Preview: BigRAM 2630, 112MByte for Commodore 2630

[kolla]

Originally Posted by matthey

Sarcasm? I mean you sell your 2630 for 10 Euros and replace it with a much better Vampire.

That will not work for quite a lot of a2630 owners, due to the software they use.

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by SpeedGeek

I own a DKB2632 (...) which barely lets the board work at 25 MHz... and overclocking will fail without first fixing these design bugs.

I've thought about overclocking, especially because my PLL will generate a clean clock up to 80MHz (so 40MHz CPU clock in theory), but I'm afraid of capacitive load and rise/fall times being too slow to work reliably. I am therefore developing this with a standard 25MHz clock (50MHz memory clock) and will only guarantee proper function that speed. Anything faster than that is "free bonus"; if it works for a specific setup: Good for you. If it doesn't: Please reduce the clock rate.

I guess one of the most interesting features is that you can still make use of the 2630 if the on-board memory (2M or 4M) is defective. Just close jumper J303, attach BigRAM2630, and use the system at higher speed than the 2630 delivered in it's stock state.

Jens

[DrBong]

Originally Posted by voyager

Translated: (use the angry voice in your head)

You might want to submit yourself for drug testing. Either that or volunteer yourself as a crash test dummy on Top Gear.

Originally Posted by matthey

You could just let the hardware comparison speak for itself.

Schoenfeld 2630 accelerator memory upgrade
112MB memory for 2630 accelerator

vs

Vampire 500/1000/2000
68060 level of performance FPGA accelerator
128MB of memory
RTG with HDMI output
IDE and SD card disk support

The prices should be similar (around 150 EUR).

Originally Posted by britelite

Oh, you mean the Vampire will connect to existing A2630 cards to act as a memory expansion? That's really handy!

Originally Posted by matthey

Sarcasm? I mean you sell your 2630 for 10 Euros and replace it with a much better Vampire.

More than a few of us here know all too well that anything that isn't available to buy right here and now for Amiga or any other platform (retro or otherwise) is simply vapourware until it's released. Period.

When (and if) the Vampire 500 is released, I wouldn't expect that people with A500/1000/2000 systems will be having fire sales on all their legacy accelerators, graphics cards etc. As sure as the sky is blue, there will always be a fairly healthy market for legacy gear on any popular retro-computing platform.

Originally Posted by matthey

I wouldn't be surprised if FPGA sales are sucking customers from certain over priced PPC products as well.

Why?!? Correct me if I'm wrong, but last time I looked the Vampire doesn't run PPC software, doesn't support AmigaOS4/WarpOS/Warp3D/PowerUP etc., doesn't support more than 128MB ram(?), doesn't support gfx card modes above 15-bit(?) etc. etc. etc.

Besides, people who are seriously invested/interested in the PPC hardware available often want to do more than casual gaming and productivity. As a result, the Vampire will either be completely *off* the radar, or on the radar only because they've got the disposable income to buy all the PPC hardware that their heart desires plus a cheap Vampire to boot for the "lesser" Ami hardware that they may own! Alternatively, people can just run WinUAE for free and use PPC emulation.....such is the class of Toni's work on this great emulator!!!

Originally Posted by britelite

This might be hard for you to grasp, but not everyone is interested in the Vampire.

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

I don't think you get it. It is not about price or anything.

It is about sounding exact same as marketers of those other PPC products, "You must buy and use our hardware, if you want to consider yourself an Amiga user!". I'll say "No!". "We" don't need, care or want it, just leave us alone, don't hijack others threads! Thank you.

Couldn't have put it better myself gents. Please take note Vampire/NG/emulator/WHY trolls - STOP hijacking other people's threads and STOP force-feeding your warped, delusional views of what every "real" Amiga user should or shouldn't be using/buying here on EAB!

Live and let live, or feel free to use the door to go troll elsewhere (like Amiga.org or MooBunny!). Are we finally getting through to you trolls??!!

[dirkies]

Respect! Today it looks like the word 'vampire' suffices to slag off any other project just because it 'sounds' better. Apples and oranges. Stop abusing this great project to b*tch about any other honest hardware development for our dear Amiga. You should be thankful some people will still invest time, effort and money into a vintage hardware upgrade. Thank you Jens for spending time how to make life easier for the A2630 users. And thank you for all the rest you did over those many past years on other projects well received by the community.

