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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: klx300r on January 11, 2023, 08:23:31 PM
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looks crazy good but just wondering why is it a "Lite" model ???
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looks crazy good but just wondering why is it a "Lite" model ???
Because of the PI shortage. This version allows normal PI's to be used.
Full version, only allows PI4 Compute module. If I read it correctly.
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Not just the Pi shortage, they can't source the original FPGA used in the design! The CM4 will still work with the 'lite' model but will require an adapter board that is being custom made! In the meantime the other RPis are compatible though air flow will be better with the CM4.
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Not just the Pi shortage, they can't source the original FPGA used in the design! The CM4 will still work with the 'lite' model but will require an adapter board that is being custom made! In the meantime the other RPis are compatible though air flow will be better with the CM4.
Huh?
You replying to me or just ignored what I said?
Not sure why you mention FPGA, when there are no PI's available unless you want to pay over £100. So what I said is correct.
Full version uses CM4 as you put it. Why on earth would you want an adapter for the lite to add a CM4 compute module, when you can buy a PI4 which will not need adapter.
Makes no sense and confuses things completely.
Full is for CM4 only, Lite reworked to allow PI's with 40pin GPIO headers to be used.
Besides CM4 version isnt even up and running properly yet.
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Because they're making more CM4s but not necessarily full PiStorm32s due to continuing issues with the supply chain! If the lite is all they can make then that with an adapter board makes sense!
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@F0LLETT
Also, it is stupid having your HDMI, ethernet and USB ports stuck inside the A1200 trap door! The CM4 will allow better air flow as the board will be almost flush and a mounting kit will be provided to take the ports to the expansion slot at the back of the case! The CM4 is still the best option even for the 'lite' Pistorm32 IMHO!
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@FOLLETT
Both “full” and “lite” have FPGAs, the “full” uses Lattice LFE5U-12F-6BG256C and the “lite” uses Efinix Trion T8Q144C4…
Which one is available for cheap in large quantities, and which is not, do you think?
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@FOLLETT
Both “full” and “lite” have FPGAs, the “full” uses Lattice LFE5U-12F-6BG256C and the “lite” uses Efinix Trion T8Q144C4…
Which one is available for cheap in large quantities, and which is not, do you think?
Not what we were talking about at all. What you said is pointless, if there are no Pi's to use with them.
As there are no CM4's, it doesnt matter, its just a way to let people use Pi's they may already have. Do you think?
Because they're making more CM4s but not necessarily full PiStorm32s due to continuing issues with the supply chain! If the lite is all they can make then that with an adapter board makes sense!
Show me one place, I can buy a CM4. No Pi's are available unless you pay rip off merchants who are charging over £100+ for Pi3 A and B.
So, your going to pay for PiStorm32 lite then another adapter, just to connect a CM4. Sorry doesnt sound logical at all. More pointless connections means more problems.
@F0LLETT
Also, it is stupid having your HDMI, ethernet and USB ports stuck inside the A1200 trap door! The CM4 will allow better air flow as the board will be almost flush and a mounting kit will be provided to take the ports to the expansion slot at the back of the case! The CM4 is still the best option even for the 'lite' Pistorm32 IMHO!
Have you actually looked at the Lite????? it fits in a certain way to allow Heatsink to be attached. Plus they dont get that hot. My ACA1221 overclocked to 50MHz runs at 60 degs every day, 8 hours a day for last 5 or 6 years without one issue in a fully enclosed case. Seriously doubt a Pi will get any were near that hot.
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@F0LLET
Not everyone has a RPi in their sock drawer! Given the choice between a full RPi4 and CM4 for PiStorm32 duties, the CM4 makes the most sense. Yes, there's a kludge adapter due to the full PiStorm32 FPGA being impossible to source ATM. It still is a more elegant cable management/port solution compared to the full size RPi boards! If you want a CM4 for a reasonable price by July, buy one on back order from CPC Farnell like me. Sorry this is not up to your standards but kudos for them amending the design in the face of the ongoing parts shortage!
8)
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This discussion is bordering to silly. What I recall from discussions on discord was that there indeed was a “chip shortage” problem, the “full” board, as it was originally designed was a challenge (in particular the FPGA). So a redisign was almost needed anyhow. Yes, raspberry pis have been close to impossible to buy at all - BUT - CM4 was the one mostly available all through the troubled times (as I’m sure one can ser from rpilocator.com via archive.org). However, a pistorm board that can accept just about any old raspberry pi is a huge advantage, as many of us indeed have them lying around. So why not.
With the adapter board, it may even be possible to install CM4 on “old” Pistorm and Pistorm600.
