MINIMIG HARDWARE COMPATIBILITY & NEW TURBO MODE!

[Darrin]

@ Ulysses31 & Beller:

Thanks guys - I'm off to update the Wiki...

[Darrin]

Boing4000 as released "Turbo" versions of Yaqube's cores here:

http://asc.dyndns.org/minimig/download/

Simply fit a jumper to the Minimig to have it running with a 68000 at 14MHz!

[trekiej]

It's Alive!

It will be nice to see Mini-Mig to get some upgrades in the future to allow for productivity software.
I guess UAE can help fill that slot for now.

[Darrin]

trekiej wrote:
It's Alive!

It will be nice to see Mini-Mig to get some upgrades in the future to allow for productivity software.
I guess UAE can help fill that slot for now.

I have plans for printer support on the Minimig, but I need Hard Drive/Hard File support first.  :-)

[trekiej]

If the RS232 port is fast enough, a null modem cable could allow UAE to be developement software.

This of course it not new. I can not find the specs. for the rs232.

[Belial6]

Darrin wrote:

I have plans for printer support on the Minimig

I don't know what you have planned, but I would love to see the parallel and serial ports virtualized inside the FPGA, then connected with as few pins as possible to something like the PIC18F67J60.  Then we could run either a similar board to turn the Ethernet back into real parallel and serial for stand alone use, or we could run a server app on our PCs that would let us take care of the printer side of things.

This would allow for stand alone use, but when used with a PC, it would give us the huge benefit of being able to write a server app on the PC side that would turn the output of the Amiga into something usable by modern equipment.

It might seem like an expensive way to get printer support, but given that it would allow any interface to be added with no additional hardware, it seems it would be worth it.  How many pins are on the FPGA would also become a non-issue for adding new functionality, as only the connection to the PIC18F67J60 would exist.

[Darrin]

My solution is to use a PC too, but with Siamese v2.5 running on that same serial link we use to update the PIC.

I've used this successfully on real Amiga computers to give them 8Bit and 16Bit RTG Workbench displays from 800x600 to 1024x768 along with the ability to access all the PC drives as if they were Amiga drives and print to the PC's printer as if it was connected to the Amiga.

So, a cheap 2nd or 3rd hand Athlon/P3 box running Siamese at startup could act as a "dumb" expension card providing the Minimig with RTG graphics, a large hard drive, CD/DVD ROM and printer support all in one and (hopefully as I haven't tested this) access to any media drives attached to the PC's USB ports.

Personally, I'm just interested in access to the CD ROM and printer capabilities.

[Belial6]

So, I looked up Siamese, and as far as I can tell, it is a commercial hardware solution that is out of production?  Am I missing something?

Obviously, I would never tell someone that they shouldn't work on the projects that they want, but I am still hoping someone will pop up with an Ethernet 'virtual port' add-on, as I would like to see something that COULD act on it's own, and it is unlikely that I would ever dedicate a full PC to running as a MiniMig card.  An app on my server, sure.  A full PC just for the MiniMig no.

[Darrin]

Belial6 wrote:
So, I looked up Siamese, and as far as I can tell, it is a commercial hardware solution that is out of production?  Am I missing something?

Obviously, I would never tell someone that they shouldn't work on the projects that they want, but I am still hoping someone will pop up with an Ethernet 'virtual port' add-on, as I would like to see something that COULD act on it's own, and it is unlikely that I would ever dedicate a full PC to running as a MiniMig card.  An app on my server, sure.  A full PC just for the MiniMig no.

Actually, the Siamese V2.5 is software only (the earlier versions were hardware/software combos.

Yes, it's out of production (and has been for over a decade), but it is easily found on the net (I have an original copy I bought when it was available).  You don't actually need a dedicated machine, as it could just hook up via the serial port to an existing PC.  It also uses Ethernet (and SCSI) to connect as an option, but I haven't got around to using that yet (Not musch use with the Minimig, but I must try connecting my A4000 to it over my home network).

[freqmax]

Actually it's possible to use the spare I/O as 10Base-T ethernet directly by simply wiring it to an existing ethernet port on the PC/switch.
An ethernet controller can then be coded on the FPGA. Aswell as an virtual parallell( or rs232)<->ethernet bridge. Simultainiously with a SANA hw interface.

Iow, it can be done to 99% with some clever coding.
The only culprint is to make the received ethernet signal single ended. And protect the board against reverse currents. Also pay attention to ground loops when no magnetics is used.

[Darrin]

Interesting, but if I was to take a soldering iron to my Minimig then it would never boot again.  :-D

[Belial6]

Darrin wrote:
Interesting, but if I was to take a soldering iron to my Minimig then it would never boot again.  :-D

Don't take a soldering iron to your MiniMig.  The spare IO are pins that are sticking up out of the board.  Just make a plug that is wired to an Ethernet jack.

@Freqmax:

That is actually a better idea.  My thought was that you could probably get away with fewer IO lines if you serialized the data going to the Ethernet chip, but failed to take into consideration that by doing the Ethernet in the FPGA, you would only need a 4? wires and an rj-45 jack to upgrade the MiniMig.  There is a lot of value to an upgrade that can be had for less than $5 at a local Radio Shack.  The only question would be whether the FPGA has enough space for it.

While I'm sure that most of us recognize the value of having Ethernet built into the MiniMig, I think there would be huge value in virtualizing ports across that Ethernet.  Not only would it make the spare I/O pin count irrelevant, but it would allow peripherals to be placed anywhere on the network, and would allow all sorts of tricks to be played on the other side.  Things like translating the printer output into something usable by a modern printer before spooling to the real thing.  Another cool thing about doing it this way is that you wouldn't need to install anything special on the MiniMig.  As far as it was concerned everything would be just as if it was plugged into an actual A500.

[Dwyloc]

So has anyone tried running any benchmarks on the turbo core to see how much actual difference it makes to the speed of the minimig?

[Darrin]

Dwyloc wrote:
So has anyone tried running any benchmarks on the turbo core to see how much actual difference it makes to the speed of the minimig?

If nobody has done it by Thursday then I will.  :-)

[mahen]

Any news about a possible PAL 60 Hz hacked build ?

[Darrin]

mahen wrote:
Any news about a possible PAL 60 Hz hacked build ?

Not yet.  Yaqube is a bit busy moving house at the moment (I believe).