[arti040]

Cool idea! Thanks! :-)

[emufan]

Originally Posted by DrBong

STOP hijacking other people's threads and STOP force-feeding your warped, delusional views of what every "real" Amiga user should or shouldn't be using/buying here on EAB!

I am about to be the new owner of P96, what is also for sure a reason why Tobias Abt has not responded.

since some already forgot about this, i want to add the following, to the address of the individual:
STOP trying to hijack or boycott others people innovations.

[DrBong]

Originally Posted by apex

We fuck up the community by ourselves

@emufan
Here's another quote from that P96 thread. emufan, you are exactly the type of Amiga user that makes that statement true.

I've lived through all the bullshit Amiga vs ST, WarpOS vs PowerUP, AmigaOS4 vs MorphOS etc. etc. flamewars from the very early days of the Ami. Eventually Amiga users have to grow up and realise that despite what the likes of Jens, Vampire devs, Hyperion, A-EON etc. say and do.....the Amiga is a commercially dead platform and nothing will ever change that. All that is left is this......Amiga can either be a fun hobby or not.

We have that choice - not you, not Jens, not Vampire devs or anyone else - but trolls and lamers like you are trying to dictate what side we should choose, like somehow we are still immature teenagers in high school and *must* choose a side or else! Amiga users like you in the community are spoiling the hobby for the rest of us and are driving people away, and have selfishly been doing so for many years now. Any new hardware innovations, regardless of sales, will count for nothing if the people who can code for it are driven away!

Life is far too short - as the senseless terrorist attack in France has shown us all once again - and it's enough already!

[emufan]

while i made such threads like my Lightwave postings, i drive people away from the amiga platform ...
and I am a lamer by doing so ... great!
maybe i should have waste my time elsewhere, to prevent to meet people like you.
respect for this conclusion - I am really sorry for you!

[DrBong]

No, I'm really sorry for you because you think you are so important....far more than the Amiga community itself. You don't compare to community-minded Amigans like Bert Jahn, Jeff Fabre, Galahad, Codetapper, Psygore, Toni Wilen et al. Sad.

[emufan]

you forgot to mention the individual schoenfeld and the kryoflux heroes - that is the community, sure - get a clue.

[wXR]

Nice work Jens, and echoing what others said re: STFU Vampire trolls. There's room and appreciation for all of these products in our small community.

Can we come to some agreement about a ban policy for hijacking threads like that? I favor no more than two strikes. I will apply the same to myself for my open source advocacy, which I recognize can be equally annoying.

[DrBong]

Originally Posted by emufan

while i made such threads like my Lightwave postings, i drive people away from the amiga platform ...
and I am a lamer by doing so ... great!
maybe i should have waste my time elsewhere, to prevent to meet people like you.
respect for this conclusion - I am really sorry for you!

Originally Posted by DrBong

No, I'm really sorry for you because you think you are so important....far more than the Amiga community itself. You don't compare to community-minded Amigans like Bert Jahn, Jeff Fabre, Galahad, Codetapper, Psygore, Toni Wilen et al. Sad.

Originally Posted by emufan

you forgot to mention the individual schoenfeld and the kryoflux heroes - that is the community, sure - get a clue.

You're right, I did forget to mention someone important by name.....RCK for hosting EAB, HOL, AMR etc. for all of us in the Amiga community!

No, it is you that needs to get a clue.....so I will use Toni's wise words to politely remind you once again to observe EAB guidelines to remain on-topic and behave like a decent human being when you post in other people's threads.

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

I don't think you get it. It is not about price or anything.

It is about sounding exact same as marketers of those other PPC products, "You must buy and use our hardware, if you want to consider yourself an Amiga user!". I'll say "No!". "We" don't need, care or want it, just leave us alone, don't hijack others threads! Thank you.

[Schoenfeld]

Emufan: If you keep taking an exerpt from a long eMail thread, it will continue to look like I am the bad guy. However, it also shows that you didn't bother to understand the whole incident.

The majority of people did look at that incident, and they also looked at the *complete* trail of events that I have posted and that Lukas (the person who was supposedly attacked) has confirmed. In short: Any and all "attacking" was cleared well before publishing that single exerpt from an email. My main point (staying within German and European laws) will be taken care of, which is good.

If you continue b*tching about staying within the law, you should not buy 99% of the products out there, as they are all compliant with the law and EU directives.

Now demonstrate that you have the guts to admit a mistake: Read and understand the whole trail of events, think, then post. However, not in this thread, as it's off-topic.

