Software setup for a BPPC, what do I need?

[BarryB]

Received my 300w ATX PSU from Amigakit today so thought I'd plug my BPPC into my A1200 desktop. Managed to get it in but it's a squeeze as the RAM that's angled fouls on the disk drive so had to remove the drive so the RAM could lean back and clip in!

Good news is it fired up into OS3.9 and now need to know what to setup. I grabbed the file 68060systemdisk.lha and installed that, then grabbed 68060-19101999.lha and copied over the newer 68040.library and 68060.library and rebooted. Now I need to know what else to do to get it setup correctly? Asking all the BPPC Gurus the correct way to set one up!

Tried a speed test but Sysinfo refuses to run and just throws up a Software Error so how do I do a speedtest? So far it seems to run OK, had a few instances of a line of corruption across the screen so not sure if that's my 1D4 board, Indi AGA or software? I don't mind doing a complete reinstall and setting up from scratch it that's what is needed, just need a guiding hand in case I do something that makes it unstable.

[fitzsteve]

Try SysSpeed for a benchmark and WhichAmiga for system Information.

There is a Beta version of WhichAmiga somewhere that will tell you what board version you have (Rev2 is the one to have if you want to Tower and go GREX PCI one day)

As for testing the PPC side, ADoom PPC will run off the bat as the PPC.Library is already inside the BPPC's Firmware/Flash.

You will need a Doom WAD file, the Shareware will do unless you have the full Doom/Doom 2 WAD kicking around.

I recommend you install WarpOS at some point to use WarpUP/WarpOS (WOS) applications such as Quake, Quake II, etc.

You need to install V4 first then update to 5.1 make sure you have BB1/2 installed as well.

You will also need BPPCFix installed to stop the PPC.Library from loading once you install WarpOS. I can't seem to see it on Aminet, someone else will have to give you a link to that one.

Something well worth investing is WarpDT, these are picture Datatypes that use the Power PC processor, so your JPG's, etc load really fast

That's it for now, you have lots to learn and I don't want to overload you too soon.

Have fun!

Steve.

[BarryB]

Thanks again Steve, just wanted to know If I'm doing it all correctly!

Found WhichAmiga 1.3.25 that shows mine as (board version 0), guess I got a dud did I?

[fitzsteve]

Lol no its not a dud mate its just not as compatible if you wanted to use a grex pci.

Good luck and remember to share some pics.

Forgot to mention, if you're using in a desktop wedge A1200 I recommend if you use it for any extended sessions (say over 30 mins) or if you're doing particularly intensive work that you buy some bigger feet to raise the Amiga slightly. This will give you better air flow and aid cooling. The bppc runs pretty hot!

Wilko sell a set for about a quid, they stick on.

[BarryB]

I was wondering about cooling, this has no aftermarket heatsinks or fans other than what it came with and wondered if using some thermal glue and a big heatsink on the 060 would be a good idea? I've seen a pic of a BPPC where there are 2 fans, one covering the whole 060 and one stuck to the PPC heatsink and all leads going into the main one on the BPPC, that looked very well done!

ADoom ran fine BTW, got it to run acceptably at PAL Low Res with the status bar showing and full screen with no glitching or other anomalies, so I guess the board is workink fine. I just need to find out why the workbench screen keeps getting horizontal lines of corruption?

Some PICS:




You can see gfx corruption in the first pic, wondering if it's FBlit? The last pic shows the RAM touching the disk drive, and this is with the drive unscrewed and loose so I'm not sure yet if I can screw the drive back without it pushing on the RAM!!

Found that pic with the fans attached:

[fitzsteve]

ADoomPPC should fly (constant 35fps) which is max. Once you've installed WarpOS you might find ADoomWOS runs better.

Nice I see you have the upgraded 66/330 that's one hell of an A1200 now

The standard cooling is OK, the 060 assuming it's the latest mask should be fine even without a heatsink even at 66mhz! The 300mhz PPC chips run cooler than the originals

To be honest these are best suited to a Tower but if you're mindful of heat and don't abuse it you should be fine.

[BarryB]

The problem is getting the bloody case back on the A1200, this thing just wasn't made for a desktop A1200!! The issue with the RAM not fitting because of the Disk Drive, the keyboard has a 'spongy' feel to it as it seems to be bouncing on the BPPC as it doesn't seem to fit now. Won't be keeping this in the A1200, it was nice to know it works so I think I'll put it back in it's box and wait for a Tower to become available! Shame you sold one back in September and I missed out

[delshay]

If you have graphic problem,you may have short circuit with those large simms.

Possible short circuit.

Floppy drive bracket in contact with chip(s)

Lower simm chip(s) in contact with 040/060 contacts or one of the spring clips that hold heatsink.

Be careful with those large simms.

[BarryB]

delshay, I removed the bottom RAM chip and taped the side of the Disk Drive with PTFE Tape so the angled RAM won't short out on the metal but I still got corruption. I then commented out FBlit, WBctrl and Ftext and so far have no corruption!! Also, when I drag the SysSpeed icon around it doesn't get corrupted now and all the other icons are visible when dragging!! So it looks to be one or all of those three programs causing the corruption.

I've also noted the RAM that lies flat is fouling on a component under the RAM chip:

The red circled component is stopping the RAM clipping in easily, to get it to clip in the chip has to 'bend' which is not good!! Plus with this chip removed the keyboard now fits! So it looks like getting hold of some thinner 128mb RAM for this board!!

