A1200 as a development platform

[rabindranath72]

Hi all,
Amiga newbie here (or rather, potential newbie as I haven't bought an A1200 yet!)
My main interest would be in OS software development (that is, creating an OS from scratch,) but before I plunge and buy the machine, I'd want to know if there is documentation specific to the A1200. I have seen there is an Amiga Hardware book, but it seems the latest version deals at most with Amiga 3000s and ECS. Did Commodore or third party ever release A1200 specific documentation and software development tools/libraries? I am used to DevPac on the Atari ST, is the Amiga version as good?

Thanks in advance,
Antonio

[rabindranath72]

Thanks!
So no official documentation to speak of. That's a pity
Indeed I use a mono monitor on my Atari. And MiNT (so I too have multitasking)

[rabindranath72]

+1

I have the "Developer CD 2.1." which contains documentation up to 3.5.

I would recommend to get it from somewhere (propably f.e. it is still available from Vesalia)

here is the link with description:
http://www.vesalia.de/d_developer2.htm

Thanks for the info.
But is that only OS information? While that's nice, I am more interested in the actual hardware information (e.g. registers, architecture etc.)

[rabindranath72]

"Revised Amiga ROM Kernel Reference Manuals in AmigaGuide format"

that should include "hardware reference" but i am not sure here at the moment because I am personally more on the "software-side". Perhaps someone here knows it or I could look at it.

That would be a huge help, thanks! (only if it's not too much of an hassle, of course!)

[rabindranath72]

Thanks for the info guys!
Is AGA the only relevant piece of hardware different from the rest? I'd say, for example, that PCMCIA hardware is also new w.r.t. the other Amiga models. And what about the DMA, blitter, copper etc.?

[rabindranath72]

Yeah I have got those documents, too; but nothing really specific about the A1200
I suppose if Amiga experts like you guys here know nothing about these documents, I suppose they never existed. It reminds me the policy Apple had about its Macintosh machines; the first models up to the Plus were well documented, both from a hardware and software point of view. But if you try to get info on later models...good luck.

[rabindranath72]

and here is another reference:
http://www.ianstedman.co.uk/downloads/A1200FuncSpec.txt

Very useful, thanks!
That's the kind of information I'd need, but it should be somewhat more detailed. I think I am going to contact Vesalia and aks whether they have any specific books or tools.

Thanks,
Antonio

[rabindranath72]

Nicholas,
thanks for the files, got them

Indeed I was interested in an Amiga 1200 due to the pros listed above; in particular having a small footprint (I don't have much space) is important, and the fact that it can be easily connected to monitors and TVs (I have a Samsung TV/monitor so I should be able to run all resolutions.)
I will try to acquire a 68030 accelerator, since I need an MMU and FPU for my projects. Apparently no card with 68882 FPU+separate 68851 MMU was ever produced; that would have been enough, and perhaps cheaper than the 68030 boards.

[rabindranath72]

Ah yes, lovely! I had seen that, but the chances of having it work with an A1200 are slim at best I suppose? Apart from the form factor, are the signals on the A2000 and A1200 bus the same?

[rabindranath72]

Yes I saw that, the price is really good, but the lack of FPU is annoying (I am an FPU freak  )

[rabindranath72]

If a 68881 were fitted inside the a1200, would that accelerator be able to use it?

I was wondering that :confused:
But then, how would you fit a 68882 inside the A1200? As far as I know there is no socket.

[rabindranath72]

Are you referring to this guy?
https://www.facebook.com/AppysAmigaPage

no, it doesn't seem to work

[rabindranath72]

If u r an FPU freak then you need to get a 68040 card or 68060 card as their built-in FPUs are massively faster than the lame old slow creaky external 68882 FPUs from the 80s.

You would need to buy a used one from someone.  They come up for sale on a regular basis.

I don't know about the 68060, but the FPU core in the 68040 is quite lame compared to the functionality provided in hardware by the 68882; and many of the software libraries to compensate all those holes are quite slow (and buggy.) A similar situation happens with the core MMU in the 68030 and the 68851 MMU.
I am not after (much) speed, but "completeness" of options. That's why I mentioned that I would be really happy if I found a 68020/68851/68882 board.
Finally there is the price. There is no way in hell I am going to pay £300 for an accelerator card :insane: