Sonnet 7200 PCI programming

[jbenam]

I have actually bought one of these risers with an open-ended 1x slot exactly in the hopes of one day using the Killer 2100 in my A4000D. Since I wouldn't be able to close the case with the PCIe-to-PCI bridge in place. With this I could easily relocate the Killer somewhere else in the case.

[Hedeon]

Problem with the 2100 is that I cannot get its RAM to show up in PCI space. Even not on a PC.

[jbenam]

Originally Posted by Hedeon

Problem with the 2100 is that I cannot get its RAM to show up in PCI space. Even not on a PC.

Yeah, I know, I was following the developments with bated breath until you broke the bad news Oh well, after all I still haven't found a replacement for my A3640 and without another CPU card my Mediator Mk. I won't let me use Zorro-III addressed memory, so I'm in no hurry

Maybe one of these days you'll be able to crack the case

[StormLord]

HI, I've found this thread and I have a quiestion that couldn't find an answer on github.
Does the powerpc.library for the pci ppc contains any kind of specific init or commands for G3 and G4?
I 'm trying to replace the 603 on a blizzardPPC with a cacheless G3 that in theory is pin and voltage compatible with 603, but I have system locks whenever I try to run any kind of warpOS software.
So I though maybe there is something different on the library

[grelbfarlk]

Are you modifying the code and building a different version of the powerpc.library from the Sonnetlib project? Or are you trying to run Hedeon's Powerpc.library on your Blizzard, that won't work. It's only for PCI versions.

[Hedeon]

The MPC745? Motorola themselves say it is footprint and user software compatible compared with the 603e. So it just should work if done correctly.

EDIT: That was ATMEL stating that for the PC745.

And then what grelbfralk says. Use the powerpc.library from WarpOS 5.1 and configure it to remove the built-in ppc.library (OR first install PowerUP and try to run PowerUP software. I guess that is actually better to debug first if you correctly put the new chip on).

[StormLord]

@grelbfarlk
No,not a coder at all, just trying to figure out any differences between 603 and 740, and if exchange is possible softwarewise.

@Hedeon
At first I tried with MPC745, but the regulator on the blizzardPPC is fixed unfortunately and there is no way to lower the core voltage needed for 745.
I've found an old 740 that is voltage compatible and pin compatible (per datasheet) with 603e used on BlizzardPPCs but up to now couldn't start any warpOS software and most of the times machine crash either on boot or just few secs/min after the boot has ended.
I'm thinking there must be some difference either on init, memory management or software kind, and it crash because of the onboard ppc.library not beeing able to drive the 740 correctly.
Thats why I'm asking if powerpc.library fro sonnet has something difference except of talking to cpu via the pci bus.

[Hedeon]

Like I said, try powerup first

[Hedeon]

The only difference regarding init with the different CPUs in my library is Altivec activation. Plus the 603 does not have a hardware page table. Some chips have extra registers. But the 740 is a drop in, right? So it should not matter.

[grelbfarlk]

Originally Posted by StormLord

@grelbfarlk
No,not a coder at all, just trying to figure out any differences between 603 and 740, and if exchange is possible softwarewise.

@Hedeon
At first I tried with MPC745, but the regulator on the blizzardPPC is fixed unfortunately and there is no way to lower the core voltage needed for 745.
I've found an old 740 that is voltage compatible and pin compatible (per datasheet) with 603e used on BlizzardPPCs but up to now couldn't start any warpOS software and most of the times machine crash either on boot or just few secs/min after the boot has ended.
I'm thinking there must be some difference either on init, memory management or software kind, and it crash because of the onboard ppc.library not beeing able to drive the 740 correctly.
Thats why I'm asking if powerpc.library fro sonnet has something difference except of talking to cpu via the pci bus.

So you did a Stachu style upgrade of the PPC on the Blizzard. Stachu also did a lot of work on the bottom of the CPU adding/changing caps and resistors. If the system is crashing not even running PPC software I think you have hardware issues to work out first.

The most basic test is the Phase5 PPC boot floppy test. Maybe start with that.

[StormLord]

I will try again when I repair 1 of my 2 monitors lost them both in this week

@grelbfarik
Yes, I just used a 740 instead of a 603. I also think if there is a difference on the PLLs for the clock, I have a 740@266 clocked as an 603@200 but PIDs may be different or maybe 740 does not go as low as 603.
Oh well, need to fix a monitor to continue researching.

