A1200 as a development platform

[rabindranath72]

Nicholas,
thanks for the files, got them

Indeed I was interested in an Amiga 1200 due to the pros listed above; in particular having a small footprint (I don't have much space) is important, and the fact that it can be easily connected to monitors and TVs (I have a Samsung TV/monitor so I should be able to run all resolutions.)
I will try to acquire a 68030 accelerator, since I need an MMU and FPU for my projects. Apparently no card with 68882 FPU+separate 68851 MMU was ever produced; that would have been enough, and perhaps cheaper than the 68030 boards.

[Zetr0]

Well there is always the CBM A2620 - while this is an A2000 accelerator card - I am sure a crazy moment with a soldering iron and 30awg wire could produce something interesting =)

Personally I think the A2620 is a beautiful card - don't know why.... it just looks delicious


(stock photo thanks to amiga.resource.cx)

[rabindranath72]

Ah yes, lovely! I had seen that, but the chances of having it work with an A1200 are slim at best I suppose? Apart from the form factor, are the signals on the A2000 and A1200 bus the same?

[Zetr0]

@rabindranath72

Sadly it would be very unlikely - the CPU card has a 16bit connector - this just wouldn't work with an A1200 without some logic in between - this will likely slow-down any operation requiring the use of the motherboard resources - which is most of them LOL  (however hacking it into an A500..... well now.... thats very possible!)

To be honest.... I only really wanted to post the A2620 picture.... its a lovely card to look at


Now a serious Alternative is -

The ACA1232/25 Accelerator £109.99 (inc VAT) + Postage (www.amigakit.com)

(Stock Photo - thanks to AmigaKit.com)

It provides an MMU, but no FPU - however interesting FPU instructions are transparent - so it wont matter if you program directly for it or not - it will make use of the FPU, if it is available.

Personally I think for the price of £109.99 this card does offer good value for money, with 128MB of RAM and a 25Mhz PGA 68030 - y'know, I am sure I could build a PGA interface board to allow for an FPU - however not knowing the timings of these cards - I doubt I could get the FPU to work reliably.

I will most likely get one of these cards in the near future - not because I need it..... because I want one... yeah I know..... bad me =/

[rabindranath72]

Yes I saw that, the price is really good, but the lack of FPU is annoying (I am an FPU freak  )

[A6000]

If a 68881 were fitted inside the a1200, would that accelerator be able to use it?

[rabindranath72]

If a 68881 were fitted inside the a1200, would that accelerator be able to use it?

I was wondering that :confused:
But then, how would you fit a 68882 inside the A1200? As far as I know there is no socket.

[A6000]

There are pads to solder a 68881 to but I do not know if the 68882 will work there.

[desiv]

Actually, there was someone who was trying that..
He soldered in a socket and added the FPU.
He was able to get it to work with no accelerator, but unfortunately, it wouldn't work with the ACA plugged in..
Looks like the ACA disables the FPU if it's there...

Not sure if he got any farther than that...

desiv

[rabindranath72]

Are you referring to this guy?
https://www.facebook.com/AppysAmigaPage

no, it doesn't seem to work

[ChaosLord]

Yes I saw that, the price is really good, but the lack of FPU is annoying (I am an FPU freak  )

If u r an FPU freak then you need to get a 68040 card or 68060 card as their built-in FPUs are massively faster than the lame old slow creaky external 68882 FPUs from the 80s.

You would need to buy a used one from someone.  They come up for sale on a regular basis.

[rabindranath72]

If u r an FPU freak then you need to get a 68040 card or 68060 card as their built-in FPUs are massively faster than the lame old slow creaky external 68882 FPUs from the 80s.

You would need to buy a used one from someone.  They come up for sale on a regular basis.

I don't know about the 68060, but the FPU core in the 68040 is quite lame compared to the functionality provided in hardware by the 68882; and many of the software libraries to compensate all those holes are quite slow (and buggy.) A similar situation happens with the core MMU in the 68030 and the 68851 MMU.
I am not after (much) speed, but "completeness" of options. That's why I mentioned that I would be really happy if I found a 68020/68851/68882 board.
Finally there is the price. There is no way in hell I am going to pay £300 for an accelerator card :insane:

[OlafS3]

I have added on my forum site links and informations regarding amiga programming. Perhaps it is interesting for one or another

http://www.amigacoding.de/index.php

[Iggy]

Well there is always the CBM A2620 - while this is an A2000 accelerator card - I am sure a crazy moment with a soldering iron and 30awg wire could produce something interesting =)

Personally I think the A2620 is a beautiful card - don't know why.... it just looks delicious


(stock photo thanks to amiga.resource.cx)

That is pretty.
Anyone know where I can get one?
I always had a soft spot for the '020 because the last systems shipped by Delmar Company used these processors (and they were a huge jump in performance when compared to the 68000).