Poll, new accelerator for A500/A600.

[hppacito]

@Doppie1200

The cost of running something _that_ professional would be prhibitve. I was planning in soldering myself ;-)
BTW, all components should be in reels, and so on and so on. Btw, the A500/600 are not lead free.

Somebody suggested some memory in 0xC00000, may be I forgot it in my memory map.
There are a couple of holes in he memory map that can be used for expansion. I'll see what can be done.

Somebody can/wants to burn some gals ?

[hppacito]

From what I see in the thread, he didn't get that far. People seem not to like the Apollo 030 that much. The increased memory size is quite sweet though. I'm pushing my proto anyways.

Somebody suggested a TRL8019AS or CS8900 as network controllers, anyone knows where those can be bought ?, seems that the CS chip is 10 bucks a pop, let's hope they are cheaper. (Read: reseller in germany willing to sell small qty), can also be an ebayer

[hppacito]

The reserved area in 0xA00000 is being used by the Gayle in the A600. (Found through a search in the linux amiga kernel source). May be there are other surprises.

Those reserved areas maybe were used by not so careful programmers if the chipset is also visible there... is something I don't know.

Can be tested.

[hppacito]

Doobrey,

Now I'm a bit confused with what you say. Can you describe with maximum detail the startup process (Since *RESET is asserted ) ? (read: or point to the right document describing it).  :-?

[hppacito]

Okey, guys.

After some days, I estimated to cost of such an accelerator with the following features:

68EC020 Processor, clocked at 16 MHz
6 MB SRAM (5.5 are actually accesible)
IDE port (No DMA capable)
TRL8019AS Ethernet controller
1 MB Flash memory

In around 90 Euro.

Niether the Flash, nor the ethernet are essential for operation, and withouth them the price drops to 70 Euro.

All that counting on getting not that much discount due to small cuantities. If I can buy 25 or more of some components (PCB, SRAMs), the price drops another 10 or so euro.

** All prices do not include shipping ! (mean, if you come where I live, you can get it for that money).

I wanted to estimate the price before going much further, because I already have components to do a prototype. May be better deals can be achieved if there is enough takers.
Currently I'm working on the programmable logic. A PCB (proto) should be ready the third week of Dic or so.

So, I would like to hear how many are (still) seriously interested.

Thanks !

[hppacito]

Here I uploaded a photo of the newly arrived EC020s:

Joto !

[hppacito]

@mr_a500;

Read the whole thread, and you will see how things developed to the current state. Some points should be ironed first for a successful coldfire implementations. If you have a look at the coldfire 68k emulation layer (68klib) you will notice the huge overhead  that it has. I'm not sure if even a 200MIPS proc can deliver 10MIPS of pure 68k code. (V4). I'm still studing the possibility of a "dynamo-like" emulator on V2 cores. That could be a way to go. OTH a 020 board is not  bad at all, especially if is packet with some goodies (eth, 32-bit ROM, 3 cycle memory access). I would really love to see how a DRAM based accelerator performs against a 3-cycle RAM accelerator. I hope this will have a lead.
I'm currently doing my proto with 70ns SRAM, but final boards will use 55ns mem, enabling some overclock (maybe 18MHz) that should be quite interesting compared to other 020 or 030 accs, and super fast logic. The only advantage a 030 has over the 020 are the not-used MMU and the higher clocks available. I don't know how much the caches do being so small, someone may be can post some benches with and without caches.

[hppacito]

@mr_500;

Would be neat to have a 040 or 060 in there... but I think that the price of the processor alone drives everything a bit too far. At amigakit they weight 50 pounds sterling (70-80 euro) and new even more !

I don't see a clear path there. But, what yould be really really neat:

An A600 case with:

VGA Port, Audio port, USB, Eth.
Slim cdrom
Internl 2,5" hd
Emulated AGA or ECS chipset, in hardware (No idea if is or not possible), but with what people do nowadays with fpgas looks quite tempting (looks like too many timing problems).
Amigaone board, or similar. (I think minitower cases or bigger ones are too cumbersome)

Probably is just a wet dream of me.  :-D

The eth connection will be left to the installer:

1. Make a nice hole in the case
2. screw the little board with the connector
3. enjoy ?  :-D  :-D

@patrik:

That's actually a very good idea. But a full PCMCIA port should be available then.

There are many ideas floating, the thing is to find where the parts are available and how much they cost. A PCMCIA port can be used for many things, especially if has external access, but the connector is somthing to consider. A cheap onboard eth solution costs the same money. Unless the board is well screwed to  the case or so, I would not insert anything in a PCMCIA slot. That can be explored in a second revision.

btw:

Oxford semiconductors has a really nice USB host controller, the TD242LP, but the reseller they give is a bit less than helpful in its web version. Anybody know another good alternative, how much they cost and where can be bought in small qtys ?

Thanks !

[hppacito]

News ?, some.

I'm working on the CPLD. I got a so-so deal for the RTL8019AS, and I just happened to order 2 of them for the protos. The rest of the components are alredeady bought. So I expect a board soon (I still have to draw it !).

Still didn't find a 2,5" Harddisk connector. I think will have to be a 3,5" haddisk connector. Is a pity the only electronics shop in town is a bit weak in I.Cs, and connectors... But hey, this is (KAOS) germany, I should be able to get anything !

So far, no luck with usb host controllers. So no USB for the time being. I think that may be USB can be done completely offchip, I mean a uC with host USB capabilities, and working as a full USB host, with stack and everything. That will off-load a lot from the 020. I wonder if that can be achieved.  Maybe someone can step in. Maybe a limited set of peripherials, mass-storage, and HID... maybe just a wet-dream :crazy:

The powervixxen looks really sweet. I hope for that price comes to reality. A pity freescale doesn't make a cheap 060... they have the tech... even at 40 or 50 MHz, that would rock !