New product: MNT ZZ9000

[stevelord]

Originally Posted by mousehouse

Just wanted to let everybody know for future reference that I've been able to build ARM executables that load on the zz9000 using Mac OSX. The ARM target can be added using Homebrew.

brew tap ArmMbed/homebrew-formulae
brew install arm-none-eabi-gcc

After compiling the zz9k 68k loader software I've been able to load the compiled example code to the idle ARM core.

Output is not working yet, have to figure out what I'm doing wrong. As I did not install the P96 driver or anything for the card that might be the issue. But the Intuition window opens for "Conway" for example, but no output is visible (eg. there does not seem to be anything drawn on the screen).

More troubleshooting to do ;-)

NB. Would be great to have a compiled and statically linked version of the zz9k loader on Github in addition to the source...

Did you get any further with this? It seems I have the same problem.

[Overmann]

I'm sorry if this has been discussed, but does anyone have any experiences regarding rtg performance to share. Comparing ZZ9000 to Picasso IV, warp1260's RTG, PCI rtg solutions or the blizzardvision?

[Jope]

It beats PIV in every benchmark these days + supports higher resolutions. No idea about BV/CVPPC, nor W1260.

[DarrenHD]

Originally Posted by Overmann

I'm sorry if this has been discussed, but does anyone have any experiences regarding rtg performance to share. Comparing ZZ9000 to Picasso IV, warp1260's RTG, PCI rtg solutions or the blizzardvision?

Don't quote me but I believe it is a little bit slower than a Voodoo3 card on a Mediator. I believe I read that on a forum somewhere...it may be faster in some benchmarks and slower in others.

[Akiko]

My A4000T has Zorro III issues so I can currently only use Zorro II cards which are working fine including the ZZ9000 card using the ZII firmware.

I want to continue use the card as Zorro II until I finish some other projects and hopefully get my A4000T serviced later or early next year.

Can someone please explain what the penalties are running in Zorro II ? Is it noticeably slower and will I loose some features?

[brknck]

It really depends just how broken your A4000T is.

If everything is being forced to run in Zorro 2 mode then raw access speed and loss of memory/address space are the two biggies.

Basically it will just be a slower experience, after all this card even runs on an A500 and it doesn't even have true Zorro II.

Zorro II is limited to a maximum of 8MB shared across ALL of the Zorro slots vs Zorro III's 1.75GB.

Speed wise Zorro II maxes out around 3.58MB/s vs Zorro III's ~20MB/s

[pgovotsos]

Originally Posted by Akiko

My A4000T has Zorro III issues so I can currently only use Zorro II cards which are working fine including the ZZ9000 card using the ZII firmware.

I want to continue use the card as Zorro II until I finish some other projects and hopefully get my A4000T serviced later or early next year.

Can someone please explain what the penalties are running in Zorro II ? Is it noticeably slower and will I loose some features?

Do you have the hard drive connected to an accelerator? If so, remove the SCSI card and you can run this in Zorro 3 mode.

[NovaCoder]

ZZ9 optimized builds of some of my ports for testing ...

amiquake_zz9.zip

odamex_zz9.zip

Also new firmware, drivers and other files related to the ZZ9000

http://www.apehead.se/snakes9000

[cugar124]

Has anyone had theirs brick? Mine is seeing software from the sd card but will not let the os load or kickstart screen appear machine runs fine without the zz9000. Tried 3 versions of firmware card just slowly stopped working.

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[IvanEBC]

I had the original card from MNT (VA2000). One thing i really loved as something being NEW to any type of graphics card in my Amiga was the availability of MOST/MORE of my chip ram. I recall sitting in a beautiful workbench in 24 bit and 1024x768 and thinking how i still had 1.9mb of chip ram.

Those high end games worked without a hitch.

The ZZ9000 uses the same screenmode as i did with the VA2000 but i lose chipram, i sit at 1.7mb at bootup. Great for most situations but i found a few of those higher end games no long run.

Is this normal behaviour or have i missed something or need some trick in my startup sequence to give me a spec more chip ram.

Thank you.

[McTrinsic]

Originally Posted by cugar124

Has anyone had theirs brick? Mine is seeing software from the sd card but will not let the os load or kickstart screen appear machine runs fine without the zz9000. Tried 3 versions of firmware card just slowly stopped working.

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Actually yes.

UmI managed to break off some small components when testing in different slots.

My fault.

[Overmann]

I've placed an order for batch 5. I'm pretty excited about this one, and testing @novacoders zz-builds. I hope the ARM-chip will be put to good use. I think I saw Lukas (the designer of ZZ9000) run VICE on the ARM chip. Twitter perhaps?

