Details for the next generation of Flickerfixers from Individual Computers

[cosmicfrog]

ohhh dose this mean u are working on a sata solution for our A1200s and A4000s as well ??

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by cosmicfrog

ohhh dose this mean u are working on a sata solution for our A1200s and A4000s as well ??

Just for A1200. 1x SATA and 1xCF-Slot with 32-bit 0-Waitstate access (fastest possible transfer speed on the A1200 motherboard). Before I can continue on this project, I need to make sure that Indivision AGA MK2 stays in this mechanical shape. Also, recent developments (after release of the ACA 1230/630 cards with their maprom feature) have shown that we need a flashable kickstart, which would be nice on this controller. Long way to go!

Jens

[DDNI]

sign me up for one!

Letting my indivision A1200 go as part of my BPPC tower sale was the biggest Amiga mistake I have ever made

[johnim]

this is great jens nice job

[Paul_s]

Howcome you dont write 'Atari ST' on the side of the Wheelie Bin silk screen?

[NovaCoder]

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

This flickerfixer leaves significantly more space around the kickstart sockets compared to the old Indivision AGA for A1200, which I'll need for my SATA controller.

We're still far from mass-production - there's a lot of work left to do. However, by re-using large parts of the SD-Ram controller of the old Indivision AGA, I have a known-good building block that I can re-use in Indivision AGA MK2.

Jens

Looking great Jens, also love the SATA controller talk

1x SATA and 1xCF-Slot with 32-bit 0-Waitstate access (fastest possible transfer speed on the A1200 motherboard).

So if you just plug a CF card in, will you get the same basic performance as using a real SATA HD connected to the SATA port? I know this new controller is still a long way off still, but do you see this new controller as being much faster than the old IdeFix Express? I'm currently getting about 4.7 Mbs out of my IdeFix Express using a 56Mhz ACA and 16GB solid state HD unit (according to SysInfo at least).

[magnetic]

Jens

thanks for the honest updates. Looks like a lot more work ahead, but a lot more features as well. Its making me rethink my desire to dump my a1200 and go with the a600.

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by Paul_s

Howcome you dont write 'Atari ST' on the side of the Wheelie Bin silk screen?

:-)
That war is over. We've won. However, we may win even more: As you can see on the CAD screenshots, there's a connector that nobody in this thread has asked about yet (are you all reading Babelfish-translated atk.org??).

CN1 is an alternative input to the Lisa-connection. This lets me use the hardware basis for a flickerfixer that also works on other computers, such as the Atari ST (maybe also Falcon), or classic MACs with 68k processor. I'm currently looking for the Mac LC III schematics - if anyone has them, please let me know.

Jens

[Amigafanboi]

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

:-)
That war is over. We've won. However, we may win even more: As you can see on the CAD screenshots, there's a connector that nobody in this thread has asked about yet (are you all reading Babelfish-translated atk.org??).

CN1 is an alternative input to the Lisa-connection. This lets me use the hardware basis for a flickerfixer that also works on other computers, such as the Atari ST (maybe also Falcon), or classic MACs with 68k processor. I'm currently looking for the Mac LC III schematics - if anyone has them, please let me know.

Jens

[Harry]

I have a question:
Is this new Indivision flickerfixer a standalone product, or does it require an additional gfx card? (How it is connected to the Amiga?)
I have an A1200 with a Blizzard 1230 IV + SCSI card and would like to know if it fits together with that.

Regards,
Harry.

[DonAmiga]

Great Stuff Jens

I'm looking forward to owning my first Indivision AGA

[NovaCoder]

Originally Posted by Harry

I have a question:
Is this new Indivision flickerfixer a standalone product, or does it require an additional gfx card? (How it is connected to the Amiga?)
I have an A1200 with a Blizzard 1230 IV + SCSI card and would like to know if it fits together with that.

Regards,
Harry.

Apparently it will be the same as the last one but a little bit smaller (eg a stand alone product). Have a look at the old one to see how it fits to the motherboard.

[NovaCoder]

Jens,

Can we talk about the Graffiti emulation of this new board a little more. Have you changed your mind about adding to the Graffiti emulation of the Indivision Mrk2 or will it only support the same functions as the original external Graffiti device?