My intention of publishing this early was because I wanted to know how many 2630 units are out there with the memory expansion connector assembled on the wrong side. I don't really find many answers to that question here.

Jens

[trixster]

Any new Amiga product in this day and age should be applauded. Nice works Jens.

If you like the look of it, buy it. If you don't, move on. There's nothing more to say.

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by trixster

Any new Amiga product in this day and age should be applauded.

Well, maybe it's better to hold the applause until you can really buy it. At least that's what I try to tell people for over 18 years now: It's not a product if you can't buy it. We've had a lot of promises in the Amiga market ever since it existed, but not as many delivered products.

Does anyone of the 2630 owners still have the old ROMs of the 2630 that are only compatible with Kick1.3? If so, I'd like to get a dump of them. Would be great if I can be compatible with any ROM version. I only have the "new" ROMs for the 2630, and it seems like everyone has deleted any dumps or overwritten the EPROMs with the new version.

Jens

[Zetr0]

If the community on here could stop trolling each other - that would be great!

There's no need for it in this thread, I am getting very close to reporting it and several members (on both sides).

I have no problem with open and honest questions - i.e. configuration, pricing features - but ad hominem attacks against the OP or each other is seriously sickening and annoying.


Currently within the A2000 market the only way to get (nearly) 128MB (or higher) is through a CPU accelerator card - these cost a shed load more than the proposed adaptor re: GVP-M: TekMagic / Blizzard 2040/60 / DKB: WildFire - and that is it.

Arguably one could argue that the V2 for the A500/A2000 has also been proposed, but it has no confirmed price so comparing these products at this time can only be with the caveat of what price versus features that have been stated.

There is room for everyone in this community - you guys trolling and attacking each other - is one of the reasons we cannot have nice things.

[DrBong]

Originally Posted by Zetr0

Currently within the A2000 market the only way to get (nearly) 128MB (or higher) is through a CPU accelerator card - these cost a shed load more than the proposed adaptor re: GVP-M: TekMagic / Blizzard 2040/60 / DKB: WildFire - and that is it.

Geez, what I wouldn't give to get my hands on a DKB Wildfire! There's also the DKB 2632, which was mentioned earlier in this thead and was previously made to piggyback the A2630 card. However, they are becoming harder to source out, even in the U.S. now.....which is why the BigRAM 2630 is likely to have some appeal to the bunch of A2630 owners still out there.

Originally Posted by Zetr0

I have no problem with open and honest questions - i.e. configuration, pricing features - but ad hominem attacks against the OP or each other is seriously sickening and annoying.

It's been happening quite a lot all year here in lotsa different threads (and I've received a series of PMs prior to this thread understandably bemoaning the situation), which is why I decided to stand firm on this occasion instead of ignoring it. It's mostly been the same individuals over and over for mine who have been killing threads with their evangelism and bully-boy tactics, and repeated polite requests to stay on-topic and not hijack threads have fallen on deaf ears.

Originally Posted by Zetr0

There's no need for it in this thread, I am getting very close to reporting it and several members (on both sides).

I agree. Most of the mods, however, seem to have been busy with real life or WHY in recent months and the hope that things would improve without their intervention has largely disappeared. I disappeared for 2 months myself due to real life stuff a little while back, but sadly things hadn't changed when I returned.

I encourage you to report it and if there are any consequences for my part in it (it was a calculated risk I was willing to take), then I'm quite happy to cop it sweet. As it is, I'm still deliberating this course of action myself. While I'm at it Zetro, you and any others who feel I've taken the stand too far have my sincerest apologies.

Originally Posted by Zetr0

Arguably one could argue that the V2 for the A500/A2000 has also been proposed, but it has no confirmed price so comparing these products at this time can only be with the caveat of what price versus features that have been stated.

There is room for everyone in this community - you guys trolling and attacking each other - is one of the reasons we cannot have nice things.

Precisely what people have been saying in this thread, but to no avail. Choice is a good thing for the Amiga community, but you wouldn't know it.....not in the late 90s/early 2000s and not now either it seems sadly enough.

IMHO it does no favours for the Vampire devs either BTW (particularly kipper2k who expressed some frustration in one post about accommodating Ami community needs/wants in developing his great range of homebrew products). It looks like they will have a pretty good product on their hands that could plug an important gap in the retro Ami market when (and if) the A500/2000 version comes out. As it is, the attitude of some of its rabid supporters have soured my interest in buying one thus far and in the forseeable future (I've got two A600s and a bunch of other OCS/ECS Amiga's). I'm pretty sure I'm not alone on this front......

