Prometheus - Best Practices?

[trixster]

I am in the same position as you with regards to openpci and trying an rtl8139 - I can get the driver to load, it is recognised as operating under openpci.librsry with prmscan, it takes some dma memory, but I cannot get Roadshow to assign an IP address - there is no network activity. I am assuming this is due to the original firmware on the Firebird.

Are you able to try the firmware flash again? I have contact with someone who has managed to get it working with his Firebird, however I have been unable to ascertain whether he is using the v3 Prometheus.library that we have, or some other beta version. I think he has a beta.

[dkedrowitsch]

Originally Posted by trixster

Are you able to try the firmware flash again? I have contact with someone who has managed to get it working with his Firebird, however I have been unable to ascertain whether he is using the v3 Prometheus.library that we have, or some other beta version. I think he has a beta.

I actually tried twice already. I'm pretty confident it was programmed correctly because the E3B firmware has a different Manufacturer/Device ID in Autoconfig which I do see afterwards.

Here's my theory:

I suspect what's happening is people are confusing their firmwares. There are 3 firmwares in the wild.

40/27- This is the original production release. Solid firmware but no bus-mastering or DMA. Only useful for RTG and 10 Meg PCI Ethernet that's even slower than Z2 Ethernet.

50/27- This version offers bus-mastering and semi-functional DMA. Matay offered a free upgrade to this version for anyone who sent their Prometheus in for update. When combined with prometheus.library v3, offers OpenPCI DMA support that can be somewhat unstable under certain conditions (030/PCI DMA contention). I am unable to find a copy of this firmware anywhere, perhaps if the CPLDs aren't protected someone can read the POF files from their upgraded Prometheus, or if someone has one with 50/27 laying around they can send it to me to try reading the firmware out?

52i/27- Written by Michael Boehmer. Also known as "Fire Storm", this version is supposed to offer fully functional DMA. Due to fundamental differences between this entirely new firmware and previous Matay versions, it requires a completely new driver. The ONLY reference to this driver I was able to find was on a1k.org (https://www.a1k.org/forum/index.php?...4/post-1148777) where user MastaTabs apparently wrote a new driver for Michael Boehmer but it doesn't seem to have ever been circulated beyond some testing. Unfortunately he doesn't seem to respond to requests for a copy, although my request to him is only a few days old so maybe I'll get lucky.

Anyway, that sums up my understanding of the current situation...

[Locutus]

I'm confused, isn't this Boehmer's firmware? -> http://www.e3b.de/prometheus/

Download zip includes pof files.

[mousehouse]

Originally Posted by Locutus

I'm confused, isn't this Boehmer's firmware? -> http://www.e3b.de/prometheus/

Download zip includes pof files.

Hmmm interesting! Thanks for all the research guys... my AA3000 is still a few months from completion I'm afraid ;-)

[torsti76]

Originally Posted by Locutus

I'm confused, isn't this Boehmer's firmware? -> http://www.e3b.de/prometheus/

Download zip includes pof files.

Firmware: Yes. The problem is that the corresponding new drivers are nowhere to be found.

[dkedrowitsch]

Originally Posted by Locutus

I'm confused, isn't this Boehmer's firmware? -> http://www.e3b.de/prometheus/

Download zip includes pof files.

Not to sound facetious but this reinforces my point that the situation is confusing.

Yes the 52/27 firmware is available, but as Boehmer states on that same page, "Please mind that the new firmware uses a new memory layout to accomodate for PCI bridges correctly. The old drivers won't work anymore with the new firmware in place." So the firmware is available, but there are no drivers around to use it because they don't seem to have ever been published. If you read what I posted above and follow the breadcrumbs you'll see where several folks mentioned the existence of a new driver, but it was never shared with the general population.

Now, if we could get our hands on Matay's 50/27 firmware that DOES work with prometheus.library v3, even though it's supposed to be somewhat unstable, it may be better than nothing.

[Locutus]

Oh yes, i wrote before i completely read the page. Oops!

Yeah i get the problem now

And np, not facetious!

[trixster]

Dkedrowitsch - try the beta 3.1 Prometheus.library here:

https://www.a1k.org/forum/index.php?threads/73573/

[dkedrowitsch]

Yep, got it and tried, thanks for the heads up though!

OpenPCI and PrmScan can see the cards now, but my Prometheus driver for the S3 ViRGE no longer works. Wranger's Voodoo driver is the same story. And without the RTG DMA memory none of the OpenPCI drivers I tried for NIC and USB seem to work either.

I suspect this may mean Ratte's OpenPCI Radeon driver may be only option unless someone can port the old Prometheus RTG drivers over to prometheus.library 3.1? I don't know if that Radeon driver can be dug up somewhere without getting Elbox's panties in a bunch though. Wouldn't want to endanger their €75 sales of €8 USB cards...

[trixster]

You’ve tried the new S3 virge and the new 3dfxvoodoo.chip Prometheus.card files that have been uploaded to that thread in the last 30mins too?

