TiNA - Another A500 FPGA Project

[ChuckT]

Any news about TiNA board ?
Maybe some of the devs lurking here can say something

I don't know anything about the project.

What I know it is hard for any CPU project to be completed.

[yssing]

Dead as a Dodo.

[alphadec]

Dead as a Dodo.

anyone know why . ?

[wrath of khan]

anyone know why . ?

Before even beginning properly, they quickly began talking about "a super amiga". Do the groundwork first and build upon it imo. Tina was a huge mass of hyperbole.

Story was, that one guy worked in a company (CdMauro?)that was interested in selling the tina board tech and had a contract with another company who wished to buy said tech. Cdmauro left the company and his new company apparently forbid him in contract to work on anything with another company.

Still go figure, if the first company were planning to sell the tina tech and make some money, then why would they not continue anyway, even if a key member had left.

Anyhow the whole Tina site and forum smacked greatly of bull%&$#?@!%&$#?@!%&$#?@!%&$#?@! from the get go. :laughing:

[alphadec]

Anyhow the whole Tina site and forum smacked greatly of bull%&$#?@!%&$#?@!%&$#?@!%&$#?@! from the get go. :laughing:

the site is stil up.

btw: thanks for the info.

Extremly sad no one cannot produce a working amiga clone.

[wawrzon]

the site is stil up.

btw: thanks for the info.

Extremly sad no one cannot produce a working amiga clone.

this project was dead to start with. there are working clones, just to name minimig and other devices that can run this core, mist - which has aga support by now, fpgaarcade - not widely available but also aga compatible afaik, the few existing units of natami and fpga acceleartorls like vampire and others still being worked on.

[matthey]

Before even beginning properly, they quickly began talking about "a super amiga". Do the groundwork first and build upon it imo. Tina was a huge mass of hyperbole.

Some of the TiNA tech claims were unrealistic. The fpga CPU clock speed is unrealistic and using 3 fpgas like they do is much more difficult than one fat one. I believe they had/have some people working on something but what they are trying to do and how they are trying to do it is very difficult. It's unlikely they would ever achieve the results they are after.

Story was, that one guy worked in a company (CdMauro?)that was interested in selling the tina board tech and had a contract with another company who wished to buy said tech. Cdmauro left the company and his new company apparently forbid him in contract to work on anything with another company.

Still go figure, if the first company were planning to sell the tina tech and make some money, then why would they not continue anyway, even if a key member had left.

Cesare DiMauro was never actually involved with the company in Italy besides consulting. He helped write one of the best Amiga fighters (Fighting Spirit?) and is on many Amiga forums. He moved to Germany for a job with Intel and does have some things he is not supposed to discuss which limited any help he could give, not that he has the kind of technical hardware related knowledge they need.

[alphadec]

this project was dead to start with. there are working clones, just to name minimig and other devices that can run this core, mist - which has aga support by now, fpgaarcade - not widely available but also aga compatible afaik, the few existing units of natami and fpga acceleartorls like vampire and others still being worked on.

I want a standalone clone.

My amiga a500 is very holly to me! that means I will not modify it in any way. So accelerators that replace the original hardware is not something I want to do.

Minimig is not something I want.

I want a natami type amiga clone.

[wawrzon]

My amiga a500 is very holly to me! that means I will not modify it in any way.

you mean holy? perfectly understandable, im not advocating modifying aor replacing parts,

So accelerators that replace the original hardware is not something I want to do.

but accelerators that fit into expansion ports should do? okay vampire fits upon the genuine processor in a600 and the planned phoenix/apollo accelerator replaces the original cpu in an 500/2000, but those sit in the sockets i guess. it is expected to be a minimal modification, which can be reverted every time.

Minimig is not something I want.

all hardware i listed except it surpasses the original minimig capabilities.

I want a natami type amiga clone.

so far we have been told apollo/phoenix expansion is going to be a standalone device as soon as missing parts of the core will be added, in particular the chipset emulation. the core might become available for other standalone devices like mist as i perceive it reading forums.

[cunnpole]

Speaking of which, has anyone heard if there's been any more progress from Gunnar et al? the Bring Up page has gone all quiet after it's initial flurry of activity.

[wawrzon]

Speaking of which, has anyone heard if there's been any more progress from Gunnar et al? the Bring Up page has gone all quiet after it's initial flurry of activity.

has it? i see some updates, but probably not that essential, i mean the screenshots down the page:

http://www.apollo-core.com/bringup/

also their forum shows some activity:

http://www.apollo-core.com/knowledge.php?b=7

[ElPolloDiabl]

Check out the latest benchmarks. Nearly 5 times faster than an A4000.
I hope they get some serious money back for their work.

[alphadec]

you mean holy? perfectly understandable, im not advocating modifying aor replacing parts,

hehe yes HOLY!, would never modify it or cut in the a500 to make room for anyhting

but accelerators that fit into expansion ports should do? okay vampire fits upon the genuine processor in a600 and the planned phoenix/apollo accelerator replaces the original cpu in an 500/2000, but those sit in the sockets i guess. it is expected to be a minimal modification, which can be reverted every time.

Yes if it makes use of the memory port (replace the A501) thats something I like but like I say no cutting or modifying of the case.

[ChuckT]

anyone know why . ?

A CPU is hard to make and few people actually finish them.  There are also the demands of life like family, health, and job which ebb and flow.

The Amiga is not as simple as you think.  It took guys from Atari years and then guys from Commodore years to get anywhere with the Amiga.  It took them years so why does everyone think that it can just be done with no budget and a handful of people overnight?

Commodore employed hundreds of people and then there were updates to everything they made.  They made it look simple but just because they made it work doesn't mean that people today understand what they did.  Some of the people Commodore hired had a math background.  What kind of math background does the hobbyists re-creating Amiga have?

The fact that hobbyists in this endeavor aren't consulting past engineers from Commodore should tell you something.

Unless you have a college background in electronics, there are few people who will teach you everything.  I know hobbyists who won't teach because they don't want competition from others.

[wawrzon]

hehe yes HOLY!, would never modify it or cut in the a500 to make room for anyhting

Yes if it makes use of the memory port (replace the A501) thats something I like but like I say no cutting or modifying of the case.

you can look up the photos here for yourself:
http://www.apollo-core.com/bringup/
no cutting or modyfing the case involved. the expansion is simply stuffed within the processor socket. it should nicely fit within the case.

[alphadec]

A CPU is hard to make and few people actually finish them.  There are also the demands of life like family, health, and job which ebb and flow.

The Amiga is not as simple as you think.  It took guys from Atari years and then guys from Commodore years to get anywhere with the Amiga.  It took them years so why does everyone think that it can just be done with no budget and a handful of people overnight?

Commodore employed hundreds of people and then there were updates to everything they made.  They made it look simple but just because they made it work doesn't mean that people today understand what they did.  Some of the people Commodore hired had a math background.  What kind of math background does the hobbyists re-creating Amiga have?

The fact that hobbyists in this endeavor aren't consulting past engineers from Commodore should tell you something.

Unless you have a college background in electronics, there are few people who will teach you everything.  I know hobbyists who won't teach because they don't want competition from others.

Thats why it was so far ahead of everything. Like you say Amiga and later commodore used years of making these machines.

But let's hope they can prove us wrong and can put together a amiga clone, but the task his huge.

Wounder what Dave Haynie is thinking!.