KCS Power PC board + A500 Plus

commie1974 · 25 February 2005, 03:30

Trying to setup this thingy on my A500 Plus (mobo rev.8a), I realized that the only thing I achieved was a continuous reset loop with blinking power led and green screens! I have tested the KCS in the past and it surely works OK! I suspect that my 3.1 (40.063) ROM is to blame... Unfortunately, I can't find some 1.3 ones that I had pulled out of dead A500s, to try out! Any suggestions? The Amiga boots OK without the board, but it does EXACTLY the same thing with the board installed, WITH or WITHOUT my GVP A530 connected! I downloaded the KCS PC board manual, and it says that it can be used (it even supports the GVP SCSI HD controller + 32bit Fast ram) with my version of hardware, not mentioning about Kickstart issues

Anybody had the same experience?

Jope · 25 February 2005, 06:29

Did you have the correct A500+ version of the KCS PC Board? IIRC there was a separate version for the plus..

zipper · 25 February 2005, 07:54

Amiga hardware book shows 2 versions, v4.1 and 4.2 from '90 and v4.5 ("plus" version) from '91. The manual is for 4.5 version so no help for 4.1 and 4.2 in A500+.

commie1974 · 25 February 2005, 15:10

Oh, I see! Thank you, people! I remember I tested it without problem in an old rev.6 A500 with Ks 1.3! Perhaps, this is the problem! Unfortunately, I don't have this machine handy at the moment! Anyway, I will quit this project for now, I just wanted to use XE1541 & Star Commander and VC1541 with this setup, but I'm not sure if this is possible, even if I get the board to work!

Jope · 26 February 2005, 08:24

That's an interesting project..

The X1541 cable should work pretty much the same in an Amiga and a PC, but the XE might require your parallel port to do more than the Amiga's port does.

However I can't be bothered to go to the cable site to check whether that is actually true. :-)

Also: timing may be off by a long shot.. SC bangs the metal pretty directly, however that metal is not present in the Amiga.

Do tell us if you get it working, I'm interested in the result. :-)

commie1974 · 26 February 2005, 23:31

OK, I will, but I won't do the project very soon, due to my job occupations!

I am very curious about this, though...

InTheSand · 25 April 2006, 00:34

Hi,

Sorry to dig up this old thread, but could anyone upload the KCS PC board software to The Zone? I recently got one of these boards for next to nothing ($10 NZ, equivalent of about £3.50 UK!) but haven't tried it yet as it didn't come with any software.

Any help appreciated!

- Ali

_ThEcRoW · 25 April 2006, 00:36

Power pc board for amiga 500??

InTheSand · 25 April 2006, 00:40

Heh!!!

The board is called a KCS Power PC Board, but it was made before there were PowerPC-based accelerators for Amigas!

It actually contains an NEC V30 (80x86 compatible) of circa 1984 vintage!

- Ali

EDIT: Appears I didn't look very far! Have found what looks like the driver here!

jrom · 25 April 2006, 18:49

ah thanks... I also aquired a KCS Power Board Plus with no discs what so ever... Need to find me an A500+ since this version only does 512KB on a normal A500. With an A500+ it is supposed to give 1MB chipram extra

.

Phiber · 26 April 2006, 10:57

AFAIR A500+ came out with Kickstart 2.05 chips inside it from the assemblyline... coupled with ECS and Fatter agnus..

Jope · 26 April 2006, 20:40

Most shipped with 2.04 37.175, some of the last ones with 2.05 37.300.

jrom · 10 May 2006, 19:06

wh00t... got myself an A500+ and thanks to the plus board it has 2mb chip mem now

25 February 2005, 03:30	#1
commie1974 Ami Worshipper Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Piraeus-Greece Age: 39 Posts: 174	KCS Power PC board + A500 Plus Trying to setup this thingy on my A500 Plus (mobo rev.8a), I realized that the only thing I achieved was a continuous reset loop with blinking power led and green screens! I have tested the KCS in the past and it surely works OK! I suspect that my 3.1 (40.063) ROM is to blame... Unfortunately, I can't find some 1.3 ones that I had pulled out of dead A500s, to try out! Any suggestions? The Amiga boots OK without the board, but it does EXACTLY the same thing with the board installed, WITH or WITHOUT my GVP A530 connected! I downloaded the KCS PC board manual, and it says that it can be used (it even supports the GVP SCSI HD controller + 32bit Fast ram) with my version of hardware, not mentioning about Kickstart issues Anybody had the same experience?

