MiniMig with AGA

[kolla]

I wonder if there is a enough room to add RTG to the FPGA.
I hope this leads to an Amiga software revival.

Why would it? Seriously, if RTG is so important, then why not get a Mac mini with MorphOS or some OS4 box already? As a bonus you get PowerPC, heck lot more CPU power and RAM, and they are available *now*!

[trekiej]

More curriosity than anything, I wonder if productivity apps benefit.
One could build a 68k computer with chunky graphics instead.

[bloodline]

More curriosity than anything, I wonder if productivity apps benefit.
One could build a 68k computer with chunky graphics instead.

Productivity apps? Just run UAE/WinUAE

[Hattig]

I disagree with that because nobody is going to write drivers for that extensions. So zero software would actually use it. In contrast if a gfx chip supported by P96 or CGX was supported we suddenly would be able to run ALL amiga RTG software.

Why not expose the new chunky "AGA++"/AAA modes via a P96 driver?

The biggest difficulty with adding chunky modes (or a chunky P96 compatible video card alongside the AGA functionality) is that it isn't just the video output circuitry that needs to support chunky, the blitter and other features also need to support it - possibly including chunky-planar conversions.

The biggest advantage on a modern design is RAM quantity and speed. Hopefully this will be quite nice on this card, so 256-colour AGA will work nicely without slowing down the rest of the system... :p

[bloodline]

Why not expose the new chunky "AGA++"/AAA modes via a P96 driver?

The biggest difficulty with adding chunky modes (or a chunky P96 compatible video card alongside the AGA functionality) is that it isn't just the video output circuitry that needs to support chunky, the blitter and other features also need to support it - possibly including chunky-planar conversions.

The biggest advantage on a modern design is RAM quantity and speed. Hopefully this will be quite nice on this card, so 256-colour AGA will work nicely without slowing down the rest of the system... :p

If youvare going to use a P96 driver, why not use a nice modern chip from ATI or Nvidia? It will be cheaper and more powerful than any FPGA solution.

[Linde]

Productivity apps? Just run UAE/WinUAE

If we were all looking for the optimal way of doing things, we wouldn't be here, would we?

If youvare going to use a P96 driver, why not use a nice modern chip from ATI or Nvidia? It will be cheaper and more powerful than any FPGA solution.

Because there is already an FPGA on the board, I guess. Also, it's obviously the most future proof solution. I also believe that it would be a bit overkill with a modern GPU, considering the RAM amount and processor speed of this thing.

Personally, I don't think there's any point in extending the chipset, though. What software would developer would ever support it? If anything, just add generic P96 and AHI compatible "hardware" to support the various apps that actually make use of it.

[Crom00]

Productivity apps? Just run UAE/WinUAE

Yes A $150 throw away pentium 4 gets you a $3000 Amiga using UAE and AMiKIT.

[Hattig]

If youvare going to use a P96 driver, why not use a nice modern chip from ATI or Nvidia? It will be cheaper and more powerful than any FPGA solution.

I think that misses the point of the FPGAArcade by a clear mile, whilst extending AGA with chunky modes for fun and then looking for a way to make them accessible to serious applications doesn't.

[mikej]

Hi all,
Thanks to all the people who have PM'd or emailed me.
I am keeping a list, and you lot will be at the head of the queue when the boards are qualified.

I still have to do some checking on the price, but I'll let you know as soon as I have firm details, probably after the first 10 are made so I know if I have to factor any board changes into the cost.

I'm very keen to have the boards working and ready to ship before I accept any orders.

I know it is taking longer then we all want, but I am going as fast as I can.

We should see the boards in less than 2 weeks.
Best,
Mike

[ferrellsl]

Put me down for a board.

[trekiej]

I am going to wait on the price, then getting the money will be difficult.

[djmartins]

I'm very keen to have the boards working and ready to ship before I accept any orders.

I know it is taking longer then we all want, but I am going as fast as I can.

Mike,

It is always better to have people waiting to give you money than complaining that you have their money but not sent their stuff.


regards,
DJ

[mikej]

My thoughts exactly.
/MikeJ

[billt]

More curriosity than anything, I wonder if productivity apps benefit.
One could build a 68k computer with chunky graphics instead.

Does the AGA minimig include the CD32 chunky->planar chip Akiko? If so, then problem solved. If not, add it. Heck, create new chunky modes that are not in legacy AGA from Commodore and add them. Isn't Natami planning to do such things, why not Minimig too?

[mikej]

I haven't actually seen the new code yet, but from my Atari work it is easy to do this sort of thing.

Plane mode is least efficient from a DRAM point of view. What I did with the ST is to burst read a chunk from each plane from the DRAM and hold it in a local RAM cache. I can then combine each plane how I like. The DRAM access is very efficient as it is reading 8 word burst access per plane. I wrote it to support 32 planes, and they all share one RAM block.

For chunky modes you just cut up the data as it arrives into suitable size, um, chunks.

It has to work in legacy mode of course as well, these new modes are no use unless we write a driver to support them.
/Mike

[billt]

It has to work in legacy mode of course as well, these new modes are no use unless we write a driver to support them.
/Mike

Wasn't there an old AGA driver for P96 or CGX? Even if it seemed silly back then, it may start making more sense now with this new AGA and potential addons in Minimig. OK, so maybe new modes aren't useful without drivers. So write a driver... I don't see that as a reason not to create new modes.