Commodore Amiga A4000 User manual

The Complete Amiga 4000 User Guide
by Peter Hutchison © 2007
Revised: 21/08/2007

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Contents
Introduction Page 3
Setting up the Amiga for First Time Page 4
Guide to Workbench 3.0 Page 6
Menus Page6
Mouse Page8
Programs Page 9
Preferences Page 13
Beyond Workbench 3.0 Page 19
Adding more Memory to the A4000 Page 19
Upgrading the Processor Page 20
Upgrading Expansion on the A4000 Page 22
Upgrading the Kickstart and Workbench Page 23
The Motherboard in detail Page 25
Jumpers Page 25
Backward Compatibility Page 27
Adding a Hard Disk to A4000 Page 28
Installing Workbench onto a Hard Disk Page 30
Installing a CDROM device Page 31

3
Introduction
Welcome to the Commodore Amiga A4000, one of the top Amiga models of its time.
It was affordable and easy to use. It had a wide range of software, in particular,
games which Jay Minor, the creator of the Amiga, had designed it for.
The Amiga A4000 is based on either the Motorola 68030 25MHz , 68040 25MHz or
the top end 68060 50MHz Processor with 2Mb RAM, a single 880K floppy drive with
support for three more floppy drives, Zorro cards and a Custom Chipset that provides
the Sound and Graphics.
The Amiga runs the Operating System called Amiga OS which consists of the
Kickstart ROM which contains some essential libraries and devices needed to load
Workbench which is the desktop:
Figure 1
You can a while menu bar at the top and all the disks mounted on the right hand of
the screen. The Ram Disk is a special one which is a disk in memory basically. More
on Workbench will be explained later.

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Setting up the Amiga for First Time
Before setting up the Amiga make sure you have the following items ready:
Amiga A4000
Monitor or TV Set
Mouse
Power Supply
Joystick (optional)
Speakers (optional)
External Disk drives (optional)
Withe Amiga facing you, first plug the square end of the Power Supply cable to the
Power socket at the back of the Amiga. Plug the other end into a power socket but
DO NOT switch on yet.
If you have a monitor, plug the monitor cable into the Video socket, and also plug the
power cable into a power socket.
Next plug the Mouse into Port 1 of the D shaped sockets on the right-hand side. Plug
any Joystick onto Port 2 next to it.
The stereo speakers can be plugged into the Left and Right speaker sockets in Audio
sockets at the back. The speakers can be either stand-alone ones or part of the
monitor so if necessary, plug the other ends into the Left/Right sockets on the
monitor. Plug in to power supply as necessary.
Finally if you have any external floppy disk drives plug them in to the External Flopy
drive socket on the back of the Amiga. Further drives can be added to other drives.
The A4000 usually comes with an IDE Hard disk to run Workbench and your
applications.
Now switch on the power and press the power switch located at the front of the
Amiga and switch on the monitor.
If you do not have disks inserted or Workbench is not installed on your hard disk, you
will see the Insert Disk screen below:
Figure 2

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You can then insert either a Workbench disk or any other bootable disk such as a
game into the floppy drive on the right-hand side of the Amiga (called DF0: - Disk
Floppy Zero).
Insert your Original Workbench disk and wait for the workbench screen to appear.
Before continuing, I recommend that you make one or more copies of your original
Workbench disks to use rather than the Original as that can become damaged over
time and you may need to make other copies later.
To make a copy, get hold of a blank 880K double-density disk ready, then move the
white arrow (called a pointer) with the mouse over the Workbench 3.0 disk and click
the left mouse button once (this will select the disk), then move the pointer to the top
left of the screen and click and HOLD the right-hand mouse button and a menu
appear, make sure the Icons menu is selected, move the mouse down the menu and
select Copy
Figure 3
It will say ‘Put the SOURCE disk (FROM disk) in drive DF0:’, remove the disk from
the floppy drive, and make sure it is your original Workbench disk, at the top there is
a hole, make sure it is covered with the black tab to protect the disk during this
operation. Reinsert the disk, and with the left mouse button click once on Continue.
Once the read operation is complete, it will ask you to insert the DESTINATION (TO
disk) in drive DF0:. Press the eject button to remove your original Workbench disk,
and insert your Blank disk. Click on Continue to write the information to your new
disk.
You may need to repeat the disk swap a couple of times more until the operation is
completed. Now you will have a disk called ‘copy of Workbench’, you can rename this
by selecting the disk, then select Rename from the Workbench menu and change it
to just ‘Workbench’. You should put your original disk somewhere safe and then use
your copy of Workbench from now on. Reboot with your new Workbench disk in DF0.

