Check their website, and I have a link to an abridged install video, too. I think on my video description I have a link to the EAB thread that has some pretty good instructions about it
@@10MARC I read through the EAB Link earlier and Kipper2K has nothing on his site about it but another ROM Product. It's not the first Amiga Product I have purchased new that came without documentation but I do find it rather annoying. Thank God you did a very thorough review on the ROMULATOR. I am confused about it because it looks like they have a different board for the A600 so I am happy I only bought one for the A500 and A2000 although there is a board you can install in the A2000 Processor Eaxpansion Slot and then install the ROMULATOR and I have no clue why someone would want to do that except for easier access to the SD Card but you can do that with SD Cable Extender which is what I am going to do.
@@stephenbruce8320 this one should work fine with the A600 too, really. The reset pin just goes to another location. I don't know why Kipper2K recommends the CPU slot adapter either. Seems like just going into the ROM socket would be fine
@@10MARC Not recommend to use the CPU Expansion Slot on the A2000 but another option for installation. My guess is for easier access to the SD Card provided you don't have an accelerator board installed.
An interesting bit of kit. Having a 1200 myself, sadly no use for me.
A nice and informative video as always!
One should be coming for the A1200 but I wonder how it would handle Kickstart 1.x on the AGA machines? I really don't know...
I'm going to guess not at all.
Super cool upgrade. Can't wait to add that to a future A500++!
It should work perfectly in there. Does that new board have the 42 pin ROM socket or the 40 pin?
@@10MARC just checked-interestingly enough, 42 pin socket optional-40 pin standard. It is provisioned for both, I believe.
Another great video and another top product. I am really considering making some changes to my Amiga 500
I am setting mine up to boot to AmigaOS 1.3, 3.1 and 3.1.4. it should be pretty clever when I am done with it
Nice video and I am really looking forward to this for my 2000.
I really dig what you are doing with your channel, the videos are great. Not sure about the name though, as I don't think I have seen a video here be 10 minutes. (Edit: It's not clear, but I was kidding about the 10 minute thing)
The name is staying now because I like it... I will occasionally do a ten minute video... Maybe...😉
@@10MARC Keep up the good work and looking forward to the next video.
Thank you doug for the excellent and thorough review. Also thanks in advance for the tutorial on how to build a complete 3.1.4 rom. keep up the good work. :)
Your welcome! And as soon as I can figure out how to build a custom ROM image, I will do a video on it! ;)
@Mr T. Guru Thank you for the link. much appreciated.
Looks like a great product, will def buy the A4000 version if it comes out.
I think it would be useful in an A4000 for sure - even more in the future as the Amiga 3.1.4x ROM requirements get larger
That's a wicked cool device. Beats the hell out of swapping out ROM's and while I can burn my own ROM's or install a ROM Switcher its always a pain to physically swap the ROM's or perform a MAPROM command if you have the hardware which I do. I really like flexibility of that board so I will have to order one but the only difference I would do is install a card reader extender so I would not have to open my case just to pull the SD Card out but that's just my preference because I try not to open my Amiga's up as much as possible. I have 5 Amiga's I can install one of those into right now but @ $80 that's quite a bit of coin but I will bring in one maybe 2 just to play with. I do have an A2000 that would be a nice fit for and the other would be used in an A500 or A600 that I am working with now. I do have DIAG ROM's already burned but just to place them on a ROMULATOR and call them up on the fly is much better than swapping out the ROM's. Everytime you insert or pull chips your bound to flex the motherboard a bit and these old boards are delicate so I always worry about fracturing the traces and something like the ROMULTOR reduces that risk.
When I was speaking with the creator of the Romulator, he specifically said that the USB header was for those people who don't want to open their Amiga's to add files - just run a USB cable out the back, plug it into your PC, and you will be able to push files to it that way.
