DDR2 SODIMM for Sam440-Flex?

[Everblue]

I found these for sale at a local shop here in Malta:

http://www.scanmalta.com/item.php?WebCategory=memory&ProductCode=MEM-L12779

It seems that the Sam440-Flex takes DDR1 memory....will that work? I was wondering if it should be backward compatible.

BTW I am assuming that the Sam440-Flex takes SODIMM memory modules - I might be wrong.

[Daedalus]

Nope, as far as I know they won't work. The SAM doesn't use SO-DIMMs, it uses a more obscure  100-pin slot usually used on embedded gear - office printers, switches and the likes. Your best bet would be to buy it from an Amiga sealer to be sure you're getting the right stuff.

[Everblue]

Yeah I can see that. Why do they always have to use this crap

They should have used normal DDR... cheap and grows on trees.

[amigadave]

That is disappointing news.  I agree that they should have used normal, cheap and widely available RAM.  I wonder why they did not?

[Derfs]

its exactly the same memory used as on the sam440ep.

on acube website it says "We strongly suggest to use only DIMM 100, DDR400, 512 Mb 32 bits modules with Nanya chips."

[Everblue]

Again I will have to pass on buying OS4.1 Amiga Hardware.... I thought FLEX was supposed to be cheaper than the older Sam440, but when you add up RAM and VGA you're back to square one...

[HammerD]

Well it would seem they developed the board for some unknown embedded market.  That is why you see the Zigbee module, the non-standard (at least for "normal" desktop boards) memory, and other embedded features that really just add cost and will never be used by OS4 users.

Would be nice to have a new "normal" desktop board like the AmigaOne's or Pegasos-2.

When I say normal I mean normal ports, expansion slots, and memory slots.

DDR2, PCI-E, PCI...

[Methuselas]

HammerD wrote:

That is why you see the Zigbee module, the non-standard (at least for "normal" desktop boards) memory, and other embedded features that really just add cost and will never be used by OS4 users.

This is the *EXACT* reason I have no interest in OS4! I'm *SO* sick of over-priced, under powered hardware. I don't understand why they just didn't port it to a "generic" (I use that term lightly) PPC board. I know they're available.

Oh, wait. We know why. They need to tie us to hardware we can't just readily pick up and "pirate" their software.... :roll:

Would be nice to have a new "normal" desktop board like the AmigaOne's or Pegasos-2.

When I say normal I mean normal ports, expansion slots, and memory slots.

DDR2, PCI-E, PCI...

I concur. The "flex" Sam is a joke. Let's remove the VGA, still use obscure ram modules and overclock the same CPU, but jack the price up another 40 Euro. Why the hell has Hyperion not ported OS4 to the Efika? I hate to say it, but even with the low amount of ram, I'd readily buy one, if OS4 ran on it.

It's not like I would need more, right now. I spend too much time doing art and music on my Hackintosh Lappy, which dual boots for all my needs. A new Amiga has to be useful for me, or cheap enough for the novelty factor. I've got a machine I can browse the web and play old Amiga games on. :roll:

To coin a Vulcan: "Their logic is flawed".


EPIC FAIL!  :madashell:


So far, the only Amiga tech I'm looking forward to, is the Clone-A, but Jens is being quite tight-lipped about it.  :boohoo:

[takemehomegrandma]

I concur. The "flex" Sam is a joke. Let's remove the VGA, still use obscure ram modules and overclock the same CPU, but jack the price up another 40 Euro. Why the hell has Hyperion not ported OS4 to the Efika? I hate to say it, but even with the low amount of ram, I'd readily buy one, if OS4 ran on it.

If they got OS4 to boot on the Pegasos2 through Genesi's firmware (which I believe they did), it wouldn't be a biggie to at least boot it up on the Efika as well.

Hans-Joerg Frieden himself:

"The Pegasos Firmware has something called RTAS (Run Time Abstraction Service) that makes supporting the chipset itself (for which I had zero documentation) quite easy. As the name implies, it is a part of the firmware that stays around and allows access to some of the features of the board without knowing the hardware."

Guess what - it turns out the EFIKA has the same Firmware! They probably already tried this long time ago, for curiosity if for no other reason.

It's not like I would need more, right now. I spend too much time doing art and music on my Hackintosh Lappy, which dual boots for all my needs.

