Prometheus&Firebird with Firestorm firmware support thread

[Crumb]

In order to share experiences of Prometheus / Firebird (The prometheus version created by the almighty Hese) and to help to improve the software support I have created this thread so everyone can share his experiences and help Dennis to test and to provide test cases and information so Michael Boehmer can tune the firmware if required.



When performing tests and reporting please list the FULL version of prometheus.library used, Prometheus.card, the .chip files used, tooltypes of the monitor, piccasso96 version config of your machine and AmigaOS version used... and also your hardware config: if you are using an original Prometheus or Firebird, PCI/PCIe cards used...


We need to know:
-DMA cards work for you? Which ones? Which library&driver did you use?

-Do PCI-PCI(e) bridges work for you? Which cards did you test? Which Software did you use?
-Do PCI PPC cards like K1/M1/Apocalypse work?



PS: Hardware mods to supply 3.3v are also welcome.

[Hedeon]

Thanks for opening this thread, Crumb. But I thought you already had some issues that you wanted me to look at :-)

I added to this post a recompile of the december build with 2 changes:

1) added a automatic build date string
2) added a little fix that should enable bridges after bridges

If more fixes are added to these or other libs, it will be uploaded here.

[DarrenHD]

Originally Posted by Crumb

We need to know:
-DMA cards work for you? Which ones? Which library&driver did you use?

-Do PCI-PCI(e) bridges work for you? Which cards did you test? Which Software did you use?
-Do PCI PPC cards like K1/M1/Apocalypse work?

PS: Hardware mods to supply 3.3v are also welcome.

Hi Crumb. I have two AA3000+'s from Hese with the upgraded Firestorm Firmware. I also have an original Prometheus, also with Upgraded firmware.

So far I have only tested:
-Vooodoo 3 PCI
-AmigaONE PCI Wireless Card (from AmigaKit), works, but slow 50KB/sec
-RTL8029 (tried three cards, none work)
-RTL8139 (works with OpenPCI, but it's also slow...)

I am using:

Prometheus.library 3.1 (12/29/2012), Build 288
Prometheus.card 7.530 (02/26/2003)
3dfxVoodoo.chip 7.11 (02/26/2003)

The system is working well although I wish the RTL8029 worked (I tried all available drivers, it freezes after a short time), and also I wish the RTL8139 was faster. The performance is 2-3x slower than the same card in a Mediator system.

I also have a Sonnet PPC G3 500MHz, but that is in my A4000 with Mediator.

Darren

Update: I just installed Hedeon's new prometheus.library and I'm getting what appears to be much better speeds on the RTL8139. Not quite as fast as the Mediator but close!

I guess the Sonnet PPC would now work in this machine?

[Crumb]

I'm using a Firebird 4000 proto although I also have an original Prometheus, both with Firestorm firmware. Using a desktop A4000D with A3660 and 112MB mod.


Software:
-prometheus.library 4.1 debug ( 7-12-21)
-Prometheus.card 7.600 (18-05-21)

-3dfxVoodoo.chip 7.16 (21-05-21)
-prm-rtl8029.device 1.3 (11-11-02) (c) by Matay 2001


hardware:
-Firebird4000 proto

-PCIe bridge (that allows connecting PCIe cards like Bigfoot2100 or Killer Xeno)
-PCI bridge for PCIe slot (that allows connecting PCI cards to PCIe slots). The goal would be testing that all the bridge part works both hardware and software side. I'm doing this because I don't know any card with PCIe drivers that could work... perhaps some AROS port may be useful but if the card requires DMA it becomes more complex.

-RTL8029

-Voodoo3
-RTL8139 (although I haven't used it for this test)



In my experience RTL8029 works fine but RTL8139 crashes and burns quickly and is far slower. DMA in general works badly for me, the most stable version was prometheus.library 3.1 #288 but not too stable anyway. It worked better on my original Prometheus than in Firebird4000 proto but that could be my fault (bad soldering or defective cplds). K1 seems to be more or less stable with ADoom for example but not with other PPC programs, and if you use it a lot it ends up crashing, although for me "apocalypse" crashes faster.


