Introducing ACA 1221 Low Cost Accelerator At AmigaKit.com - Page 8

Smakar · 23 July 2015, 01:32

sneak the upgrades past my wife electronically later?

Another variance of Murphy's Law: my purchases will be delivered at the exact time and day that my wife happens to be near the front door

Thorham · 23 July 2015, 01:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smakar

Another variance of Murphy's Law: my purchases will be delivered at the exact time and day that my wife happens to be near the front door

So what? You're a grown man, do you need permission to buy something?

dJOS · 23 July 2015, 02:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smakar

sneak the upgrades past my wife electronically later?

Another variance of Murphy's Law: my purchases will be delivered at the exact time and day that my wife happens to be near the front door

Yeah my wife always hands me my parcels and asks "so what have you bought this time?"

When I buy software and DLC she has no idea.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thorham

So what? You're a grown man, do you need permission to buy something?

When you have two young children a gigantic mortgage and a budget, yes.

My deal with my wife is I have to get agreement to spend more than my small monthly "toy" allowance and so does she.

Thorham · 23 July 2015, 03:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by dJOS

When you have two young children a gigantic mortgage and a budget, yes.

Respect.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dJOS

My deal with my wife is I have to get agreement to spend more than my small monthly "toy" allowance and so does she.

Good, it's not like that for some people.

mikele · 23 July 2015, 08:05

the good thing about ACA 1221 is that people won't have to buy from weasels selling 4 MB trapdoor expansions for 100 UK pounds on eBay

Schoenfeld · 23 July 2015, 10:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by kolla

Does ACA cards require Amiga OS to work?

Say I was to use a future ACA123x with "locked away" features, would I be able to boot into Linux or NetBSD and have access to all resources? I have been tempted to replace my Blizzard 1230III with ACA1233 (glorious 128MB) of RAM, but since machine runs Linux most of the time, I have been very hesitant.

A part of the ACA1221 EEPROM is used to create an autoconfig, and we're trying to make a library available that handles setting CPU speed.

For the ACA1233, all features are available right from the start, but the ACA1221 will always start with 17,03MHz. That's a safety precaution, so a processor that isn't overclocking-stable will not keep you from using it from a cold-start and enter the refund code.

It's not a secret how to set a different CPU speed. We may either make that part of ACAcontrol open-source, or you'll implement a simple tool under Linux that does the job.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs Beanbag

so what's this about an "unprotect jumper"? seems pretty pointless if you have to have it set the whole time anyway. so i'd assumed the software would flash something and changes would be permanent.

Brett already has it right:

Quote:

Originally Posted by brett71

I suspect that jumper only needs to be set when applying the license key, and then it would be put back, like the read/write tab on a diskette, but for some flash RAM space that is set aside for this purpose.

Correct - the unprotect-jumper only needs to be set if a license is added or removed. Licenses are written into non-volatile memory and are still available if you remove the jumper and start up "cold".

Jens

dJOS · 23 July 2015, 13:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thorham

Respect.

Good, it's not like that for some people.

Cheers, i love my kids but I do miss having $1,000 a month to spend on whatever I wanted.

FOL · 23 July 2015, 15:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by dJOS

I do miss having $1,000 a month to spend on whatever I wanted.

Jezz, wish I was ever in that position. Kids do eat your cash though,

.

fitzsteve · 23 July 2015, 16:29

You're better off feeding them mashed fruit and veg.

kolla · 23 July 2015, 20:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

It's not a secret how to set a different CPU speed. We may either make that part of ACAcontrol open-source, or you'll implement a simple tool under Linux that does the job.

Cool, this may be a fun little project. I picture implementing it within the framework of cpu frequency scaling in the kernel, AFAIK it would be a first for m68k, hehe.

dJOS · 23 July 2015, 22:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by FOL

Jezz, wish I was ever in that position. Kids do eat your cash though,

.

I had a very small mortgage back then too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fitzsteve

You're better off feeding them mashed fruit and veg.

Lol

FOL · 24 July 2015, 15:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by dJOS

I had a very small mortgage back then too.

Me too,

.

Schoenfeld · 24 July 2015, 16:22

One ACA1221 pre-production unit has just reached San Jose, and will be shown at the 30-year Amiga event this weekend: www.amiga30.com

Jens

TenLeftFingers · 05 August 2015, 16:42

Will a fully unlocked unit match the 1233? I had been saving towards that but at my rate of progress this may be a better choice.

Great idea by the way. I appreciate the scale of affordability on offer here. Something that has been painfully missing to people like me.

Also, will this board have the same timing fix requirement of the 1233?

Finally, will the 1233 ever be available again? It has disappeared from the usual online retailers.

Oh, and if I sell it later - does the new buyer retain my upgrades?

Sent from Ubuntu Touch using the Forum Browser app

crazyc · 05 August 2015, 18:29

This card only has a 68020 chip AFAIK - which although overclocked wont match the 68030 on the card you are talking about.

The website also suggests that timing fixes may be needed as with other ACA cards.

Schoenfeld · 05 August 2015, 22:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by TenLeftFingers

Will a fully unlocked unit match the 1233?

