02 December 2020, 17:11 | #1 |
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New Buster chip a3000/a4000
i seen this on facebook posted by Dave Haynie...
Dave Haynie As announced not long ago, I'm starting work on a new buster chip for the A3000/A4000 for Jens Schoenfeld. I've been interesting in seeing this done for awhile now. This is a new design in modern technology using a small FPGA. The old CSG gate arrays didn't really allow this to be done correctly in 1989-1990. While I'm still a bit tied down by the plug-in compatibility requirement, this is a chance to finally "do it right", which will also have the interesting effect of making it more understandable than the gate-level designs I did way back when. But I am a bit concerned about full compatibility. Old Buster schematics would be handy. I don't currently have all of the versions of Fat Buster in schematic form, and that might be useful, though not critical. But if anyone out there has a schematic set or knowledge of any online, I'd appreciate a scan or link. Thanks! |
02 December 2020, 17:33 | #2 |
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This woman has some schematics but Buster is probably a long shot.
[ Show youtube player ] |
02 December 2020, 19:10 | #3 |
Guru Meditating
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Be interesting to know if he can increase the zorro III speed
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02 December 2020, 21:05 | #4 |
ex. demoscener "Bigmama"
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Plugin compatibility sounds neigh on impossible.. An FPGA in a PLCC-84 package with internal boot rom/flash, 5V compatibility, power pins in the right places, etc..
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02 December 2020, 22:39 | #5 |
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03 December 2020, 09:49 | #6 |
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Jens said in the Amiwest(?) interview that it will be on an adapter PCB.
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03 December 2020, 16:33 | #7 |
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The big question for me is whether it can clip over a surface-mounted Buster (like an A600 accelerator) or whether it needs to plug into a socket (like an A500/A2000 MegAChip). Fingers crossed for the former—the machine I want to use it with has a surface-mount chip.
Neat stuff all the same |
03 December 2020, 17:22 | #8 |
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It will have a PLCC plug on the carrier board, so you will need to have a socketed buster in order to install this.
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03 December 2020, 18:08 | #9 |
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03 December 2020, 18:28 | #10 |
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So exactly what would be the benefit of this chip?
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03 December 2020, 20:50 | #11 |
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Speed improvements plus fixing bugs, I would assume. One of the better known ones is that there can be only a single DMA Zorro III card on the bus at one time. E.g., a 4091/4000T onboard SCSI and a Deneb (in DMA mode) can’t coexist currently. I certainly hope that’s slated to be fixed!
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03 December 2020, 20:54 | #12 |
Amigan
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03 December 2020, 20:58 | #13 |
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Not all boards surface mounted buster A3000 are socketed, and later A4000 boards are socketed but early A4000 boards it is surface mounted. I'll confirm the revisions when i get home from work.
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03 December 2020, 23:13 | #14 |
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11 January 2021, 23:27 | #15 |
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My rev D is definitely socketed from new.
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22 January 2021, 06:34 | #16 |
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This would be incredibly nice to have. A3000/A4000 Z3 is criminally slow vs. its maximum theoretical performance. It's over 10X slower than theoretical maximum. Even a 3X-5X improvement would be a huge win.
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01 February 2021, 06:55 | #17 |
French in Australia
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23 February 2021, 08:58 | #18 |
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Wouldn't mind Z2 compatibility to improve. Some recent research indicates z2 (slave) performance runs in the mid-2MB/sec range, and not the ~3.4MB/sec of a classic motherboard.
All the same, improved Z3 characteristics and performance always welcome. |
23 February 2021, 09:07 | #19 |
Thalion Webshrine
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My A4000CR (RevD) has a soldered Buster -11
I do hope they talk to Michael Boehmer of E3B. He knows more about Buster chips and Z3 compatibility than anyone |
26 March 2021, 00:33 | #20 | ||
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Quote:
Whether it would be financially feasible might be the other question, but it would be welcome to Amiga users with soldered Busters. I consider myself fortunate that both my A3000 and A4000's Busters are socketed. No question I'll be buying the new Buster for both. Quote:
Last edited by gdonner; 26 March 2021 at 00:50. |
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