[dkedrowitsch]

I did, and unfortunately no dice.



I also noticed the file sizes are identical to the versions bundled with Picasso96. That might not mean anything, but... Anyway, I've already responded with some questions but waiting for my post to be approved. Since I'm new to A1K.org I probably need to post an introduction before the moderator will approve it again.

Originally Posted by trixster

You’ve tried the new S3 virge and the new 3dfxvoodoo.chip Prometheus.card files that have been uploaded to that thread in the last 30mins too?

[trixster]

Wrangler and I now have the Firestorm firmware working correctly on our AA3000+ Firebird daughterboards



Dma seems to work ok as both the voodoo3 and PCI RTL8139C NIC are working together fine

[dkedrowitsch]

As do I!

However I must admit the RTL8139 and USB seem to be significantly slower than a native Zorro solution such as the X-Surf/RapidRoad, at least on my AA3000+'s 030/25. I'm holding out on building another A3660 in hopes Matze's TK-060 comes to fruition soon...

I've hesitated to post my updates since I'm unable to get a clear answer as to whether or not it's OK to share prometheus.library v3.1 and the updated P96 drivers. Without being able to share those, it seemed a little futile to share in my success.

So...the question is, can we share the updated drivers that are necessary to use the Fire Storm firmware?

Also, I was given the a license key for ArakAttack OpenPCI USB driers with the permission to share it. The author said anyone is free to use it, donations accepted but not required.

[trixster]

You would have to ask the guys on A1K about sharing - I think rotzloffel and mastatabs maybe.

Wrangler has been given the arakattack key too, but do you know where that is supposed to go to become ‘activated’?

NIC speed seems good enough to stream internet mp3 audio

[dkedrowitsch]

Originally Posted by trixster

Wrangler has been given the arakattack key too, but do you know where that is supposed to go to become ‘activated’?

It's a little burried in the documentation but the installer seems to search for it in basically any system drawer. I stuck my key in ENVARC and when re-running the installer it detected the key and embedded it into the driver. The USB 1.1 root hub comes up and works fine, but I was unable to get EHCI to work. I didn't put very much effort into it since I have a RapidRoad in there but at first glance it seemed to be related to CPU caches. To be honest I'm not all that excited to work on it further unless the prometheus.library v3.1 is made available for use by everyone.

NIC speed seems good enough to stream internet mp3 audio

That's good to know, although I'd guess that's not more than maybe 384 kbit/sec . When using NFS to copy files to/from a NAS, even my lowly A2065 10 meg card is considerably faster than the RTL8139. I wonder if I popped an A3660 in if it would help things though...

[DarrenHD]

Originally Posted by dkedrowitsch

As do I!

However I must admit the RTL8139 and USB seem to be significantly slower than a native Zorro solution such as the X-Surf/RapidRoad, at least on my AA3000+'s 030/25. I'm holding out on building another A3660 in hopes Matze's TK-060 comes to fruition soon...

If you do get an 060 (which I would recommend), get one with local fast ram on it...it would be much faster than a 060 card without local ram.

[dkedrowitsch]

Originally Posted by DarrenHD

If you do get an 060 (which I would recommend), get one with local fast ram on it...it would be much faster than a 060 card without local ram.

Thanks DarrenHD, I've actually got a collection of A3660's I've built for myself so they're somewhat of a commodity that's difficult to pass up at this point, and certainly better than nothing. :-) Almost all my big box Amigas are 060s.

The TK-060 I mentioned will have 128 megs of SDRAM on it, although development seems to be paused due to COVID-19 holding up the alpha PCB production.

[DarrenHD]

Originally Posted by dkedrowitsch

Thanks DarrenHD, I've actually got a collection of A3660's I've built for myself so they're somewhat of a commodity that's difficult to pass up at this point, and certainly better than nothing. :-) Almost all my big box Amigas are 060s.

The TK-060 I mentioned will have 128 megs of SDRAM on it, although development seems to be paused due to COVID-19 holding up the alpha PCB production.

Yes for sure better than nothing. I would take one..hehe!. If the TK-060 has local ram on it that would be amazing!

[torsti76]

So, just to clarify: You guys got the reworked E3B firmware for the Prometheus up and running with a new version of the library and stuff from OpenPCI?

That's fantastic news and I hope the guys from a1k.org agree to sharing it. Rotzloeffel I know as being very pragmatic. Just don't mention the A3660 in his presence. ;-)

I'd also pay/donate for the lib and drivers, btw., if that helps your argument.

[dkedrowitsch]

Originally Posted by torsti76

So, just to clarify: You guys got the reworked E3B firmware for the Prometheus up and running with a new version of the library and stuff from OpenPCI?

YUP. Seems to work just fine.

Rotzloeffel I know as being very pragmatic. Just don't mention the A3660 in his presence. ;-)

Why? I could see someone having a problem with the AmiBay/Ebay ripoff prices a particular seller asks for them, but...