Accelerator board emulation

[amilo3438]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

CS MK3 emulation has one problem/feature: flash rom is also used for storing CyberStorm bootmenu settings. (last 16k sector of flash) which means flash contents also needs to be saved back to disk under emulation if it is modified. (by bootmenu or flash update utility).

Flash also contains board serial number (which is zeros in flash update file, serial number data is preserved when flashing)

This also means it is not possible to autodetect rom image using checksums.

I guess yet another rom selection box is needed..

hmm, this is possible to solve by saving the flash name with f.e. .diff extension ?!

... if the emu wants to save something into flash it creates a new one with f.e. .diff extension and WinUAE can check if such file exist and use this one instead ...

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by jbenam

Following on this from the WinUAE Beta thread - do you surmise it would be possible to get the PPC emulation core from something like PearPC and have that run the PPC while WinUAE does the 68k part?

Possible? Probably, everything is possible but I don't know and I don't care. It is Somebody Else's Problem.

Originally Posted by amilo3438

hmm, this is possible to solve by saving the flash name with f.e. .diff extension ?!

... if the emu wants to save something into flash it creates a new one with f.e. .diff extension and WinUAE can check if such file exist and use this one instead ...

This crosses the "not worth the trouble" line. It only becomes worth the trouble if it is actually used by more than 1% of users.

[jbenam]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

Possible? Probably, everything is possible but I don't know and I don't care. It is Somebody Else's Problem.

Huh, looks like you won't attempt it then Okay, no worries - maybe someone else will

The good thing about having PPC emulation in WinUAE would be a nice boost to MorphOS/AmigaOS4 developers.

The real hardware is SO costly it greatly reduces the number of people developing for it. Having WinUAE supporting that could revitalize the NG dev-scene.

Add to that the fact that most people are merely curious on AmigaOS4.x and end up buying BlizzardPPC cards just for that - only to resell them after a few months A lot of people would save money that way

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by bubbob42

Give me a few days...

I have already confirmed that there is F00000 ROM. I downloaded mk2update flash updater, ripped scsi autoconfig data and driver from it, added correct dma controller handling and ncr53c94 io: it works and boots.

Flash updater detects flash (after implementing interesting flash protection address line swapping feature) but then aborts with "## Internal Error 0x0001". Quick disassembly shows it reads some F0xxxx addresses and shows above message if contents are wrong.

So just dump whole F00000 - F7FFFF region. My favorite method is to use mon.lha from Aminet and use ] f00000 80000 <name of file> to write it to disk.

EDIT: and CyberStorm MK I SCSI works. It also must have F00000 ROM (at least 68060 variant). Need dump first.

EDIT2: Warp Engine SCSI works. Largest problem was to find out why scsi driver wasn't started. It was jumper problem, they are encoded to autoconfig serial number fields. (I thought it was some hardware level switch)

[Toni Wilen]

http://www.winuae.net/files/b/winuae.zip updated.

CyberStorm MK1 and MK2 added. No roms uploaded because F0 rom data is not yet known. If you really want to use it, you can manually rip the autoconfig rom from MK2 flash updater file (rom data starts with DF FF 2F FF E6... 65536 bytes) or from MK1 driver update package (which is actually autoconfig ROM image too) and rename them as cyberstormmk1.rom or cyberstormmk2.rom These files stop working when/if real full ROM image is available.

Blizzard 1230IV/1260 + SCSI Kit is working. (ROM image not in zoned archive, available image is not complete, missing unused bytes which are usually 00 or FF, but you can download it and rename it as blizzard_scsi_kit_iv.rom to use it)

Blizzard 2060 is working. (ROM images in zoned archive)

Warp Engine is working. (ROM images also in zoned archive)

[Toni Wilen]

About Apollo (and other boards that have 16 byte autoconfig data burned in logic chips, not in ROM file)

If you have any Apollo version (or any non-Blizzard accelerator), please run Scout and include expansion autoconfig data (window that shows manufacturer id, product id, serial number and more). Apollo boards apparently came with utility that shows same information, called apollo-info.

