Sonnet PPC PCI Card

[Piru]

but it looks like it loaded some ppc native modules

Even if it did (it reported error after all), there would be no way to execute them, so it did not run any PPC code.

With PUP OSes the bootstrap is m68k, so obviously it runs somewhat.

[mike-]

So what do we do then?
Start a bounty to pay everyone off so we can get the ultimate classic amiga? To me it looks like it might be now or never, with regards to the sharks.

[mboehmer_e3b]

Im quite sure i've seen a driver for the shark in the mediator drivers, if its there it might reveal some clues

I think I've seen it too, if I remember correctly it was in the same directory as the Dragon driver? Or the eflash1200 software? Maybe it was also the MPEG-2/DVD PCI card driver directory? The name of the directory was "Vapour", I guess...

Face it: from a technical point of view it doesn't make any sense to operate the Sonnect card on a PCI bus board, even if it had the required 3.3V power supply rail installed as requested by the PCI spec, unless you have true PCI-Amiga DMA cycle conversion to allow clean and performant accesses to the classic Amiga mainboard.

Did I note that the Sonnect needs +5V DIMMs, which are *really* hard to get?

Michael

P.S.: if you find any sarcasm here, just keep it.

[Aminik]

I see that the Sonnet PCI case is a bit of a taboo topic here , or it has been discussed so much in the last years and came to so many empty speculation that no one wants to hear about a possibility on this project!

Anyway i believe that, after seeing the Natami specifications,  which includes 2 pci slots and a cpu expansion probably for ppc, then maybe the Natami team would implement the idea of the Sonnet card because i think they are also enhancing the kickstart.

Or another idea, what if we start a machine with a 040 accelerator for example and amigaos 3.9 installed and see how the os3.9 will react to this card....

[Piru]

@Aminik

It has nothing to do with being taboo. It's just that it's not technically feasible.

Anyway i believe that, after seeing the Natami specifications, which includes 2 pci slots and a cpu expansion probably for ppc, then maybe the Natami team would implement the idea of the Sonnet card because i think they are also enhancing the kickstart.

I've yet to see any of their grand plans actually work. Most of the enchancement talk seems to come people who have little understanding on how it would be done, or how hard it would be. I wouldn't hold my breath.

Or another idea, what if we start a machine with a 040 accelerator for example and amigaos 3.9 installed and see how the os3.9 will react to this card....

No need to. It completely ignores the card.

[Hans_]

Or another idea, what if we start a machine with a 040 accelerator for example and amigaos 3.9 installed and see how the os3.9 will react to this card....

No need to. It completely ignores the card.

That's not entirely true is it? Amiga OS 3.9 will recognize that there is a PCI card with vendor and device IDs matching the Sonnet card, then, and only then, will it ignore the card. :-P

Hans

[Zac67]

Apparently the card's CPU needs some kind of activation sequence. In (wild) theory, this could also work in an Amiga:
- PCI video/sound cards are no problem if slot-to-slot DMA works.
- Acessing the legacy adress space would be pretty tricky: you'd need to set up the MMU to trap the access, generate the appropriate 68k code and let that run instead. :lol: This could actually work even though it'd probably be pretty slow.

BTW: anyone got 5V DIMMs he's willing to part with ??

I've got a PowerMac 9500 here, souped up with a G4/1000(!), but only 64 MB inside.
I've tried using old Compaq server DIMMs, but they seem to be 3V and OS X keeps crashing on installation. OS9 seems to work OK, but the NIC refuses to receive data - very strange actually.
The best deal I could find was on macsales.com - $19 for 128 MB. Not bad, but shipping to Germany is >=$29...

[Piru]

@Hans_

That's not entirely true is it? Amiga OS 3.9 will recognize that there is a PCI card with vendor and device IDs matching the Sonnet card, then, and only then, will it ignore the card.

Sure, but since we're splitting hair, strictly speaking the pci subsystem is not part of the AmigaOS 3.9, it's always a third party thing. :-)
That is, if you boot a vanilla 3.9 installation it will 100% ignore the PCI subsystem and the card.

Anyway, the vendor PCI ID would be 0x16b8, at least for the sonnet card. However, elbox would have probably "done the Spider" and changed the PCI ID number to prevent people from using the cheap original cards. See elboxdecrypt.

[alexh]

5v DIMMS?

What pinout? 168-pin?
What technology? DDR SDRAM, SDR SDRAM, FPM or EDO?

I am 80% sure you need 168-pin 5v FPM DIMM for Sonnet Crescendo/7200 (though EDO might work)

I got some 168-pin EDO DIMM's from a Dell PowerEdge server here somewhere... dunno if they are 5v

[Zac67]

Yes, 168 pin, FPM or EDO.
5V have the middle notch slightly to the left (towards the other notch), the notch on 3.3V ones is centered between the contacts.

As DRAMs are rather tolerant towards higher voltage, I've 'modified' the Compaq DIMMs with a cutter, which somewhat works. The original sticks have 74FCT162244 buffers while the 3Vs are 163244 - couldn't find any exact specs, but that's probably the only thing 3V on them since the RAMs themselves are 5V types...

[arnljot]

Status update:

After having read throught this thread it seems that most, if not all people agree that using the Sonnet PCI card is impossible on the Mediator. DMA is the reason, also 3.3v vs. 5v seems to be an issue.

Also, I emailed Elbox the 13th of August, asking them on this issue. Some have reported to at least get the answer which is in their FAQ, which is "when OS 4 is out".

The subject of my email to them was "Information about your mediator product and related", it contained four questions presented in a civil and polite manner.

Due to this I don't see any point in offering a bounty for this to be developed.

Thus, I join the ranks of the cynic disillusioned and blasé  :crazy:

[Rob]

@arnljot

After having read throught this thread it seems that most, if not all people agree that using the Sonnet PCI card is impossible on the Mediator. DMA is the reason, also 3.3v vs. 5v seems to be an issue.

DMA works on PCI-PCI transfers and there is no need for DMA PCI-Amiga motherboard memory transers, if OS4 is running on the SharkPPC, because you'll be moving the video and audio onto the PCI bus anyway.
The A1200 motherboard will merely be a dongle to get around the restrictive 2001 agreement.

Also, I emailed Elbox the 13th of August, asking them on this issue. Some have reported to at least get the answer which is in their FAQ, which is "when OS 4 is out".

The subject of my email to them was "Information about your mediator product and related", it contained four questions presented in a civil and polite manner.

Try using the the default subjects from the Elbox website rather than your own, e.g. Sales request: when using sales@elbox.com

I made a support enquiry with them recently, and got some answers to questions I'd slipped in about the SharkPPC and Dragon.

[mike-]

@mboehmer_e3b

The name of the directory was "Vapour", I guess...

Yes that's the one...I could swear i saw something somewhere tho it might have been my wet day dream.

Btw, sadly, from what i heard they're not gonna release it. So i guess you were right mr e3b , now how about a usb ppc dongle  :lol: