checkmmu vs ACA630 vs Magnum ec030

jimbob · 23 September 2012, 22:52

I finally got my mitts on an A1200, (yay), equipped with a 40Mhz Magnum 030 card, (double yay) and I've just been checking it out.

The magnum has an ec030 processor which I've been reading often have fully functional MMUs so I tried to check this out using the checkmmu utility.

You are supposed to issue the commands

cpu fastrom
checkmmu

and it will report if you have an mmu or not. It reports I don't as expected, (even though sysinfo says it is present and in use when cpu fastrom is activated). Now here is the funny thing, the same commands on my ACA630 gives exactly the same result, checkmmu says no mmu present, sysinfo says it is, where this time the chip ought to be a full 030 with mmu.

So which program is lying, or which chip has something extra/broken? What program can I use to reliably detect MMU?

Wepl · 24 September 2012, 20:54

the ec processors have no working mmu, that's why they are ec types

Toni Wilen · 24 September 2012, 21:20

I don't think it is possible to reliably detect 68EC030 MMU quality. It can work partially, for example I had 68EC030 that worked with enforcer but any most other programs that used MMU froze the system instantly.

AFAIK Sysinfo only checks if MMU TC register has MMU enabled bit set, it does not do any MMU tests.

jimbob · 24 September 2012, 22:19

Thanks gents. I will look for and try out assorted programs that require MMU and see what happens, this should be a learning experience, this MMU stuff is a bit of a mystery to me.

The reason I was asking is that the magnum card also has FPU so I thought I might have a mess about with some amiga linux or BSD. Not possible without MMU though so I wanted to find out if I'd got one of the "lucky" ec chips.

After the check program reported negatively, I thought that was that - ec chip = no MMU = no *nix.

What confused me is the negative result on my ACA630 also. I don't know what to think now, does this utility actually work, is my ACA broken, maybe the magnum could yet have a working MMU . . .

Would anyone with an ACA630 mind trying the utility on theirs to see what it reports. Get it here -

http://aminet.net/package/util/moni/CheckMMU

BTW, I assumed you should disable ACA maprom before using CPU fastrom command for this test.

23 September 2012, 22:52	#1
jimbob Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Location: Kilmacolm Age: 45 Posts: 632	checkmmu vs ACA630 vs Magnum ec030 I finally got my mitts on an A1200, (yay), equipped with a 40Mhz Magnum 030 card, (double yay) and I've just been checking it out. The magnum has an ec030 processor which I've been reading often have fully functional MMUs so I tried to check this out using the checkmmu utility. You are supposed to issue the commands cpu fastrom checkmmu and it will report if you have an mmu or not. It reports I don't as expected, (even though sysinfo says it is present and in use when cpu fastrom is activated). Now here is the funny thing, the same commands on my ACA630 gives exactly the same result, checkmmu says no mmu present, sysinfo says it is, where this time the chip ought to be a full 030 with mmu. So which program is lying, or which chip has something extra/broken? What program can I use to reliably detect MMU?

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24 September 2012, 20:54	#2
Wepl Moderator Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Germany Posts: 866	the ec processors have no working mmu, that's why they are ec types

24 September 2012, 21:20	#3
Toni Wilen WinUAE developer Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Hämeenlinna/Finland Age: 49 Posts: 26,505	I don't think it is possible to reliably detect 68EC030 MMU quality. It can work partially, for example I had 68EC030 that worked with enforcer but any most other programs that used MMU froze the system instantly. AFAIK Sysinfo only checks if MMU TC register has MMU enabled bit set, it does not do any MMU tests.

24 September 2012, 22:19	#4
jimbob Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Location: Kilmacolm Age: 45 Posts: 632	Thanks gents. I will look for and try out assorted programs that require MMU and see what happens, this should be a learning experience, this MMU stuff is a bit of a mystery to me. The reason I was asking is that the magnum card also has FPU so I thought I might have a mess about with some amiga linux or BSD. Not possible without MMU though so I wanted to find out if I'd got one of the "lucky" ec chips. After the check program reported negatively, I thought that was that - ec chip = no MMU = no *nix. What confused me is the negative result on my ACA630 also. I don't know what to think now, does this utility actually work, is my ACA broken, maybe the magnum could yet have a working MMU . . . Would anyone with an ACA630 mind trying the utility on theirs to see what it reports. Get it here - http://aminet.net/package/util/moni/CheckMMU BTW, I assumed you should disable ACA maprom before using CPU fastrom command for this test.

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