ACA500 plus? - Page 9

Schoenfeld · 10 January 2017, 22:49

From firmware version to firmware version, we've tried to improve startup reliability with A1200 accelerators. However, while we observed success with the accelerators that we have here, some customers reported non-success.

What we've done now is to make the test-steps as small as possible. I've uploaded an intermediate version here:

http://wiki.icomp.de/wiki/ACA500plus_Firmware

This one only makes a single change in the startup code. Please report if this makes a difference. If the card does not come up, please report the number that's displayed on DisMo, and the colour of the screen.

What we expect is that this intermediate version will re-introduce soft-reset problems for 68ec000 operation at 21MHz if the CPU is not overclocking-safe beyond that frequency (i.e. works at 21, but not at 28 or 42MHz).

thanks,
Jens

appiah4 · 11 January 2017, 18:41

Mine has been shipped today. Its on its way to a friends home who should bring it to me in a month (wanted to avoid customs). Many thanks to the ladies and gents at icomp.

E-Penguin · 12 January 2017, 22:32

Anybody know how to make it go back to the boot menu without doing a power cycle? I imagine there's a secret key combination but I can't work out what it is.

demolition · 12 January 2017, 22:46

Ctrl-A-A?

E-Penguin · 12 January 2017, 22:53

No, that just does a normal reboot. I imagine I have to press something in addition but the usual guesses (ESC, F<something>) don't work. The online documentation is still TBW.

Schoenfeld · 13 January 2017, 08:30

Keep the mouse button pressed during reset. It's also a setting in the expert menu, but standard is "menu only on power-up, then only on mouse button".

Jens

E-Penguin · 13 January 2017, 09:44

Ah, thanks. I'll give that a go.

liviux76 · 13 January 2017, 09:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by E-Penguin

Anybody know how to make it go back to the boot menu without doing a power cycle? I imagine there's a secret key combination but I can't work out what it is.

Press ctrl+A+A keeping pressed the right mouse button.

UPDATE:
I've updated the firmware from version 0.31 (20/12/2016) to version 0.72 (09/01/2017) and now I have to keep pressed the left mouse button in order to enter the ACA500Plus after a soft reboot.

The upgraded firmware solved a lot of little issues I had with the card (time showed with garbled characters in the upper right corner, not able to remove the stars from the background, sometimes the profile settings weren't saved after pressing "S", etc...), it is highly recommended, in my opinion, to upgrade the firmware and the procedure is very easy.

mjnurney · 14 January 2017, 19:12

[ Show youtube player ]

I did a video if the card and a firmware update.

My ACA1230 won't boot as yet with the new aca500+, maybe a firmware update will fix this but its not really an issue for me at least.

mike.

demolition · 14 January 2017, 20:57

I see that Jens now updated the text for the ACA500plus specifying that it is incompatible with the ACA1230. In the beginning, it was just 'maybe compatible' but I guess he gave up trying to make it fully compatible. It may still work if you're lucky though and all timings add up.

appiah4 · 14 January 2017, 21:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by demolition

I see that Jens now updated the text for the ACA500plus specifying that it is incompatible with the ACA1230. In the beginning, it was just 'maybe compatible' but I guess he gave up trying to make it fully compatible. It may still work if you're lucky though and all timings add up.

So which A1200 accelerators are fully compatible? The ACA1221 only?

demolition · 14 January 2017, 21:45

All ACA12xx except ACA1230.

E-Penguin · 14 January 2017, 22:37

I think the ACA1231 is "probably" compatible but he doesn't have any units to test with.

Schoenfeld · 15 January 2017, 11:15

The ACA1231 magically started working on the ACA500 for some customers after we've fixed a problem with the ACA1221 memory layout. However, I can't give any warranty for it to work on the ACA500plus, as I don't have an ACA1231 here. The ACA1231 was an OEM project for Vesalia, and all cards have been shipped to them. They've been sold out long ago.

V0.75 of the menu system has solved startup problems for quite a few users; I have positive reports through e-Mail and on a1k.org, so upgrading is really recommended:

http://wiki.icomp.de/wiki/ACA500plus_Firmware

Is there anyone who owns a 1.8M expansion and who could make a startup-log through serial? The menu system outputs debug information on the serial port with 115200/8/N/1, and that would be really helpful for fixing recognition of these expansions.

thanks,
Jens

StingerHU · 15 January 2017, 12:26

Jens,

are you planning any official ACA500 Plus compatible plexi/plastic case because of protection ? I think this question was already reached you from other customers just I didn't found any information yet.

Thanks,
Chris

demolition · 15 January 2017, 12:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

Is there anyone who owns a 1.8M expansion and who could make a startup-log through serial? The menu system outputs debug information on the serial port with 115200/8/N/1, and that would be really helpful for fixing recognition of these expansions.

I could probably do that. Just received the ACA500plus and have an A500 with 1.8MB trapdoor expansion with Gary adapter that I was planning to test it with.

How do I hook up the serial interface to the ACA?

E-Penguin · 15 January 2017, 13:43

I've just swapped out my 2MB( + Gary) one for a 512kB one! In fact, it's sitting in its box doing nothing at the moment - if you want to borrow it for testing Jens I can pop it in the post tomorrow.