[emiespo]

Originally Posted by cugar124

Has anyone had theirs brick? Mine is seeing software from the sd card but will not let the os load or kickstart screen appear machine runs fine without the zz9000. Tried 3 versions of firmware card just slowly stopped working.

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Hi Cugar,

Happened to mine as well. The Zynq module becomes hot in 1 sec, as if it were burnt down. I’ve sent it back for investigation.

I think Lukas will find the cause ASAP. The board is really fresh air in the Amiga landscape.

He has recommended to put a heatsink on in the meantime:


https://twitter.com/mntmn/status/129...365387778?s=21


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[stevelord]

Ok, it looks like it's not clear whether the issue is caused by heat. See here: https://twitter.com/mntmn/status/129...174127618?s=20

[mntmn]

Hi everyone!

While investigating the cause of some RMAs I had the idea to recommend and offer a heatsink to put on the ZYNQ chip on the ZZ9000.

So far, 6 of around 500 ZYNQs have been damaged in the field, but not necessarly by overheating. This is just one of a number of possible reasons. It is advisable to cool all hot-running electronics/chips to increase their lifespan. ZZ9000 is no exception.

This doesn't mean there is any inherent problem on ZZ9000 or ZYNQ. But we are trying to analyze the failures anyway because nobody likes to go through the trouble of having their card fixed/replaced, and it certainly costs me money to replace dead ZYNQs. So far we do _not_ know what caused these 6 ZYNQs to die. A theory is that it might be caused by power surges finding their way through I/O lines.

Besides cooling your case, other recommended preventive measures:

- Make sure you have proper power supplies. If you use an ATX supply, please use a proper adapter like: http://www.ianstedman.co.uk/Amiga/de...x_adaptor.html

- Use a surge protector on your power outlet. This can protect your electronics from surges caused by lightning, which can be common in hot summers.

- Ground yourself before touching electronics with your hands, so the electrostatic discharge from your body doesn't unload into the device.

Best
Lukas / MNT Research

[IvanEBC]

Originally Posted by mntmn

Hi everyone!

While investigating the cause of some RMAs I had the idea to recommend and offer a heatsink to put on the ZYNQ chip on the ZZ9000.

Lukas / MNT Research

Can someone show a pic with an arrow to where this is.. i just happen to have ONE small heatsink left.

[mntmn]

Picture: https://shop.mntmn.com/spree/product...peg?1596545076

[mntmn]

ZZTop 1.0 Beta is a small diagnostic tool for MNT ZZ9000 that can show you the Zorro, firmware versions and core temperature (with FW1.7+). You can also do a quick test for bus errors. Grab here incl. source:

https://source.mntmn.com/MNT/zz9000-drivers/releases

Works with brand new 1.7 beta firmware:
https://source.mntmn.com/MNT/zz9000-firmware/releases

For reference, the ZZ9000 core temperature in my A3000 is around 70 degrees.

[IvanEBC]

Originally Posted by mntmn

For reference, the ZZ9000 core temperature in my A3000 is around 70 degrees.

What's considered a safe operating temperature?


Also, thanks for your hard work....

[cugar124]

Originally Posted by mntmn

Hi everyone!

While investigating the cause of some RMAs I had the idea to recommend and offer a heatsink to put on the ZYNQ chip on the ZZ9000.

So far, 6 of around 500 ZYNQs have been damaged in the field, but not necessarly by overheating. This is just one of a number of possible reasons. It is advisable to cool all hot-running electronics/chips to increase their lifespan. ZZ9000 is no exception.

This doesn't mean there is any inherent problem on ZZ9000 or ZYNQ. But we are trying to analyze the failures anyway because nobody likes to go through the trouble of having their card fixed/replaced, and it certainly costs me money to replace dead ZYNQs. So far we do _not_ know what caused these 6 ZYNQs to die. A theory is that it might be caused by power surges finding their way through I/O lines.

Besides cooling your case, other recommended preventive measures:

- Make sure you have proper power supplies. If you use an ATX supply, please use a proper adapter like: http://www.ianstedman.co.uk/Amiga/de...x_adaptor.html

- Use a surge protector on your power outlet. This can protect your electronics from surges caused by lightning, which can be common in hot summers.

- Ground yourself before touching electronics with your hands, so the electrostatic discharge from your body doesn't unload into the device.

Best
Lukas / MNT Research

I can add my card looked dead but when i replace the psu which was only a year old it turned out to be the fault im using an sfx psu which fits perfect and if you take the old psu apart you can still use the switch housing for the push switch. I need someone to do a 3d print for a vent for below the psu to cover the remaining hole. Any offers? Lukas was great and it was because of his reply i went back and tried everything over and over again till it was sussed out. Love this card

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