Nothing in the future for the CD32 ?

[TreacleWench]

Wow, I am very excited by these prospects! I have no hardware skills but all you guys definitely have my support (in the form of future orders).

To be honest, just 8mb fast RAM and IDE would be a dream come true.

[matthey]

Originally Posted by kipper2k

I don't mind helping out in the board layout and testing part. I have been building the Vampires, I have been looking at a better way of getting these built for people on the waiting list for them as they are pretty tough to build so i have been looking at the possibility of getting these built by a board house to get them done more quickly with a good standard of build.

I've left a message on the Apollo forum for us to talk about. I think it would be useful for us to have a Cyclone 5 based accelerator for testing as that is our minimum target for the main Apollo core. Hopefully we could produce something cheap enough to sell well. Your help certainly makes this more realistic. I'll let you know if anything comes of it.

[kipper2k]

Originally Posted by matthey

I've left a message on the Apollo forum for us to talk about. I think it would be useful for us to have a Cyclone 5 based accelerator for testing as that is our minimum target for the main Apollo core. Hopefully we could produce something cheap enough to sell well. Your help certainly makes this more realistic. I'll let you know if anything comes of it.

sounds good, an Amiga with a CD drive and all bells and whistles sounds excellent . Is this where the price and availability of a CD32 starts to be affected

[kipper2k]

I was looking at the cyclone 5, all i can see is the BGA type, is that the only mounting option for the Cyclone 5 ?

[chaos]

Why limit yourself to Cyclone 5, wouldn't a 20k LE Cyclone III cover a 68k30, even with MMU & FPU? Working with BGA chips is IMO too expensive for low quantity PCBs, you'd need a six layer board minimum to get access to any meaningful amount of pins on the FPGA.

If you want more, there is even a 40k LE Cyclone III in PQFP240 package.

[cv643d]

Is there not some dude on german a1k.org forum who is making a mem/IDE expansion for the CD32?

Maybe talk to him and set up international order for it once it is finished?

Here it is: http://www.a1k.org/forum/showthread.php?t=32822

[kipper2k]

I seen that, it appears to be slow progress. It would be nice to have different levels of expansion for the CD32 and not just an accelerator. Some people would like a low end memory expansion board, not everyone would go for an expensive high end accelerator so options need to be available.

The reason i wanted to do an expansion board was for the RGB output and i didn't want to solder wires to the board, and at the same time allow simple upgrades for people.

There are probably lots of options for newer FPGA accelerators but alas, over my head. WHDload compatibility for all games i think is the goal, anything else is just gravy

[Lord Aga]

^ That is the correct reasoning.
Everyone will be delighted with an affordable RGB+CF(IDE)+FAST RAM combo.
And then later, If someone wants to create an accelerator, I'm sure it will have its audience too. But first things first

Has anything happened thanks to this thread? Just got a CD33 myself and would like Liberation to run a bit smoother. That is what more RAM'll do, right?

[eXeler0]

Originally Posted by Stick_Giraffe

Has anything happened thanks to this thread? Just got a CD33 myself and would like Liberation to run a bit smoother. That is what more RAM'll do, right?

Actually, of you look at the dates of Stedy's posts about project Hermes they are suspiciously close time-wise..

https://ianstedman.wordpress.com/201...roject-hermes/

Unfortunately, progress seems slow and AFAIK there's no real release date set...
Realistically, Individual Com (Jens) probably is the most likely person to bring an actual product.. All he needs to so is some sort of adapter for the ACA500+ then you can plug in for eg an ACA 1221 which would be a decent fit for the CD32..

Apparently such a project is not overly complicated but currently not a priority for Jens.
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?p=1036871
But maybe in a year or so.. who knows..

[Amiga1992]

Originally Posted by eXeler0

Realistically, Individual Com (Jens) probably is the most likely person to bring an actual product.. All he needs to so is some sort of adapter for the ACA500+ then you can plug in for eg an ACA 1221 which would be a decent fit for the CD32..

I rather wait for Stedy's simpler project. Don't want any kind of accelerator, just RAM and IDE that actually fits in the original box more or less. Imagine the clusterfuck of space wasted by an ACA500 + ACA accelerator popping out the back of a CD32 (like the SX-1 module). I don't have space for that under my TV set where my CD32 is with the other consoles.

[eXeler0]

Originally Posted by Akira

I rather wait for Stedy's simpler project. Don't want any kind of accelerator, just RAM and IDE that actually fits in the original box more or less. Imagine the clusterfuck of space wasted by an ACA500 + ACA accelerator popping out the back of a CD32 (like the SX-1 module). I don't have space for that under my TV set where my CD32 is with the other consoles.

Yea, I'm waiting for that one too, if you only need RAM +IDE, its clearly the more appealing solutions...but IF it turns into vaporware, I'd like to have other options.
The ACA combo already exists, so while not the most elegant solution, whats missing is "only" the adapter.
The ACA1221 is actually a very small card. Not sure what the ACA500+ will look like, but the design of the adapter would ultimately decide how big this "package" would be.

I've been contemplating selling my NTSC CD32 for some time, but I will definitely hang on to it if there's the possibility of expanding it for a reasonable price.