Kickstart (Amiga)

Kickstart is the bootstrap firmware of the Amiga computers developed by Commodore.

Most Amiga models were shipped with the Kickstart firmware stored on ROM chips. Its purpose is to initialize the Amiga hardware and core components of AmigaOS and then attempt to boot from a bootable volume, such as a floppy disk.

Versions

Commodore's AmigaOS was formed of both the Kickstart firmware and a software component provided on disk (with the software portion often termed as Workbench). For most AmigaOS updates the Kickstart version number was matched to the Workbench version number. Confusingly, Commodore also used internal revision numbers for Kickstart chips. For example, there were several Kickstart revisions designated as version 2.0.

Version summary

The first Amiga model, the A1000, required that Kickstart 1.x be loaded from floppy disk into a 256 kB section of RAM called the writable control store (WCS). Some A1000 software titles (notably Dragon's Lair) provided an alternative code-base in order to use the extra 256 kB for data. Later Amiga models had Kickstart embedded in a ROM chip, thus improving boot times. Many Amiga 1000 computer were modified to take these chips.

Kickstart

Kickstart can refer to:

Cadence Biomedical

Cadence Biomedical is a medical device company that provides orthotic products to help individuals with severe mobility impairments to walk again. The company is located in Seattle, Washington and was founded in 2007 under the name Empowering Engineering Technologies.

Products

Cadence Biomedical released its first product, the Kickstart Walking System, in August 2012. Kickstart is a wearable device, or orthosis, that gives users stability and the ability to walk independently. The device is intended to improve mobility for those in stroke recovery, or for individuals with neurological injuries such as spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis or muscular dystrophy.is designed to provide walking assistance and stability for those who have difficulty walking, especially if they experience difficulty lifting their knee, catching toes when taking a step, lack of endurance, or problems with coordination, balance, or stability.,

The device uses no external power or batteries to provide assistance, but functions similarly to robotic exoskeletons in that it helps to move the legs forward and augments existing strength. The product was released in 2012 and is available through orthotists in the United States.

Kickstart (Linux)

The Red Hat Kickstart installation method is used primarily (but not exclusively) by the Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system to automatically perform unattended operating system installation and configuration. Red Hat publishes Cobbler as a tool to automate the Kickstart configuration process.

Usage

Kickstart is normally used at sites with many such Linux systems, to allow easy installation and consistent configuration of new computer systems.

Kickstart configuration files can be built three ways:

Anaconda will produce an anaconda-ks.cfg configuration file at the end of any manual installation. This file can be used to automatically reproduce the same installation or edited (manually or with system-config-kickstart).

See also

References

Amiga

The Amiga is a family of personal computers sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. Based on the Motorola 68000 family of microprocessors, the machine has a custom chipset with graphics and sound capabilities that were unprecedented for the price, and a pre-emptive multitasking operating system called AmigaOS. The Amiga provided a significant upgrade from earlier 8-bit home computers, including Commodore's own C64.

The Amiga 1000 was officially released in July 1985, but a series of production problems meant it did not become widely available until early 1986. The best selling model, the Amiga 500, was introduced in 1987 and became one of the leading home computers of the late 1980s and early 1990s with four to six million sold. The A3000, introduced in 1990, started the second generation of Amiga systems, followed by the A500+ and the A600. Finally, as the third generation, the A1200 and the A4000 were released in 1992. The platform became particularly popular for gaming and programming demos. It also found a prominent role in the desktop video, video production, and show control business, leading to affordable video editing systems such as the Video Toaster. The Amiga's native ability to simultaneously play back multiple digital sound samples made it a popular platform for early "tracker" music software. The relatively powerful processor and ability to access several megabytes of memory led to the development of several 3D rendering packages, including LightWave 3D and Aladdin 4D.

Amiga (disambiguation)

Amiga (the Portuguese and Spanish word for "friend" in the feminine, i.e. "female friend") may refer to:

Businesses and products

Amiga 500 Plus

The Commodore Amiga 500 Plus (often A500 Plus or simply A500+) is an enhanced version of the original Amiga 500 computer. It was notable for introducing new versions of Kickstart and Workbench, and for some minor improvements in the custom chips, known as the Enhanced Chip Set (or ECS).

Introduction

The A500+ was released in several markets (including many European countries), but was never sold officially in the U.S.

Although officially introduced in 1992, some Amiga 500 Plus units had already been sold (masquerading as Amiga 500 models, and with no prior announcement) during late 1991. It has been speculated that Commodore had already sold out the remaining stocks of Amiga 500s, before the run up to the profitable Christmas sales period. In order to make enough A500s before Christmas, Commodore used stocks of the new 8A revision motherboards destined for the A500+. Many users were unaware that they were purchasing anything other than a standard Amiga 500. Although the Amiga 500+ was an improvement to the Amiga 500, it was minor. It was discontinued and replaced by the Amiga 600 in summer 1992, making it the shortest lived Amiga model.