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@F0LLET
Not everyone has a RPi in their sock drawer! Given the choice between a full RPi4 and CM4 for PiStorm32 duties, the CM4 makes the most sense. Yes, there's a kludge adapter due to the full PiStorm32 FPGA being impossible to source ATM. It still is a more elegant cable management/port solution compared to the full size RPi boards! If you want a CM4 for a reasonable price by July, buy one on back order from CPC Farnell like me. Sorry this is not up to your standards but kudos for them amending the design in the face of the ongoing parts shortage!
8)
You really, love to argue.
You would be suprised how many Pi's some people actually have in "their sock drawer" as you put it.
Funny how you quote the only company that quotes a date. Yet, if you checked further, you will have seen that they will have ONLY 2 on that date. Wow, we are all saved, every one order quick.
Please dont try and twist what I have said to try and make it look like I don't like what they have done.
With the adapter board, it may even be possible to install CM4 on “old” Pistorm and Pistorm600.
Now something interesting. That would be cool.
Besides, I think the the Lite is a great idea for using any Pi people may already have. Which was my whole point in the first place.
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There are 2No. of the 1GB lite CM4 as of last night left to allocate for July but that doesn't include those already ordered including mine. Initially my 1GB model was going to be shipping in October so they've able to secure more for July since I ordered just over a week ago! There are more of the 2GB models available for July including over 20No. of the lite model with WiFi if you think that will be utilised for Amiga use (it is planned). If people don't have a RPi in their sock drawer and don't want to mutilate their A1200 case then I would recommend backordering a CM4 now! I trust the Claude and the PiStorm team to finalise their boards and software.
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There are 2No. of the 1GB lite CM4 as of last night left to allocate for July but that doesn't include those already ordered including mine. Initially my 1GB model was going to be shipping in October so they've able to secure more for July since I ordered just over a week ago! There are more of the 2GB models available for July including over 20No. of the lite model with WiFi if you think that will be utilised for Amiga use (it is planned). If people don't have a RPi in their sock drawer and don't want to mutilate their A1200 case then I would recommend backordering a CM4 now! I trust the Claude and the PiStorm team to finalise their boards and software.
What am I missing, Claude did the Lite board???
So you trust in him on the Full one, but not the Lite???
WHO CARES. Its been designed to fit in pretty well. Please show me where it says you have to mutilate your case. If putting a bit of tape on a header to stop it shorting (JUST IN CASE) is mutilating your case, then I'm sorry I do not know what else to say.
Or if your talking about the USB and other sockest on the board, PLEASE stop. Its easy to extend them and have them going to exactly the same place as the FULL one.
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Yeah Michal Schulz is the lead on the lite board and I trust him to deliver too!
The comment regarding mutilating the A1200 case came from photos showing the ports of a full RPi flush with the side of the case suggesting some cut outs were needed. I may be wrong though and you might be right about routing the ports to the back with extenders.
I'm just excited the CM 4 boards are available at some point this year!
Why not get one too and join the party?
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Not everyone has a RPi in their sock drawer!
I do - it arrived today. I bought a 2GB 4B kit from Pimoroni (the PSU and case will come in handy for other applications), but they're now out of stock too. The moral of the story is to just keep trying reputable retailers for a Pi, and it'll be worth it.
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Yeah Michal Schulz is the lead on the lite board
That would violate RHOS!!
But really, it’s Claude who made also the pistorm32 lite board.
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Ha ha! It took me a moment to get that! ;D
But seriously maybe it's Michal doing the CM4 adapter board but he's definitely heavily involved!
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@kolla
What did I say? That Michal is a trustworthy guy! CM4 adapter prototype boards are already in production!
https://mobile.twitter.com/michal_schulz (https://mobile.twitter.com/michal_schulz)
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@BozzerBigD
Of course he is - Emu68 is his, and yes, he’s come up with an adapter board for CM4 - not that these didn’t already exist, but the there’s a need for one that physically fits inside the A1200 case, with pistorm32 lite. Which is the work of Claude. There is also Pistorm without Emu68, and instead using Musashi 68k emulator running as a process under Linux on the pi, with lots of additional features developed in cooperation with Niklas from the A314 project. Such as filesharing, networking and more.
If you go to the nightly downloads of Emu68, you see two downloads - one for pistorm, and one for raspberry pi. The latter one is for running Emu68 on a “stand-alone” raspberry pi. The idea is that in time, AROS/68k will boot and run on this, without any amiga hardware attached. For now, Pistorm is the best platform for maturing Emu68, with all the software available.
And then there’s ARIX…
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For me, this is the most interesting project I've seen in a long while. I'm very much looking forward to putting some high octane 68K juice in the trapdoor of an A1200 wedge and having it connect to a modern flat panel with RTG. Preferably without melting anything.
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@Karlos
Did you back-order a CM4 in preparation?
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Not yet. I'm probably going to regret it but I want to wait a bit until it's been in the hands of a few pioneers. I don't have the free time to be an early adopter these days.