I would love to see it support true color modes (eg RGB 565) and not just CLUT8, that would help with porting things like ScummVM AGA over to Graffiti.

Will it use the original graffiti.library file for ports or will there be a new one developed?

And finally, do you think that Graffiti might be faster with an IndivisionAGA Mrk2 vs the original external Graffiti device?

Thanks

[Schoenfeld]

The "Graffiti emulation" will be just that - an emulation of my first product ever for the Amiga, so it'll be limited to CLUT8.

Since this flickerfixer is still taking it's pixel data from the Lisa output, it does not have direct connection to the chip-bus like Indivision ECS has. Unfortunately, this makes a "framebuffer mode" impossible - we're on the wrong side of the chip for that. I only have five bits of the CPU-bus available on the logic - barely enough to store the status of the GAUD bit in BPLCON0, which activates Graffiti mode.

The biggest problem will be to find bit-combinations in the chip register space that maintain compatibility with existing software. Bypassing the CLUT is easy, and the Graffiti command set still has a few unused "opcodes" if I remember right (haven't looked at that in a while).

Jens

[papa_november]

Why would any 68k Mac need a flickerfixer? With a simple adaptor, those machines can put out some of the most well-behaved VGA in the land.

Speaking of other platforms, the X68000 could really use an sd/ff. Even in 31khz mode no LCD found to date works decently or at all with one thanks to it's high resolution and odd refresh rate. Unfortunately, tracking down the schematics to something like that is probably going to be much harder than finding the LC III schematics.

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by papa_november

Why would any 68k Mac need a flickerfixer?

There is no flickering to fix, but I haven't seen a 68k Mac with DVI output yet. Might be an interesting field for Shapeshifter again - do you remember the mid-90's when the A1200 with 060 accelerator and Graffiti card was faster than any original 68k-Mac ever was?

Originally Posted by papa_november

Speaking of other platforms, the X68000 could really use an sd/ff. Even in 31khz mode no LCD found to date works decently or at all with one thanks to it's high resolution and odd refresh rate. Unfortunately, tracking down the schematics to something like that is probably going to be much harder than finding the LC III schematics.

Did some reading on the Sharp X68k, but didn't find any schematics either. Seems like a hard-to-find machine, and harder to find documentation. I've gotten quite a few eMails with suggestions for which retro machine to support next, and each of them looks interesting. Us Amigans are really not the only ones suffering from lack of 15kHz monitors!

Jens

[magnetic]

Jens

Speaking of crazy amiga mac emu stories.. Back in the 90s (like 95) I had an a3000T with an Iomega zip drive. I called Iomega for some support for something or other and I told the phone tech I was using an Amiga. He suprisingly said that they were using Amigas with Emplant cards for emu to test their MAC drivers! I was floored! true story

[Schoenfeld]

Those of you who already have an Indivision AGA, please mention the accelerator you're using, and report if there are any problems with the config/flash tools. This question applies to both versions: A1200 and A4000D/CD32 version. It does not apply to the ECS version of Indivision.

Please post a short "go" or "no go" together with the CPLD version reported by the flash tool. No need to flash anything, just open the tool and see if it finds the unit.

thanks,
Jens

[Calabazam]

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

Those of you who already have an Indivision AGA, please mention the accelerator you're using, and report if there are any problems with the config/flash tools. This question applies to both versions: A1200 and A4000D/CD32 version. It does not apply to the ECS version of Indivision.

Please post a short "go" or "no go" together with the CPLD version reported by the flash tool. No need to flash anything, just open the tool and see if it finds the unit.

thanks,
Jens

Indivision AGA and Blizzard 1260: OK V3

Indivision A4000 and WarpEngine: OK V3

[Retrofan]

Originally Posted by NovaCoder

Well at least we now know why it hasn't been released yet

I think we'd all rather wait for you to get the design optimised

I don't mind to wait for Christmas. Last one was one of the best (gift) I remember waiting for my ACA. I hope the next one I'll be able to order an Indi and perhaps a new Idefix. My fingers crossed.