Can of worms - Classic Amiga Expansion

[Kernel]

Ok so not to stir up anything other than a healthy discussion... seeing that there are Zorro based usb, ram, and network cards still being produced, as well as other types of expansion cards like the ACA500 and various accelerator cards and internal ram expansions for the smaller Amigas... the burning question is why hasn't anyone come out with a new video card along the lines of the Picasso IV or better?  I mean, nothing with massive 3D or groundbreaking, just something to fill that gap that is certainly there?

I for one would be interested in a video card for my A3K that provides Picasso IV comparable RTG functionality.

If I am missing something, someone please enlighten me!

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

New graphics cards were among the most asked for items on this thread:

http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=66631

And your answer is... I dunno? I still stand by that it should be possible to build a single-slot solution like the old "Domino" video cards, that were basically just a Zorro-to-ISA-bus adapter, only updated to Zorro-to-PCIe spec (using bridge logic that's already in use on the Mediator), and slap something like an ATI 6570 on there.

Even crummy Amiga video cards are fetching upwards of $200 these days, and high end cards over $500, so there's definitely a market!

[Iggy]

The only way to obtain Cirrus Logic GD5446 ICs would be to salvage them from PC video cards.
Can anyone give me the exactly model numbers off a Picasso IV's Cirrus Logic GD5446 IC?
Got it, and I have found some PC cards with this on them.
The Xilinx component is still available from re-sellers as well.
Some of the components are rather rare, but I don't see anything that is impossible to source.

So, who owns the rights to these cards?

[NovaCoder]

It's a good idea.

If someone was going to do it, then you'd just go for an FPGA reimplementation, why bother with old PC graphics chips.

You could make a pretty nice card, memory is very fast and cheap these days so you should be able to make something much better than the old stuff.

Why go for P96 though?   CyberGFX has a much better than nasty old P96.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Why go for P96 though? CyberGFX has a much better than nasty old P96.

When you say "old", the latest version of P96 was released in 2011.  I thought CGX stopped development sometime back in the late '90s.  So shouldn't that technically be the other way around?  Also P96 is free.  
 
 Or maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about, feel free to enlighten, LOL.  :biglaugh:

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

I would also like this from a personal standpoint, because I've now spent over $500 importing Picasso II's from Europe to try on my A2000 system. :anger:

[Kernel]

So anyone here listening that can make this happen?  I mean, I know it's not going to be an overnight thing, but do we need to petition Individual or ElBox or someone else and slap down some cash to get video cards?

[NovaCoder]

When you say "old", the latest version of P96 was released in 2011.  I thought CGX stopped development sometime back in the late '90s.  So shouldn't that technically be the other way around?  Also P96 is free.  
 
 Or maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about, feel free to enlighten, LOL.  :biglaugh:

P96 smells bad and is also know to drink heavily.

The CyberGFX API is much sexier than P96 which only seems to patch OS functions (as far as I know).

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

P96 smells bad and is also know to drink heavily.
 
The CyberGFX API is much sexier than P96 which only seems to patch OS functions (as far as I know).

LOL, not the scientific answer I was looking for.  Also I've been known to drink heavily, maybe me and P96 were separated at birth?  :drink:

More seriously, is CyberGFX available for free anywhere, these days?  Not that I have much experience with Amiga graphics libraries, but I have a vague recollection that V3 was released for free sometime back in the mid-'90s, but V4 was still an impossible-to-find commercial release (also dating from sometime in the '90s)?  P96 is the only one still being updated?

[NovaCoder]

More seriously, is CyberGFX available for free anywhere, these days?  Not that I have much experience with Amiga graphics libraries, but I have a vague recollection that V3 was released for free sometime back in the mid-'90s, but V4 was still an impossible-to-find commercial release (also dating from sometime in the '90s)?  P96 is the only one still being updated?

Unfortunately I don't know much about the history, I'm just looking at it from a Coder's point-of-view.

This is what you can do with CyberGFX

[youtube]dDuDfD5yPeo[/youtube]

Anyway to get back on topic, an FPGA based RTG card for Classics would be very cool

[ElPolloDiabl]

You can sought of with an Elbox expansion and fit a PCI gfx card.
If there is enough demand they might do it. But it sounds like the most difficult of expansions.
Should you ask for more PCI cards plus drivers?

[utri007]

You can sought of with an Elbox expansion and fit a PCI gfx card.
If there is enough demand they might do it. But it sounds like the most difficult of expansions.
Should you ask for more PCI cards plus drivers?

X-Surf networkcard is basically PCI card sitting top of Zorro -> PCI converter, maybe that is a way to go? Maybe even same hardware could be used than used with X-Surf?

Hardest part would be enable Zorro II wich is mandatory to get much as possible customers.

[Kernel]

wow, thread seems to have died quicker than I expected!  Has anyone heard of any Gfx cards in the pipeline for classic systems?

[Havie]

Well, I for one would like something for an A1200!

[desiv]

Well, I for one would like something for an A1200!

And there's the real problem, I think.
Adding a graphics card for a big box Amiga is (I'm guessing) easier than adding a graphics card to the Amiga 1200 (or 600/500/1000) computer.
And, the larger market...  Yep, the smaller Amigas..

Other than the ZorRAM, which is a much easier design than a video card, how many big box addons have there been?
And some of the ones that have come out, also have clockport (sometimes with a loss of features) which increases the buyer pool..

I'm almost wondering if you'd need to re-implement Alice to do that??

desiv