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Considering the CPC deliveries start in July for the CM4 if you order now I expect the beta tester "pioneers" will have ironed out most of the issues by then! Plus the CM4 is only £30 to £40!
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so it's a bit confusing to Raspberry Pi newbies but it seems that the way to go with PiStorm32-lite board being produced now is to wait for a CM4 when available and for this CM4 you also need to buy an adapter board which will fit on top of the PiStorm32-lite and w allow for cables to get to the rear of the 1200 AND will allow you to actually close the 1200 case...
is this correct?
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I think the larger RPis will fit "in a fashion" since RetroPassion IS selling prebuilt kits with the RPi3A+ so it's possible. However, the CM4 is a minature RPi4 spec board without the IO so will fit better. Claude has designed a neat IO port and cabling solution routing to the back of the A1200 case and Michal has designed an adapter board that both allows the IO cable to connect and provides an internal SD slot (for the EMU68 software) as well as providing a low profile way of attaching the CM4 to the 'lite' PiStorm32 model (we ideally would have got a 'full' version of the PiStorm32 board without the need for an adapter but the parts are unobtainable at the moment).
I view the CM4 solution as the ideal and think it'll fit in the A1200 better than the current RPi3A+ solution sold by RetroPassion and it will give more MIPS. If you have a spare full RPi in your sock drawer then I guess you just give it a go and see how well it fits otherwise go the CM4 route! Obviously, we're still at early doors and some testing still needs to be done with the incoming adapter prototype boards but I have faith that Michal/Claude will overcome any obstacles as they seem to know their stuff. Make sure you buy a lite version of the CM4 board to get SD card functionality on the adapter board and any more than a 2GB model is a waste (I went for a 1GB model). WiFi functionality is being worked on for the future (so get a WiFi model if that interests you) but all CM4s support ethernet, USB and HDMI.
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Yes, but looking at the prototype board. Its going to run into same issues as normal Pi. It will have an even bigger footprint than a normal Pi.
Not intersted in this cables to back trapdoor and closing case nonsense. You can get wired to back trapdoor using extension cables etc etc.
I also damn sure, they wouldn't be selling it, if you could not close your wedge case.
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Its going to run into same issues as normal Pi. It will have an even bigger footprint than a normal Pi.
I can't see how you surmise that since all the extra IO ports on the full RPi boards which will use up space and hence block airflow are not present. The CM4 has been positioned as far back as possible on the design of the adapter board and the IO ports are then positioned at the back of the case on a separate module connecting the adapter board with just a ribbon cable! It makes perfect sense to wait for a CM4 if you don't own a RPi already. The RPi 4 boards are even harder to source (and at least £10 more expensive) and if used for the PiStorm have a lot of ports trapped within the case! Yes, you can trail extension cables out from them but it's a very ugly solution IMHO!
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When you use Emu68, you just need one extension cable, for HDMI.
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Surely ethernet and USB will be supported too?
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Will you write the drivers needed?
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Will you write the drivers needed?
I would if I could! I obviously love the open source nature of this project and am prepared to tinker but drivers are a bit beyond me! I think it's a case of installing the ports on the back of the A1200 and one day we'll be able to use them all!
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@Thread
Such a shame the first batch of PiStorm32 boards manufactured by JLCPCB had paste layer mask issues causing beads of solder to get wedged in the connector holes! Hopefully this will be sorted out and JLCPCB will respect the paste layer masks/paste locations provided rather than produce their own erroneous ones!
Excitedly awaiting a report from Michal regarding the prototype CM4 adapter boards for the PiStorm32! I pray that they work and are ready for production!
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Well Amigakit will have these soon. Shouldnt have solder blob issues as they will be mostly assembled in house.
PiSTORM32-Lite Adapter (https://www.amigakit.com/pistorm-lite-commodore-amiga-1200-p-91306.html)
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Great news! Will you also be stocking the CM4 adapter board and IO cable/port to the back of the A1200 case when that setup leaves prototyping?
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When it gets released, cant see why not.
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Prototype board received 2 days ago and was undergoing testing! Release to GitHub imminent it seemed...although he seems to have fried his first CM4 due to a dodgy PSU! :o
The good news!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/77688678 (https://www.patreon.com/posts/77688678)
The bad news!
Michal Schulz
@michal_schulz
Jan 25
And so I have killed my first CM4. The lab power supply gave a voltage peak exceeding 5V significantly :(
The ugly news!
https://linuxjedi.co.uk/2023/01/20/pistorm32-lite-and-jlcpcb-soldering-issues/ (https://linuxjedi.co.uk/2023/01/20/pistorm32-lite-and-jlcpcb-soldering-issues/)
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The ugly news doesn’t apply to our PiStorm boards because our in house Amiga Kit technician hand solders the connectors onto the Pistorm32 Lite (https://www.amigakit.com/pistorm-lite-commodore-amiga-1200-p-91306.html) board.
