K1208 8mb Fastmem board for the A1200

[kipper2k]

Hi All,

Pictures and more info to follow shortly

So let me get this straight,

Initially this was based on Leary's TF530 design, but then you followed another path and redesigned the whole thing from scratch and also added ethernet support ?

But still, wasn't Stephen's code studied from top to bottom in order to do that ?

Don't get me wrong - it's great work but I can't shake the feeling that someone didn't play by the rules..

[FREEMILK]

[kipper2k]

Originally Posted by dR_wH0

So let me get this straight,

Initially this was based on Leary's TF530 design, but then you followed another path and redesigned the whole thing from scratch and also added ethernet support ?

But still, wasn't Stephen's code studied from top to bottom in order to do that ?

Don't get me wrong - it's great work but I can't shake the feeling that someone didn't play by the rules..

no, that is incorrect, Stephens code was initially taken from Mikes code. the HW itself is wired the same as other fastmem boards, there is only one way to connect the signals as you need them regardless of what board you are designing.

Examine the code if you want, you will see they are different and of course working

Ah thanks for clarifying that!

Well to more important questions now...

When can we expect the gerber files so we can print this baby ?

Again, great work to everyone who was involved guys...we REALLY needed a new cheap upgrade for the 1200.

[mkstr]

Originally Posted by kipper2k

no, that is incorrect, Stephens code was initially taken from Mikes code. the HW itself is wired the same as other fastmem boards, there is only one way to connect the signals as you need them regardless of what board you are designing.

Examine the code if you want, you will see they are different and of course working

To clarify - no, Stephen's code was not examined; the new design was developed from first principles, and of course it includes functionality that Stephen's doesn't. I have seen some SPI code of Stephen's that was derived from mine (from my ZX Spectrum project), although as far as I am aware this is the only part.

During the short time this has taken to develop the codebase has been kept private purely to ensure it meets a certainly minimum level of quality before release. This is how I always approach new open source projects, otherwise it has a negative effect on those wanting to learn from the work.

Mike

[kipper2k]

Mikes blog will explain a lot about his previous projects and if you take a look you can see the explanations of the history...

As for the boards themselves, We are still using dev boards and the final board design has been done and we need to get that built and verified.

We will release the files and we will sell the boards for those people that cannot do it themselves. Pricing not nailed down yet, It will be MUCH! cheaper than a high end accel for the A12oo and its basic features are...

- 4MB/8MB selectable Fastmem, 0 wait state with sysinfo score of approx ~2800
- SD card supporting FAT, FAT32 (tested)
- RTC clock (optional)
- INT7 pushbutton tested with HRTMON
- Enc28J60 ethernet support,(can still have 8mb fastmem using Ethernet)

The current design uses the original connector. Once the final design done and dusted then i will convert it to PCI. I also intend on converting this to CD32 anf it will have same features as this board (minus the clock). Of course we will have to code in a new IDE code so that the CD32 can boot

more later...

[solidcore]

Thank you Mike (Mkstr) for working hard on the firmware and drivers and for all the guidance in the last months.

As promised we have concluded the state of SD and Ethernet to be reasonable and in working condition enough as to warrant a release the files to the Amiga community. It goes without saying these will benefit the Amiga community as a whole. A big thank you also to kipper2k for putting a lot of finances into this project hardware and for supplying the dev kits, speaking of which the MK5 .brd/.sch files will be released on a separate Github soon.

As kipper said the A1200 connectors are a difficulty to get hold of therefor please contact him if you want to pre-order a mk5 which will be sold with the latest firmware at the time of shipping. VHDL firmware / JED including the SPI SD + Ethernet device drivers available as source and binary formats.

As for a CD32 spin off of this board, more news on that at a later point.

[EzdineG]

Originally Posted by kipper2k

Mikes blog will explain a lot about his previous projects and if you take a look you can see the explanations of the history...



As for the boards themselves, We are still using dev boards and the final board design has been done and we need to get that built and verified.



We will release the files and we will sell the boards for those people that cannot do it themselves. Pricing not nailed down yet, It will be MUCH! cheaper than a high end accel for the A12oo and its basic features are...



- 4MB/8MB selectable Fastmem, 0 wait state with sysinfo score of approx ~2800

- SD card supporting FAT, FAT32 (tested)

- RTC clock (optional)

- INT7 pushbutton tested with HRTMON

- Enc28J60 ethernet support,(can still have 8mb fastmem using Ethernet)



The current design uses the original connector. Once the final design done and dusted then i will convert it to PCI. I also intend on converting this to CD32 anf it will have same features as this board (minus the clock). Of course we will have to code in a new IDE code so that the CD32 can boot



more later...

Thank you for your contributions to the Amiga community.

Thanks, Mike, for opening up your code and documenting your experiences so noobs like myself can learn and attempt to carry similar movements forward.

[PR77]

Brilliant work guys! The A1200 has been a bit of a black sheep with regards to open source hardware- I think a big part has to do with connector sourcing and perhaps that 32 bit bus.

