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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: stopthegop on January 16, 2007, 03:46:26 AM

Title: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: stopthegop on January 16, 2007, 03:46:26 AM
I finally found a USB card that works in my Mediator using OpenPCI.  I'm typing this now on and using a USB mouse.  Also tested it with a USB scanner with FxScan and an Olympus Camedia 3.4MP camera with VHI/IO-USB.  Works GREAT, even with demo of Poseidan (just select to install all drivers when prompted with the install script).

The card is a 4-port "Acer Labs M5237 Aladdin-V ALI".  I will post a pic of the card and the box if anyone else is interested.  
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: da9000 on January 16, 2007, 05:00:23 AM
Nice!!

Question: where did you buy it at? And how much? Or better yet, what was the product name (on the box, if you have one). I'm not so sure, but I doubt Acer sells these things directly. If you still can't find, check the FCC ID and you can look that up on the gov site.

I don't have a PCI solution yet, but collecting cash for it.. and doing 'research' :)

Thx
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: stopthegop on January 16, 2007, 05:25:12 AM
I found it literally by accident at a small PC shop in Red Bank, NJ.  I talked to the owner and she told me she has a lot of "old" stock like this.  I saw at least five more of these cards like the one I am using, sitting on the shelf.  I paid $12 for it.  But I bet she would give them to me for $5 each if I bought all of them.      
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: da9000 on January 16, 2007, 05:31:02 AM
Hehehe, talk about luck!

Can you please find out what the brand/manufacturer is, from the owner/shop?

I'm sure others will want to know too

Thanks
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: LoadWB on January 16, 2007, 05:47:57 AM
Hey, Amiga PCI guys, would information on the chipset also be helpful?  I'm not sure if the Amiga drivers work by chipset, or perhaps different board manufacturers mangle the chips so as to require special drivers.
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: da9000 on January 16, 2007, 05:56:21 AM
Myself, I don't know LoadWB. But I believe in Linux they use the PCI IDs (for manufacturer, product ID etc), and my guess is that the Amiga drivers are based off of the open source Linux drivers (I could be way off here, but it's my hunch due to the sheer number of drivers available), in which case they'd use the same system. Waiting to be corrected if necessary...
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: Nickman on January 16, 2007, 08:33:33 AM
Wow great news. I have tried 1 usb card that i didn't get to work.. Witch versions of poseidon, openpci and arakattack are you using ?
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: Crumb on January 16, 2007, 12:03:44 PM
@da9000

That's great news! BTW, ArakAttack was coded in asm from scratch and designed for AmigaOS, it's not based in any linux code.

I guess that it will work on a Mediator1200 too, but could any A1200 user confirm this?
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: stopthegop on January 16, 2007, 12:25:08 PM
Quote
Wow great news. I have tried 1 usb card that i didn't get to work.. Witch versions of poseidon, openpci and arakattack are you using ?


OpenPCI: 2.0
Trident: 3.4
Arakattack: latest
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: Nickman on January 16, 2007, 12:57:38 PM
Quote

Crumb wrote:
@da9000

That's great news! BTW, ArakAttack was coded in asm from scratch and designed for AmigaOS, it's not based in any linux code.

I guess that it will work on a Mediator1200 too, but could any A1200 user confirm this?


If someone sends me a card i will try it  :lol:
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: keropi on January 16, 2007, 12:58:32 PM
better post a detailed photo, front and back, of the card.
I woder how come u have not posted one yet!

 8-)  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: stopthegop on January 16, 2007, 01:01:12 PM
Quote
better post a detailed photo, front and back, of the card.
I woder how come u have not posted one yet!


Working atm..  I will post one when I get home tonight
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: keropi on January 16, 2007, 01:19:17 PM
cool cool!  :-D
now tell us, how many pm's u got from ppl wanting the same card?  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: amiga92570 on January 16, 2007, 07:51:40 PM
are you sure it is m5237 and not m5273 like this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-2-0-PCI-Card-4-1-port-ALI-Chipset_W0QQitemZ220045407750QQihZ012QQcategoryZ167QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: Framiga on January 16, 2007, 07:57:24 PM
looking at  here  (http://www.plasma-online.de/index.html?content=http%3A//www.plasma-online.de/english/identify/picture/acerlabs.html)is not that clear!