This very small bit of information should be also archived and it is needed for emulation. (It can be guessed but sometimes there are multiple possibilities)

[Toni Wilen]

From beta thread.

p.s.3. Regarding missing PPC CPU ... doesnt QEMU already suppport PowerPC 603e (missing in BlizzardPPC) and PowerPC 604e (missing in CyberStormPPC) ?!

Hmm.. QEMU does have full PPC emulator, including MMU (Linux boots etc..). So finally all pieces are ready, "only" some glue needed.

It may even be possible to run PPC emulator in separate host thread without usual syncronization/performance reason because it mostly accesses on-board RAM only and it shouldn't care about chipset timing. It would be another more interesting technical challenge.

(Toni talking about implementing PPC? No, I haven't become insane just yet. I think. I still don't want to know PPC disassembly details but it shouldn't be needed when all important code already exists.)

But lets not talk about OS4 or something like that. It is not my goal.

[Michael Sykes]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

Toni talking about implementing PPC? No, I haven't become insane just yet. I think.

Genius and Insanity are two sides of the same coin.......

[bubbob42]

Cyberstorm MK2 dump & info sent. Keep going.

[jbenam]

Dang, I'd gladly help with the Apollo 1240 emulation, but mine is at home

Exciting news about the PPC emulation...

[amilo3438]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

There is one interesting point: ROM dump download contains full Apollo rom and driver sources. (http://amigaromarchives.limewebs.com/).

Seems for some reason the above link is not currently working - "Website Temporarily Unavailable!" (wanted to see does the flash for below card exist)

So, what do you thing about to implement (A2000/2500) A2630 accelerator board also ?! -> http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/a2630

p.s. Yeah, mostly useless ... but perhaps could be useful in development and testing. (and because of historical value/meaning)

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by amilo3438

So, what do you thing about to implement (A2000/2500) A2630 accelerator board also ?! -> http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/a2630

Not without full autoconfig data dump.

[bubbob42]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

Not without full autoconfig data dump.

Ok, now you asked for it.

Same data as with MK2?

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by bubbob42

Ok, now you asked for it.

Same data as with MK2?

It most likely does not have any F0 ROMs (not 68060) so just dump whole Ex0000-> area of board.

[amilo3438]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

CyberStorm MK1 and MK2 added. No roms uploaded because F0 rom data is not yet known. If you really want to use it, you can manually rip the autoconfig rom from MK2 flash updater file (rom data starts with DF FF 2F FF E6... 65536 bytes) or from MK1 driver update package (which is actually autoconfig ROM image too) and rename them as cyberstormmk1.rom or cyberstormmk2.rom These files stop working when/if real full ROM image is available.

Really, you probably missed it, just check again the link on post #2!

There in CSII.zip are two 128k files ... the 1st one needs to swap first 64k with second 64k to make it working, and 2nd one seems is w/o SCSI driver on first 64k (until one is added manually f.ex. from MK2 flash updater - because, for some reason, it doesnt work when using the MK2update).

Regarding CS1 file, the one found there seems unusable. (but one from MK1 driver update seems to work fine if correctly renamed - but only with SCSI and w/o 68060 support as F0xxxx area of board is missing, right?)

p.s. Also, there is some unofficial flash updater file mkxdiag408.rar, but it seems it doesnt works/update the flash for some reason!

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by amilo3438

There in CSII.zip are two 128k files ... the 1st one needs to swap first 64k with second 64k to make it working, and 2nd one seems is w/o SCSI driver on first 64k (until one is added manually f.ex. from MK2 flash updater - because, for some reason, it doesnt work when using the MK2update).

Yeah, looks like non-scsi version (autoconfig boot rom bit is also disabled). What do you mean by "not working"? Worked for me, mk2update added missing scsi driver.

(Still not sure if F0 or autoconfig ROM comes first..)

Regarding CS1 file, the one found there seems unusable.

It seems to only contain F0 ROM code, nothing else. Should work, as in, boots with 68060, no autoconfig devices, no scsi driver.

work fine if correctly renamed - but only with SCSI and w/o 68060 support as F0xxxx area of board is missing, right?)

