New products for C64 and Amiga from Individual Computers

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by Riempie

Just noticed an ACA 1233 030 40mhz on the site of Vesalia and on www.icomp.de.
Does anybody know if this one is any different from the ACA 1232 030 40mhz card?

The ACA1233 is essentially an ACA1232 - no memory timing difference, no A1200 timing difference, identical performance. Only change is that there's an unsupported place for an FPU - for all you guys who think that adding an FPU is a good idea.

"unsupported" means that whenever someone solders in a socket or an FPU, warranty and product support ends. According to my calculations, the pin capacitance added by the FPU makes burst instable, which is why none of my other cards has an FPU(-socket). However, with some "I-know-better"-tinkerers modding the ACA1232 way beyond specification, this is yet another possibility to leave spec'd territory.

Originally Posted by demolition

My 1232 does not. It has 127MB at 0x1000000 and the last MB is reserved for maprom. No memory at 0xc00000. The ACA620 has it though.

Check again - I introduced the "fixed" 1M@0x00c0.0000 with the ACA1232, and even the ACA1230 had mem there if you close the kick3.0 jumper. I'd be surprised if the memory disappeared on your card :-)

Jens

[alenppc]

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

According to my calculations, the pin capacitance added by the FPU makes burst instable.

Out of curiousity, is this specific to the ACA design? Would a (say) Blizzard 1230-IV suffer from the same problem?

[demolition]

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

Check again - I introduced the "fixed" 1M@0x00c0.0000 with the ACA1232, and even the ACA1230 had mem there if you close the kick3.0 jumper. I'd be surprised if the memory disappeared on your card :-)

I stand corrected then. I must have remembered wrong then and I couldn't see it mentioned in Amigakit or Vesalia's specs..

To my defense, I am not at home at the moment and have to rely on emulators to get my fix, so I wasn't able to check IRL.

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by alenppc

Out of curiousity, is this specific to the ACA design? Would a (say) Blizzard 1230-IV suffer from the same problem?

This is specific to the ACA SD-Ram design, because I'm doing a way faster burst than other 030 accelerators some 20 years ago: Back then, memories were not fast enough, and even with "keep the row open and cycle CAS line", you had to run one wait state to get the next data word on the bus.

My design runs 0-wait state after the first data word has been transferred. This speed was not possible 20 years ago, and I was confronted with a few problems of the 68030 that were not described anywhere. I found that the data setup and hold times must be very long before/after the data sample point, which gets more difficult if you have higher pin capacitance to drive.

If you run one more waitstate, you have 25ns more for data to settle, which is plenty, even with an FPU on the bus.

Jens

[SpeedGeek]

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

This is specific to the ACA SD-Ram design, because I'm doing a way faster burst than other 030 accelerators some 20 years ago: Back then, memories were not fast enough, and even with "keep the row open and cycle CAS line", you had to run one wait state to get the next data word on the bus.

My design runs 0-wait state after the first data word has been transferred. This speed was not possible 20 years ago, and I was confronted with a few problems of the 68030 that were not described anywhere. I found that the data setup and hold times must be very long before/after the data sample point, which gets more difficult if you have higher pin capacitance to drive.

If you run one more waitstate, you have 25ns more for data to settle, which is plenty, even with an FPU on the bus.

Jens

Nice work on giving your customers the FPU option (even if unsupported).

I mentioned (some time ago) using the FPU /Sense pin to detect the FPU and add a wait state to keep the SDRAM within specs. This should allow supported use of the FPU option (Unless, your just using a simple jumper to change /BERR to /FPUCS).

You might be surprised to know that 20 years ago, a 1 clock burst cycle was possible with the right DRAM controller. In fact, I'm currently using a 1 clock burst cycle on my DKB2632 but since it's running at 1/2 the 030's 54MHz clock speed it's a 2 clock burst from the 030's point of view.

20 years ago 60-70ns DRAMs were fast enough to support a 1 clock burst for most 030 accelerators (but most DRAM controllers didn't even try to support it).

[Retrofan]

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

...I'm working on a whole set of things for the C64; PSU replacement is only one thing. Now that the new Micromys V4 cases are here, I can try to cram the electronics into that case and give it the C64 power connector.

