The Coldfire AMIGA

[Treke]

Hello PJ and all.
Okay, must I admit It makes sense for an amount of people. Maybe I just expect too much from a new amiga-like machine. Personally, I would expect a path forward when designing a new system, to make sense to put effort into the work.  
I'm curious about these questions:
1. What operating system you would like to use ?
Amiga OS 3.x is nice, but we must admit, world is changing... You will have to use it forever and that is not a path forward.
2. Who will write new applications for AmigaOS 3.x when there will be the 4-th, PPC version ?

Won't bother you more ;-)

And, nevertheless ,PJ,  I wish you good luck !

re

Treke

[whabang]

It offers an alternative to classic AMIGA users, we hope to have an A1200 accelerator board also using the processor, just look at the what the coldfire chip can and what bridge chips are currently available, you'd be mad not to be interested.

I suggested this a while ago, however I was told it was impossible... :-)
Nevermind...
A coldfire accelerator would be nice, since it would allow me to use my 1200 for what I ought it for: Retro gaming. Though some AMOS games would be impossible to play ( heck, they're  unplayable on a clean 1200  :-D  :-D  :-D  )
And of course with a coldfire CPU it would in theory be possible to run AmigaAnywhere/DE (or whatever they wish to call it.)

[Chathurawind]

Hi,
Time to answer a few questions:
1. What operating system you would like to use ?
Amiga OS 3.x is nice, but we must admit, world is changing... You will have to use it forever and that is not a path forward.
We are aiming to get the original 68K os up, No which version to start with is just an internal thing, I am hoping to go straight in at OS3.1 but we will see,
OS3.9 would be working by the time the upgrade shipped.
We may need to remake a kickstart (f it doesnt work with the Coldfire) using the Aros source (as they are doing so well and have there source codes on the net)

2. Who will write new applications for AmigaOS 3.x when there will be the 4-th, PPC version ?
Well it will be running at least 3.1, There is nothing really to stop it running on 3.1 if it runs on 3.0 (Unless you know something I dont  ;-) )
(Almogst) Any 68K program will run and I hope when a Coldfire ugprade is out that people will write for it otherwise I will have to write a few programs my self.

Now thanks for the masive responce, I have just had an E-Mail from Merlancia saying they may be able to help with the Coldfire and that they have a stock of the AGA chipset which is bascially everything we need, Which is nice
I am happy to see so many people interested in the project, A Coldfire upgrade will be a great thing I think and it wont stop you running PPC programs as a PCI bus can be added in a short space of time letting anyone from A500 owners to A4000T owners run the new PCI G4 cards that are about to be launched.
As for the second GPU on a new system chances are it will be a standard PCI one, except if we make a laptop (I have seen the perfect screen for the project) and then it would be a surface mounted one (Probably ATI as I have talked to them before and they seemed helpfull.)
Anyway i would like to say thanks to everyone for there E-Mails, You have done very well at giving me RSI
Got to go now and reply to the nice guys at Merlancia
Bye

Oliver Hannaford-Day
Web Master of The Commodore CDTV Information Center @ www.cdtv.org.uk

[Kronos]

Oh, and having more then 2Mb of chip RAM would most likely break a large amount of software, perhaps even AmigaDOS/Workbench (now commonly referred to simply as AmigaOS) 3.x may have trouble with more then 2Mb of chip - I don't know and the only people who might really have an idea are those who have worked on the Amiga operating system or have at least viewed the source code to it.

Don't think so as Amithlon defines 8mb as Chip-Mem !

This was don because many apps still use Chip-Mem when
they are fully rtg-compatible.

[Jose]

Why don't you try to use AAA? AGA makes no sense. HAM8 is good, but not perfect (color bluring).
AAA even had chunky modes!!! AAA was made by the person that made the Amiga cusom chips. Merlancia seems to have interest in Classic things, they buyed the Walker and stuff...etc.. they may have AAA (?). Maybe debbuging AAA would not be such a huge task, given sometime and passion? And the help of some people. Well, not me I'm afraid.
And then why don't you make the machine with specs possible to be a licensed Amiga? That would be great. I know DaveHaynie himself said AAA was not big if realeased now, let alone AGA. But still, and not being a harddware guy, there was somethings that only AGA/AAA could do right? Like draggable screens (Copper) and various resolutions at the same time etc.?
Now that would be really great:)

[Chathurawind]

Hi guys!

This project sounds exrtemely exciting ... and makes me wonder...

Why keep AGA? Get rid of it,  implement UMA, and for graphics get something like sgi's Cobalt, plus PCI.

Now, that would  be a cool Classic Amiga replacemtn OEM motherboard...

I am sure to buy one!

ar

santacs@freemail.hu

[System]

AGA is here for backwards compatability which is important in atleast one of the applications we have for it. You can add a GPU to it with ease for a fully rtg system but because we are designing it, it means we can do a few alterations to make things run more smoothly.

[Chathurawind]

Whats so good about Coldfire CPU's?
Are they compatiable with 680x0? - Maybe thats whats good about them?
Will the machines be completly compatible with classic software?

I dont see the point in doing this uness the classic software is compatable with the new system.

Any information? Specs? OS?

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Rodney McDonell