Zeus68k – Accelerator/IDE/RAM for the A500/2000/CDTV and others

[mr.vince]

Originally Posted by BarryB

Limited to those who are developing it it seems

Indeed, but why wo we complain. We already have it.

The good thing is we are only limited by quality, others have investors behind them, demanding a product for quick ROI.

[BarryB]

Originally Posted by mr.vince

Indeed, but why wo we complain. We already have it.

The good thing is we are only limited by quality, others have investors behind them, demanding a product for quick ROI.

I'm ready to invest, but there's nothing to invest in yet Any chance of a WIP update to see what the current status is?

[diskers]

As we can see not everyone here is treated equally, I think that a big discount for those who are still waiting will be a necessity or else....

Originally Posted by mr.vince

Indeed, but why wo we complain. We already have it.

The good thing is we are only limited by quality, others have investors behind them, demanding a product for quick ROI.

[BarryB]

I think they know were just joking and will wait patiently for it's arrival!

[mr.vince]

The major work is done. Ironing out the little details... then it's time for fund raising.

[BarryB]

1st board available is MINE

[Sim085]

Originally Posted by mr.vince

The major work is done. Ironing out the little details... then it's time for fund raising.

Great News!!

[luncheon]

Please let us know as soon as you open up the preordering...

[freon]

Will the Indivision ECS Flickerfixer fit together with this one?

http://www.jschoenfeld.com/products/...sion_ECS_e.htm

[BarryB]

Does this pic answer your question?

[freon]

So, the answer is no?



Perhaps with extra IC socket(s) to make it rise higher?

Edit. Now i see it There is that flickerfixer already in place

[Lord Aga]

It looks to me that Zeus is going over the Indy, so no mods necessary.
Then again, I could be wrong...

[majsta]

What I can conclude from the picture:
1. No more trapdoor connection socket?
2. I don't see how IDE can autoboot without using another address space and new driver becauuse don't see anywhere OVR, INT2 connections.
3. See problems with RTC and battery, because voltage for RTC are used from voltage regulator not from battery?
4. Any additional riser slot can cause disturbance to 7MHz clock so edges can't be captured properly.
5. Don't understand purpose of top right connector (logic analyzer maybe if so why didn't use JTAG).
6. Purpose of Spartan generating few things:
a) Rising and falling edges of 7MHz clock
b) SDRAM controller
c) Driving DIR and OE signals to buffers
d) RTC timings
e) IDE controller and possible part of Gayle logic

From my point of view design looks perfect I can't see anything done wrong but if I may say it could be tricky to get proper timings related to CPU and faster SDRAM so maybe there are some caches. What could be one of the problems also. On A500 motherboard are 2 large electrolytic capacitors who can give some problems when you want to attach board like this. You solved one like I can see but another one is under this board so you had to add new riser slot or change capacitor on A500 board.

[luncheon]

I have a more mundane question: My A500+ R8A has an older, thicker Samsung keyboard (the one found in the older Rev5 A500s) instead of the newer, slimmer Mitsumi model. Will the Zeus board fit there, or will I need to switch to the slimmer keyboard?

[kipper2k]

Originally Posted by luncheon

I have a more mundane question: My A500+ R8A has an older, thicker Samsung keyboard (the one found in the older Rev5 A500s) instead of the newer, slimmer Mitsumi model. Will the Zeus board fit there, or will I need to switch to the slimmer keyboard?

Based on the shown design and only using the one riser on the CPU socket you should have enough clearance. (you won't need that 6 wire jtag cable, it's only for programming)

[luncheon]

Originally Posted by kipper2k

Based on the shown design and only using the one riser on the CPU socket you should have enough clearance. (you won't need that 6 wire jtag cable, it's only for programming)

Good to know!! Mind you, I'll probably be using that JTAG to tinker with the board from time to time...