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Guide to Workbench 3.0
Contents
1. The Menus
2. The Mouse
3. WB Programs
4. AmigaDOS
5. Common Problems
1. The Menus
At the top of the screen, there are three menus which are accessible when you move the pointer to the
top of the screen and click the Right Mouse Button. (RMB).
1.1 Workbench menu
1.1.1 Backdrop
Turns the backdrop window on of off which surrounds the desktop.
1.1.2 Execute Command
This displays an input box where you can enter any AmigaDOS command or launch any W orkbench
program by entering its name. For example, typing NewShell will open a Command Shell window.
1.1.3 Redraw All
This redraws all the icons on the desktop.
1.1.4 Update All
Reload all the icons and redraw them.
1.1.5 Last Message
Display the last error or information message on the title bar.
1.1.6 About
Display Kickstart and Workbench versions and Copyright information.
1.1.7 Quit
Exit Workbench, this will quit workbench and leave the workbench screen open. You should open a
command window before quitting otherwise a reboot is required.
1.2 Window menu
1.2.1 New Drawer
Create a new drawer (or directory or folder) in the current window.
1.2.2 Open Parent
Open the parent window of the current window.
1.2.3 Close
Close the current window

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1.2.4 Update
Update icons in the current window.
1.2.5 Select Contents
Select all the icons in the current window.
1.2.6 Clean Up
Tidy up the icons into a standard left to right and top to bottom layout.
1.2.7 Snapshot
1.2.7.1 Window
Save the current window size and position in icon information
1.2.7.2 All
Save the window and all icon size and position information in their respective icon files.
1.2.8 Show
1.2.8.1 Only Icons
Displays files that have an icon file and hides all other files.
1.2.8.2 All Files
Display all files in window wether or not they have an icon file or not.
1.2.9 View By
1.2.9.1 Icon
Display files using Icons only.
1.2.9.2 Name
Display files using Name and displays protection flags, size and date and time last changed.
1.2.9.3 Date
Display files in date order using same format as Name with the newest files at the top.
1.2.9.4 Size
Display files in size order using same format as Name with the smallest files at the top.
1.3 Icons
1.3.1. Open
This opens or runs the currently selected file or drawer.
1.3.2 Copy
Copies one or more files and prefixes file(s) with Copy_of_ e.g. Copy_of_MyFile
1.3.3 Rename
Changes the name of the file. A Rename dialogue box appears with the current name
1.3.4 Information
Displays information about the file, drawer or disk. Includes information about the icon, type, size,
comment and protection flags.
1.3.5 Snapshot
Saves the current position of file within window.

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1.3.6 Unsnapshot
Removes positioning saved information from a file.
1.3.7 Leave Out
Places the file on the desktop but the file is still located in its original location. A backdrop file contains a
list of files left out.
1.3.8 Put Away
Returns a file left off the desktop back to its original location.
1.3.9 Delete
This deletes a file or drawer permanently. It does not use the Trashcan.
1.3.10 Format Disk
Formats or prepares a disk to be used to store files and drawers.
1.3.11 Empty Trash
Empties the content of the Trashcan folder on the boot disk.
1.4 Tools
1.4.1 ResetW B
Reloads Workbench and redraws the screen
2. The Mouse
On the Amiga mouse there are two buttons: the Left Mouse Button (LMB) and the Right Mouse
Button (RMB). Moving the mouse will move the arrow or pointer on the screen.
2.1 Using the Right Mouse Button
To use the menus, press down the RMB and move the pointer to the title bar at the top of the
screen. Move the pointer over one of the menu names and some menu items will appear. Now, still
with the RMB pressed, move the pointer down to the selected menu item and release
the RMB to select that item.
2.2 Using the Left Mouse Button
This button is mainly used to select and move icons around and click on gadgets (or buttons).

