MiniMig + PowerPC = OS4 Hardware for all

[little]

Paradox wrote:
EFIKA II with built in PowerVR.

I have no inside info source, but I can bet that next year when Freescale releases the coldfire v5 there will be a model with bult-in PowerVR graphics and some kind of ac97 or IHD audio codec.

Why can I be so sure? Because the market these chips is geared towards is the high end car market, that is the reason for the creation of the MPC5121e (inside the soon to be release Efika II) and it makes sense that they add such capabilities to their coldfire line of procesors.

[koaftder]

Why are people drolling over chips for low end embedded systems?

[rkauer]

 Here comes a thought:

 Minimig is an OCS machine, like the A500,right? An A2000 is almost the very same machine as an A500.

 But there is a 2060 accelerator for it, and better than that: exists a "PPC evaluation board" for it.

 So here come the idea: create a minimig with both 68k AND PPC CPUs! Exactly like those from A2000.

 Upgrade the ROM to 3.1 and you'll have an Amiga-like machine with PPC.

 Ready to run OS4, if you want.

[RedskullDC]

rkauer wrote:
 Here comes a thought:
 So here come the idea: create a minimig with both 68k AND PPC CPUs! Exactly like those from A2000.

Interesting idea, would be easy to port Minimig to something like:

http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?Prod=FX12
or
http://www.xilinx.com/ml403

The Virtex4 FX chips have one (or more) embedded PPC blocks which could theoretically be employed to run OS4,
though my knowledge of the PPC is minimal.

I'm playing with porting Minimig to the ML403 (which I have on of here) at the moment using the 68k core from the Suska project (which still needs some work).
I'd be keen to try out Tobiflex's 68k core code as well if/when he releases it  :-)

red

[nBit7]

The Virtex4 FX chips have one (or more) embedded PPC blocks which could theoretically be employed to run OS4,

The Virtex4 uses PowerPC 405 core.
Piru pointed out that you need 603/604 compatible CPU.
At a guess the 405 would not be compatible enough.
As far as I know OS4 has never been targeted to 405.

[nBit7]

...Obviously the Minimig would need to be revised with the addition of AGA...

Why would it need AGA to run OS4?
OS4 is best run on non-AGA graphics hardware.  I think it would be better to implement RTG.  Or use a PPC SoC with integrated graphics.  I couldn't see OS4 relying on AGA before the RTG graphics drivers kicked in.

[SamuraiCrow]

nBit7 wrote:

The Virtex4 FX chips have one (or more) embedded PPC blocks which could theoretically be employed to run OS4,

The Virtex4 uses PowerPC 405 core.
Piru pointed out that you need 603/604 compatible CPU.
At a guess the 405 would not be compatible enough.
As far as I know OS4 has never been targeted to 405.

It would work with a non-classic version of AOS 4, it just wouldn't be available for sale, currently.

[SamuraiCrow]

nBit7 wrote:

...Obviously the Minimig would need to be revised with the addition of AGA...

Why would it need AGA to run OS4?
OS4 is best run on non-AGA graphics hardware.  I think it would be better to implement RTG.  Or use a PPC SoC with integrated graphics.  I couldn't see OS4 relying on AGA before the RTG graphics drivers kicked in.

The Classic version of AmigaOS 4 uses the custom chips but it doesn't require AGA.  It works on an A3000 as well.  The MiniMig would have to be reconfigured for the A3000's 32-bit version of the Enhanced Chipset.

[gdanko]

Here's a prediction: I bet Piru will say it's impossible, pointless, too much effort, or all 3.

Hahaha he is a buzzkill sometimes!

[mingle]

Okay, c'mon fellas... Let's assume that OS4 will materialise (:-?)

For those in 'the know' (ie: they have the expertise and time/resources available) I have a couple of questions:

1: Is it possible to create a PPC-based version of the Minimig?

2: How long would it take to redesign the 1.1 minimig to be PPC?

3: Is anyone willing to do it?

Cheers,

Mike.

[downix]

mingle wrote:
Okay, c'mon fellas... Let's assume that OS4 will materialise (:-?)

For those in 'the know' (ie: they have the expertise and time/resources available) I have a couple of questions:

1: Is it possible to create a PPC-based version of the Minimig?

theoretically

2: How long would it take to redesign the 1.1 minimig to be PPC?

for all of the time and effort,my guess would be 4-5 man years of effort

3: Is anyone willing to do it?

Cheers,

Mike.

I'm not, I'd sooner go Coldfire or with a CPU that has a future like SPARC or ARM.

[nBit7]

1: Is it possible to create a PPC-based version of the Minimig?

Yes.  Not hard at all.  Making it behave like a Blizzard PPC or CSPPC; not so easy but possible.

If Hyperion end up winning the lawsuit.  Then I think they would be amenable to the idea of supporting a PPC minimig.

2: How long would it take to redesign the 1.1 minimig to be PPC?

Depends on the implementation.  If the implementation didn't need to imitate a classic PPC solution then hardware wise a few months.  Otherwise maybe a year.

3: Is anyone willing to do it?

I am if it doesn't require imitating a classic solution like Blizzard. Also no AGA, instead modern graphics, USB, Ethernet.

[downix]

3: Is anyone willing to do it?

I am if it doesn't require imitating a classic solution like Blizzard. Also no AGA, instead modern graphics, USB, Ethernet.[/quote]
Then how is it a MiniMig?  Would it not be better to make a custom PowerPC motherboard... oh wait, almost forgot, no source of Northbridges.

[nBit7]

downix wrote:

3: Is anyone willing to do it?

I am if it doesn't require imitating a classic solution like Blizzard. Also no AGA, instead modern graphics, USB, Ethernet.

Then how is it a MiniMig?  Would it not be better to make a custom PowerPC motherboard... oh wait, almost forgot, no source of Northbridges.[/quote]

It would be a OS4 machine with native support for classic.

[downix]

nBit7 wrote:

downix wrote:

3: Is anyone willing to do it?

I am if it doesn't require imitating a classic solution like Blizzard. Also no AGA, instead modern graphics, USB, Ethernet.

Then how is it a MiniMig?  Would it not be better to make a custom PowerPC motherboard... oh wait, almost forgot, no source of Northbridges.

It would be a OS4 machine with native support for classic.[/quote]
You'd still need a northbridge better than anything ever seen in an AmigaONE or Pegasos to get modern graphics.  

[nBit7]

You'd still need a northbridge better than anything ever seen in an AmigaONE or Pegasos to get modern graphics.

Could use a PowerPC SoC with embeded graphics.
OR
More powerful FPGA.  I think it is safe to assume that northbrides are prototyped in FPGA.  OK you wouldn't be able to achieve the same clock speeds as a custom ASIC for the same design.  But with a good design optimized for the FPGA you get  transfer rates well above any commercially available ASIC.