No, it won't. The ACA1233 is clocked at 40MHz, and the 68030 processor has two caches (instruction and data) instead of one (instruction only) that the 68020 processor has.
The faster memory interface of the 68030 gives it about a 10% advantage over a 68020 at the same clock rate. Since the ACA1233 runs at 40MHz, and the fully unlocked ACA1221 runs at 28.38MHz, there's quite a difference between them:

http://wiki.icomp.de/wiki/ACA1232#ACA_12xx_Benchmarks

I have already entered the ACA1221 in that table, and you can sort it by clicking on the colums' arrows.

The "big plus" of the ACA1221 is a new method to speed up chipram access, and the all-new-to-the-Amiga-computer property that the clock speed can be changed on the fly - something that modern laptops can do today is now available to the Amiga!

Quote:

Originally Posted by TenLeftFingers

Also, will this board have the same timing fix requirement of the 1233?

Yes - all mainboards require timing fixes. We've just found out that even Blizzard cards have a hard time with unmodified boards. In short: Four caps on the bottom side of your A1200 must go under any circumstances: E123C, E125C, E121C and E122C. The latter two are not documented in any Commodore files, but I've found that my only incompatible board had them assembled, and once I removed them, everything worked fine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TenLeftFingers

Finally, will the 1233 ever be available again? It has disappeared from the usual online retailers.

It's sold out now. I'm thinking of making a new design that can handle different speed 68030s, and includes the same clock stepping feature as the ACA1221, so when the computer is idle, speed can be reduced and the computer doesn't get that warm. My trouble is that I don't have a source for properly-priced 68030 CPUs. I'm accumulating them, but at this point, I don't have enough to justify a production run.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TenLeftFingers

Oh, and if I sell it later - does the new buyer retain my upgrades?

Upgrades are stored in the card - you can't lose them, and you'll automatically sell them with the hardware. So yes, the value stays there, and it'll be moved with the hardware without doing anything special.

Jens

TenLeftFingers · 06 August 2015, 00:17

Thank you Jens. I hope this is a success and leads to more products in the same vein.

Sent from Ubuntu Touch using the Forum Browser app

corpsicle · 10 August 2015, 12:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

http://wiki.icomp.de/wiki/ACA1232#ACA_12xx_Benchmarks

Wheres the 1230/56 ? =P

NovaCoder · 11 August 2015, 03:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by corpsicle

Wheres the 1230/56 ? =P

It was too fast to get a reading

beezle · 11 August 2015, 07:22

Isn't the "market" flooded with low end hardware already?

I don't mean to be negative, but each new a1200 accelerator is more boring than the last in recent times.

Or do people really only use their a1200's as whdload machines?
Seems a waste.

23 July 2015, 01:32	#141
Smakar Amiga Fan in Phoenix Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Phoenix, AZ USA Age: 66 Posts: 60	It Never Fails sneak the upgrades past my wife electronically later? Another variance of Murphy's Law: my purchases will be delivered at the exact time and day that my wife happens to be near the front door

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23 July 2015, 08:05	#145
mikele Registered User Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: poland Posts: 307	the good thing about ACA 1221 is that people won't have to buy from weasels selling 4 MB trapdoor expansions for 100 UK pounds on eBay

23 July 2015, 16:29	#149
fitzsteve Professional slacker! Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Kent, UK Age: 44 Posts: 6,683	You're better off feeding them mashed fruit and veg.

24 July 2015, 16:22	#153
Schoenfeld electricky. Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: out in the wild Posts: 1,256	One ACA1221 pre-production unit has just reached San Jose, and will be shown at the 30-year Amiga event this weekend: www.amiga30.com Jens

05 August 2015, 16:42	#154
TenLeftFingers Registered User Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Ireland Posts: 800	Will a fully unlocked unit match the 1233? I had been saving towards that but at my rate of progress this may be a better choice. Great idea by the way. I appreciate the scale of affordability on offer here. Something that has been painfully missing to people like me. Also, will this board have the same timing fix requirement of the 1233? Finally, will the 1233 ever be available again? It has disappeared from the usual online retailers. Oh, and if I sell it later - does the new buyer retain my upgrades? Sent from Ubuntu Touch using the Forum Browser app

05 August 2015, 18:29	#155
crazyc Registered User Join Date: May 2012 Location: Gravesend - UK Posts: 927	This card only has a 68020 chip AFAIK - which although overclocked wont match the 68030 on the card you are talking about. The website also suggests that timing fixes may be needed as with other ACA cards.

06 August 2015, 00:17	#157
TenLeftFingers Registered User Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Ireland Posts: 800	Thank you Jens. I hope this is a success and leads to more products in the same vein. Sent from Ubuntu Touch using the Forum Browser app

11 August 2015, 07:22	#160
beezle Banned Join Date: May 2015 Location: Australia Posts: 67	Isn't the "market" flooded with low end hardware already? I don't mean to be negative, but each new a1200 accelerator is more boring than the last in recent times. Or do people really only use their a1200's as whdload machines? Seems a waste.

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