@@10MARC I have been playing with the SD Card extension ribbon cables which work ok but the SD Card slots have proven to be a bit temperamental. I have on installed on an A600 with a Vampire2 and I plan on adding another so I can swap cards externally with the Vampire. I think I would like to do the same with a ROMulator but the USB Option sounds like a better solution. I have been checking AOTL throughout the day to see if the ROMUlator is available because I want to order 2 of them one for the A2000 and the other for an A500.
@@stephenbruce8320 I spoke to the guys this morning and they will have them available early in the week. Feel free to reach out via email or call them to light a bit of a fire under them!
@@10MARC Thanks I will do just that.
Great video! I’m hoping we see an A4000 version in the future. Might get one of these for my a600 in the meantime.
They are quite useful for sure. I think we will get an A1200/A4000 version. They have one designed, but are waiting to see the response to this one before they sink money into it.
19:08 Really old Games that need kickstart 1.2 Hmmm thats new to me! What game would that be, any exampel? I am really curious. Some games befor 1988?
I would say some really early games that came out for the A1000 might need an earlier Kickstart. I do remember ROM switchers back in '89 to swap between 1.2 and 1.3 - For me it is more as a historical curiosity. It is kind of fun to boot Kickstart 1.0 and Workbench 1.0 and see how far we came!
This is a great review. I had no idea this existed. I had been looking for a ROM switcher that I could but 3 chips in, one being for DiagROM but the only thing I found took 4 chips and was a bit on the big side.
Thanks for this Doug :-)
This will be a great tool for us for sure! I have been having a lot of fun with it, and can see a lot of uses. Chucky's DiagROM is really nice, and works like a dream from this. I think it will find a permanent home in my A2000, as my A500 generally has my ACA500+ in it.
I noticed it has an RX TX labelled port. I wonder what that is. If there was the ability to interface and control things via a serial command system too that would be interesting. Probably a stretch too far though :-)
I do like having switches though, I can see the convenience of boot up menus, especially with lots of ROMs. But there is something nice about a bunch of chrome toggle switches.
@@Error42_ The serial interface was uses for testing and programming the board. It is a holdover
@@10MARC Thank you Doug and Amiga Retro Cast team, great profile of the Romulator. Have been planning on ordering a ACA 500+ for my good 'ol Rev 5 NTSC 500 setup, and I still might, but the idea of internal expansions instead of external is preferable to me. I really like the sound of being able to customize my bootup details as you discussed in this. Side thought, I wonder if the three finger reset salute time can be easily reduced to 2 seconds...
@@scotthorne94 I never tried two seconds. The normal restart still just restarts the machine with whichever ROM you last chose - so I suppose the three second is there to prevent you from going back into the interface accidentally
I don't see the ROM files on my Amiga Forever Premium Edition 8. Where are they?
Look in your "Public" folder on your pc under "public documents\Amiga Files\ROMS"
What was with the graphics corruption in the scroller across the bottom?
If they bring out the A1200 version it will be mine!
I have a RapidRoad (so do you) so instead of relying on another system to flash, could we use that?
I wondered that myself. I don't know if was the font they used, but it was odd. Everything was readable, it just looked like a few pixels out of place. I will ask the developer
i wish romulator would be available for sale at amiga34 show next week so i could purchase it directly there instead of ordering it in america, having to pay additional expensive shipping costs from usa to europe. :(
Sure - they are assembled in Canada, though.
Nice piece of hardware. I had to boost up my Vampire for the 500 in the same way to get it to clear the ACE2 2mb chipmem expansion. (Then everything had to go into a Checkmate A1500+ case because it wouldn't fit in the original anymore. :P
I thought using a 1MB rom on A500/2000 required a wire to be added between a pin on the socket and the 68000?
I was under the impression that the ARM chip handled everything needed for the 1 MB Kickstart - but I will check with the developer and confirm it.
@@10MARC Unfortunately not, the use of 1M sized images is based on available address lines - if you have a 40 pin socket (A500 before Rev8, A2000) you'll be limited to 512K ROM files without a modification. If your motherboard revision has the 42 pin socket you should be fine without any changes (1M needs A18).