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2.2.1 Clicking
To select an icon, move the pointer over the desired icon and then click the LMB once. The icon will
change to a reverse or an alternative image to indicate it has been selected.
When using gadgets such as those on windows (there are four gadgets on a window: Close,
Window-to-Front, Window-to-Back and Resize) move the pointer over the desired gadget and click
once to use that gadget. The gadget will change briefly and also change the window.
2.2.2 Double-Clicking
This is sometimes a tricky technique to use and requires a steady hand. This method is used to
open disks, drawers and files or run programs. To do this, move the pointer over the desired icon and
in quick succession (without moving the pointer) click on the LMB twice.
This should open the icon.
2.2.3 Dragging
This technique allows you to move objects such as icons around the screen or resizing windows.
Select an icon with a single click, now keep the LMB down and move the pointer, the icon will now be
dragged with the pointer. If you let go of the pointer the icon will be dropped into it’s
new position.
2.2.4 Multiple selection
You can select more than one icon at a time. To do this, click on the first icon, press the SHIFT key
down (either one) and then click on the second, third, fourth icons etc. to select multiple icons
You can also select a whole group of icons by pressing the LMB at the top left of the icons and while
keeping the LMB down moving the power towards the bottom right. An expanding box will appear and
the icons in it will be selected.
3. The Programs
Here I will give a brief explanation of the programs provided with Workbench 1.3.
3.1 Workbench Disk
3.1.1 Utilities Drawer
3.1.1.1 Clock
This displays an analogue or digital clock showing the present time and/or date. From the menu you
can select Analog, Digital 1 or Digital 2 (difference being is that one displays time in a window, the other

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displays time in the window bar). You can also set the mode (12 or 24 hour), display seconds or not,
the date and whether to set an alarm for something.
3.1.1.2 Multiview
This program can view pictures, animations, sound and other documents using W orkbench’s Datatype
library which can be expanded to any number of file formats from basic ILBM, 8SVX, AmigaGuide,
FTXT, ANIM and CDXL to modern types such as GIF, JPEG, PNG, BMP, Wave, Mpeg and other
formats. Datatypes can be downloaded from the internet and installed.
You can run the program and then open a file from the file dialogue box, if the file has an Icon file you
can set its Default Tool to use Multiview to open and view the file automatically or you can click on the
file, press shift and double click on Multiview to view the file with Multiview.
3.1.1.3 More
This program can be used from the command line to view text files with page breaks between screen’s
worth of text.
3.2 Tools Drawer
3.2.1 Calculator
Here is a simple calculator, you can press the buttons to enter values or use the keypad. The symbols
are CA (Cancel All), CE (Cancel Entry), * (Multiply), / (Divide), + (Add), - (Subtract), . (Decimal point), <-
(Backspace), +- (Change sign), = (Equals)
The Calculator Tape window can display equations as you enter them, useful for long calculations.
3.2.2 CMD
The CMD program is useful if you wish to redirect printing to a file. Run this program before printing
and any output will be sent to RAM:cmd_file. Additional options can be set in the Tool types including:
DEVICE = parallel or serial
FILE = location of file output
SKIP = skip flag
MULTIPLE = store multiple prints
NOTIFY = notify flag
3.2.3 GraphicDump
GraphicDump can be used to print pictures to a printer. This is mainly for IFF ILBM pictures, use
Multiview for other formats. Picture size can be set using SIZE Tool Type.
3.2.4 IconEdit
IconEdit is used to modify file icon or .info files on the Amiga. Most Workbench 3.x icons are 4 colour
icons but can be expanded to multicolour icons via the Extras, Color Palette m enu. You have the main
drawing area on the left. In the middle you have the currently selected Colour (black in this case), the
colour palette below and the drawing tools: freehand drawing, curves, circles (outline or filled),

