ACA500 tested

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by mihcael

68EC000 is a type of 68000, extra detail simply omitted?

One little detail is omitted, and that's the E-Clock syncronization which is required for talking to the CIA chips. This feature has also been removed for all 68020 and higher processors, so it's already common knowledge how to add it into the accelerator for the Amiga. Nothing to worry about - if I would not implement this properly, the unit wouldn't start at all :-).

The 68EC000 is 100% software compatible with the NMOS version of the 68000 down to the last cycle. I'd say it's OK to refer to it as 68000, as it's only the silicon level that's different; the behaviour - even on the memory bus - is identical with the chip that has powered our A500's all these years.

Originally Posted by Bamiga2002

I was referring the card has 68000 only, not 68010.

...which is correct, because the exact type number MC68EC000FN10 has nothing to do with the 68010. It's a 10MHz CMOS version of the CPU, which is overclocked to 14MHz. The overclocking is clearly shown in the Vesalia description, because I asked them to do so. I prefer to be honest, I don't want anyone complaining about "hey, my CPU is overclocked!".

Originally Posted by Bamiga2002

Must try sticking my BPPC in the slot !

Save your time. None of the Blizzard designs with 68040 or higher works on the 16-bit interface of the ACA500.

Originally Posted by Bamiga2002

V:"2 MB or 4 MB of physical RAM"
A: 2 MB only

I've made the mistake of announcing the 4MB version for an added 40,- EUR. I can't make it for that price, so I decided to skip on the 4MB version. There's only one version, and that has 2MBytes physical memory. The latest verion of WHDload has some elaborate method of allocating memory, so more games work with pre-load, despite some memory fragmentation. The current Vesalia description reflects this change.

Jens

[klx300r]

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

It does, but it's not recommended. I will make a special version for the A1000 that also includes 2MBytes chipram expansion. However, I should roll out the ACA500 first, then test the ACA2000 prototype, and *then* I can turn to the A1000.

About WHDload: Use V17.2 or higher, that includes special support for the ACA500's quit-key hardware support.

Jens

an ACA1000 with 2Mb chip for our Amiga 1000's !!! thanks for this great news

Somewhere I read that the first batch of ACA-1220 need some kind of hardware fix i order to work with the ACA-500. Does anyone (Jens?) know if this is (still) the case?

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by Piramania

Somewhere I read that the first batch of ACA-1220 need some kind of hardware fix i order to work with the ACA-500. Does anyone (Jens?) know if this is (still) the case?

The new logic for the ACA1220 is available since september 5th. by then, I contacted resellers to send their stock for an update. Only Vesalia sent their stock for this update, others either didn't reply, or replied that they don't have stock.

If you card was bought before september 5th, it *will* require the update. If it was bought sometime later in september, it *may* require the update, and it's pretty safe to say that if you've bought your card in october 2013 or later, it doesn't require an update.

The update is free if you buy the ACA500 directly from me. Contact me through the web form on icomp.de in that case.

Jens

Thanks, Jens! The card is bought in late October 2012, so the update *is* required. I will soon contact you through the web form on icomp.de.

[amigakit.com]

ACA 500 accelerator is now added to AmigaKit.com webstores:

UK Product Link:
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...oducts_id=1168

Europe Product Link:
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...oducts_id=1168

US Product Link:
http://www.amigakit.us/product_info....oducts_id=1168

Canadian Product Link:
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...oducts_id=1168

[BarryB]

Will anyone be making a case for this to go in?

If you plug an ACA12xx into it as well then that's a lot of exposed board just waiting to get 'accidentally' damaged!!

[prowler]

Originally Posted by BarryB

Will anyone be making a case for this to go in?

There have been various proposals. To find some examples, search this thread for the word "case":
New products for C64 and Amiga from Individual Computers

[Bamiga2002]

Excellent news!

[mihcael]

Compatible addons...
Amiga Kit says ACA 1220 and ACA 1232
Vesalia lists additionally ACA 1231

I have a 1230/28, is that supported?

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by mihcael

Compatible addons...
Amiga Kit says ACA 1220 and ACA 1232
Vesalia lists additionally ACA 1231

I have a 1230/28, is that supported?

ACA1231 is the predecessor of the ACA1232, and it has almost the same asyncronous interface to the A1200. The ACA1230 series are all fully sync with the A1200, so they are a bit more piccy about the timing.

I have successfully run all three versions of the ACA1230 on the ACA500, but this highly depends on a clean clock source from the A500 motherboard: I have only tried this with a Rev.8a board, which has a very clean signal quality. This may be different on older A500 revisions and with worse power supplies.

In other words: It's worth a try, but I can't guarantee it. The ACA1230 series therefore has the same status as the B1230-IV: Works in the lab, but it's not guaranteed to work.

Jens

[lukassid]

Originally Posted by BarryB

Will anyone be making a case for this to go in?

There is a guy on lemon 64 forum who just made stunning brushed steel case for Flyer modem. He's selling them for 50 USD. Somebody should contact him regarding aca500.

[JanciB]

What speed from the CF can we expect?

[_ThEcRoW]

Are then 2mb of fast ram available?. I read on previous posts that the effective memory was 1,5mb. I'm interested anywayin the card, but would like to know that. Seems in this year, i will have a good christmas holidays...

[alexh]

Originally Posted by photon

CF speed: A slow Lexar card gave me 1450MB/s in Sysinfo

Wow that's fast

[duga]

Originally Posted by _ThEcRoW

Are then 2mb of fast ram available?. I read on previous posts that the effective memory was 1,5mb. I'm interested anywayin the card, but would like to know that. Seems in this year, i will have a good christmas holidays...

2 MB if you disable MAPROM.

[Schoenfeld]

Time to reveal the last feature of the ACA500 which wasn't published before. Drumroll...

The ChipMap feature

ChipMap can map trapdoor memory as Chipram without having to open the computer, solder on jumpers etc. The following preconditions must apply:

- ECS Agnus must be installed
- exactly 512k trapdoor mem must be present (not more, not less)
- exactly 512k chipram must be present

If these conditions apply, the ACA500's minimal MMU can turn the computer into a 1MByte Chipram computer, completely without opening the machine. Most Rev.6 and higher boards have that config, so it'll improve WHDload compatibility even more.

I will publish this firmware later this weekend. It will show if the feature is available, and let you select the chipmem size with a menu item in the expert menu.

Jens

[Lord Aga]

Wow, this is actually a pretty big thing. It will turn most A500 configs into 1MB CHIP + 1.5MB FAST without any hassle.
Also nice for an ultra-retro ultra-snappy 1.3 WB system.

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by Lord Aga

Wow, this is actually a pretty big thing. It will turn most A500 configs into 1MB CHIP + 1.5MB FAST without any hassle.

Make that 2MB Fast if you use the ROM that's physically installed in the machine. And yes, I also think it's a big feature, which is why I've saved the best for last ;-)

Jens

[_ThEcRoW]

neat!