@@indigolemon I think the ARM CPU may take care of that issue. I will ask Kipper2K right now
@@10MARC Oops sorry, should have said - I'm indigolemon, I worked with the guys on this!
Hi Doug, I was very interested in the Romulator and checked Amiga On The Lake to see if they have them but no mention. I sent them an email and no response. This was 3 weeks after you said they would be available. Do you know if they are available yet?
I would love to get one.
Grumble grumble... I keep hearing "any day now..." - I will see the guys this will at AmiWest and figure out what the holdup is.
@@10MARC Thanks Doug that will be appreciated by me and I am sure many others who would like to have this great device. Amiga On The Lake should be following through as this is no good for their business going forward. But keep up the great work on your reviews. I have watched several of them now and like your style and particularly the info you provide. Thanks.
Great job as always Doug :)
Thanks. It is a quality product for sure. I have been having fun playing with some of the old ROM files! Now I need to learn how to add things to my 3.1.4 ROM images to create a custom ROM. Then the real fun begins...
Awe. I love the Kitty Doug
Awesome device.....i wonder how it will work with other boot screen devices like the ACA500+ or RPI drive emulator....? Ive got very little room near my A600 Furia and Rom socket....I currently have a Rom switcher in the socket....that is on a flat cable...so the rom switch is away from the Furia....i guess there is no reason why the Romulator wont work in the rom switch ?
No need for a ROM switcher with this. It will replace it. It does not work with the ACA500+ because both devices capture the Amiga on reset. If a device captures the reset it probably won't play nice
Thanks for the reply....ive not bought the ACA500+ yet....i keep thinking about a TF530 but dont know if it will be compatable with my z-500 Retina card.
Can you use Romulator with the DraCo?
I doubt it really. It only works on the Amiga 500, 600 and 2000. Draco is more of a customized beast.
Looks great! Too bad that it isn't in stock. :(
Oh? They have no more of them? Maybe email them and see if they expect more in
Not available on the Amiga on the lake website ? Can you provide a link where we can buy this ROMulator ?
It will be very soon. I have been talking the Aaron the owner and he is waiting on a bit of final documentation to send out with it.
@@10MARC Any updates from Amiga on the Lake on availability? I would love to have one of these for my Amiga 2000, and maybe my Amiga 1000 (I have a kickstart switcher installed).
@@cdhaiki they shipped them last year. Are they saying they are out of stock again?
@@10MARC On the website, it shows as unavailable. I haven't tried to call or email.
@@cdhaiki I will reach out to the guys and see when a restock is due
I hope that wasn't anything important snapping on 13:49 :)
Is this device still available for the Amiga 500? I've been waiting for several MONTHS for them to get them back in stock and it doesn't look like they have anything but the 600 version.
It has been restocked two or three times. I hope they get more of them in! Have you emailed them asking about it?
@@10MARC I haven't but I keep intending to. Just the same, I keep turning to check (daily for the first few months) and they've never restocked as far as I can tell. Finding it hard to believe they're still making them, at this rate. I'll mail them and see what they say.
@@DanRamosDR I will reach out to Aaron and see if they plan on restocking soon
I'm learning a lot from your channel, I do have a good question do you know if there is plans on rebooting the amiga line of mother boards and chips into a modern platform that will play the older games. i dont mean emulation, but real hardware. I'm still looking for a system until then emulation is all i can do.
Well we do have a few options - You can always use Amiga Forever to use an Amiga Emulator on a PC. We also have the Vampire Version 4 shipping in a few months that is a standalone Amiga for about $500. You can also set it up on a raspberry pi for about $150 or so.
@@10MARC i have the pie and just got amibian installed on it but still have to get kickstart
@@frankrowland63 very nice! If you get the Amiga Forever packnfrom Cloanto it includes all the ROM files except Amiga OS 3.1.4
Must have this!
You will be very happy with this beauty! Highly recommended!
