A500 4/8mb with IDE board completed - Page 2

kipper2k · 26 September 2013, 22:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by cpiac64

kipper2k can send me only board, i have all components, but for test on cdtv i need place fastram at address 600000-A00000

thanks in advance

PM sent

fitzsteve · 27 September 2013, 09:30

I'll take one of the 4mb ones mate :-)

Hewitson · 27 September 2013, 15:58

Wow, this is a very impressive project to say the least.

How difficult would it be to make an SCSI version of these boards?

May I ask why you decided to do a 4mb version? Is there any disadvantage to the 8mb?

kipper2k · 27 September 2013, 16:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hewitson

Wow, this is a very impressive project to say the least.

How difficult would it be to make an SCSI version of these boards?

May I ask why you decided to do a 4mb version? Is there any disadvantage to the 8mb?

Hi,

I done the 4mb version as i was impatient to try it so as soon as i got the 4mb on it, i booted it up to test it, it is good for either 4 or 8mb and no PCMCIA slot incompatibilities to worry about. I'll let someone else field the other question

Promilus · 27 September 2013, 17:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hewitson

How difficult would it be to make an SCSI version of these boards?

I believe kipper2k based on CPLD Gayle IDE logic. It just *might* be possible to reimplement A590 logic or some CDTV stuff (33C93A chip?) but I doubt there'd be much speed improvement over CF@ ide&ram

Hewitson · 27 September 2013, 17:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Promilus

I believe kipper2k based on CPLD Gayle IDE logic. It just *might* be possible to reimplement A590 logic or some CDTV stuff (33C93A chip?) but I doubt there'd be much speed improvement over CF@ ide&ram

Surely a DMA SCSI solution would provide a significant improvement in performance over PIO IDE.

alexh · 27 September 2013, 17:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hewitson

How difficult would it be to make an SCSI version of these boards?

Not practical. This plugs into the 68000 socket. AFAIK that socket does not have the DMA signals going to it required to implement a DMA SCSI controller.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hewitson

Surely a DMA SCSI solution would provide a significant improvement in performance over PIO IDE.

With a 7MHz 68000, yes. But you would be limited to Zorro II DMA bandwidth of ~3Mbyte/s. If you had a much faster CPU you would be able to beat 3Mbyte/s.

Promilus · 27 September 2013, 18:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hewitson

Surely a DMA SCSI solution would provide a significant improvement in performance over PIO IDE.

IIRC typically CFIDE68k can make 0.8-1.5MB/s with stock 7MHz 68k and nice CF card. Faster CPU, better speed, so any 520/530 board around or future viper 500, or zeus (i believe it's author wrote something about ide speed) and all those differences vanishes. Plus - as HDD on A500 is all about pure storage and it's always faster than FDD I doubt there'd be much difference in users experience.

kipper2k · 27 September 2013, 20:25

due to the average file sizes that we are talking about here, i really cant see us seeing too much of a gain in speed. I could understand if we were talking about reading/writing of huge files but on the Amiga where the max file size is ~1mb for maybe a few games/apps the saving in time must be almost negligable.

jiffy · 28 September 2013, 07:57

Brilliant! :-)

Count me in for a 8 MB version, too.

That would give me the A500 I always wanted back in the day: internal hard drive (CF), ram maxed out, an Indivision ECS, OS 3.1 and a KCS Power PC Board. I'm a happy camper! :-)

psygnosis · 28 September 2013, 22:36

Cool stuff will the cf cards you can get off ebay loaded with games work with this

kipper2k · 29 September 2013, 02:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by psygnosis

Cool stuff will the cf cards you can get off ebay loaded with games work with this

yup, providing they aren't fake

CF cards are really cheap now so they are definitely worth buying a couple.

Photon · 29 September 2013, 03:57

Looking good!

Sign me up for one 8MB version!

jiffy · 29 September 2013, 19:34

When checking both this thread and the one on Amibay, it seems you're going to have quite a few preorders! :-)

Is there an easy way to connect this board to the floppy led on the A500's case? Would be cool to see drive activity that way. And with 'easy' I mean 'no soldering required when installing'... ;-)

Photon · 29 September 2013, 20:10

So you want to rewire the signals... without rewiring?

Looks like the LED isn't socketed, so it's impossible even with some adapter. I'll probably keep the floppy led as it is, and just connect my own led to the board's led. That's really easy to do, I think you underestimate your powers

jiffy · 29 September 2013, 21:05

No, I don't mean no rewiring, I mean no soldering.

But why would the led need to be socketed to achieve this? The led is currently connected to some pins on the motherboard with a wire, right? Am I thinking in the wrong direction if an extra wire would run from the ram/ide board and connect it to the current led-wire? Something with a Y-cable? Or just an extension cable, in which case the drive led would only show CF activity, no floppy drive activity.

And if that's going to be a hassle, just a simple connector would also be nice. I can scrounge up an extra led from an old pc case without trouble.

Ah well, just a thought.

TjLaZer · 30 September 2013, 00:15

The Novia and AdIDE kit did that, connected 1 wire to allow the HD access light to emit on the floppy LED. Can this be done with this?

