A500 Zorro Slot Adaptor - Page 3

Daedalus · 21 August 2017, 16:35

Better safe than sorry

Cheers, I'll let you know when I have it.

fatbob_gb · 21 August 2017, 17:03

I am interested in one of these please.

Daedalus · 26 August 2017, 23:27

Update: E-Penguin has been kind enough to send me his own ACA500+ card for testing purposes... And it works. So far I have only tested the 2MB RAM card I have, but it autoconfigures and tests without problems. Will try some other cards later.

E-Penguin · 27 August 2017, 00:57

Glad it arrived safely, and that it works with the adapter.

I don't suppose you have any RTG cards lying around to test?

Daedalus · 27 August 2017, 01:07

I have a Picasso IV, but that's a 4MB card so I don't think it'll play nicely with the ACA taking up most of the Zorro-II address space. I'll try it anyway.

E-Penguin · 27 August 2017, 08:16

In the boot menu you can disable the fast ram. Presumably this would leave the Zorro area free.

Toni Wilen · 27 August 2017, 17:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by E-Penguin

In the boot menu you can disable the fast ram. Presumably this would leave the Zorro area free.

It does not.

E-Penguin · 27 August 2017, 18:16

Good to know!

Daedalus · 16 September 2017, 01:57

Okay, after a little break I'm back looking at this again. Most cards I've tried seem to work fine, or at least show up as boards when used with the ACA500+ kindly loaned to me by E-Penguin. The only one that doesn't appear in the boards list is the Picasso IV, but that's probably to be expected given the ACA doesn't leave enough space for it. I'm having a little trouble with Autoconfig when I attach a Blizzard 1230 to the ACA500 however, and maybe someone could shed some light on it? With the Blizzard attached, the machine runs fine but cards no longer show up properly in the boards list. For example, a Buddha/Catweasel S-Class I'm using for testing works perfectly with just the ACA (Zip drive and 30GB hard drive on an A500+

), but with the Blizzard attached, instead of showing up as vendor 4626/ID 42, it shows up as two boards, both with vendor 4626/ID 73. The Blizzard itself shows up fine. I presume there's some sort of clash when Autoconfig is doing its thing, so I tried turning off the Virtual Autoconfig. This stopped the Zorro board from showing up at all however.

So, I guess I'm looking for the exact sequence used by the ACA for AutoConfig. Does it wait for /CFGIN from the A500 before passing it to the Blizzard? Or does it pass it back down the chain once the Blizzard is configured? Or something else that I'm not thinking of? I set up the Zorro adaptor to config the Zorro slot first, then the passthrough since I read about some old sidecar expansions that don't pass the config signal back to the A500, which would mean the Zorro slot would never configure in those cases. But maybe I need to have it switchable?

Any ideas would be appreciated

Toni Wilen · 16 September 2017, 08:35

Product 73's are fake boards, they are added if 68030+ to make system stable even if MMU is enabled (for example by 680x0.library or enforcer etc..), without it those two important IO regions would be marked as invalid. Check base addresses of autoconfig boards to confirm that they are real autoconfig boards. (for example with tools/showconfig)

Check also ACA500plus autoconfig info screen (press TAB twice), all "real" boards should be listed. Also if possible include serial log (serial log enable in F8 page, 115200/8N1).

There is no config in or out in A1200 accelerator so hardware has to do some tricks to get autoconfig working (and probably also hope for the best that A1200 accelerator does not do something weird. At least Blizzards seem to work fine). Check "ACA500plus registers" documentation.

Daedalus · 16 September 2017, 13:54

Ah, that explains a lot, thanks Toni. I'll investigate further later on.

Toni Wilen · 16 September 2017, 14:22

There is also chance it is firmware bug in configuring ACA500plus autoconfig hardware. -> screenshot and log required, or the adapter

Daedalus · 19 September 2017, 01:24

Hi Toni, I've uploaded an archive of some log files and screenshots here. It contains shots of the Autoconfig entries in the ACA menu and ShowConfig in both 000 and 030 modes, and also a log from startup/reset of each. In 030 mode, the Blizzard appears to have the same base address as the Buddha does when in 000 mode. I would expect the Buddha to be shifted up by 128K, but maybe it's being assigned and then losing that address to the Blizzard? I'm not sure what happened the formatting of the log files - they were captured on Windows using Putty. Config was otherwise the same for both CPUs - 3.1 booting from the CF card with all memory enabled. I appreciate you looking into this!