EAB thread mentions troubles with accelerators. That's a shame.
Yes it is. The only way I can truly recommend it is with a totally unexpanded Amiga - and that is no fun at all.
I been trying to get this for couple of years, can we get it directly from the makers....Amiga on the Lake sound is dead...no reply to anything!
I am actually working on this. I should have some answers soon.
@@10MARC Thanks, let me know!
@@10MARC Any updates!
can you get these for 1200, and cd32?
No, but they are talking about making one eventually. I think they would be a bit less useful for those machines since WHDLOAD works so well on them. I have no need to downgrade to 1.3 on my A1200
Can it be configured to boot directly into a rom also? And can it support Cosmos 4MB romfiles?
Well it boots direct into something like Diagrom if you tell it to. It only has 1 MB on board, so the Cosmo ROM sounds like a no-go
@@10MARC Thank you. Is it configured through the keyboard or a config file for direct boot? For a machine in a bad way, direct to diagrom might be needed. Neither amigaonthelake nor kipper2k has any manual available for it which can be inspected before purchase. So I still have questions, that's why I'm grateful that you can answer.
Did you watch my video? I go over everything step by step.
There is also a link in the description to Kipper2K's thread on English Amiga Board where he has some pretty detailed features.
@@10MARC Yes, I read the thread once and watched your video 4 or 5 times :) I like that it has a menu, but I don't want to have to always choose. I saw a user on the thread talked about setting timeout=0 for it to be transparent. But there's no mention of this from Kipper2k or anywhere if it's file config or on screen config. I'm sorry of if it's been said and I just missed it.
@@10MARC Rewatched it now, and saw that you covered the config.txt, sorry I missed it the first times.
What would get it to a 6, is if there were a way that the ROMS could be swapped dynamically as loaded. Oh yeah....and a shit ton more ROM SPACE!!!!
Think of it as a storage device with a 512k or 1MB window into the Processor RAM SPACE. Bank switch those ROMs and your have workbench loaded, or anything else you wanted, from ROM, No part of the the OS ever needs to be loaded from disk. the OS just needs to be able to switch to the correct ROM.
Not sure about the dynamic switching... The AmigaOS itself can't handle that. It is possible that the version for AGA machines will have a 2 MB storage space for ROMS
Kipper2k has done it again :)
@Mr T. Guru there is more to it than that. In the past he has had distribution problems doing it himself. He would send products out, and many people would be dishonest and tell PayPal they were never received and he would lose money. He is switching to using a distributor now (AOTL) to get around those issues.
contrary to what you think, i dont make a lot of money doing this. Take a look at the prices of the items i have previously sold, the prices were always a lot lower than others. I won't go into my personal situation only to say that i cannot devote a lot of time to this now.This is also the reason i have passed on my latest designs to other people so they can sell.
check the shipping prices for registered mail from Canada to the UK etc... it is $45 CAD, and that is for items that weigh less than 250gram. Would you want to buy something from me ?
Nice amiga content - subbed brother.
That is great! Glad you found the channel. Lots more content to come!
No longer available from AOTL? Darn.
It has not officially been released yet. Hopefully they will release it soon.
@@10MARC Ahhh. Thanks.
@@jdryyz and it is available as of today! hooray!
Will this work on the A2000/A1500?
Yes, it works just fine on the A2000. I have a picture of where you need to put the reset pin on the video. It is a great item!
@@10MARC Excellent that is really good to know! Now the big question is where to get some of these boards as I want them for all of my Amigas. EDIT: I have just found the EAB thread :D
@@RetroJay1974 Amiga on the Lake told me it would be available Friday the 11th. I have not seen it yet, but I know it will be available soon
Nice hardware!
It really is awesome. I enjoy using mine.
To bad they don't have a version for the 1200 or 4000.
I hear you, but what would you do with it? Who wants to run Workbench and Kickstart 1.3 on an A1200 or A4000? No AGA or IDE support.