Yeah, official flasher does not touch F0 ROM.

p.s. Also, there is some unofficial flash updater file mkxdiag408.rar, but it seems it doesnt works/update the flash for some reason!

It also flashes F0 ROM and I didn't know it was also flashable because offical flasher does not touch it.

I guess MK1 also needs flash support (did all boards come with flash or only some later revision?), mk1diag seems to have flashing support.

[amilo3438]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

Yeah, looks like non-scsi version (autoconfig boot rom bit is also disabled). What do you mean by "not working"? Worked for me, mk2update added missing scsi driver.

Using below attached Mk2 config with non-scsi version and MK2update copied on one empty adf ... unfortunately it doesnt work! (see pics)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also, regarding BPPC flash update - got flash area from 14000 to 18000 all filled with "FF" (tested with blizzardppc_44.71.rom version and below attached config).

Procedure to repeat it on latest WinUAE zip winuae_2820b8_2014-08-01.exe (17:11):

1) rename blizzardppc_44.71.rom to blizzardppc.rom
2) start WinUAE with below BPCC config file
3) let it show wb boot screen
4) now reset with CTRL-AMIGA-AMIGA
5) watch the Power led - in moment it lit quick press Esc and release and again press till boot menu appear
6) in boot menu go to change noMap to Map, then click on use, and then on save

Thats it! I got corrupted flash file now!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by amilo3438

Using below attached Mk2 config with non-scsi version and MK2update copied on one empty adf ... unfortunately it doesnt work! (see pics)

Still works for me. That error comes if F0 ROM is missing or wrong.

EDIT: Forget it if it still does not work, not that important, maybe later again.

Also, regarding BPPC flash update - got flash area from 14000 to 18000 all filled with "FF" (tested with blizzardppc_44.71.rom version and below attached config).

You should have said when you first reported that it only happens after reseting at least once. (Remember again, if no specific instructions: I always take the shortest and quickest route!)

Currently only fix is to "only save changes after cold start, never after reset".

(Reason: more undocumented registers)

[amilo3438]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

You should have said when you first reported that it only happens after reseting at least once. (Remember again, if no specific instructions: I always take the shortest and quickest route!)

Currently only fix is to "only save changes after cold start, never after reset".

(Reason: more undocumented registers)

Yeah, I wonder why sometimes worked and sometimes not! Usually I missed to enter into boot menu 1st time, but you got it described now finally !!!

EDIT: It works fine if enter into boot menu 1st time (just tested again) ... but note, to see the changes in boot menu must quit the emu and start it again!

[amilo3438]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

It also flashes F0 ROM and I didn't know it was also flashable because offical flasher does not touch it.

I guess MK1 also needs flash support (did all boards come with flash or only some later revision?), mk1diag seems to have flashing support.

According to pictures on following link -> http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/cyberstorm1

there are two rom places ... one probably for SCSI when only 60040 is used and 2nd for diag when it is updated on 68060 CPU I guess! (see EDIT3)

EDIT: Yeah, also visible on pictures -> http://www.bboah.com/index.php?sid=5...086&artlang=en

EDIT2: According to amiga.resource.cx in "CS_Mk1.pdf" manual (check last page - Appendix A) ... it is said that for 68060 a rom with system patches is needed to be installed into socket 0 !!! (also note that SCSI-II support was optional)

EDIT3: Hope pictures from this link can help -> http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php...-with-new-caps
(seems cyscsi.device are placed on its board and CyberStorm060 Bootstrap in socket 0)
also visible here -> http://www.planetmulti.de/v2/index.h...rstormmki.html

EDIT4: More info -> http://relay.pp.fi/Amiga/A4000/Cyberstorm/

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

(Still not sure if F0 or autoconfig ROM comes first..)

According to EDIT2, it looks for MK2 should be the same ... diag (F0) is the 1st and SCSI (EA) is the 2nd rom then (I guess)!

EDIT5: Dont know (can only guess).


ps. Also on MK1 notes it said: "cannot map the ROM into fast RAM"

Btw. you mentioned somewhere on MK2 is possible to map rom ... how?! is there some key needed to press ... or using some command?