Terrible Fire 534 68030 board.. question

[project23]

I'm sure there's fastram with the pistorm, correct me if i'm wrong?

[brufnus]

Originally Posted by Malakie

For me the other question is the graphics output.. does it allow for both Amiga and HDMI video at the same time? I hate emulator video output because there is no aliasing and everything looks blocky, especially text, when compared to standard Amiga video output.

Well, AFAIK it's one or the other at the moment. That being said, updates could change that of course, who knows? I see no reason why that shouldn't be possible with the right drivers etc.

[brufnus]

Originally Posted by project23

I'm sure there's fastram with the pistorm, correct me if i'm wrong?

Yes there is; the Pi3 A+ for example, has 512 MB onboard; it's able to use 136 of this as fastram on the Amiga.
EDIT: It seems it's "only" 128 MB (in the Z3-space). So it's probably if being used alongside 8 MB in the Z2 space. Still, that's far beyond what I'd ever hoped for on my CDTV. :-D

Update: It works fine when pushing it to the limits; thus it's actually possible to use 256 MB Fast RAM with the Musashi emulator. The new Emu68, however, gives it even more - around 365 MB of Fast Ram (!) c".)

Also, both HDMI and RGB are active simultaneously; thus if an RGB only-program i started, it's shown right away on a 2nd monitor or by switching input.

[brufnus]

Originally Posted by Malakie

Ok, so you mean it is literally running emulation software ON an actual Amiga? I.E. bypassing the hardware pretty much to process whatever you run on it?

Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of the actual Amiga hardware if you are installing an emulator inside that takes over the work?

Well, only partially. I think it's somewhere between a Vampire and a plain accelerator; it still uses Denise, Agnus, Gary and all that stuff and it's main purpose is to pretend to be a Motorola 68k xxx CPU, but with the ability to use the onboard RAM, Wi-Fi,HDMI, USB port and SD-card slot.

What really makes this one stand out from other accelerators is the ability to have the entire range of CPU's and kickstarts merely by changing the config and reboot, and of course, the ability to plug it into many different models, be it a 500, 600, 1200 or CDTV for example (my own is a CDTV, and that complicates certain upgrades).
I just bought a TF534, and then I ran into this one... still haven't had success with the TF in my CDTV (seems to be the KS3.2 or extended ROM 2.30, which causes it), but the Pistorm installation should be successful.

[brufnus]

Originally Posted by Chucky

it is RTG output.. nothing else. I think they are working on a scandoubler-addon?

Apparently you can use the Amiga's RGB output, too; RTG is just an option with the Pi. Anyway, since people mention incompatibilty between the TF's and SCSI cards, hmm I don't know... I like using my Ultra Wide SCSI drives with the CDTV, and it seems the Pi will be compatible with respect to that. I should soon be able to install and test it, then I'll report back with my experiences with a CDTV-accelerated Raspberry Pi (or was it the other way around?)

[Chucky]

on the CDTV will the cdrom work.... as that code is a hack

[brufnus]

Originally Posted by Chucky

on the CDTV will the cdrom work.... as that code is a hack

Can't tell, but my own drive hasn't been working for some months now, so I'm using a Toshiba SCSI-drive now. Hopefully I'll get the CDTV's own drive working during winter; as far as I can tell, it's a matter of cap replacement.

But I see no reason why it shouldn't work with the Pistorm, or at least - should if the emulator is programmed in a way that allows it. I'll be able to tell, even though the drive doesn't work at the moment, since it still shows up in the early start menu.

[brufnus]

Originally Posted by Chucky

on the CDTV will the cdrom work.... as that code is a hack

Oh, and by the way... the Pistorm uses the CDTV's extended ROM's (eventually as images), so I suppose it's good to go with regards to the CD-ROM drive. Hopefully everything will work, my SCSI controller, 8 MB fast RAM on the diagnostics port, the internal CD-ROM drive, midi ports, etc. I also look forward to the release of the new extended ROM 2.35, this sounds very promising! :-D

[brufnus]

Oh dear, it's been a long time now, and I haven't really used the CDTV much for a while.
Anyway, I''ve had quite some experiences with the Pistorm by now...

