natami

[takemehomegrandma]

Amiga is dead, Long Live Amiga!

[JimS]

It was my understanding (could be wrong) that the FPGA on the FPGA Arcade wasn't as big as the one on the Natami.
I didn't think there would be enough gates to fit what Natami was trying to do???

desiv

I'm not sure about that either. I believe Natami uses the Altera FPGA and FPGAarcade uses Xlinx Spartan 3. Not that that makes a whole lot of difference, just makes it harder for amateurs like me to relate the sizes of these things. ;-) Minimig itself has been ported to a couple of Altera boards, might be possible to go the other way.
Probably over in that 100 plus page thread, someone asked how much of the FPGA is used by the minimig AGA core.

[SamuraiCrow]

It was my understanding (could be wrong) that the FPGA on the FPGA Arcade wasn't as big as the one on the Natami.
I didn't think there would be enough gates to fit what Natami was trying to do???

The bigger problem with porting the NatAmi code from the Altera Cyclone IV to the Xilinx Spartan 3 is that it can't mix with the MiniMig core at all.  MiniMig is GPL code while NatAmi is closed-source.  Also, MiniMig is programmed in VHDL I think, and the NatAmi chipset is coded as AHDL which only works on Altera FPGAs.  Porting from Altera to Xilinx is possible but requires conscious effort to fix the code conversion problems from the converter.

[wrath of khan]

The bigger problem with porting the NatAmi code from the Altera Cyclone IV to the Xilinx Spartan 3 is that it can't mix with the MiniMig core at all.  MiniMig is GPL code while NatAmi is closed-source.  Also, MiniMig is programmed in VHDL I think, and the NatAmi chipset is coded as AHDL which only works on Altera FPGAs.  Porting from Altera to Xilinx is possible but requires conscious effort to fix the code conversion problems from the converter.

Hi samurai crow.Is it just thomas working on natami now.Are the rest of the team involved anymore?Will the natami forum be closed?

[wawrzon]

Whoever was working on the natami ever it was thomas all the time. The rest of the team was actually working on their own either related or accompanying projects as it looks like. I mean even i was invited but honestly have refused as i knew i couldnt seriously contribute.

[wrath of khan]

Whoever was working on the natami ever it was thomas all the time. The rest of the team was actually working on their own either related or accompanying projects as it looks like. I mean even i was invited but honestly have refused as i knew i couldnt seriously contribute.

I see so thomas was largely working alone all along in terms of hardware at least.Thomas might actually get the natami finished in private a bit quicker fingers crossed.

[Lurch]

It can (could, should, will, might?). It has an A500 keyboard connector on board.

Then I'll be looking at getting one. The A500 can't last forever :-(

[AJCopland]

I see so thomas was largely working alone all along in terms of hardware at least.Thomas might actually get the natami finished in private a bit quicker fingers crossed.

Yes, it's been quite frustrating for a lot of the people who joined up to help because they joined up thinking they would be allowed to progress the SAGA and maybe even the design if they were able. Instead it's gone on logos and some simple test programs.

What it meant is that the 3D Core that was talked about a lot got a lot of unnecessary attention, but it only got hat because it was the only part that anyone else could do anything with!!! Never even seen the code (AHDL) for the rest of the system. Then the soft 68k came along and that got a lot of attention for the same reason.

In truth it's quite simple, Thomas announced the project because he'd been working on it for a while already when Dennis announced the MiniMig, then Jens started talking about Clone-A and so Thomas decided it was time he spoke up about his project. Like I say though, no-one has ever gotten to work on either the hardware or the AHDL (fpga) designs, we've always been kept at arms length.

It's quite frustrating and not at all what I expected when I joined up to help out with the 3D stuff. I rarely even post there anymore

Andy

[Cosmos Amiga]

The Natami project is started since a very long time now and the progress is very slow : are you sure that Thomas (or the whole Team) don't have ennemies who block you ?

[vxm]

Yes, it's been quite frustrating for a lot of the people who joined up to help because they joined up thinking they would be allowed to progress the SAGA and maybe even the design if they were able. Instead it's gone on logos and some simple test programs.

What it meant is that the 3D Core that was talked about a lot got a lot of unnecessary attention, but it only got hat because it was the only part that anyone else could do anything with!!! Never even seen the code (AHDL) for the rest of the system. Then the soft 68k came along and that got a lot of attention for the same reason.

In truth it's quite simple, Thomas announced the project because he'd been working on it for a while already when Dennis announced the MiniMig, then Jens started talking about Clone-A and so Thomas decided it was time he spoke up about his project. Like I say though, no-one has ever gotten to work on either the hardware or the AHDL (fpga) designs, we've always been kept at arms length.

It's quite frustrating and not at all what I expected when I joined up to help out with the 3D stuff. I rarely even post there anymore

Andy

Please, what is the current status of 3D Core and SAGA? Is there still a lot of work?

[AJCopland]

@vxm
3DCore was shelved some time ago, there's a design, Gunnar even has an existing CPLD/FPGA version he did some time ago that could be used - but it's not the focus for Natami.

SAGA - I'm not personally sure, but the OCS/ECS/AGA implementation was looking good and already a lot faster in some ways than the original thanks to memory access, faster bus etc. It just needs a lot of tweaking. There's also the lesser discussed audio improvements but again I can't tell.

What is real is that there are several revision of the Natami boards with a real 68060 out there in peoples hands. 7 at the last count, who were trying to implement drivers for the network, usb, etc components. All essential stuff that needs doing to make it live upto it's promises.

Everyone, especially here sadly, goes on about the FPGA core and how the rest of the team is useless or unhelpful etc, but those things won't write themselves and the volunteers doing things are doing the best with what access they're given.

Andy

[AJCopland]

The Natami project is started since a very long time now and the progress is very slow : are you sure that Thomas (or the whole Team) don't have ennemies who block you ?

No, it's just that it's slow and difficult for one man to do, and it is all one man (Thomas) who also has a real life and a new job lately.

[smerf]

This project is certainly one that I am most interested in. If we are looking at a €500 to €700 price range then best start saving. Because once my bambino is born I won't have much miggy money to play with.

(My child will be shown what a true computer is too. I will start them with a C64 and then on to Amiga. Obviously once it hits like 1 year old I will start its journy. lol)

Hi,

Really hate to disappoint, but you can give your child a C64 or Amiga to show them what a good computer really is, but in true life, you are better off giving them a PC no matter how hard it hurts, it is the computer used by business's today and that is all there is to it.

Remember Microsoft has created billions of jobs out in the world for people trying to keep their sorry a$$ software running. If Amiga would have invested in it, billions of people would be working in the sewers, well maybe they still are, they are working for microsoft.

smerf

[Lord Aga]

Well, first things first. We need full AGA and 68K compatibility, and the board can be sold. Later, we can get updates for 3D cores, SAGA and enything else really. It's FPGA after all.

[smerf]

it is a waste time as all the PPC based systems are. It is a fun thing and some would have liked to use it. Hobby, perhaps nostalgic to a certain degree. If we all would be "rational" we all would not be here :-).

Hi,

Give this man the sane trophy for today. Best words of wisdom said today.

smerf

[smerf]

After years and years of teases,updates, changes, still no release date. I don't think it will ever happen. I was interested in this, until I realized I could simply remove windows shell and boot straight to os3.x with winuae.

That 3ghz pc cost me 30$ on ebay. And its here right now.

WOW!!!

A very close competitor to the words of wisdom for today, but $30 on ebay makes you a loser. Buying old obsolete computers, put you behind in the runnings to Olaf.

Sorry
smerf