M5237 exixts

[5237] M5237 PCI USB Host Controller

while here (http://en.allexperts.com/e/a/ac/acer_laboratories_incorporated.htm)

USB/Firewire PCI chipsets (M5253, M5271, M5273, M5622, M5633)

:-?
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: TiredOLife on January 16, 2007, 09:25:54 PM
You could try Poseidon 3.5
I'm wondering if the block works on just the spider or any USB card attached to the Mediator.
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: da9000 on January 17, 2007, 04:36:31 AM
@Crumb:

Thanks for the correction! Also good to hear that it's from scratch, therefore clean, and in ASM, therefore fast and small in memory footprint!


@Framiga:
Nice research! I couldn't find it myself :( Very useful sites though! (the two links)
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: mboehmer_e3b on January 17, 2007, 11:14:38 AM
Quote
The card is a 4-port "Acer Labs M5237 Aladdin-V ALI". I will post a pic of the card and the box if anyone else is interested.


Nice to hear. Did you test with USB2 mass storage also?
I have massive problems with ALi USB2 chipsets on Prometheus (reworked firmware), the ALi works for a period of time, and drops dead afterwards, without any indication why.

For the same price of ALi you usually get NEC USB2 cards, which work (from my experience, taken one full day with LHA tests on a USB2 harddisk) very reliable.

Michael
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: Crumb on January 17, 2007, 12:20:23 PM
@mboehmer_e3b

When could we expect to be able to use the new firmware? It could bring new life to my Prometheus and I could remove some cards...
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: Chain on January 17, 2007, 12:31:36 PM
chipset issame, but its oem
(http://photos.allegro.pl/photos/oryginal/15/1577/157794/15779439/157794391)
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: Chain on January 17, 2007, 12:31:57 PM
chipset is same, but its oem
(http://photos.allegro.pl/photos/oryginal/15/1577/157794/15779439/157794391)
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: mboehmer_e3b on January 17, 2007, 12:58:55 PM
Quote
When could we expect to be able to use the new firmware? It could bring new life to my Prometheus and I could remove some cards...


We are evaluating the details at the moment, so stay tuned.
Our beta testers reported no further errors.

Michael
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: stopthegop on January 17, 2007, 01:03:35 PM
Pics here:

http://www.geocities.com/stopthegop/index.html



Correction:  I originally stated it was a 4 port card.  It is in fact a 6 port card.

Edit: If you got an error, try again.  Should be fixed.  Sorry
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: LoadWB on January 17, 2007, 01:34:05 PM
Holy crap.  I just put one of these in my dad's PC... I think I'll find a different card for him and hold onto his!
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: wurzel on January 22, 2007, 07:07:47 PM
Hi guys,

I just managed to get the exact same card as the 1st poster, off ebay, from a guy in Germany.

Give it a couple of weeks to arrive then I shall try it in my Power Tower A1200 with Mediator. I`ll let you know how I got on.

The price? £5.50 plus £5.75 postage ;)

You can see it here:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=004&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=140073758393&rd=1&rd=1

wurzel
Currently almost completing his towered A1200, still using a desktop A1200.
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: Argus on January 26, 2007, 01:02:11 PM
@stopthegop

I'm trying to get this to work on a 1200LT4 board.  When you installed the Mediator drivers, did you install the Elbox USB driver or just ArakAttack/OpenPCI (I assume)?
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: stopthegop on January 26, 2007, 03:51:11 PM
I'm not using Elbox drivers.  I installed ArakAttack, selected OpenPCI.device.  Then I installed Poseidan stack.  I can post screen shots of Trident with all the ports running and the various classes later today, hopefully.  My miggy is in pieces atm.  Took it apart to put a new clock battery on the mb.  

Someone asked what slot I had the USB card installed in;  answer is I had it working in any of the top three slots in the mediator.  
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: wurzel on January 26, 2007, 07:43:46 PM
Quote

stopthegop wrote:
I'm not using Elbox drivers.  I installed ArakAttack, selected OpenPCI.device.  Then I installed Poseidan stack.  


I`m guessing this is using OS4 on a A4000ppc? If so, then us A1200ers would need the Elbox drivers? I think ArakAttack & OpenPCI are for the PPC?

wurzel
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: Argus on January 27, 2007, 12:50:47 AM
Quote

wurzel wrote:
I`m guessing this is using OS4 on a A4000ppc? If so, then us A1200ers would need the Elbox drivers? I think ArakAttack & OpenPCI are for the PPC?


