Terrible Fire Accelerators

[radfoo]

Originally Posted by plasmab

Btw... just for amusement...

TF534 fast ram bandwidth 14Mb/sec
Fast ZII ram bandwidth 3.5Mb/sec
TF534 CF card access 4Mb/sec...

A proper MMU based virtual memory setup would beat zorro ii add on cards. Or be v close.

Very impressive! Will the next version using sdram be as fast or will some performance be lost?

[plasmab]

Originally Posted by radfoo

Very impressive! Will the next version using sdram be as fast or will some performance be lost?

Same for non burst. Burst could go slightly faster.

[plasmab]

On the off chance anyone is looking for Tf530 boards (i'm just selling these to keep the prices low.. please dont buy in bulk).

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202482333713?ul_noapp=true

[alenppc]

I just tested Kipper's card with the 534, it works flawlessly. Only chipram fails the address test in this case.

[plasmab]

Originally Posted by alenppc

I just tested Kipper's card with the 534, it works flawlessly. Only chipram fails the address test in this case.

FFS. Its like whack-a-mole.

The chipram timings shouldnt have changed. I'll dig in when i get a moment this weekend.

[RG69]

Hello,
please help me. I have two TF530 revision 3 cards with 68030 and 68882, with 29MHz oscillator (temporary solution until the smd osc arrives), without ram installed. Both cpld installed, bus cpld programmed, ram cpld not. So, when trying to check the speed with Sysinfo 4, I got only low values, as shown on the photos. Actually, if I click on Dcache button, the computer stops responding. What did I miss, or any suggestion? Oh, the fw is the tf530_2018_01_15_RC2.
(Sorry for screenshot quality, it a TV set actually with RF.)

[alenppc]

Low speed is normal without fast ram. It only has 16 bit chip ram so it performs pretty much like a 68000.

[plasmab]

Originally Posted by alenppc

Low speed is normal without fast ram. It only has 16 bit chip ram so it performs pretty much like a 68000.

Yup. Completely expected without the RAM. Thats why the ram was put on the TF530.

[RG69]

Originally Posted by plasmab

Yup. Completely expected without the RAM. Thats why the ram was put on the TF530.

Thank you! So I'll go ahead and continue the tests with rams.

[plasmab]

New 534 alpha..

https://github.com/terriblefire/terr...0_27_alpha.zip

I had missed one timing parameter that may have affected ZII. see if it helps.

I tested at 33Mhz and 40Mhz. Everything is really stable for me.

EDIT: I got 160 rounds of systest against. chipram, currently at 14 rounds against ZII memory. With burst enabled Systest is failing completely for the ZIII ram. maybe i need to size check for bursts or something? very minor thing i hope

EDIT2: Just passed 50 rounds against the ZII ram @ 40Mhz using a CPU rated to 16Mhz.

[alenppc]

Looks like you fixed it.

No more addressing errors on chip ram or kipper ram. Microbotics still gives me addressing errors, but it's a really ancient card. If someone has another Z2 ram board to try, it would be great.

[plasmab]

Originally Posted by alenppc

Looks like you fixed it.

No more addressing errors on chip ram or kipper ram. Microbotics still gives me addressing errors, but it's a really ancient card. If someone has another Z2 ram board to try, it would be great.

Try a few different frequencies for the microbiotics. I have a suspicion that 25mhz and 50mhz might be fractionally more stable for really really picky timing cards.

[8 Bit Dreams]

Ok,
built second TF534 prototype this morning, took Alliance ram this time instread of Cypress,
well, my Zll ram card is still not happy with latest Alpha FW from 10.27..

On a side note:
have also swapped oscillator on my first card to 50Mhz, and it seems Cypress RAM works nice @ that speed - Frontier is running about 1 hour without crash

PS
For some reason i can reach only 1,5MB/s on IDE where same card is running twice so fast on TF530...

[plasmab]

Originally Posted by 8 Bit Dreams

Ok,
built second TF534 prototype this morning, took Alliance ram this time instread of Cypress,
well, my Zll ram card is still not happy with latest Alpha FW from 10.27..

