Some food for thought

[Gulliver]

On the Amiga platform we have managed to replace nearly every subsystem, update them andenhance them:

Processor -> we made accelerators
ram -> we made ram expansions
graphics chipset -> we made GFX cards
paula audio -> we made sound cards
serial, parallel, keyboard, joystick and mouse expansions -> we made USB adapters & IO xtenders
kickstart ->we made autobooting flash kickstarts
zorro expansion -> we made busboard adapters
IDE/SCSI -> we made faster compatible ide and scsi devices

So what do we need to accomplish the dump of our stock Amigas at this point?
It seems at this stage our amigas are like a very old dongle!
I wish it was possible to create a minimal cost, lets say, a semi-dumb, i guess zorro II busboard, in which we could just plug in all those subsystem cards and run workbench without a real Amiga. Of course we wont have AGA/ECS/OCS, but we could rely on Retargetable systems much like the Macrosystem´s Draco, once did.
In the end, is it too complicated to build such board? I mean what would be the minimum requirements be?
I think we will probably need to patch kickstart code to do it, but then it doesnt sound like a pipe dream.

[jimbo100]

What's the point?  

[Gulliver]

The point is:

-Relying on an old motherboard, more than 14 years old to hold expensive expansions
-Shortage of some Amiga models
-Difficulty to get a decent repair service on old motherboards
-Having fun!

[Darrin]

Gulliver wrote:
The point is:

-Relying on an old motherboard, more than 14 years old to hold expensive expansions
-Shortage of some Amiga models
-Difficulty to get a decent repair service on old motherboards
-Having fun!

Sounds like you need to keep an eye on the Clone-A project.

[Gulliver]

I am keeping an eye on that, but then, no release date yet, and still a closed platform!

[amigakid]

having fun??? Amiga's are always fun.

[Gulliver]

Yes they are! But when you realize that for example your system doesnt respond, and you cant locate a proper replacement for that part, then it is not that fun i want. Or even worst, having a guy selling you that chip for a huge $$$ is no fun either.
Anyway, i meant fun, as in the process of recreating an amiga clone!

[jimbo100]

It's a dead platform which it's hardware is eventually going to die!

It's never going to happen!

[Gulliver]

Well okay then, but could someone please answe my question from a technical point of view, Could it be easy to make?

[Doobrey]

Depends what you mean by 'easy'..

At the very least you'll need to add the CIAs and make a register compatible interrupt controller too to retain software compatibility.

[Gulliver]

Thank you @Doobrey!

So the CIAs, what else could you suggest?
Anyway, it could be better if someone could tell me, what chips does an Amiga requires to boot.

[Plaz]

what chips does an Amiga requires to boot

Short answer... almost all of them.

I would keep an eye (or lend a hand) to future Minimig development. It's already replicating the OCS chip set and sights are set on ECS and AGA chip sets for future versions. If technical advances can contiue on minimig, it wouldn't be such a far stretch to think about also replicating the buss allowing you to tag on some ZII or ZIII slots for vintage cards. If it gets that far, I don't know that we could call it 'mini' any more though. It's pretty much a clone by then.

Well I'm off to check on the Clone-A site to see if they have more to say yet.....


Plaz

[Doobrey]

Without hacking the kickstart, pretty much all of them.
It wont boot without chip ram, needs the cias for timers, gayle/gary for controlling motherboard accesses, buster for Zorro control, paula for interrupts etc..

[murple]

Amigas -> we got kickass Linux systems

The Amiga was a fantastic computer, and I really wish Commodore had kept afloat and been able to establish Amiga as a long term platform.

That didn't happen.

I love my Amiga. I will keep a working Amiga system for as long as I can. Its a great hobby machine and fun for playing old games and demos. I love my Amiga for what it was. I don't expect it to be something it wasn't, though it could have been and should have been. That wasn't to be though.

I'm all for people trying to build nonstandard computers independent of PC/Mac technology. Some of them may end up being pretty cool.

They won't be Amigas, though.

[Gulliver]

Thanks again!