25 April 2006, 00:40	#9
InTheSand Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Nelson, New Zealand Posts: 43	Heh!!! The board is called a KCS Power PC Board, but it was made before there were PowerPC-based accelerators for Amigas! It actually contains an NEC V30 (80x86 compatible) of circa 1984 vintage! - Ali EDIT: Appears I didn't look very far! Have found what looks like the driver here! Last edited by InTheSand; 25 April 2006 at 00:51.

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25 February 2005, 06:29	#2
Jope - Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Helsinki / Finland Age: 32 Posts: 4,061	Did you have the correct A500+ version of the KCS PC Board? IIRC there was a separate version for the plus..

25 February 2005, 07:54	#3
zipper Registered User Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: finland Posts: 867	Amiga hardware book shows 2 versions, v4.1 and 4.2 from '90 and v4.5 ("plus" version) from '91. The manual is for 4.5 version so no help for 4.1 and 4.2 in A500+.

25 February 2005, 15:10	#4
commie1974 Ami Worshipper Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Piraeus-Greece Age: 39 Posts: 174	Oh, I see! Thank you, people! I remember I tested it without problem in an old rev.6 A500 with Ks 1.3! Perhaps, this is the problem! Unfortunately, I don't have this machine handy at the moment! Anyway, I will quit this project for now, I just wanted to use XE1541 & Star Commander and VC1541 with this setup, but I'm not sure if this is possible, even if I get the board to work!

26 February 2005, 08:24	#5
Jope - Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Helsinki / Finland Age: 32 Posts: 4,061	That's an interesting project.. The X1541 cable should work pretty much the same in an Amiga and a PC, but the XE might require your parallel port to do more than the Amiga's port does. However I can't be bothered to go to the cable site to check whether that is actually true. :-) Also: timing may be off by a long shot.. SC bangs the metal pretty directly, however that metal is not present in the Amiga. Do tell us if you get it working, I'm interested in the result. :-)

26 February 2005, 23:31	#6
commie1974 Ami Worshipper Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Piraeus-Greece Age: 39 Posts: 174	OK, I will, but I won't do the project very soon, due to my job occupations! I am very curious about this, though...

25 April 2006, 00:34	#7
InTheSand Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Nelson, New Zealand Posts: 43	Hi, Sorry to dig up this old thread, but could anyone upload the KCS PC board software to The Zone? I recently got one of these boards for next to nothing ($10 NZ, equivalent of about £3.50 UK!) but haven't tried it yet as it didn't come with any software. Any help appreciated! - Ali

25 April 2006, 00:36	#8
_ThEcRoW Amiga Geek Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Spain Age: 34 Posts: 851	Power pc board for amiga 500??

25 April 2006, 18:49	#10
jrom Wannabe asm coder ;) Join Date: May 2002 Location: The Netherlands Age: 36 Posts: 432	ah thanks... I also aquired a KCS Power Board Plus with no discs what so ever... Need to find me an A500+ since this version only does 512KB on a normal A500. With an A500+ it is supposed to give 1MB chipram extra .

26 April 2006, 10:57	#11
Phiber Hardware Freak Join Date: May 2002 Location: Helsinki / Finland Age: 39 Posts: 220	AFAIR A500+ came out with Kickstart 2.05 chips inside it from the assemblyline... coupled with ECS and Fatter agnus..

26 April 2006, 20:40	#12
Jope - Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Helsinki / Finland Age: 32 Posts: 4,061	Most shipped with 2.04 37.175, some of the last ones with 2.05 37.300.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)

10 May 2006, 19:06	#13
jrom Wannabe asm coder ;) Join Date: May 2002 Location: The Netherlands Age: 36 Posts: 432	wh00t... got myself an A500+ and thanks to the plus board it has 2mb chip mem now