I believe he's using OS3.9 with his setup.  I've tried ArakAttack and Poseidon with a similar OEM Acer Labs 5723 card on a 1200LT4 under OS3.5 but so far no dice; I get an error message in Poseidon 'can't open openpci.library'  :-(
Update: still not working; tried a VIA USB card (pciinfo sees it) but it also fails to initialize under Poseidon 'OpenUSB.device failed'.  I'm using the latest ArakAttack (openpci.library 2.0beta1 68K), Poseidon v3.5 (registered full version), OS3.5, and pci.library 6.2.  So the short of this is that I at least can't get an OpenPCI USB card to work on a Mediator 1200LT4.  Oh well.... :-?
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: stopthegop on January 27, 2007, 01:56:45 PM
Quote
I believe he's using OS3.9 with his setup. I've tried ArakAttack and Poseidon with a similar OEM Acer Labs 5723 card on a 1200LT4 under OS3.5 but so far no dice; I get an error message in Poseidon 'can't open openpci.library'  
Update: still not working; tried a VIA USB card (pciinfo sees it) but it also fails to initialize under Poseidon 'OpenUSB.device failed'. I'm using the latest ArakAttack (openpci.library 2.0beta1 68K), Poseidon v3.5 (registered full version), OS3.5, and pci.library 6.2. So the short of this is that I at least can't get an OpenPCI USB card to work on a Mediator 1200LT4. Oh well....  


Does pciinfo show each usb port as a separate entry named "unknown"?  Mine does -- and I suspect that may be why it works.  What I mean is..  perhaps the Elbox driver, not knowing what the card is, lets it pass without running interference?  I tried lots of (mostly newer) USB cards in the mediator before I discovered this card.  I always got weird problems if I had a USB card plugged in.  The weirdness correlated with whether or not pciinfo identified a non-Spider USB card.  The Ali card was the first USB card not to be identified by pciinfo as a "USB" card.  Instead it was "Unknown", and no system instability like with the other USB cards.  Funny, because Poseidan knows exactly what it is!  
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: stopthegop on January 27, 2007, 02:02:56 PM
Quote
I`m guessing this is using OS4 on a A4000ppc? If so, then us A1200ers would need the Elbox drivers? I think ArakAttack & OpenPCI are for the PPC?

wurzel


Argus is right.  Its OS3.9 bb1 and 2 with 6 slot mediator and CstormPPC.  
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: Argus on January 27, 2007, 10:08:24 PM
@stopthegop

*edit* okay, I decided to switch the position of the USB card (I had it in the bottom pci slot) up to the first pci slot (before the Voodoo3000 card).  You are correct about the ALi card, now pciinfo shows 4 Acer Labs pci devices "unknown".  This wasn't the case with a VIA USB2.0 card I tried (it even correctly identified the Firewire ports on that one).  I open up Poseidon and I still get 'unable to open openpci.library' 'OpenUSB.device failed'.

I am now running OS3.9 with BB1&2 on a BlizzardPPC so maybe there are some Mediator variables that I need to change?  What are your variables in prefs:env-archive/mediator/? Do you have the spider USB driver installed (I don't)?

Btw, the ALi card I'm using looks similar to the one Chain photographed except mine has a small power connecter to power the USB ports.
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: wurzel on January 29, 2007, 01:21:10 PM
Ok, I got my card from Germany and eagerly fitted it.

Whilst PciInfo finds it, reports it as "unknown" and I have Poseidon & ArakAttack intalled, it doesn`t work :(

Trident (& Snoopdos) say that the system can`t find OpenPci library, Version 2. I have V2.1 installed in Libs:

So, I`m stumped :(

wurzel
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: balrogsoft on January 30, 2007, 03:47:04 PM
Very interesting thread, i get an old conceptronic usb 1.1 (2 ports) detected on Trident, but i can't get an usb device working, i tried a mouse and a card reader, here is the trident log about usb:

 0-OpenUSB.device: OpenUSB.device 1.23 (4.1.2007) ©2004 by Guido Mersmann
 0-OpenUSB.device: OpenPCI type is: MediatorA1200! 1
 0-OpenUSB.device: Welcome unit 0 - Type: 'OHCI Host Controller'
 0-OpenUSB.device: Name: 'OPTi 82C861/2/3 FireLink PCI-to-USB Bridge' (0x1045/0xC861/0x1045/0xC861)
 0-poseidon.library: New hardware DEVS:USBHardware/OpenUSB.device/0 added. Plug in, baby!
 0-poseidon.library: Root hub has been enumerated.
.....................
 0-hub.class: Hub with 96 ports successfully configured.
 0-hub.class: I'm in love with hub 'USB OHCI Root Hub'.