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rectangles (outlined or filled), straight lines and the fill tool.
Each icon has two images, normal and selected, selected icons are used when a user selects an icon,
and it usually displays a depressed icon rather than a raised icon (the shadow around the edge makes
the difference).
3.2.5 KeyShow
This displays a graphical representation of the keyboard on the screen with the characters that each
key represents including those when Ctrl, Shift or Alt is pressed. Pressing any of the keys does not
enter characters in to applications unfortunately.
3.2.6 InitPrinter
This will initialise any attached printer with the printer’s initialisation com mand using the currently
selected driver in the Printer preferences.
3.2.7 Lacer
This program will toggle between interlaced and non-interlaced screen modes. Used primarily for video
recording and genlocking.
3.2.8 Printfiles
This program allows you to print text files from W orkbench. To use it to select the files you wish to print
(use Shift key when selecting multiple files), then hold down shift and click Printfiles to print them.
Use the tool type FLAGS=formfeed or FORMFEED=true if you want files to start on a new page.
3.2.9 Prepcard
This tool is used to prepare PCMCIA memory cards as static RAM cards or system memory. A Ram
Card can hold files like a normal disk and is accessed via the device CC0:, cards prepared as system
memory is added to both Chip and Fast memory, you need to reboot before you can use that memory.
3.3.0 Memacs
Memacs or MicroEmacs is a full screen text editor which allows you to write short documents, script
files and program files if necessary.
The figure below shows Memacs with s:startup-sequence file loaded for editing.

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3.3.1 ShowConfig
This program displays system configuration about your Amiga including:
a) Processor make and model
b) Custom Chip set versions
c) RAM type and sizes
d) Expansion boards
3.3 Commodities Drawer
3.3.1 Exchange
This program lists the commodity programs in memory and can control commodities by displaying
commodity options, end a commodity and so on.
3.3.2 ClickToFront
This allows users to click anywhere in a window and click to bring it to the front of other windows
without having to use the window gadgets. By default the ALT key needs to be pressed before clicking
a window (this can be changed). Move it to the Startup drawer to autorun it on boot up.
3.3.3 MouseBlanker
This will blank the mouse pointer if not in use.
3.3.4 AutoPoint
This allows you to select a window by just moving the mouse pointer over it and does not require a click
to activate it.
3.3.5 Fkey
This program assigns text strings to function keys and it is useful for Shell users. Up to 20 possible
macros can be programmed. Special characters can be used:
\n Return
\r Return
\t Tab
\0 Zero
<key> Key combination eg Shift+Letter
3.3.6 NoCapsLock
This disables the Caps Lock key so you will need to use Shift for Capital letters.
3.3.7 Blanker
This program will blank the screen after 60 seconds of inactivity.
3.3.8 CrossDos
This is part of the PC Disk driver and this commodity controls text file options for Text Filtering and Text

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Translation. The DosDrivers for PC0 and PC1 need to be loaded.
3.4 Prefs
Workbench can be customised using Preference programs in the Prefs drawer. You can select Save to
save changes and will be loaded when rebooted or clicking Use will save preferences in memory only
and will be lost on next reboot.
3.4.1 Font
This selects the default fonts for W orkbench Icon Text, System default text and Screen text.
3.4.2 Locale
This sets the current language, country and time zone information.
3.4.3 Pointer
This preference can be used to change the shape of the mouse pointer. The Pointer can be a Low Res
or High Res pointer depending on screen resolution. The ‘Set Point’ button determines where in the
image the click point is, by default it is at the top left.

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3.4.4 PrinterPS
This preference set the options for PostScript printers.
Driver Mode: Postscript, Pass Through
Copies: 1 to 99
Paper Format: US Letter, US Legal, DIN A4, Custom
Text Options: Font, Pitch, Orientation, Tab
Text Dimensions: Margins, Point Size, Leading, LPI, LPP
Graphics Options: Margins, Image, Shading, Dithering
Graphics Scaling: Aspect, Scaling, Centering,
3.4.5 Sound
This preference can change preference for sounds when Workbench has an error. You have the option
of Flashing the Display (ideal for those hard of hearing), or creating a sound either with a Beep or a
Sampled Sound.
3.4.5 Icontrol
Intuition control specifies preferences for key to use for Window Drag and enable options for Screen
Menu Snap, Text Gadget Filter, Avoid Flicker and Mode Promotion.