What happens with the Zeus' RTC module if you already have one onboard (trapdoor A500, A500+, A2000, B2000)? I assume it disables itself, or maybe it disables the stock Amiga module instead?

[Jope]

Originally Posted by luncheon

I have a more mundane question: My A500+ R8A has an older, thicker Samsung keyboard (the one found in the older Rev5 A500s) instead of the newer, slimmer Mitsumi model. Will the Zeus board fit there, or will I need to switch to the slimmer keyboard?

On an unrelated note, if this thread below doesn't already have pictures of the keyboard, please snap a few and post them. :-)

http://eab.abime.net/hardware-pics/3...-pictures.html

[Scrat]

Originally Posted by freon

Will the Indivision ECS Flickerfixer fit together with this one?

It fits perfectly if you use an extra IC socket on the Zeus. You'll probably need this kind of riser on most A500 revisions because of all those capacitors standing around

Originally Posted by luncheon

I have a more mundane question: My A500+ R8A has an older, thicker Samsung keyboard (the one found in the older Rev5 A500s) instead of the newer, slimmer Mitsumi model. Will the Zeus board fit there, or will I need to switch to the slimmer keyboard?

Haven't seen this type of keyboard yet, so I really can't say if it will fit.

Originally Posted by kipper2k

Based on the shown design and only using the one riser on the CPU socket you should have enough clearance. (you won't need that 6 wire jtag cable, it's only for programming)

The keyboard won't fit if the JTAG connector is mounted (I'm not sure if the final production boards will be shipped with the connector in place). I've modified my card and now the connector pins point in the opposite direction. My little son developed a strong interest in the open A500 sitting on my desk, so I needed to find a proper solution to keep the A500 case closed.

Originally Posted by luncheon

What happens with the Zeus' RTC module if you already have one onboard (trapdoor A500, A500+, A2000, B2000)? I assume it disables itself, or maybe it disables the stock Amiga module instead?

The RTC stuff is still on our to do list, but most likely there will be an option to disable the Zeus RTC via the boot menu.

Originally Posted by majsta

1. No more trapdoor connection socket?

It's still possible to use trapdoor memory expansions if you disable the $C0 memory option on the Zeus.

Originally Posted by majsta

2. I don't see how IDE can autoboot without using another address space and new driver becauuse don't see anywhere OVR, INT2 connections.

INT2 is only needed for Gayle IDE emulation, the AT-Bus IDE uses polled I/O.

Originally Posted by majsta

4. Any additional riser slot can cause disturbance to 7MHz clock so edges can't be captured properly.

Our hardware designer really knows what he's doing there.
That extra riser socket doesn't cause any harm to the signals as far as I can say.

Originally Posted by majsta

5. Don't understand purpose of top right connector (logic analyzer maybe if so why didn't use JTAG).

The top right connector provides:

- IDE LED connector
- Power/CPU activity LED connector
- NMI switch connector
- CPU clock switch connector
- INT2 input pin

Originally Posted by majsta

6. Purpose of Spartan generating few things:
a) Rising and falling edges of 7MHz clock
b) SDRAM controller
c) Driving DIR and OE signals to buffers
d) RTC timings
e) IDE controller and possible part of Gayle logic

The Spartan is basically the heart and soul of the Zeus. It handles the whole logic stuff (bus protocol, memory controller, Autoconfig, IDE, ActionReplay emulation, ...)

[duga]

"The RTC stuff is still on our to do list, but most likely there will be an option to disable the Zeus RTC via the boot menu."

Isn't it better to just skip the RTC stuff on the Zeus to save time and keep costs down? Most people already have it on their trap door expansion.

[Scrat]

Originally Posted by duga

Isn't it better to just skip the RTC stuff on the Zeus to save time and keep costs down? Most people already have it on their trap door expansion.

The A1000 for example doesn't have this kind of expansion - and (if someone feeds the FPGA with proper glue logic) the Zeus board may run on other 68000 based platforms.