Photon · 30 September 2013, 02:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by jiffy

No, I don't mean no rewiring, I mean no soldering.

Rewiring requires soldering, period. You want something impossible. The floppy led is soldered to the keyboard. Kipper2k would have to remove the built in led and solder on an adapter to the keyboard connector, and that would then fit A500 and nothing else.

"Your request is ... unlikely." (c) Spock.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jiffy

But why would the led need to be socketed to achieve this?

Because if it's soldered on, you have to desolder it to connect anything. Like wires to another led or the floppy led via an adapter you make for the keyboard connector.

Just explaining, I understand that you're not proficient so don't take it as an attack.

These are the two best options to do what you want: mod it yourself (requires soldering) or Kipper mods all his cards and makes an adapter for A500, even though his board works for many Amiga models.

It really isn't that hard to mod it, and we'll help you if you ask.

It's just that your request is a bit silly at this stage and with a card you can use in many Amigas.

desiv · 30 September 2013, 04:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Photon

Rewiring requires soldering, period. You want something impossible. The floppy led is soldered to the keyboard.

I'm not sure that's actually true...

The LED is soldered to the keyboard, but the keyboard is connected to the motherboard via wires. If (and I haven't checked) on of those wires is the Floppy LED, then it's perfectly feasible to have what he's asked for.

In fact, even if it's not in those wires, you might even clip a wire to the exposed LED pin, if there's enough space.

So, there might be options for that..

desiv

jiffy · 30 September 2013, 08:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Photon

Because if it's soldered on, you have to desolder it to connect anything.

Yes, I understand that.

It's been years since I opened up an A500, I thought it wasn't soldered on, but connected with a wire. If that was the case, it would've been easy.

But since it seems to be soldered on...

A header on the ram/ide board to connect an activity led would be nice, though.

28 September 2013, 07:57	#30
jiffy Registered User Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Netherlands Posts: 54	Brilliant! :-) Count me in for a 8 MB version, too. That would give me the A500 I always wanted back in the day: internal hard drive (CF), ram maxed out, an Indivision ECS, OS 3.1 and a KCS Power PC Board. I'm a happy camper! :-) Last edited by jiffy; 28 September 2013 at 08:20.

28 September 2013, 22:36	#31
psygnosis Registered User Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: liverpool Posts: 163	Cool stuff will the cf cards you can get off ebay loaded with games work with this Last edited by psygnosis; 28 September 2013 at 23:30.

29 September 2013, 21:05	#36
jiffy Registered User Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Netherlands Posts: 54	No, I don't mean no rewiring, I mean no soldering. But why would the led need to be socketed to achieve this? The led is currently connected to some pins on the motherboard with a wire, right? Am I thinking in the wrong direction if an extra wire would run from the ram/ide board and connect it to the current led-wire? Something with a Y-cable? Or just an extension cable, in which case the drive led would only show CF activity, no floppy drive activity. And if that's going to be a hassle, just a simple connector would also be nice. I can scrounge up an extra led from an old pc case without trouble. Ah well, just a thought. Last edited by jiffy; 29 September 2013 at 21:18.

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27 September 2013, 09:30	#22
fitzsteve Professional slacker! Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Kent, UK Age: 44 Posts: 6,683	I'll take one of the 4mb ones mate :-)

27 September 2013, 15:58	#23
Hewitson Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Melbourne, Australia Age: 41 Posts: 3,773	Wow, this is a very impressive project to say the least. How difficult would it be to make an SCSI version of these boards? May I ask why you decided to do a 4mb version? Is there any disadvantage to the 8mb?

27 September 2013, 20:25	#29
kipper2k Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Thunder Bay, Canada Posts: 4,323	due to the average file sizes that we are talking about here, i really cant see us seeing too much of a gain in speed. I could understand if we were talking about reading/writing of huge files but on the Amiga where the max file size is ~1mb for maybe a few games/apps the saving in time must be almost negligable.

29 September 2013, 03:57	#33
Photon Moderator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Eksjö / Sweden Posts: 5,629	Looking good! Sign me up for one 8MB version!

29 September 2013, 19:34	#34
jiffy Registered User Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Netherlands Posts: 54	When checking both this thread and the one on Amibay, it seems you're going to have quite a few preorders! :-) Is there an easy way to connect this board to the floppy led on the A500's case? Would be cool to see drive activity that way. And with 'easy' I mean 'no soldering required when installing'... ;-)

29 September 2013, 20:10	#35
Photon Moderator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Eksjö / Sweden Posts: 5,629	So you want to rewire the signals... without rewiring? Looks like the LED isn't socketed, so it's impossible even with some adapter. I'll probably keep the floppy led as it is, and just connect my own led to the board's led. That's really easy to do, I think you underestimate your powers

30 September 2013, 00:15	#37
TjLaZer Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Tacoma, WA USA Age: 52 Posts: 1,924	The Novia and AdIDE kit did that, connected 1 wire to allow the HD access light to emit on the floppy LED. Can this be done with this?

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