Minimig Enhancements

[nBit7]

I am thinking of doing some sort of enhancement (new feature) to the minimig.  I am just note sure yet what to do.

If you are doing or planning some sort of enhancement could you please share your plan.  That why I don't start a project someone is already working on.

Some ideas I have had or been given so far are:
IDE
USB for loading ADF files
USB for Keyboard, mouse, etc
USB plus drivers of AmigaOS itself
Wishbone
Faster Processor (68020, 68030, 68040)
More memory
Enhanced Graphics (not AGA but)

So if you are working on one of these or have any other good ideas let me know.

[maffoo]

The enhancements I would most like to see to start with are:

USB for keyboard and mouse
Hard drive/file support - not necesarily an IDE interface as long as there is hardfile support, although it would be nice!
Extra memory (could a SIMM/DIMM slot be added perhaps?)

Matthew

[dammy]

Since this isn't for speed, forget IDE and just go with USB. Speaking of mass storage, AROS' USB is the only viable option out there to use on a minimig, isn't it?

Dammy
TeamAROS

[humppa]

So if you are working on one of these or have any other good ideas let me know.

I could think of another great enhancement I'd like to see:

Mass Production.

[freqmax]

P-ATA Harddisc, USB, Faster CPU, Dynamic RAM, ECS, it's all been suggested before.
http://www.opencircuits.com/Minimig_Improvements

I have the schematic drawn in gEDA/gschem. But the PCB autorouter seems to choke on the amount of components and wires :-?

[dammy]

If there is USB, why have P-ATA?  Keep the real estate as small as possible IMO.  You can always connect a IDE/SATA drive(s) via USB.

Dammy

[nBit7]

I have the schematic drawn in gEDA/gschem. But the PCB autorouter seems to choke on the amount of components and wires :-?

Don't bother with autorouters.  Even the expensive ones ($100,000) won't do as good job as a human on a 'simple' board like this.  And the cheaper ones you will spend more time cleaning up the results that you will routing it manually.

[downix]

I'd do SATA over USB at this time, personally.  However, I wouldn't cry if USB is all we'd get.  The main issue is that the OS doesn't understand USB, but it does a hard drive.

[mingle]

Yeah, as mentioned before (and again in this thread) USB would be the best feature that could be added to the current design.

The versatility of USB wins hands down.

The issue of OS support is one I'm not sure about - can the minimig be patched to fool the OS to think the USB is actually  an IDE interface?

Failing that are there any Amiga OS drivers that support booting from a USB device??

Mike.

[dammy]

I'd do SATA over USB at this time, personally. However, I wouldn't cry if USB is all we'd get. The main issue is that the OS doesn't understand USB, but it does a hard drive.

Question is which OS your going to use?  Ethically, perhaps if you buy a AF license @ minimig would work since AI gets some cash out of it but I'll doubt they will be too happy about it.  For USB stack, AROS' USB could be ported.

Dammy

[alexh]

You are all really sad gits you know that?

Talking about totally impractical enhancments that dont add anything to the experience at all!

I want USB for keyboard and mouse
WTF!? FFS just use the PS2 connectors that are already implemented.

I want IDE, I want SATA
Not worth implementing in the short term. The number of pins you need is prohibitive. The extra chips for SATA are expensive. IDE emulation using files/dirs on MMC should be possible and completely acceptable.

More Memory
Definitely worth doing. What is holding us back? The number of pins on the FPGA, the current requirement of SRAM, the cost of large SRAM. All things I think can be overcome. Dont bother with slots though, 2Meg Chip + 8 Meg Fast + 512K ROM should be the first target.

Faster Processor (68020, 68030, 68040)
Very practical, but perhaps expensive. It could be implemented with the current MiniMig board as an addon module that solders on top of the 68000 if necessary. Just like A500 / A600 accelerators.

To be honest, lets get everyone a working MiniMig before looking into something else.

[freqmax]

downmix:
There's surely USB <-> S-ATA adapters. And if there ain't you can still assemble an USB <-> P-ATA <-> S-ATA adapter chain. Easier than etching and soldering at least :-D

nBit7:
I have heard this from many sources, however I at least want some decent layout. Rather than trying to move all components out of a giant pile.
216 wires and 217 components currently.

As for USB, I think it would be best out of a compability aspect if the fact that devices are usb ones is hidden from the Amiga totally. And only available upon a device driver specificly requesting to handle it by itself.

[dammy]

I want USB for keyboard and mouse
WTF!? FFS just use the PS2 connectors that are already implemented.

I want IDE, I want SATA
Not worth implementing in the short term. The number of pins you need is prohibitive. The extra chips for SATA are expensive. IDE emulation using files/dirs on MMC should be possible and completely acceptable.

With USB,  you can remove PS2 connectors and not worry about IDE/SATA.

Dammy

[downix]

@Dammy:

The problem then is that you would then completely break the OS.  If you did an AROS wrapper, fine, but then any games that bang the hardware may no longer work, as they're expecting keyboard/mouse info within the custom chips themselves.  The PS/2 option truely is the best one for the near-term as far as input.  In time tho, yes, move toards USB, but it will make things more complex.

[alexh]

With USB, you can remove PS2 connectors and not worry about IDE/SATA.

Complete waste of time. You could implement PATA emulation using the FPGA & PIC, using the MMC in the time it would take you to read the USB reference manual. USB is very complicated, requires lots of software etc.

It adds NOTHING to the experience and has lots of technical problems. For example you have to "wire up" to the regular Joystic port logic or it won't work in games without complex software patches.