[Zetr0]

@Thread

I have owned 3x A2630's, with two different revisions of ROM and RAM configuration, However all these cards had the header on the solder side (opposite the component side).
Just over a year ago I looked into making a said RAM board for the A2630 - simply because I had two of these, there is a fair bit of work in that - and I don't want to sound condescending but well done indeed.

I am sure you have multiple justifications for the price point of the device, my only concern from a customer / end user point of view would be to say, that it has been a very long while since I had to pay 1 Euro per megabyte


@DrBong

Indeed the mythical unicorn also known as the Wild Fire, sadly I passed on an opportunity to buy one of these a handful of years ago not thinking I wanted an 060 for my A2k, (I have a couple of 060's at the time on other machines, wanting an 040@33 instead)... that will stay with me

Originally Posted by DrBong

IMHO it does no favours for the Vampire devs either BTW (particularly kipper2k who expressed some frustration in one post about accommodating Ami community needs/wants in developing his great range of homebrew products). It looks like they will have a pretty good product on their hands that could plug an important gap in the retro Ami market when (and if) the A500/2000 version comes out. As it is, the attitude of some of its rabid supporters have soured my interest in buying one thus far and in the forseeable future (I've got two A600s and a bunch of other OCS/ECS Amiga's). I'm pretty sure I'm not alone on this front......

From the spat in this thread; this not just a few Vampire "fan boys" - but also the "supposed" other side too - this vocal few on either side are equally as bad - multi-quote trolling each other and snide comments - its not interesting, off putting and off topic - to suggest that this activity is one sided in this thread would be unacceptably wrong.

I know the mods have lives, bless 'em moderating is quite a challenge at that the best of times, it is just a sad shame we cannot moderate our selves better.

It is a shame to read that you would ignore an ingenious (game changing) piece of Amiga born hardware just because of a couple of cuckoos in the nest - the Amiga community is quite rife with them on every niche and facet one can think of - if one starts losing interest because of "that kind of activity" - then when you follow it to its logical conclusion there won't be much left to play with.

I applaud any new bit of hardware no matter how big or small - to develop hardware and software on these machines in my humble opinion is true honour - others will see as a business, others will see it as competition and others will see it as yet another thing they must have.

The beautiful thing about the Amiga that I have found is HOW you make it YOURS, people jumping up and down and getting angry each other because they prefer to do it differently baffles me no end.

[ptyerman]

EAB's infamy is growing, but for the wrong reasons. Over on Amiga.org it has now been called the forum of jerks! It really is time for some moderation now before it's too late, because to be honest, I agree with that statement lately. I think I'll disappear again for a couple week and see if things improve.

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by Zetr0

I have owned 3x A2630's, with two different revisions of ROM and RAM configuration, However all these cards had the header on the solder side (opposite the component side).

That's the "correct" side - thanks.

One guy from a1k.org will send me his unit, which has the connectors on the component side. He even has an old set of ROMs that only works with Kick 1.3 that he'll include in the shipment. I'll dump them to make them available to emulation, and of course use them to make sure that BigRAM 2630 will be compatible with that as well.

Speaking of emulation: The 2630 emulation in WinUAE also benefits from this. Toni and I have exchanged quite a few eMails and he improved emulation of that card based on my interpretation of schematics and PAL sources.

Price-wise, this is calculated to sell about the same quantities as the X-Surf-100. That's simply because I have no other source of data for BigBox Amigas that's halfway up-to-date. I do get quite a few positive e-mails from people reading it here, on a1k.org, forum64.de and amiga.org (not wanting to post in any of those places), and it seems like there are more 2630s out there than I expected. If quantity is really that much higher, I will be able to shave a few EUR off the price. Components aren't that expensive, but machine setup, building prototypes, laser stencil and "all that stuff around it" must be paid for with the first production run. If this gets paid for by more customers, every single customer will benefit.

This is not (yet) the time to setup a pre-order page. I do have autoconfig running, and I have just finished routing the new version that also has space for a small autoconfig ROM, but this should work first - then I'll accept pre-orders and take money.

Can anyone with a DKB2632 please run Sysinfo and show how performance improves with that expansion? That should give an idea how the two expansions compare.

Jens