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3.4.6 Overscan
Overscan sets the physical screen size, the monitor driver is loaded on the let and list of dimensions
are shown and two buttons which can be used to resize the display for Text or Graphic displays by
dragging one or more of nine handles to the desired size.
3.4.7 Printer
The Printer preference selects the printer driver (from Devs:Printers) and sets other options:
Printer Port: Parallel, Serial
Print Pitch: Pica, Elite, Fine.
Print Spacing: 6, 8 LPI
Print Quality: Draft, Letter
Paper Type: Continuous, Single
Paper Format: Narrow tractor, Wide tractor, Custom, DIN A4, US Letter, US Legal
Paper Length
Left and Right Margins
3.4.8 ScreenMode
This preference sets the monitor driver and resolution and colours depth for the Workbench screen.

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3.4.9 Time
This sets the current date and tim e and saves in a battery-backed clock (if provided) and in memory.
3.4.10 Input
Input controls certain aspects of the keyboard and the Mouse:
Mouse Speed - How fast the pointer moves around the screen.
Acceleration - Boosts mouse speed when you move it around.
Double-click delay - Delay between clicks before it’s accepted as a double click. You can use the Show
and Test double-click buttons below to check in.
Key Repeat Delay - Delay before a pressed key becomes repeated again.
Key Repeat Rate - Determines how often a key is repeated on the screen.
Keyboard test - Test repeat settings.
Keyboard Type - Shows which keyboard mapping is used. Can be changed using SetKeyboard
command in startup files.

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3.4.11 Palette
This preference allows you to change the default colours (shown at the top left) with new colours using
either the colour wheel or the RGB sliders underneath for more fine control. The list of entries on the
right determines which colour is used for what purpose, so you could use Blue or Green for text instead
of Black. The Show Sample button brings up a demo window with the new colours in use before you
are ready to Save or Use them.
3.4.12 PrinterGfx
Printer Graphics preference sets options for when printing pictures or diagrams using a printer (See
Printer preferences).
Dithering: Ordered, Halftone, Floyd-Steinburg
Scaling: Fraction, Integer
Image: Positive, Negative
Aspect: Horizontal, Vertical
Share: Black & Write, Grey Scale 1 or 2, Colour
Threshold: Determines the colours on the screen are printed as black and white.
Density: Determines the resolution in DPI of the output
Collor Correction: Corrects colour by reducing number of colours available to correct RGB imbalances
Left Edge: How far from the left edge the output starts
Limits: Determines paper edge limits. Can be Ignore, Bounded, Absolute, Pixels, Multiply
Smoothing: Smooths diagonal lines by certain dithering techniques (except Floyd-Steinburg)
Center Picture: Centres picture in the middle of the page.

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3.4.13 Serial
The Serial preferences control communications through the serial port with the following settings:
Input Buffer Size: Size of the buffer in bytes to store data
Baud Rate: Speed of communication in bites/sec.
Handshaking: XON/XOFF (Software), RTS/CTS (Hardware) or None
Parity: Number or type of bits used for error checking
Bits/Char: Number of bits used for data
Stop bits: Number of bits used at the end of data
3.4.14 WBPattern
Workbench pattern preferences can display specific patterns or pictures to customize your Workbench
desktop.
Placement: Workbench, Windows, Screen
Type: Pattern, Picture
Select Picture: Select a picture to use on the workbench
Presets: Predetermined patterns to use. You can create your own patterns in the empty box on the right
and select which colours to use.
Test: Tests your pattern or picture.

