Minimig/FPGA question

[Tension]

With original Amiga hardware becoming old and flaky, is there a FPGA Amiga board that has AGA, 040/40 and IDE? I'm just thinking in terms of an A4000 clone for running OctaMED Soundstudio and an IDE port to burn audio CDs from MAUD files in MakeCD.

[vidarh]

The closest you currently get is the FPGA Arcade / Replay which has AGA, an emulated '020 with performance not that far from what you're after (and a daughterboard on the way with support for a real 68060) but (currently at least) no IDE.

Natami is the other option, but likely to be a lot more expensive and not out yet.

[Tension]

The closest you currently get is the FPGA Arcade / Replay which has AGA, an emulated '020 with performance not that far from what you're after (and a daughterboard on the way with support for a real 68060) but (currently at least) no IDE.

Natami is the other option, but likely to be a lot more expensive and not out yet.

Interesting, thanks for that. How much would the above setup cost?

[Darrin]

Interesting, thanks for that. How much would the above setup cost?

Nobody can answer that until the 68060 board has been finalized.

[Tension]

Nobody can answer that until the 68060 board has been finalized.

Without the 060. Needless to say that'd be out of my price range anyway.

[Darrin]

Without the 060. Needless to say that'd be out of my price range anyway.

The problem is that it is still being tweaked and no mass production run has started (on the expansion board) so it is hard to even guess.  The good news is that you can have it populated or unpopulated.  Keep an eye on eBay for any 68060 processors going cheap or even an old broken computer or expansion card that contains one.

I don't think the price will scare people at the end of the day, and it will certainly be a lot cheaper than putting together a similar A1200 based system from scratch.  I hate to think what I've spent on my A4000 alone in the last 12 months.

While I can't say what I paid for my FPGA Arcade (It was a prototype and thus more expensive than the production run units), I thought it was a real bargain.

[Hattig]

With original Amiga hardware becoming old and flaky, is there a FPGA Amiga board that has AGA, 040/40 and IDE? I'm just thinking in terms of an A4000 clone for running OctaMED Soundstudio and an IDE port to burn audio CDs from MAUD files in MakeCD.

The plan (with the daughterboard) is to just use USB hard drives.

Without the daughterboard it's hardfiles on the SD card - and as you can get 32GB SDHC cards nowadays I'm sure you can set up a bunch of 4GB hardfiles on that.

[Tension]

So the short answer to my original question is just 'No' then.  No probs, was just a thought.

[Everblue]

I think CDROM can be used - external via USB. I have no idea if MakeCD will actually work with such as a setup though.

[Tension]

My only other option is to try and get a standard a4000 case. My micronik tower case is way too bloody big and cumbersome these days.

[Everblue]

In the original post you said that old Amiga hardware is getting too flaky, and that is probably true. I dont think a new Amiga case will help your cause =)

[ShapeShifter]

So the short answer to my original question is just 'No' then.  No probs, was just a thought.

I'd say it's much closer to being a "Yes" than a "No" myself

The FPGAArcade Replay already has AGA, it already has approximately 68040 levels of performance (and the speed will improve over time as they optimise and improve the CPU core), and the Replay is expandable, too.  That expansion ability will include USB support with the planned daughterboard expansion, due for release early next year. That should bring along with it the final requirement you seek: CD reader & writer compatibility.

Hard disk support is implemented via the SD Card route, a much more modern and elegant solution, one which obsoletes the need for IDE/SCSI support along with the large bulky hard disks and cabling which go along with that.  Instead, simply create a multi-GB HDF file, and partition it however you wish, and you've then got your Amiga hard disk!

I believe Mike has posted intended pricing for the Replay quite a few times now, so it should be alright for me to add that the price of the Replay should end up being in the region of 200-250 Euro; possibly less.  Not sure on pricing of the daughter board expansion - it depends on whether you buy it with or without the 68060.  I'm of the understanding that the 060 is optional.  If you order the daughter board without the 060, then all the other features (USB, ethernet, etc.) will function correctly, and if you wish to purchase a 68060 at a later date and slot it in, you can do so.

The price of a Replay with the daughter board will still probably work out to be quite a bit cheaper than purchasing a decent A4000 system second-hand, and will probably outperform it in many ways, too.

[Tension]

I'd say it's much closer to being a "Yes" than a "No" myself

The FPGAArcade Replay already has AGA, it already has approximately 68040 levels of performance (and the speed will improve over time as they optimise and improve the CPU core), and the Replay is expandable, too.  That expansion ability will include USB support with the planned daughterboard expansion, due for release early next year. That should bring along with it the final requirement you seek: CD reader & writer compatibility.

Hard disk support is implemented via the SD Card route, a much more modern and elegant solution, one which obsoletes the need for IDE/SCSI support along with the large bulky hard disks and cabling which go along with that.  Instead, simply create a multi-GB HDF file, and partition it however you wish, and you've then got your Amiga hard disk!

I believe Mike has posted intended pricing for the Replay quite a few times now, so it should be alright for me to add that the price of the Replay should end up being in the region of 200-250 Euro; possibly less.  Not sure on pricing of the daughter board expansion - it depends on whether you buy it with or without the 68060.  I'm of the understanding that the 060 is optional.  If you order the daughter board without the 060, then all the other features (USB, ethernet, etc.) will function correctly, and if you wish to purchase a 68060 at a later date and slot it in, you can do so.

The price of a Replay with the daughter board will still probably work out to be quite a bit cheaper than purchasing a decent A4000 system second-hand, and will probably outperform it in many ways, too.

But what about all the programs that bang the hardware and rely on chip timings and things? Games etc? Even OctaMED started messing up on me when I installed my Picasso.

[Darrin]

But what about all the programs that bang the hardware and rely on chip timings and things? Games etc? Even OctaMED started messing up on me when I installed my Picasso.

FPGAs are effectively recreating the hardware, unlike software emulation such as UAE.

However, you do have a good point about timings because in some ways the FPGA recreations are faster in some respects (blitter, RAM access, etc) and as my music abilities are about zero, I couldn't comment myself on how that might affect OctaMED.

I have OctaMED myself.  Is there something I can run for you in order to test it?

[freqmax]

you can get 32GB SDHC cards nowadays I'm sure you can set up a bunch of 4GB hardfiles on that.

Do the cores for Minimig and FPGA Arcade support  SDHC timings ..?

They are notable tighter than for standard-SD.