If you needed it, I'm sure I could organise to get an adaptor to you...

r.cade · 20 September 2017, 03:31

I would like one. I assume it works on the A1000 also, just turned around "backwards" but not upside down?

Toni Wilen · 20 September 2017, 08:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daedalus

Hi Toni, I've uploaded an archive of some log files and screenshots here. It contains shots of the Autoconfig entries in the ACA menu and ShowConfig in both 000 and 030 modes, and also a log from startup/reset of each. In 030 mode, the Blizzard appears to have the same base address as the Buddha does when in 000 mode. I would expect the Buddha to be shifted up by 128K, but maybe it's being assigned and then losing that address to the Blizzard? I'm not sure what happened the formatting of the log files - they were captured on Windows using Putty. Config was otherwise the same for both CPUs - 3.1 booting from the CF card with all memory enabled. I appreciate you looking into this!

Could you take new serial logs with better terminal program settings (CR=LF or similar). Current format is unreadable

Does Buddha even get initialized when Blizzard is connected? (Do you see any autoconfig writes to Buddha?)

Different addresses 000 vs 030 is normal, Blizzard is 128K board and autoconfig logic tries to find the earliest free slot (this happens only in Z2) that has correct alignment, so Blizzard gets $ea0000 (it is 128k aligned), even if it is first "board", ACA500plus gets $e90000 because it is still free.

Quote:

If you needed it, I'm sure I could organise to get an adaptor to you...

It could help (Contact me via PM). I don't have Blizzard 1230 but I do have many ACA12xx models and Blizzard 1260.

fordav1 · 20 September 2017, 11:09

while the comm settings are not quite right, it reads just fine. simply remove all leading spaces with a script or text editor.
e.g.....

Daedalus · 20 September 2017, 11:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by r.cade

I would like one. I assume it works on the A1000 also, just turned around "backwards" but not upside down?

Well, it *should* work like that but I don't have an A1000 to test it on so I couldn't guarantee it. There have been similar devices available in the past though that might indicate how compatible it might be. The board is more or less finished and working with most cards on an A500. I just have this little issue with the ACA to resolve and it should be ready to go.

@Toni,
Cool, will get some proper logs later on and be in touch.

Daedalus · 20 September 2017, 11:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by fordav1

while the comm settings are not quite right, it reads just fine. simply remove all leading spaces with a script or text editor.
e.g.....

Ooh, thanks! I don't know how it ended up with lots of spaces like that. It can't all be down to CR/LF surely? I'll try again later anyway, but Putty has worked fine for me before...

Toni Wilen · 20 September 2017, 16:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by fordav1

while the comm settings are not quite right, it reads just fine. simply remove all leading spaces with a script or text editor.
e.g.....

Yes, of course, but I rarely accept workarounds that can introduce unknown variables, especially when doing manual editing.

(and 030 file is the important one)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daedalus

Ooh, thanks! I don't know how it ended up with lots of spaces like that. It can't all be down to CR/LF surely? I'll try again later anyway, but Putty has worked fine for me before...

It is CR/LF. Set "Implicit CR in every LF" in Putty.

E-Penguin · 20 September 2017, 19:29

Daedalus
Try also the new firmware on the ACA500plus, I think I had it at v0.98. You'll need a fat formatted CF card and the firmware from the icomp wiki (see thread in Scene). I don't know whether the firmware modifies the autoconfig stuff - Toni can advise that.

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21 August 2017, 16:35	#41
Daedalus Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Dublin, then Glasgow Posts: 6,334	Better safe than sorry Cheers, I'll let you know when I have it.

21 August 2017, 17:03	#42
fatbob_gb Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Preston UK Posts: 72	I am interested in one of these please.

26 August 2017, 23:27	#43
Daedalus Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Dublin, then Glasgow Posts: 6,334	Update: E-Penguin has been kind enough to send me his own ACA500+ card for testing purposes... And it works. So far I have only tested the 2MB RAM card I have, but it autoconfigures and tests without problems. Will try some other cards later.

27 August 2017, 00:57	#44
E-Penguin Banana Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Darmstadt Posts: 1,213	Glad it arrived safely, and that it works with the adapter. I don't suppose you have any RTG cards lying around to test?

27 August 2017, 01:07	#45
Daedalus Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Dublin, then Glasgow Posts: 6,334	I have a Picasso IV, but that's a 4MB card so I don't think it'll play nicely with the ACA taking up most of the Zorro-II address space. I'll try it anyway.