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Beyond Workbench 3.0
Workbench has been upgraded three times since 3.0: 3.1, 3.5 and 3.9. Workbench 3.5 and 3.9 have
enhanced Workbench a lot and come on CD, they include:
• Multimedia Programs
• Web browser i.e Aweb
• Genesis for Internet and network access
• Amidock for program start bar
• W arp OS 5.0 for PowerPc support
• Iomega Tools for Zip and Jaz disks
• New Powerful shell
• Automatic datatype recognition
• Integrated unpacker (unarc)
• Fast search for files
• New picture datatype
• Many more tools
• HTML documentation
If Workbench is too limiting, you can replace the entire workbench with a replacement such as
Directory Opus 6 which has a feature rich interface with more customisation than before and much
easier to use.
There are many more libraries and programs too numerous to mention which can enhance the
W orkbench experience. Check out http://www.aminet.com for them.
Adding more Memory to the A4000
The Amiga memory is split into Chip RAM (memory used by the custom chipset to store graphics and
sound) and Fast RAM (memory which is used only by the Processor).
The Amiga A4000 comes with 2MB of Chip memory, you can optionally add more 72pin SIMM memory
using the 4 or 5 further slots on the motherboard or via an accelerator card. Use the 1,2 or 4 MB Fast
page SIMM modules if you can.
Additional memory beyond 16Mb requires a CPU accelerator card.
See documentation with a board or device on how to install extra memory.

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Upgrading the Processor
The standard 25MHz 68030 processor in the Amiga A4000 is quite slow compared to more recent
processors and cannot cope with bigger applications and gam es. The processor is slotted on the main
mother board.
For faster processors such as the faster 68040 or 68060 then a new expansion board needs to be
purchased and inserted via the trapdoor expansion slot underneath the Amiga.
Typical boards include:
1. 68040 Accelerators
Apollo 3040 or 4040
Supports the 40MHz 68040 and can have upto 128Mb of Fast RAM using 4 slots for Fastpage or EDO
ram. The 040 includes an MMU and FPU.
BSC TurboMaster 4053
Supports the 40MHz 68040 and can have upto 112Mb of Fast RAM using slots for Fastpage ram. The
040 includes an MMU and FPU.
Commodore A3640
Supports the 25MHz 68040 (or 680LC40) but no additional ram. The 040 includes an MMU and FPU,
the LC (Low Cost) version only has the MMU.
GVP A3040 (T-Rex)
Supports the 40MHz 68040 and can have upto 64Mb or 256Mb of 64 pin GVP SIMMs. You will need a
extra RAM board to maximise memory. The 040 includes an MMU and FPU.
Hardital Powerchanger
Supports the 25 or 40MHz 68040 but does not support extra ram. The 040 includes an MMU and FPU.
Macrosystem WarpEngine
Supports the 28, 33 or 40MHz 68040 and can have upto 128Mb of Fast RAM using 4 slots for Fastpage
or EDO ram. The 040 includes an MMU and FPU. This card also has a fast SCSI-2 connector as well
for peripherals.
Phase 5 Cyberstorm Mk-I
Supports the 25 or 40MHz 68040 or the 50MHz 68060 and can have upto 128Mb of Fast RAM using 4
slots for Fastpage. The 040 includes an MMU and FPU. This card also has a fast SCSI-2 connector as
well for peripherals.
Phase 5 Cyberstorm Mk-II
Supports the 40MHz 68040 or the 50MHz 68060 and can have upto 128Mb of Fast RAM using 4 slots
for Fastpage. The 040 includes an MMU and FPU. This card also has a fast SCSI-2 connector as well
for peripherals.
PPS Mercury
Supports the 28,33, 35MHz 68040 and can have upto 32Mb of 30 pin Static Column, Fast Page of
Nibble RAM using 4 slots. The 040 includes an MMU and FPU.
RCS X-Calibur
Supports the 25,33 or 40MHz 68040 and can have upto 128Mb of Fast RAM using 4 slots for Fastpage
RAM. The 040 includes an MMU and FPU.
Sonnet Quaddoubler
Supports the 40 or 50MHz 68040 but no extra memory. The 040 includes an MMU and FPU.