Any suggetion to make any usb device working?
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: humppa on January 30, 2007, 03:59:29 PM
Quote
I open up Poseidon and I still get 'unable to open openpci.library' 'OpenUSB.device failed'.

I am now running OS3.9 with BB1&2 on a BlizzardPPC so maybe there are some Mediator variables that I need to change? What are your variables in prefs:env-archive/mediator/? Do you have the spider USB driver installed (I don't)?


How did you set the memory window jumper? 8 MB? You might try changing it to different values, e.g. 0MB. As far as I know the "hackish" memory window is one of the differences between A1200 and A4000 Mediator.
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: balrogsoft on January 30, 2007, 10:56:27 PM
I just tried a Conceptronic usb 2.0 (6 usb ports) with a ALI M5273, but it didn't work, i tried different pci ports, different window memory configurations, sometimes the system boots up, but when i execute pciinfo, it don't recognise the card, or appears 18 devices!!!  :-o

I will try again with the old usb 1.1 Conceptronic card, my system is stable and Trident recognise it and mount a usb hub but i can't get any usb device working. I forget to mention that the Conceptronic usb 1.1 card, don't use a ALI chipset, it use a OPTi 82861 chipset. Maybe exist more compatible chipsets...
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: quenthal on January 31, 2007, 12:03:29 AM
Quote

stopthegop wrote:

Does pciinfo show each usb port as a separate entry named "unknown"?  Mine does -- and I suspect that may be why it works.  What I mean is..  perhaps the Elbox driver, not knowing what the card is, lets it pass without running interference?


You can easily make usb-card (or any pci-card) "unknown" - check with pciinfo what name it returns for that card, search it from vendors.txt (that probably is in your S:) and remove that line from it. I haven't tried, but I don't think this causes the problem, but who knows.
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: MASACREWILL on January 31, 2007, 12:29:50 AM
..hi guys, is there anybody who got the card working in the Mediator LT4 in an Amiga 1200? Thanx
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: stopthegop on January 31, 2007, 03:56:19 AM
Sorry for the terrible pic, but this shows Poseidan with 4 ports active/in use.  Not sure why it would work in mine but not others?  My miggy is still apart otherwise I'd just have posted a screen grab..  :roll:


(http://C:\Documents and Settings\David\Desktop\pics_3houses\openusbshot.jpg)  
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: Argus on February 03, 2007, 11:06:33 AM
Quote

stopthegop wrote:
Sorry for the terrible pic, but this shows Poseidan with 4 ports active/in use.  Not sure why it would work in mine but not others?  My miggy is still apart otherwise I'd just have posted a screen grab..  :roll:  


ah, where's the picture?

I've been thinking about this problem. It must be that you have an OHCI card (USB1.1) while I (and others) have been trying to make an EHCI (USB2.0) card work (a no go).  I'm going to try again once I get my hands on an older OHCI card.
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: dirtiemds on February 03, 2007, 03:11:02 PM
After reading this thread I bought a ali-based card with the mentioned chipset. Pciinfo finds the ports and named them "unknown" although the vendor was detected as "Acer Labs Inc".
I installed the demoversion of ARAKATTACK and Poseidon. The Hubs were "in use" in Trident, but everytime when I plug in a USB-Device the system freezes... whats wrong?!? I have openpci.lib version 2.1?  :roll:

My System: Amiga Blizzard1260/128MB, MediatorSX, Voodoo4, Soundblaster, Realtek Ethernet, OS3.9BB2 Dopus5.82 Magellan 2
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: stopthegop on February 03, 2007, 04:25:04 PM
Mine is OHCI.  
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: dirtiemds on February 03, 2007, 06:08:09 PM
I have OHCI and one EHCI Port... all these ports were listed in Trident!
Now I tried it with a nearly clean AMiGAOS3.9 on another boot-partition. Same failure... everything is detected well but when I insert my usb-stick the machine freezes :(

Any hints?

gtx, thx d!RT!E
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: evi73 on February 03, 2007, 06:56:17 PM
hello,

i have the card in my mediator . trident have correct usb information .

i have with cam and mouse tested . all insert and my system freeze . one insert my system freeze :-(

by evi


-- sorry my bad english , my german is better :-) --
Title: Re: OpenPCI USB Controller Working in Mediator
Post by: magnetic on November 30, 2010, 12:42:30 AM
Any more news on this? Anyone have any luck with non Spider usb boards??