[grelbfarlk]

I would expect PIDs to be different, or core voltage, I haven't looked at the datasheets though. You should really talk to Stachu, he would be more helpful than anyone in this thread. Steady would probably have some ideas too.

[rzookol]

btw. maybe this card could be used with pcie-to-pci converter:
https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/866809.pdf

fpga VIRTEX-5 ML507 PCIe PowerPC XC5Vfx70T XILINX

also some card with PCI:
https://www.zerif.co.uk/legacy-and-e...ma-accelerator

[grelbfarlk]

There are far faster already built PPC PCIe boards we could buy today which are not just some slow FPGA. The first one has a 440 CPU, FPU-less if I remember correctly, (which is doubtful). The second one is a 405, even worse.
If they were say $50, maybe it would be worth trying out, but I'm guessing these are north of $500. We could buy some multicore $800 Qorio PCIe boards above 1 GHz, but don't know if they'd work and who wants to finance that if it doesn't work.
Though if someone wants to spend say somewhere around $30k we could surely just add a PPC to an accelerator card or an 040 socket to a PCIe bridge, or something crazy, yo.
We're already at AAA+ chipset with our CrayGA and XAGA, but with just a lot of money we could go to Turbo-Cyberstorm-WarpEngine-Picasso2096-Phase6AAAA and get an MC6801500 going.
If you give me your money, I will pay myself a totally liveable salary and hire the right people to build this thing we, or somebody, or at least one someones wants. You might have to give more money to me to pay this person afterward for building it. But it's cool if you like what they are building, you can just pay them to keep building it.

[Hedeon]

PPC400 mostly don't have an FPU built-in. They do have an interface for it so it can be added. This from my memory. Not sure how the SAM boards solved this.

[mousehouse]

Originally Posted by grelbfarlk

There are far faster already built PPC PCIe boards we could buy today which are not just some slow FPGA. The first one has a 440 CPU, FPU-less if I remember correctly, (which is doubtful). The second one is a 405, even worse.
If they were say $50, maybe it would be worth trying out, but I'm guessing these are north of $500. We could buy some multicore $800 Qorio PCIe boards above 1 GHz, but don't know if they'd work and who wants to finance that if it doesn't work.
Though if someone wants to spend say somewhere around $30k we could surely just add a PPC to an accelerator card or an 040 socket to a PCIe bridge, or something crazy, yo.
We're already at AAA+ chipset with our CrayGA and XAGA, but with just a lot of money we could go to Turbo-Cyberstorm-WarpEngine-Picasso2096-Phase6AAAA and get an MC6801500 going.
If you give me your money, I will pay myself a totally liveable salary and hire the right people to build this thing we, or somebody, or at least one someones wants. You might have to give more money to me to pay this person afterward for building it. But it's cool if you like what they are building, you can just pay them to keep building it.

Yeah I tried that and have a few built cards on my desk to prove it... Not sure 30k will cut it. A key point of advice which I got (and ignored) is to not have any features, just basic stuff. That's the key thing in getting something built. Oh, and it helps if you pick the right PPC core to start with, hahahaha.

[Hedeon]

Seeing that the tabor has the same kind of core, maybe it can be done still. I heard from..Gideon? however that the firmware stuff was not ready. So no PPC-68K bus glue and stuff like that. Shame :-)

Maybe open-source it?

[mousehouse]

It's all there... and there are 2 running boards... the PPC core boots from the micro-sd and is accessible on serial. 040+memory still to be done. After that, still a ton of work to be done and then you'll have an incompatible PPC core. I've been amazed beyond belief at what you've done with the PPC on the Amigas but not sure if this is a doable thing! If you're up for it, I can check with Gideon.

[Hedeon]

Don't bother. I already did and he asked a whole business plan from me. So i kept it at that :-)

Regarding the 040+ memory stuff: There are more ppl now doing that kind of stuff (warp4060, Matze) who can help maybe.

(At least we made it to 1GHz :-) )

[mousehouse]

Originally Posted by Hedeon

Don't bother. I already did and he asked a whole business plan from me. So i kept it at that :-)

Regarding the 040+ memory stuff: There are more ppl now doing that kind of stuff (warp4060, Matze) who can help maybe.

(At least we made it to 1GHz :-) )

Yes you did! Very impressed :-)

And with your spectacular work, the TF4060, the BFG9060 and Warp card coming out there’s not really a need anymore for what we tried to do. It’s a good time to be an Amiga fan!