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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: xeron on May 29, 2003, 01:27:43 PM

Title: Any USB users out there?
Post by: xeron on May 29, 2003, 01:27:43 PM
Post removed. I was all confused between the Thylacine and the UltraBUS  :-D
Title: Re: Any thylacine users out there?
Post by: xeron on May 29, 2003, 01:40:13 PM
Oh wait.. or was it the ultrabus? Yeah.. its the ultrabus that can autoboot USB drives! D'oh!

Isn't there supposed to be an version 2 highway that will support this?

Does anyone know when these are likely to be out? Or should I just get a Spider II and use a floppy that mounts the pen-drive, moves all the system assigns to it, and executes the startup-sequence on it?
Title: Re: Any thylacine users out there?
Post by: alx on May 29, 2003, 01:46:23 PM
When I first saw the title of this thread, I thought that thylacine was a drug :-o
Title: Re: Any thylacine users out there?
Post by: xeron on May 29, 2003, 01:50:25 PM
Quote

When I first saw the title of this thread, I thought that thylacine was a drug :-o


 Heh :-D

Actually, i'm just trying to get all this straight in my head. OK, relative merits of all the solutions:

[color=FF0000]
CARD        USB2.0    Autoboot   Actually released

Spider II   Yes       No         Yes
Thylacine   No        No         Yes
Highway     No        No         Yes
UltraBUS    No        Yes        No
Highway 2   No        Yes        No
[/color]

Hmmm... looks like the 2 that would suit my needs the most arent out yet  :-( However, the Spider would give me USB 2.0, and is cheaper...

Has anyone tried these cards? What do they think? Any unseen drawbacks?
Title: Re: Any thylacine users out there?
Post by: Jaruzel on May 29, 2003, 01:52:37 PM
Have you considered booting off of floppy ? then passing control to the USB device?

Once the machine is booted, it would run silently.

-Jar.

Title: Re: Any thylacine users out there?
Post by: Kronos on May 29, 2003, 01:53:04 PM
@Tickly

Are you sure ?

The Ultrabus isn't even out AFAIK.

E3B's ALGOR and reworked HigWays can autoboot
from a cold-reset. The normal HighWay and SubWay
should be able to autoboot after a warm-reset.

Title: Re: Any thylacine users out there?
Post by: xeron on May 29, 2003, 01:55:01 PM
Quote

Kronos wrote:
E3B's ALGOR and reworked HighWays can autoboot


Are these available now?

@Jaruzel:

Sure, but i think its a tidier solution to be able to just boot off the pen-drive, if possible.
Title: Re: Any thylacine users out there?
Post by: Kronos on May 29, 2003, 01:58:55 PM
@Tickly

There was an offer to add that ROM to the HighWay
some time ago, and AFAIK those cards are allready
back at their owners.

The ALGOR is "real soon now".

/me is not so sure wether paasing on that
upgrade offer was such a good idea ...
Title: Re: Any thylacine users out there?
Post by: rhino on May 29, 2003, 02:01:41 PM
The new ALGOR from E3B (makers of the Highway and Subway) has a flash ROM into which Poseidon (the USB stack) and its class drivers can be installed. This means it can boot from USB massstorage devices. E3B also have a boot ROM add on for the Highway called the ROMulus planned giving it the same capability.

According to the E3B website (http://www.e3b.de/) both these boards are currently in production.

To my knowledge the Thylacine does not have a USB massstorage driver unless you use Poseidon rather than its native USB stack. And you're quite right that it does not have a boot ROM.

Robert
Title: Re: Any thylacine users out there?
Post by: xeron on May 29, 2003, 02:04:38 PM
Ahhhh OK! I think i'll probably go for an Algor then, because I would really like to boot from the USB drive, and secondly, I don't like all the bad blood with Chris Hodges over the Spider range and Poseidon licenses etc.
Title: Re: Any thylacine users out there?
Post by: xeron on May 29, 2003, 02:15:41 PM
Well, I've just ordered an Algor from KDH. I just hope it arrives quicker than my AmigaONE  :-o  :-D
Title: Re: Any thylacine users out there?
Post by: mboehmer_e3b on May 30, 2003, 12:29:54 AM
Hi guys,

as some people here in this thread seem to know more about my products
than I do, I think it is a good idea to put some things right:

@ Tickly:

1) The ROMulus offer is still standing, and cards are in production
   right now. We had a machine breakdown during ALGOR production, so
   everything was shifted by two weeks :( Sorry for that.

2) Highway II = ALGOR.

3) Regarding which card is cheaper, I would propose that you take a look
   on this thread (http://amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=44376)
   I kindly ask to read both Tjaoz calculation and my corrections to it.

4) Release dates... expect a press release the very next days :)

@ Rhino: see Tickly answer 4

@ Kronos:

1) AFAIK I know the ROMulus cards are still in production, and have not been
   shipped yet. Believe me.

2) "Real soon now" -> Tickly answer 4

By the way, you are just right that both ALGOR and Highway + ROMulus can coldboot
from USB mass storage devices. And they just can do a little more, which you will
find out in the press release to follow.

Hope I could clarify all questions. Feel free to contact me if something is unclear.

Best regards, Michael