Then wouldn't a port to Mac hardware be even better?

[Methuselas]

takemehomegrandma wrote:

If they got OS4 to boot on the Pegasos2 through Genesi's firmware (which I believe they did), it wouldn't be a biggie to at least boot it up on the Efika as well.

Hans-Joerg Frieden himself:

"The Pegasos Firmware has something called RTAS (Run Time Abstraction Service) that makes supporting the chipset itself (for which I had zero documentation) quite easy. As the name implies, it is a part of the firmware that stays around and allows access to some of the features of the board without knowing the hardware."

Guess what - it turns out the EFIKA has the same Firmware! They probably already tried this long time ago, for curiosity if for no other reason.

So port it, then. 100$ for the mobo and 200$ for the OS is a lot nicer than the price I'd have to pay for a SAM440. That Amiga board wouldn't get a lot of use anyways, 'cos I'd have nothing to do on it.

Then wouldn't a port to Mac hardware be even better?

Uh, I use the X86 version, not PPC. Hence, the "Hackintosh". I could care less if it was ported to Mac hardware. Even a MacMini is a pain. You have to find it, fight for it on Ebay, unless you find one locally you can buy and then it's still beyond a price range I'm willing to pay.

There's *NOTHING* substantial to garner buying OS4, except for a zealot attitude, which I no longer have. It's pointless to spend over 500$ for a mobo to run an OS I have to spend another 200$ to purchase, when all it will have is a web browser (with no java or flash support) and a nostalgia for an OS I feel died an early death.

Trust me, when MorphOS and OS4.1 are finally (assuming OS4 will be) ported to the MacMini, the price will be driven up, due to fanatics trying to get one, to run the "end all, be all of Godlike-OSes". :roll:

Just port it to the Efika already. It's got a low, price point and you're not breaking our wallets to get it. It may not be the best on the marked, but *scoffs* neither is OS4 or MorphOS, for that matter.


Just my 2p.

[amigadave]

Derf wrote:
its exactly the same memory used as on the sam440ep.

on acube website it says "We strongly suggest to use only DIMM 100, DDR400, 512 Mb 32 bits modules with Nanya chips."

Thanks for the obvious answer.  To the rest of the people complaining (including me), think about it, not everyone is like Piru, who makes enough money at his regular job AND it doesn't bother him to work on MorphOS and take NO money for his time.

Manufacturers and OS developers want and deserve to make money for their time and work.  We can choose to dislike them for making that money at our expense, but no on is forcing us to buy their products.  Until we try to create our own AmigaOS and/or try to make a PROFIT from selling hardware to a tiny niche community, perhaps we should not condemn others for their methods and prices.  I know that I have complained in the past, and I might do it again in the future, but just because AmigaOS is a hobby for most of us does not make it a hobby to those trying to run a business and make payroll and taxes.

Admit it, nobody is getting rich selling to the Amiga community.  And I have never understood the widespread mentality that Amiga gear and OS should be able to compete with other systems on price or features when the other systems have resources and market share that is hundreds and thousands of times greater, or the crazy idea that any of these companies owe the Amiga community something and that they should be selling products at cost or below their cost.

So, if ACube makes some of their design decisions based on compatibility for the embedded market instead of potential sales to the Amiga market, it is just a business decision that perhaps makes more common sense in the long run.  It does not mean that they are intentionally trying to make it harder and more costly just to screw the Amiga community.  Why are they even bothering with the Amiga community?  I guarantee it is not to get rich quick.

[amigadave]

Methuselas wrote:

takemehomegrandma wrote:

If they got OS4 to boot on the Pegasos2 through Genesi's firmware (which I believe they did), it wouldn't be a biggie to at least boot it up on the Efika as well.

Hans-Joerg Frieden himself:

"The Pegasos Firmware has something called RTAS (Run Time Abstraction Service) that makes supporting the chipset itself (for which I had zero documentation) quite easy. As the name implies, it is a part of the firmware that stays around and allows access to some of the features of the board without knowing the hardware."

Guess what - it turns out the EFIKA has the same Firmware! They probably already tried this long time ago, for curiosity if for no other reason.

So port it, then. 100$ for the mobo and 200$ for the OS is a lot nicer than the price I'd have to pay for a SAM440. That Amiga board wouldn't get a lot of use anyways, 'cos I'd have nothing to do on it.