It's the Virgo Developments one, I emailed you about it a month or so back when trying to establish if it was compatible.

demolition · 15 January 2017, 14:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by demolition

How do I hook up the serial interface to the ACA?

Was just thinking - is it the Amiga serial port that I need to connect to?

appiah4 · 15 January 2017, 14:23

V0.75 Firmware is up. Download Here.

Toni Wilen · 15 January 2017, 14:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by demolition

Was just thinking - is it the Amiga serial port that I need to connect to?

Yes.

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10 January 2017, 22:49	#161
Schoenfeld electricky. Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: out in the wild Posts: 1,256	From firmware version to firmware version, we've tried to improve startup reliability with A1200 accelerators. However, while we observed success with the accelerators that we have here, some customers reported non-success. What we've done now is to make the test-steps as small as possible. I've uploaded an intermediate version here: http://wiki.icomp.de/wiki/ACA500plus_Firmware This one only makes a single change in the startup code. Please report if this makes a difference. If the card does not come up, please report the number that's displayed on DisMo, and the colour of the screen. What we expect is that this intermediate version will re-introduce soft-reset problems for 68ec000 operation at 21MHz if the CPU is not overclocking-safe beyond that frequency (i.e. works at 21, but not at 28 or 42MHz). thanks, Jens

11 January 2017, 18:41	#162
appiah4 Registered User Join Date: May 2015 Location: Somewhere in Time Posts: 492	Mine has been shipped today. Its on its way to a friends home who should bring it to me in a month (wanted to avoid customs). Many thanks to the ladies and gents at icomp.

12 January 2017, 22:32	#163
E-Penguin Banana Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Darmstadt Posts: 1,214	Anybody know how to make it go back to the boot menu without doing a power cycle? I imagine there's a secret key combination but I can't work out what it is.

12 January 2017, 22:46	#164
demolition Unregistered User Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Copenhagen / DK Age: 44 Posts: 4,190	Ctrl-A-A?

12 January 2017, 22:53	#165
E-Penguin Banana Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Darmstadt Posts: 1,214	No, that just does a normal reboot. I imagine I have to press something in addition but the usual guesses (ESC, F<something>) don't work. The online documentation is still TBW.

13 January 2017, 08:30	#166
Schoenfeld electricky. Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: out in the wild Posts: 1,256	Keep the mouse button pressed during reset. It's also a setting in the expert menu, but standard is "menu only on power-up, then only on mouse button". Jens

13 January 2017, 09:44	#167
E-Penguin Banana Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Darmstadt Posts: 1,214	Ah, thanks. I'll give that a go.

14 January 2017, 19:12	#169
mjnurney Registered User Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Towcester, Northampton Posts: 311	[ Show youtube player ] I did a video if the card and a firmware update. My ACA1230 won't boot as yet with the new aca500+, maybe a firmware update will fix this but its not really an issue for me at least. mike.

14 January 2017, 20:57	#170
demolition Unregistered User Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Copenhagen / DK Age: 44 Posts: 4,190	I see that Jens now updated the text for the ACA500plus specifying that it is incompatible with the ACA1230. In the beginning, it was just 'maybe compatible' but I guess he gave up trying to make it fully compatible. It may still work if you're lucky though and all timings add up.

14 January 2017, 21:45	#172
demolition Unregistered User Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Copenhagen / DK Age: 44 Posts: 4,190	All ACA12xx except ACA1230.

14 January 2017, 22:37	#173
E-Penguin Banana Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Darmstadt Posts: 1,214	I think the ACA1231 is "probably" compatible but he doesn't have any units to test with.

15 January 2017, 11:15	#174
Schoenfeld electricky. Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: out in the wild Posts: 1,256	The ACA1231 magically started working on the ACA500 for some customers after we've fixed a problem with the ACA1221 memory layout. However, I can't give any warranty for it to work on the ACA500plus, as I don't have an ACA1231 here. The ACA1231 was an OEM project for Vesalia, and all cards have been shipped to them. They've been sold out long ago. V0.75 of the menu system has solved startup problems for quite a few users; I have positive reports through e-Mail and on a1k.org, so upgrading is really recommended: http://wiki.icomp.de/wiki/ACA500plus_Firmware Is there anyone who owns a 1.8M expansion and who could make a startup-log through serial? The menu system outputs debug information on the serial port with 115200/8/N/1, and that would be really helpful for fixing recognition of these expansions. thanks, Jens

15 January 2017, 12:26	#175
StingerHU Registered User Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: London,UK Posts: 54	Jens, are you planning any official ACA500 Plus compatible plexi/plastic case because of protection ? I think this question was already reached you from other customers just I didn't found any information yet. Thanks, Chris

15 January 2017, 13:43	#177
E-Penguin Banana Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Darmstadt Posts: 1,214	I've just swapped out my 2MB( + Gary) one for a 512kB one! In fact, it's sitting in its box doing nothing at the moment - if you want to borrow it for testing Jens I can pop it in the post tomorrow. It's the Virgo Developments one, I emailed you about it a month or so back when trying to establish if it was compatible.

15 January 2017, 14:23	#179
appiah4 Registered User Join Date: May 2015 Location: Somewhere in Time Posts: 492	V0.75 Firmware is up. Download Here.

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