[delshay]

As you can see the spring clip next the the capacitor which you have marked out is not fully locked that is part of the problem. The second problem can be the 040/060 solder contact the inner most three rows.

Simms that come into contact with capacitor which you have marked out normally should not be a problem.

[BarryB]

I noticed that and have since pulled it up so it clips onto the gold pad but it's still prone to pinging off. I've ordered a pair of 128mb low profile 72pin EDO SIMMS so they should give more clearance as they are 26mm high x 6mm thick whereas the ones I have are 36mm high and 8mm thick. I've had to remove the SIMM from the bottom slot as the keyboard is putting all its weight on it and bending the board.

As fitzsteve says, it should be OK in normal use regards heat but i'm wondering if fitting fans like in the picture I found would be a good idea or just wait for a Tower?

[Bamiga2002]

Check my sig for setting up a working BPPC-environment . And while you're at it, you might want to join the Blizzard PPC Club also :-)

[BarryB]

I don't have a mediator or GFX card yet so is that guide applicable? Also, is it recommended to flash the update for the BPPC? I've seen 3 updates, 44.67, 44.69 and 44.71 so which should I flash if at all?

Decided to remove the RAM that came with it and use some lower profile 32mb RAM I have, so I'm running with 64mb RAM and it fits so much better and doesn't foul anything, as you can see the bottom RAM completely misses the capacitor the previous RAM fouled upon and the angled RAM completely misses the Disk Drive



I've now put one of the 128mb SIMMS in my Microbotics M1230XA so that's now maxed RAM wise, just need to test that it works.

[delshay]

Bend spring back to normal then cut about half way the bit that showing in photo so it does not come into contact with simm. Keyboard is another problem with large simm as you have already found out.

Heat is also a problem but many user have solved this problem,but here it is different and should not affected any other user but me. Here I have discovered my memory can get very hot and caused lots of errors. The heat surprising enough is not from the CPU or the ram itself but the regulators.

Heat from regulators makes memory so hot it causes crashes. You can test this by putting you finger on the left hand side of PCB just inside where the second simm goes (lower simm) after about 5 mins use but as stated before this does not affect any other user but me.

[BarryB]

Delshay, hopefully I won't have to cut that clip as using shorter height RAM has cured that problem and also misses that cap, plus the keyboard now fits! Since removing FBlit, Wbctrl and Ftext my system has been glitch free so far but I'll see how hot it gets where you mention.

[delshay]

Simm layout is critical. Not just for releasing heat but also play a small roll in timing issues when card is overclocked.

As you can see large simms block air flow,which can overheat blizzard card.

400Mhz blizzard card and beyond is almost here,just need to solve overheating ram/regulator problem.

[BarryB]

Can't you drop the A1200 + BPPC in Flourinert or Mineral Oil

Those big chunky SIMMS certainly block more than air, like keyboards!! Had a finger test around some components on the left and the square chip below the fan is very hot, the other are hot but not as hot the one below the fan. The RAM is quite hot but not 'burning your finger hot' so might look to get a small fan there!!

I ran SysSpeed too and got 87.75 MIPS for the 060 whereas v4.0 of Sysinfo shows only 51.52 MIPS? I guess this depends on how each program is testing the speed?

Is your BPPC in a Tower or Desktop? If you're trying to get 400Mhz then good luck with the cooling

*EDIT* Have now installed WarpUP and all the fixes etc as per the guide by Bamiga2002, just ignored all the mediator/voodoo stuff!! Ran ADoomWOS and it runs MUCH smoother than the PPC version! Played a good 10 minutes with no apparent issues so appears to be running stable for now Haven't run it with the top case on yet due to the expected heat build up in such a confined space, don't want to risk cooking the poor miggy and board!!

[delshay]

Blizzard cards in a desktop case with top closed are in a round about way are like F1 cars,they don't run very well in dirty air or just fail after a period of time. What the card needs is clean air. Here I don't need fans in that area as shown early in this thread and I can use the original trap door cover without making extra cut-out externally on the trap door cover and I don't need to add extra feet also,it all looks normal from the outside.

The way it works here is I have two almost silence fans which blows hot air towards the exit of air vents just in front of the trap door cover air slots. The original blizzard fan has changed,but just the height,so fan still fits in the original place.

The original fan acts more like a directional fan,in other words its picking cooler air from the other two almost silence fans. All three fans work together to help direct air towards the exit vents by the trap door. There are some internal changes around where A1200 card slot but none of this is visible from the outside but also play a very important role in keeping any card in that slot cool.

040 cards may possibly work (not tested) with my cooling solution,but to bring my posting to a end,you know if you got cooling solution is right by putting you hand in front of the air vent from about 3 inches away. If you can feel hot air around that distance your on the right track.

This is a improving cooling arrangement here,as my card produce more heat than any other card for A1200 (including 040 cards) but at the end of the day its all about forcing hot air towards the air vents in front of the trap door.

The above cooling arrangement was tested on a 300Mhz Ultra card (high speed memory access)

ALL MODIFICATION AT YOUR OWN RISK

[delshay]

Just to summarise you can see the air vents in one of the photos above,which my set-up use to great affect. It all works just like a Laptop,but fans are in a different location.

[BarryB]

Have you got any pics of your setup showing the fans? Would be nice to see what type of fans you've used.