Minimig PCB run - interest thread

[basman74]

Belial6 wrote:
@amigadave


Who would be interested in spending $150 now on a MiniMig 1k, knowing that there will be a better model available a year from now?

I definitly am.  I have no problem spending a $150 today, so that production gets started.

If someone is willing to do a 'pilot run' of 100 units (and 100 people commited to purchase :-P ), then I believe this is what it will take to get the process started. This would allow for further 'tweaking' of the design (if necessary) or hacking on 'improvements' etc.

Also, I for one would be happy to put my hand up to organise such a pilot run . Unfortunately, I am committed to my current (work) projects for another week or so, so I would not be able to do anything until then.

Probably at some point before then, we might receive an update from the original poster of this thread. ;-)

Cheers,

Valentin  

[odin]

I've been wondering, how feasable would an old fashioned largely-throughhole PCB be? That'd make it possible for pretty much anybody to produce it in the garage (and not to mention MilSpec!). Are there sockets available for the SMD FPGA, mem chips etc?

Hmm../me runs off to download a PCB CAD prog.

[Oli_hd]

Are there sockets available for the SMD FPGA, mem chips etc?

Yes but they are very expensive, specially ones that go through hole.
You cna get cheap ones that use the same surface mount pads for around £20, the clam sockets with through hole pins cost a bomb though, simply because they are only designed to be used on prototypes.
You can get QFP to PGA adaptors though, but even so.. surface mount is the best way tbh.

Well unless you could break the code down to use a few 86pin PLCC package FPGA's.. call one Agnus, another one.. I dunno.. dennis ;-)
Thats probably the best bet for real DIY'ers

[freqmax]

Throughhole would increase cost significantly and introduce more EMI.

[Oli_hd]

Throughhole would increase cost significantly

well thp assembly is actually cheaper, but the more chips would bump up the cost... that said it would be a real DIY project then, build a jtag programmer on the board and have some fun...
just like the good old Sinclair Spectrum

and introduce more EMI.

Hands up who care  :-D
the A500 was all thp, as was the A2000, 1000 etc.

[Crumb]

I like Dennis idea of keeping FPGA firmwares compatible and well structured.

BTW, about form factor I think MiniMig is nearer to nano-itx (12x12cm) than others like mini-itx.

For minimig v2 there are cheap 68LC060/75Mhz that could be a very interesting cpu as it has good compatibility, great speed, MMU (it lacks FPU but if the 060 was socketed people could put a full 060 if they prefer it).

I think Minimig v2 could be a substitute of an A1200 Blizzard 060. It should be able to interface with the 040/060 directly. There's no need ATM to add A1200 cpu connectors because if you change FPGA code to work with 040/060 correctly you would save a lot of logic and get a much faster system. An option could be added to "slow down" memory accesses to a similar speed of a Blizz060/50, but I guess that since the 040/060 would be supported by the fpga a lot of goodies would work like burst modes and access to ram would be much faster than on real Amiga 060 boards.

If it has RTG and other features it would be great, but 64MB would be mandatory (latest amiga scene demos are starting to require more than 32MB)

About the RTG software AROS CGX system could be modified to run on AmigaOS 68k and patch standard libraries like CGX/P96 do.

An AHI driver could be developed and sound output could be mixed with paula output without the need of cables :-)

Apart from network and USB I don't see much need of PCI stuff. I think that the basic computer functionality should be provided as standard.

My wishlist:
1.- Minimig v1 should be released more or less as is ASAP. Otherwise nothing will be done.
2.- Minimig v1.1 may have different form factor and slight changes but the core should be compatible as Dennis has said. Includes a dumb IDE port (similar to the A500IDE from aminet) and more ram that can be configured as chip/fast ram. Up to 2MB of of Chip ram (I guess that a plain 68000 wouldn't accept 8MB of chip). The rest could be configured as fast ram or slow/ranger ram.

3.- Minimig v2 with AGA and 060 socket. 64MB chip soldered on board. LC/EC 060s are not much more expensive than other motorola cpus. ¿ISA slot for old NE2000 cards? ¿faster PIO modes or even DMA? ¿keep an extra 68000 for 100% comaptibility with A500 games?

4.- Minimig v3, retargetable edition. Like v2 but with RTG, RTA, Network.

5.- Minimig v3.1 USB support.


Of course it's just a dream as I guess Minimig will reach my dream Minimig v1.1 as maximum, but it will be ok anyway. Dreaming is cheap :-)

[AmigaBlitter]

I want one!

A minimig for me

 :-D

[wizard66]

I want two minimigs PCB complete !!
So count me in !!! :-D

[SubjectToR]

Thanks for the initiative. I'd like one, where do I get in line?

[maffoo]

basman74 wrote:


If someone is willing to do a 'pilot run' of 100 units (and 100 people commited to purchase :-P ), then I believe this is what it will take to get the process started. This would allow for further 'tweaking' of the design (if necessary) or hacking on 'improvements' etc.

I'll be one of those 100 people, if it goes ahead  :-)

Matthew

[Fixer]

Crumb wrote:
Of course it's just a dream as I guess Minimig will reach my dream Minimig v1.1 as maximum, but it will be ok anyway. Dreaming is cheap :-)

Dreaming of things like this can also be healthy, in certain doses.

I think your list is fairly good and realistic. Though I'm not sure how long AGA will take to impliment, considering how long it took OCS. There is more support though now it's out, and I do remember reading somewhere that AGA wasn't that big a leap over ECS.

Do we even need AGA for this thing I wonder - is Dennis even considering it?

[amigadave]

Fixer wrote:

Do we even need AGA for this thing I wonder - is Dennis even considering it?

No, Dennis has already stated before that he is not interested in doing AGA, but would hope that others would build on what he has started.

[Hojo Norem]

I just did a rough count thrugh the thread.  There are ~130 boards requested (some people want more than 1 or 2) with the majority of people wanting fully assembled boards.  ~10 people have asked for miniITX.

[amigadave]

Thanks Hojo_Norem,

You saved me from making that count.  I have been wondering how many there were and was going to start a spreadsheet with all the member names that wanted boards and a count of who wanted more than one Minimig and another column that showed who wanted completed boards as opposed to those who want bare PCBs and a bag of component parts.

130 boards should be enough to make it worth someone's time and trouble and get a better price on some of the parts.  Who is going to step up and be the first to take charge of getting the first run into production?

I am ready to buy at least one, if not two boards.  Preferably the original size of 12cm square.

Ready...... Set........ Go Minimig!  The replacement A500 in the palm of your hand.

[soiaf]

I'm interested in one too! Fully assembled please.

[koaftder]

Xenepp, why no feedback?