On a side note:
have also swapped oscillator on my first card to 50Mhz, and it seems Cypress RAM works nice @ that speed - Frontier is running about 1 hour without crash

PS
For some reason i can reach only 1,5MB/s on IDE where same card is running twice so fast on TF530...

I have no idea about the ZII then. The spec says that if DTACK is present at the falling edge of S5 (and XRDY isnt asserted) then the data will be latched in S7. I do this. You can see it on the TF2 live stream thats running right now. I have the LA up on the screen.

[ Show youtube player ]

What logical expansion boards do those ZII have.. just the ram or is there a control port too? because my board forces a control board in at $E90000.. there may be a clash.

IDE goes 4-5Mb/s for me and @alenppc. so its something to do with your build.

EDIT: if you have a silly resistor value on the IDEWAIT line it could cause both the issues you are seeing.. try removing that resistor.

[8 Bit Dreams]

Originally Posted by plasmab

EDIT: if you have a silly resistor value on the IDEWAIT line it could cause both the issues you are seeing.. try removing that resistor.

well, all resistors are present on the card, these all are 1k
wich one is IDEWAIT? Have no schematic, so unable to check...

[plasmab]

Originally Posted by 8 Bit Dreams

well, all resistors are present on the card, these all are 1k
wich one is IDEWAIT? Have no schematic, so unable to check...

Its the one between the IDE interface and the FPU.

The only other thing it could be is that Alen & I dont have the FPU installed. I'd be surprised if that caused issues but maybe a variation to check.

[plasmab]

Thought it might be of interest to show how much of the RAM CPLD is used.

*************************  Mapped Resource Summary  **************************

Macrocells     Product Terms    Function Block   Registers      Pins           
Used/Tot       Used/Tot         Inps Used/Tot    Used/Tot       Used/Tot       
118/144 ( 82%) 463 /720  ( 64%) 333/432 ( 77%)   92 /144 ( 64%) 75 /81  ( 93%)

This is with the INT2 patch, Gayle emulation, Autoconfig, fastram controller with burst and spi controller (single speed).

[8 Bit Dreams]

Originally Posted by plasmab

Its the one between the IDE interface and the FPU.

The only other thing it could be is that Alen & I dont have the FPU installed. I'd be surprised if that caused issues but maybe a variation to check.

Hmm.. nope, FPU has no influence on IDE speed on my setup..
removed that resistor on the right side from IDE - no difference, tried several CF cards - still have 1,5MB/s

PS
seems, my SD2CF adapter isn't working with TF534...

Originally Posted by plasmab

Thought it might be of interest to show how much of the RAM CPLD is used.

*************************  Mapped Resource Summary  **************************

Macrocells     Product Terms    Function Block   Registers      Pins           
Used/Tot       Used/Tot         Inps Used/Tot    Used/Tot       Used/Tot       
118/144 ( 82%) 463 /720  ( 64%) 333/432 ( 77%)   92 /144 ( 64%) 75 /81  ( 93%)

Still have some free space, that's nice!!!

PS..
such a pity Zll card is not happy.. Have created 3.9 WB CF card, but after it is loade i have only 600Kb of ram left...

[plasmab]

Originally Posted by 8 Bit Dreams

Hmm.. nope, FPU has no influence on IDE speed on my setup..
removed that resistor on the right side from IDE - no difference, tried several CF cards - still have 1,5MB/s

PS
seems, my SD2CF adapter isn't working with TF534...

OK maybe i knocked a timing on the IDE interface. Its possible.

I'm more interested in the ZII ram right now. what cards does it define.

EDIT: also in what way is it "unhappy". The ram i mean. is it showing as defective or failing systest or ?

[plasmab]

New alpha...

this brings the timings back nearer the start of S7. i have a feeling this will break the kipper2k card.

https://github.com/terriblefire/terr...0_28_alpha.zip

EDIT: at this point i'm groping in the dark without a failing card to play with.