Then wouldn't a port to Mac hardware be even better?

Uh, I use the X86 version, not PPC. Hence, the "Hackintosh". I could care less if it was ported to Mac hardware. Even a MacMini is a pain. You have to find it, fight for it on Ebay, unless you find one locally you can buy and then it's still beyond a price range I'm willing to pay.

There's *NOTHING* substantial to garner buying OS4, except for a zealot attitude, which I no longer have. It's pointless to spend over 500$ for a mobo to run an OS I have to spend another 200$ to purchase, when all it will have is a web browser (with no java or flash support) and a nostalgia for an OS I feel died an early death.

Trust me, when MorphOS and OS4.1 are finally (assuming OS4 will be) ported to the MacMini, the price will be driven up, due to fanatics trying to get one, to run the "end all, be all of Godlike-OSes". :roll:

Just port it to the Efika already. It's got a low, price point and you're not breaking our wallets to get it. It may not be the best on the marked, but *scoffs* neither is OS4 or MorphOS, for that matter.


Just my 2p.

Depending on where you live, the G4 MacMini is not much more expensive than the Efika.  I think I bought my Efika system about as cheaply as can be found in the USA, so let's compare the costs.

Efika Specs include 128mb system RAM, 397MHz CPU, 60gb hdd, 2 USB1.1 ports, 128mb AGP graphics card.

$201.38 - Efika mobo (I paid extra $13 for testing), case w/pico PSU & 90 degree PCI to AGP adapter from Directron.com with shipping.
$39.95 - HIS ATI Radeon 128mb AGP low profile video graphics card from TigerDirect.com (got free shipping by adding a couple of other things to the order)
$0 - 60gb 2.5" hard drive (I took mine from a dead Mac G4 PPC PowerBook, but cost could be $80-$100)
$27.99 - Wireless USB mouse & keyboard from TigerDirect.com
$59.99 - External USB DVDRW/CDRW (cheaper units available, mine is lightscribe for use with other computers too)
$329.31 - Total for Efika hardware system (New)

MacMini G4 PPC specs include 1gb system RAM, 1.5GHz CPU, 80gb hdd, 1 firewire + 2 USB2.0 ports, 64mb PCI graphics card, built-in CDRW/DVDR.

$330.00 - Won auction on eBay w/no keyboard or mouse
$20.00 shipping
$27.99 - If I were to buy another wireless keyboard & mouse
$377.99 - Total cost for MacMini hardware system (Used)

I would like to see AmigaOS4.x on both the Efika and the MacMini PPC, but I think the MacMini wins in the price to performance comparison, don't you?

It would be great if during the alteration of the Open Firmware to get AmigaOS4.x working on the Efika, they also unlocked the secret that would allow the installation of an additional 128mb of system RAM to it on the pads already provided on the underside of the Efika mobo.

Maybe that would motivate someone to unlock the OF for MorphOS to recognize the extra 128mb of RAM too!  (just dreaming)

[takemehomegrandma]

amigadave wrote:

It would be great if during the alteration of the Open Firmware to get AmigaOS4.x working on the Efika,

You *don't* need to do any alterations to the firmware, that's the whole point! Think of it as a Hardware Abstraction Layer for the OS. :-) The RTAS (in Friedens quote above) is available in current firmware, both the Peg and Efika has it (and a few other boards).

Beyond that, Genesi has been working towards "AURA" (their "NG"/v2.0 firmware) for some time. I found an old post I wrote about this. If I understand things correctly it looks like AURA will make it easier and faster for hardware manufacturers bring various OS's to their hardware (and their products to the market), and easier for OS manufacturers to expand their hardware base for their OS's. Also read this if you want more info. BTW, AURA supports PPC, x86 and ARM.

they also unlocked the secret that would allow the installation of an additional 128mb of system RAM to it on the pads already provided on the underside of the Efika mobo.

Maybe that would motivate someone to unlock the OF for MorphOS to recognize the extra 128mb of RAM too!  (just dreaming)

It's not the firmware preventing you to solder another 128MB to your board, it's a hardware thing. They set up the Efika this way prior to production, and now we will have to live with it. It's not like hitting a secret switch in OF, a new production run of boards that's built with more memory is required. And I don't think that will happen. I think Genesi is 100% focused on the ARM right now.