I have 2 A1200's one with a Blizzard 1230 and the other with a 1220. A cheap FastRAM solution is AWESOME as the A1200 is so much improved with just FastRAM. Blizzard HW is still soooo expensive. So, I reckon you guys have it hear. The A1200 is opening up to the masses! Woooo hoooo!

[8 Bit Dreams]

Thank You guy's for Your work. I am very excited to build one of these!
where can i obtain original A1200 connector?

As about CD32:
i have heard that CD part works ONLY at 7Mnz - that's the reason why does no CD32 Accelerators exist.
As soon as frequency rises - CD stops to work... Is that true?

[Chucky]

There is a 030 for the CD32 so...

[8 Bit Dreams]

Originally Posted by Chucky

There is a 030 for the CD32 so...

Hi!
Donno..i think that it's possible..
just need to keep 7Mhz clock for CD part, while CPU can use it's own oscillator then...

PS
Matze have tried to let work he's 68030 TK in to CD32 - CD unit fails to work on 50Mhz frequency - that's all what i know, i don't own a CD32, so i can not test..

[Daedalus]

Originally Posted by 8 Bit Dreams

Hi!
Donno..i think that it's possible..
just need to keep 7Mhz clock for CD part, while CPU can use it's own oscillator then...

PS
Matze have tried to let work he's 68030 TK in to CD32 - CD unit fails to work on 50Mhz frequency - that's all what i know, i don't own a CD32, so i can not test..

Hmmmm, I think you're a little confused by things here. The CD32 isn't really any different to other Amigas when it comes to accelerators. All Amigas have a fundamental core chipset frequency that's tied to the video frequency, and is multiples of 7(ish) MHz. The core chipset and derived functions are all tied to this frequency. Other parts of the machine can run at different speeds though without too much difficulty, and the CD32 is no different. There have been CD32 accelerators for many years, though most of that time there hasn't been much demand and so they were rare and very expensive. Check out the SX-32 Pro for example, which was a 50MHz accelerator for the CD32 that was available around 20 years ago.

[Daedalus]

Originally Posted by lord of time

I never said it was

Apologies, I misinterpreted when you said

why big boys like jens keep ripping us off with there expensive tat.

as you suggesting that Jens is ripping people off with his expensive products.

- but the fact of the matter is I have paid time and time again for expensive products that have failed or not been worth such a large amount of cash and the constant in fighting amongst the guys with the smarts to fix this is a big problem! I paid full whack for not 1, not 2 but 3 rapidroads and they all just died for no reason,

That's very unfortunate, and sounds like you should have been returning them for repair or refund and not going buying more of them, especially if you weren't sure whether the issue was with your setup(s) or the card(s).

I paid the full price for a indivision ecs to find that its buggy as hell

Again, sounds like it should have been returned to the retailer as soon as you found it wasn't doing what it was advertised to.

so yes forgive me for not being in a position to keep shelling out to bigger companys... I would rather support the little guys
!

Hmmmm, it's funny that you seem to think of Individual Computers as some sort of faceless mega-corporation... Like the Intel of the Amiga world. As companies go, Individual is way down there with the smallest, most accessible of companies that there is. Besides, just because something is open source, there's absolutely no guarantee that a) it will work at all, and b) it won't destroy itself or your machine. At least with a commercial product there is some protection against that. But who do you run to when an open source product sets your Amiga on fire because of a design flaw?

[plasmab]

If it is Mike Stirling that is doing this work then I am fine with it. However I am done with Amiga now. No more from me.

[FREEMILK]

I find it sad that you encourage people to build, " have the balls to build your board" and when people do, you complain and take your toys and go home.

Well if you are really calling it quits, i thank you for encouraging people to build and collaborate on things. PlasmaB , you have contributed to the Amiga and that we all appreciate. take care.

[plasmab]

Originally Posted by FREEMILK

I find it sad that you encourage people to build, " have the balls to build your board" and when people do, you complain and take your toys and go home.

Well if you are really calling it quits, i thank you for encouraging people to build and collaborate on things. PlasmaB , you have contributed to the Amiga and that we all appreciate. take care.

I have found your comments to be nothing short of bullying to be honest. I dont exist to service the needs of people in the Amiga community. I do this for fun. I am no longer enjoying this and thats as much to do with the fact that I have a terminally ill family member needing progressively more care as well as young children to look after. The time isnt there anymore.

The boards I have created are out there for all time. So no toys have been taken away. The ones i've not released arent working anyways so there isnt much loss.

[Chucky]

First take care of your family! thats the most important. but you stopping would be a big loss I would say!

[supaduper]

Your legacy is assured Steve and your boards will out live us !.

The last twelve months have been a whirlwind and I am grateful for all the help you gave me and others , and you have taken the CD32 to another level so I give you much gratitude.

Family is priority and quite rightly so.

I wish you well in all your endeavours and to coin a favourite apt saying of mine, which you will know

"Per ardua ad astra"