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Author Topic: Freescale introduces a $49 MCF5225x coldfire module  (Read 6095 times)

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Offline Tension

Re: Freescale introduces a $49 MCF5225x coldfire module
« Reply #14 on: January 19, 2010, 03:11:59 AM »
Quote from: redrumloa;539029
The C64/128 has the rr-net, which uses Amiga style clock port on products like the MMC Replay. I've asked Jens about the possibility of Amiga drivers and he suggested it would be a bad idea.

Shame classic Amiga don't have a low cost ethernet solution like the C64/128, the 64nic+ is stand alone and only $55.


I wonder what he meant by that??  Surely the signals must be the same...  Why would it be such a bad idea??

It really is a shame that the C64 has this nifty device, and we don't. Even though we were the original clock-port-utilizing-out-of-the-box-blue-sky-thinkers.

Offline koaftder

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Re: Freescale introduces a $49 MCF5225x coldfire module
« Reply #15 on: January 19, 2010, 03:33:06 AM »
It's a software issue. Amigaland is a different ballgame than c64 land.
 

Offline Tension

Re: Freescale introduces a $49 MCF5225x coldfire module
« Reply #16 on: January 19, 2010, 03:55:07 AM »
Quote from: koaftder;539035
It's a software issue. Amigaland is a different ballgame than c64 land.


So could it be used on an emulated C64 on an A1200??

Offline koaftder

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Re: Freescale introduces a $49 MCF5225x coldfire module
« Reply #17 on: January 19, 2010, 04:50:17 AM »
The Amiga is a multitasker that shares resources in a hierarchy of common protocols, the c64 isn't. Interfacing stuff to hardware isn't hard, doing useful stuff with hardware in a layered software stack is.
 

Offline Tension

Re: Freescale introduces a $49 MCF5225x coldfire module
« Reply #18 on: January 19, 2010, 01:40:29 PM »
Quote from: koaftder;539045
The Amiga is a multitasker that shares resources in a hierarchy of common protocols, the c64 isn't. Interfacing stuff to hardware isn't hard, doing useful stuff with hardware in a layered software stack is.


Ahh right.  That makes sense when I think of it like that.  :)

Offline platon42

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Re: Freescale introduces a $49 MCF5225x coldfire module
« Reply #19 on: January 19, 2010, 03:44:17 PM »
Quote from: aperez;537791

It probably does, but USB full speed is only good for 1.5mbytes/sec, maximum theoretical, and one would be lucky if the effective, overall throughput were even 2/3 of that. I would prefer to see the USB stack not implemented in Amigaland, when there's a perfectly-capable 80/66MHz CPU sitting there which can do the heavy lifting.


Erm.... didn't you say two posts above that the controller on the board is USB 2.0 full-speed (which effectively, says it's USB 1.1)? There are hardly any embedded controllers with a USB 2.0 highspeed *host* controller available, this one is no exception (there are plenty of USB 2.0 highspeed *devices* though.

What kind of heavy-lifting are you expecting? >90% of the time is spent on copying data. If it wasn't for the 8 bit clockport data bus with slow timing, around 1 MB/sec would be doable, as already the Algor proves (of course, this also depends on the capabilities of the USB device used).

Quote

I never claimed it was. The point of using a premanufactured board is that they're easily obtainable, will be produced in quantities *far* greater than the Deneb and Subway will likely *ever* be, combined. What is needed is a bridgeboard which performs the necessary voltage regulation, as well as logic level buffering/transformations. The bulk of the onus rests on the backs of others, which is ideal in this particular situation.


No, no, what you need is somebody to write that kind of software. For example, you could use DisplayLink USB to VGA adapters on the Deneb easily -- if somebody would write a driver for CGFX. Who wouldn't want a 60 EUR graphics adapter supporting up to 2048 x 1152 or 1920 x 1200 with DVI signal that would only be marginally slower than the existing Zorro solutions? I'm sorry to say but software development costs have likely exceeded hardware development and especially production costs for most projects by magnitudes by now.
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Offline desiv

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Re: Freescale introduces a $49 MCF5225x coldfire module
« Reply #20 on: January 19, 2010, 04:32:22 PM »
Quote from: alexh;537649
What for? ....
Without a CPU upgrade you're not going to be able to run any meaningful live internet software, i.e. web-browser etc.

:confused::(:(:confused:

You really believe that if it isn't GUI, it's not meaningful or does the Amiga network not support FTP and telnet type of applications?

I must be pretty old..  I still use FTP and telnet (and lynx and wget) all the time...
(Not on the Amiga, just got my 1200, and don't have a network card for it.  But I expect FTP to be usable when I do...)