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great news !
I see CM4 had option hit wifi model so this might be best option instead of ethernet I think as long as it’s supported under OS3.2 that is
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Michal is still working on the driver. WiFi doesn't work yet.
In further CM4 news:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/cm4-is-dead-long-77876831 (https://www.patreon.com/posts/cm4-is-dead-long-77876831)
...rising like a phoenix! Only one mistake on the CM4 adapter board which is easily rectified. 8)
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@ BozzerBigD
great news ;D
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@klx300r
Better news!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/its-alive-77973932 (https://www.patreon.com/posts/its-alive-77973932)
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Truly amazing 👍🍻
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Got an extra 50 mips out of mine, by adding 040 FPU libraries to rom. Now getting 900 Mips, :).
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Got an extra 50 mips out of mine, by adding 040 FPU libraries to rom. Now getting 900 Mips, :).
???
MIPS? MFLOPS? ROM vs disk? What?!
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???
MIPS? MFLOPS? ROM vs disk? What?!
900 Mips, 851 Mflops. Vs what it was before. 855 Mips, 823 Mflops.
Doubt it will be 100% accurate as speed changes slightly on ever boot.
AIBB is consistant though. 2 mins 25 secs, every time.
With FPU libraries. 1 min 30 secs every time.
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What was “before”? It doesn’t make any sense, why would it be faster with libs in rom rather than loading them from disk? And is FPU even involved in MIPS?
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What libraries did you add?
care to share?
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What libraries did you add?
care to share?
Sorry, scratch that, got abit to excited. I forgot I changed my test enviroment slightly. So they made no difference.
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so can I still access my onboard IDE drive in my 1200 and also the microSD card when PiStorm-lite is installed with either AmigaOS3.2.1 or Caffeine OS ?
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so can I still access my onboard IDE drive in my 1200 and also the microSD card when PiStorm-lite is installed with either AmigaOS3.2.1 or Caffeine OS ?
I don't have a PiStorm32 yet but I've done a lot of research. My understanding is that Emu68 will see both the SD card AND the IDE drive (max 1.6MB/s on each) whereas Caffeine will ONLY see the SD card drive as it works with Type 76 HD partitions (whatever they are). The SD card under Caffeine will act as a 21MB/s HD device (compared to 1.6MB/s max on IDE) so it's probably best to copy the IDE file over to the SD card anyway to make use of the speed increase under that environment! See this for more info:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaEZYFVqzcc&t=29s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaEZYFVqzcc&t=29s)
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ah ok that's cool I'll be sure to copy over my onboard HD to my SD the first thing I do once i get my PiStorm32 setup :-)
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So it's probably best to copy the IDE file over to the SD card anyway to make use of the speed increase under that environment! See this for more info:
Exactly what I did. After spending 6 hours, trying to work out why it wasnt working. Turned out actually reading the instrutions (in config.txt) was wrong.
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Turned out actually reading the instrutions (in config.txt) was wrong.
The rule of thumb is: "If everything else has failed, RTFM". Maybe you had forgotten the first part of the rule? ;-)
Best regards,
Niels
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The rule of thumb is: "If everything else has failed, RTFM". Maybe you had forgotten the first part of the rule? ;-)
Best regards,
Niels
Think you misunderstood. Its the otherway around. RTFM was wrong. The information is incorrect.
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@F0LLETT
Think you misunderstood. Its the otherway around. RTFM was wrong. The information is incorrect.
No, you misunderstood him! He highlighted "everything" indicating that the rule is to do everything you can BEFORE reading the manual! i.e. RTFM is a last resort in his opinion because presumably he doesn't always find them helpful (or accurate) himself! You both agree with each other! Celebrate good times! 8)
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No, you misunderstood him! He highlighted "everything" indicating that the rule is to everything you can BEFORE reading the manual! i.e. RTFM is a last resort in his opinion because presumably he doesn't always find them helpful (or accurate) himself! You both agree with each other! Celebrate good times! 8)
Exactly. Thanks :-)
I could also have put it this way: Don't resort to RTFM unless you have tried everything else (since you risk being led astray).
(And just for the record: I was joking. I don't necessarily expect every FM out there to be misleading, and I do tend to read them myself.)
Best regards,
Niels
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Exactly. Thanks :-)
I could also have put it this way: Don't resort to RTFM unless you have tried everything else (since you risk being led astray).
(And just for the record: I was joking. I don't necessarily expect every FM out there to be misleading, and I do tend to read them myself.)
Best regards,
Niels
Yes, got you were joking, :). Don't know why they just don't remove it from config file.