27 August 2017, 08:16	#46
E-Penguin Banana Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Darmstadt Posts: 1,213	In the boot menu you can disable the fast ram. Presumably this would leave the Zorro area free.

27 August 2017, 18:16	#48
E-Penguin Banana Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Darmstadt Posts: 1,213	Good to know!

16 September 2017, 01:57	#49
Daedalus Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Dublin, then Glasgow Posts: 6,334	Okay, after a little break I'm back looking at this again. Most cards I've tried seem to work fine, or at least show up as boards when used with the ACA500+ kindly loaned to me by E-Penguin. The only one that doesn't appear in the boards list is the Picasso IV, but that's probably to be expected given the ACA doesn't leave enough space for it. I'm having a little trouble with Autoconfig when I attach a Blizzard 1230 to the ACA500 however, and maybe someone could shed some light on it? With the Blizzard attached, the machine runs fine but cards no longer show up properly in the boards list. For example, a Buddha/Catweasel S-Class I'm using for testing works perfectly with just the ACA (Zip drive and 30GB hard drive on an A500+ ), but with the Blizzard attached, instead of showing up as vendor 4626/ID 42, it shows up as two boards, both with vendor 4626/ID 73. The Blizzard itself shows up fine. I presume there's some sort of clash when Autoconfig is doing its thing, so I tried turning off the Virtual Autoconfig. This stopped the Zorro board from showing up at all however. So, I guess I'm looking for the exact sequence used by the ACA for AutoConfig. Does it wait for /CFGIN from the A500 before passing it to the Blizzard? Or does it pass it back down the chain once the Blizzard is configured? Or something else that I'm not thinking of? I set up the Zorro adaptor to config the Zorro slot first, then the passthrough since I read about some old sidecar expansions that don't pass the config signal back to the A500, which would mean the Zorro slot would never configure in those cases. But maybe I need to have it switchable? Any ideas would be appreciated

16 September 2017, 08:35	#50
Toni Wilen WinUAE developer Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Hämeenlinna/Finland Age: 49 Posts: 26,503	Product 73's are fake boards, they are added if 68030+ to make system stable even if MMU is enabled (for example by 680x0.library or enforcer etc..), without it those two important IO regions would be marked as invalid. Check base addresses of autoconfig boards to confirm that they are real autoconfig boards. (for example with tools/showconfig) Check also ACA500plus autoconfig info screen (press TAB twice), all "real" boards should be listed. Also if possible include serial log (serial log enable in F8 page, 115200/8N1). There is no config in or out in A1200 accelerator so hardware has to do some tricks to get autoconfig working (and probably also hope for the best that A1200 accelerator does not do something weird. At least Blizzards seem to work fine). Check "ACA500plus registers" documentation.

16 September 2017, 13:54	#51
Daedalus Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Dublin, then Glasgow Posts: 6,334	Ah, that explains a lot, thanks Toni. I'll investigate further later on.

16 September 2017, 14:22	#52
Toni Wilen WinUAE developer Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Hämeenlinna/Finland Age: 49 Posts: 26,503	There is also chance it is firmware bug in configuring ACA500plus autoconfig hardware. -> screenshot and log required, or the adapter

19 September 2017, 01:24	#53
Daedalus Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Dublin, then Glasgow Posts: 6,334	Hi Toni, I've uploaded an archive of some log files and screenshots here. It contains shots of the Autoconfig entries in the ACA menu and ShowConfig in both 000 and 030 modes, and also a log from startup/reset of each. In 030 mode, the Blizzard appears to have the same base address as the Buddha does when in 000 mode. I would expect the Buddha to be shifted up by 128K, but maybe it's being assigned and then losing that address to the Blizzard? I'm not sure what happened the formatting of the log files - they were captured on Windows using Putty. Config was otherwise the same for both CPUs - 3.1 booting from the CF card with all memory enabled. I appreciate you looking into this! If you needed it, I'm sure I could organise to get an adaptor to you...

20 September 2017, 03:31	#54
r.cade Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Augusta, Georgia, USA Posts: 548	I would like one. I assume it works on the A1000 also, just turned around "backwards" but not upside down?

20 September 2017, 19:29	#60
E-Penguin Banana Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Darmstadt Posts: 1,213	Daedalus Try also the new firmware on the ACA500plus, I think I had it at v0.98. You'll need a fat formatted CF card and the firmware from the icomp wiki (see thread in Scene). I don't know whether the firmware modifies the autoconfig stuff - Toni can advise that.

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