The CPLD firmware doesn't yet implement the bus arbitration code, so I'm still unable to use my SCSI drives. However, it's actually possible to pull 256 MB out of it with the Musashi emulator, and as much as 365 MB with the Emu68, which by the way is extremely fast; about 874 MIPS (!) c".)

The Musashi still offers a bit more, thus it's possible to transfer files via wi-fi directly to the Amiga, the RTG works well, and the ability to swap KS and CPU on the fly is very handy as well.
I haven't come across any serious incompability issues with Amiga software, and it's generally pretty stable, too. All in all, it's definitely worthy as a CPU replacement, especially considering the low cost and the features it provides! :-D

A sidenote on the RGB vs. RTG - if RTG is being used, older programs which doesn't handle it are still using the RGB output, and they're both available simultaneously, so it's only a mattter of switching input on the monitor or having two monitors attached.

[brufnus]

Originally Posted by Chucky

on the CDTV will the cdrom work.... as that code is a hack

Unfortunately the Pistorm currently doesn't support the CDTV CD-ROM drive, or any other physical SCSI devices, for that matter... that's a bummer of course.
However, a new CPLD firmware should be underway, and together with the new Extended ROM 2.35 which supports 030 CPU's and Z-III RAM, among other things, it should all eventually work in the end.

Until then, it's still a very fast, versatile and stable upgrade, and far cheaper than, say, a Vampire or a TF536.

[brufnus]

Originally Posted by Chucky

it is RTG output.. nothing else. I think they are working on a scandoubler-addon?

Video output on the Pistorm is, as default, the std. RGB output, but can be configured to use RTG with Picasso96, which I'm using now. Older programs which can't handle that, uses RGB of course, but that's just a matter of switching input or using a 2nd monitor for that. Both outputs are still functional if RTG is enabled.

WIth A314 configured, it's a breeze to transfer ADF's or whatever to the Amiga; I simply do it with WinSCP via wi-fi now. That's a far cry from using a serial connection...

[Malakie]

Originally Posted by brufnus

Unfortunately the Pistorm currently doesn't support the CDTV CD-ROM drive, or any other physical SCSI devices, for that matter... that's a bummer of course.
However, a new CPLD firmware should be underway, and together with the new Extended ROM 2.35 which supports 030 CPU's and Z-III RAM, among other things, it should all eventually work in the end.

Until then, it's still a very fast, versatile and stable upgrade, and far cheaper than, say, a Vampire or a TF536.

I found that out the hard way... It also does not work with any card expansion for HD's, both IDE or SCSI. I had hoped it would support IDE HD's minimum but not even those will it support.

[ahandyman59]

This IDE SD Card solution is basically the exact same one used on the A1200, isn't it? Based on that, this solution is OK. There are also adapters to convert mini IDE over to the wider spaced IDE. I happen to have one in my hand right now...

[brufnus]

Originally Posted by patrik

From a user perspective, it is extremely annoying if accelerator memory is added in the Zorro2 range but cannot be DMA:ed - non-working hd-controllers at best, but crashes are common. Doesn’t matter if it is A500 or A2000, there are plenty of common DMA controllers for both (A590/A2091 and GVP* for example).

Was under the impression that the TK accelerators from Matze could handle Z2 DMA?

And just because there have been products in the past doing this, we should not create more of the bad unless we really have to, it is just incompatible and causes problems for users.

Since the Atari firmware handles bus arbitration, perhaps it could be possible to axtract that from the source code and merge it with the Amiga firmware code. I'd like it to work on my CDTV as well... I do have a Pistorm on that one right now and the TF on a std. A500; however, it could be nice to be able to swap them.