IMHO, sneakernet should never be the preferred solution.  

desiv
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Offline JimS

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Re: Freescale introduces a $49 MCF5225x coldfire module
« Reply #21 on: January 20, 2010, 07:41:17 PM »
I always thought the smartest approach to expanding the classic hardware was not to monkey around trying to interface a bus (PCI) that's now obsolete. Instead, take advantage of the modules available for the embedded controller market, and host them on a Zorro card that's basicaly just a glorified clock port. You can get a module for ethernet that has it's own cpu to run the included TCP/IP stack. Same for USB host - even with mp3 playback. What else do you want to use on the classic hardware? Graphics? OK, can you get the specs on the graphics card you want to use? I'd rather try rolling my own in an FPGA, though I think that would be better interfaced to the CPU.
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Offline Trev

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Re: Freescale introduces a $49 MCF5225x coldfire module
« Reply #22 on: January 20, 2010, 10:29:13 PM »
Quote from: redrumloa;539029
The C64/128 has the rr-net, which uses Amiga style clock port on products like the MMC Replay. I've asked Jens about the possibility of Amiga drivers and he suggested it would be a bad idea.

Shame classic Amiga don't have a low cost ethernet solution like the C64/128, the 64nic+ is stand alone and only $55.


It's not bad, but it's not great either. Ethernet and IP are fault tolerant by design, so being a polled device isn't necessarily a drawback. Both of my A1200s are borked (as my sig suggests), and my A500 isn't capable of running a full-featured IP stack (one that uses SANA-II devices and emulates bsdsocket.library) for testing. That, and I spend most of my free time with my wife and not my computers. ;-)
 

Offline aperezTopic starter

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Re: Freescale introduces a $49 MCF5225x coldfire module
« Reply #23 on: January 25, 2010, 10:34:02 PM »
Quote from: JimS;539422
I always thought the smartest approach to expanding the classic hardware was not to monkey around trying to interface a bus (PCI) that's now obsolete. Instead, take advantage of the modules available for the embedded controller market, and host them on a Zorro card that's basicaly just a glorified clock port. You can get a module for ethernet that has it's own cpu to run the included TCP/IP stack. Same for USB host - even with mp3 playback. What else do you want to use on the classic hardware? Graphics? OK, can you get the specs on the graphics card you want to use? I'd rather try rolling my own in an FPGA, though I think that would be better interfaced to the CPU.


Jim,

It's almost as though you didn't bother to read the thread, as that's exactly what I'm going to be doing. That said, the assertion that PCI is "dead" is beyond ridiculous. PCI has certainly evolved, but PCIe is merely a serialized version of the original PCI, with lanes globbed together for additional bandwidth when needed.
 

Offline tone007

Re: Freescale introduces a $49 MCF5225x coldfire module
« Reply #24 on: January 26, 2010, 01:34:34 AM »
This solution would still cost more than the A500 you're hooking it up to.  Stick with serial.  Something worthwhile, I think, would be a Slingshot type board that holds a Zorro card horizontally. Can't get much cheaper than a printed board or two with one or two ICs.  Not that Zorro Ethernet boards are flooding the market, but there are alot of other cards floating around that could be useful.
« Last Edit: January 26, 2010, 01:37:15 AM by tone007 »
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Offline tone007

Re: Freescale introduces a $49 MCF5225x coldfire module
« Reply #25 on: January 26, 2010, 01:37:43 AM »
This solution would still cost more than the A500 you're hooking it up to. Stick with serial. Something worthwhile, I think, would be a Slingshot type board that holds a Zorro card horizontally. Can't get much cheaper than a printed board or two with one or two ICs. Not that Zorro Ethernet boards are flooding the market, but there are alot of other cards floating around that could be useful.
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Offline JimS

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Re: Freescale introduces a $49 MCF5225x coldfire module
« Reply #26 on: January 26, 2010, 03:35:14 AM »
Actually, I did read the thread, and was agreeing with your approach. Others brought up the PCI option as an alternative. And I'll stick by my assertion that PCI is dead... I didn't say anything about PCI-E.
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Offline tone007

Re: Freescale introduces a $49 MCF5225x coldfire module
« Reply #27 on: January 26, 2010, 11:28:20 AM »
Quote from: JimS;540140
And I'll stick by my assertion that PCI is dead.


There's a difference between "not cutting edge" and "dead."  They're still making and sellling PCI cards, they're still making and selling motherboards with PCI slots, and you're still wrong.
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Offline kolla

Re: Freescale introduces a $49 MCF5225x coldfire module
« Reply #28 on: January 27, 2010, 01:14:01 AM »
Quote from: tone007;540129
This solution would still cost more than the A500 you're hooking it up to. Stick with serial.


Build a serial card with bluetooth interface on, sell it with a bluetooth USB dongle for the PC side, wireless nullmodem FTW! Btw, I'm already doing this with my Minimig and it works just fine, the bluetooth interface is configured through terminal program or "dialup script".
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Offline aperezTopic starter

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Re: Freescale introduces a $49 MCF5225x coldfire module
« Reply #29 from previous page: January 28, 2010, 11:09:56 PM »
Kolla,

To me, this falls into the "just because you can, doesn't mean you should" category.