Jens

I want to know if possible about the C64 psu. Well, in fact I don't need a case for it as I'll use the original (empty now).

Did you get to put it inside the Micromys V4 case? When can I buy it? (With or without case).

[dJOS]

Jens, will the new run of ComPro's have the selector fix working properly so that you can switch between a "1 button" joystick and a "2 button" joystick?

Everything is there and it's a dead simple fix:

http://www.lemonamiga.com/forum/view...556&highlight=

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by dJOS

Jens, will the new run of ComPro's have the selector fix working properly so that you can switch between a "1 button" joystick and a "2 button" joystick?

Wrong question - it's not "will they have..." any more, but "do they have": The new joysticks are shipping since late august.

The Competition PRO Retro is a single-button joystick. The upper two buttons can be switched on/off, but cannot be used for anything else.

Like the last production run, this one is modding-friendly with a 9-wire cable (and as opposed to the original poster in that lemon thread thinks, it was my specification, not Speedlink's - they only charged for the extra wires ;-)).

Jens

[dJOS]

Lol, thanks Jens.

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by Retrofan

I want to know if possible about the C64 psu. Well, in fact I don't need a case for it as I'll use the original (empty now).

Did you get to put it inside the Micromys V4 case? When can I buy it? (With or without case).

I currently have contract work, so only very limited time for Retro projects. The C64 Reloaded and related projects (such as the power supply adapter) are postponed.

Jens

[Retrofan]

Thanks for the info, much appreciated.

[chromium]

Just saw the ACA-1233, I finally bought an ACA-1232 a couple of months ago. It doesn't look like I'd see any benefit with the 1233 though. Also, I pre-ordered a Competition Pro at the same time, are these things shipping yet? I thought it was September 1st.

[BarryB]

Got my 2 comp pros a week or so ago, so yes, they are shipping

[chromium]

Originally Posted by BarryB

Got my 2 comp pros a week or so ago, so yes, they are shipping

Hmmm, ok, thanks. I ordered mine in early July, thought I would've received it by now.

I never got an email to say that it shipped or anything though.

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by chromium

Hmmm, ok, thanks. I ordered mine in early July, thought I would've received it by now.

I never got an email to say that it shipped or anything though.

All paid orders have been shipped. If you have ordered but not paid, it's correct that you did not get the joysticks yet. If you think that this is an error, please contact me directly - my eMail address should be known.

Please note that I still cannot answer to any Microsoft addresses (such as outlook.com, hotmail or live.com). Please use a real eMail provider.

Jens

[TjLaZer]

Just got my ACA 1233 and it works great with my ACA 500!

[BarryB]

Originally Posted by chromium

Hmmm, ok, thanks. I ordered mine in early July, thought I would've received it by now.

I never got an email to say that it shipped or anything though.

No, don't think I got any email either, just the paypal receipt! I got the Joysticks though and that's all that matters!

[chromium]

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

All paid orders have been shipped. If you have ordered but not paid, it's correct that you did not get the joysticks yet. If you think that this is an error, please contact me directly - my eMail address should be known.

Please note that I still cannot answer to any Microsoft addresses (such as outlook.com, hotmail or live.com). Please use a real eMail provider.

Jens

Hey Jens, I sent a couple of emails to tech@support.icomp.de but haven't had a reply. I paid for the joystick at the same time I bought my ACA-1232 and Micromys v4, which was July 6

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by chromium

Hey Jens, I sent a couple of emails to tech@support.icomp.de but haven't had a reply.

Found the eMails - that order was handled outside the shop system, and I've closed that ticket after I shipped the first part of your order. My mistake. More details and tracking number for your joystick has been sent through eMail.

Jens

[Nostromo]

Quick question regarding the Indivision AGA MK2cr.... can it output via DVI (digital signal) @ 50hz? I would like to get one but only if it retains the 50hz frequency so I can connect to a normal TV with a DVI->HDMI adapter.

And another question on Chameleon... Can it output @ 50hz when using C64 and Amiga cores? (via VGA obviously)

Thanks =)