OS4 on Blizzard PPC

[GadgetMaster]

OS4 on Blizzard PPC :-o

Thanks for that pic Karlos. Thats one nice classic setup you have there.

Anyone else with a blizzard PPC will be happy to see that OS4 is booting on their hardware.

It is only a beta version and it wasn't all plain sailing but those betatesters that have acheived it have certainly reached another milestone in the progress of OS4.:-D

BTW, I posted here because I couldn't find the 'post comment' button in the gallery for some reason. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough.  

[MrZammler]

Great pic, makes me almost sad I dont have a BPPC+BVision in my 1200... That would be a very cool machine to have (in it's original desktop only please ;-) )

[ksk]

It's definitely not "news" any more.

It's mentioned also in a thread @ amigaworld.net

[GadgetMaster]

ksk wrote:
It's definitely not "news" any more.

It's mentioned also in a thread @ amigaworld.net

Thats why it was posted as as a forum discussion rather than a NEWS item  :-D

[Karlos]

@ksk

Of course it isn't news, it's been working for ages. However, I only recently considered posting an image (having made sure I asked first, I didn't want to breach any NDA stuff) - as the old maxim says "Seeing is Believing".

-edit-

I'd just like to point out that I only posted a picture here. I didn't make it work ;-)

[bloodline]

Now get AROS to do the same :-)

[itix]

How good is 68k compatibility in this system? Is there any useful software (not counting games) you could not run?

[ksk]

How good is 68+AGA compatibility in this AOS4 system?

[Karlos]

@itix

I can only speak for myself really, but compatibility is good. The only problems I have had are with applications that try to determine which CPU is being used in underhand ways (ie bashing supervisor mode only regs etc).

Most apps I have tried seem perfectly OK. Anything that doesn't specifically need higher than 020+68882 works fine. Proper OS3.x/RTG stuff runs a treat.

On the whole, it seems a bit faster than my actual 68040 for 680x0 code intensive stuff, but obviously gets faster the more ppc native OS calls are made. This is still using interpreted emulation here, so I can't say how fast JIT is.

@ksk

I haven't encountered any problems with AGA software (so far) - after all an A1200 has real AGA chips in it. But I haven't ran much native chipset stuff either. Still, good old deluxe paint runs a treat!

Whilst I wouldn't recommend running the OS on an AGA screen (same goes for 3.x too) it does work ok, especially if you don't go mad with the GUI preferences :-)

[Karlos]

bloodline wrote:
Now get AROS to do the same :-)

I only test it - I didn't make it work ;-) That claim to fame belongs to other people.

[Karlos]

MrZammler wrote:
Great pic, makes me almost sad I dont have a BPPC+BVision in my 1200... That would be a very cool machine to have (in it's original desktop only please ;-) )

A BPPC + BVision in a 1200D would not be a wise move. You'd melt your miggy :-D

[Kaminari]

Excellent. Just excellent :-)

[Brian Hoskins]

I think a BPPC + BVision in a desktop A1200 running OS4 would be dead cool.  Well actually it'd be dead warm, but provided some ingenious cooling was fitted to the unit somehow then it may well be possible.

Imagine taking your A1200 desktop to a friend's house and unleashing the power of AmigaOS on them.  It'd probably run circles around their latest PC with OS4 on there :-)

Brian

[Karlos]

Your best bet would be to rehouse in an A500 case like, was it Cycloid?

There is more space and you could fit some real fans and get a defined airflow.

[Brian Hoskins]

I know that someone else has already built a desktop A1200 with a BPPC and BVision inside, he reprayed the case and everything - it looked absolutely fantastic, but he had to think about fitting feet to the bottom of the A1200 to physically raise the A1200 and give it ground clearence, primarily for air flow purposes.  If I remember, this was the 68040 version of the BPPC which probably isn't recommended for desktop use!

I'd definately recommend a 68060 based BPPC for that sort of thing, but I don't feel that much improved cooling would be necessary, I think it'd definately be workable.  Afterall, with OS4 running on there the 68060 itself would see very little use, and the PPC already has a nice heatsink with a small fan integrated into the unit.  If you could improve on the PPC's cooling and provide some cooling for the BVision then I think that may pass ok.

I saw an A1200 desktop with a laptop's CDR drive mounted in it as well once... it'd be fantastic if that could be included as well!! But maybe that's taking things a little too far.

Brian