I wanted to test the "new" bridge part of Prometheus firmware so I tested the "Pericom" PCIe bridge and PrmScan seems to list correctly the cards connected to it like USB3 controller or Serial/paralel card. I connected the "aliexpress" PCI bridge with the power cable to it and the RTL8029 on top of everything but the bridge part behind the PCIe bridge does not recognize the PCI cards it seems. Vendor is $1B21, Device $1080, Revision 1. Device class 06, subclass 04 (just like the Pericom bridge)



Both Bigfoot2100 and Xeno are listed correctly, but unfortunately memory is not added.


Attached some sashimi logs, I haven't much experience with it so if you need something else feel free to tell me which options should I set.

[jbenam]

Where can I get one of these fancy Firebird 4000 protos? I have got some spare EPM7128SQC160-15s laying around...

I also have a PCIe Bridge and a Killer 2100 (along with a boatload of PCI cards) I can test with.

[Hedeon]

Originally Posted by DarrenHD

Update: I just installed Hedeon's new prometheus.library and I'm getting what appears to be much better speeds on the RTL8139. Not quite as fast as the Mediator but close!

I guess the Sonnet PPC would now work in this machine?

There was also an update to the 3dfx .chip and prometheus .card. I guess I should put them here too.

And regarding PPC: Yes and no. Heavy DMA by the PPC card to the VGA card seems to lead to bus time outs on the Prometheus. The K1 and M1 cards suffer the most and are unusable with a Prometheus (Guru 80000002). The Harrier cards can be stable for hours.

[Hedeon]

Originally Posted by Crumb

I'm using a Firebird 4000 proto although I also have an original Prometheus, both with Firestorm firmware.


Software:
-prometheus.library 4.1 debug ( 7-12-21)
-Prometheus.card 7.600 (18-05-21)

-3dfxVoodoo.chip 7.16 (21-05-21)
-prm-rtl8029.device 1.3 (11-11-02) (c) by Matay 2001


hardware:
-Firebird4000 proto

-PCIe bridge (that allows connecting PCIe cards like Bigfoot2100 or Killer Xeno)
-PCI bridge for PCIe slot (that allows connecting PCI cards to PCIe slots). The goal would be testing that all the bridge part works both hardware and software side. I'm doing this because I don't know any card with PCIe drivers that could work... perhaps some AROS port may be useful but if the card requires DMA it becomes more complex.

-RTL8029

-Voodoo3

I wanted to test the "new" bridge part of Prometheus firmware so I tested the "Pericom" PCIe bridge and PrmScan seems to list correctly the cards connected to it like USB3 controller or Serial/paralel card. I connected the "aliexpress" PCI bridge with the power cable to it and the RTL8029 on top of everything but the bridge part behind the PCIe bridge does not recognize the PCI cards it seems. Vendor is $1B21, Device $1080, Revision 1. Device class 06, subclass 04 (just like the Pericom bridge)



Both Bigfoot2100 and Xeno are listed correctly, but unfortunately memory is not added.

Bigfoot2100 settings are hardcoded. The PCI BARs of these kinds of cards do not behave normally (write -1 to them and see what size is returned, but instead contain window addresses with sometimes even size encoded in the lower bits).

I see in the rtl log that the second bridge is seen (bus 2) but no cards are detected in it. This could be due to timing. There is a delay programmed when a bridge is found and activated. If reading happens to quickly after activating the bridge, only $FFFF is read. There are 2 instances in the source where a bridge is added, so maybe the other part is missing the delay. Let me check later today.

I also see that a bridge card on bus 0 is counted as a PCI card and listed too but on bus 1 it is not. Also please provide output of prmscan to the logs. Also from the 3.1 debug version so I can compare.

About the prometheus.library source. I got them from Tobias Seiler. However, the sources were much older than build 288 as he suffered a HD failure years ago. The sources were very much WIP he gave me as they contain obvious errors and are missing features present in build 288. I resourced build 288 to see what exactly is missing and what was changed over the builds, but it is not perfect yet (apparently).

[DarrenHD]

@Hedeon yes if you can post the upated .chip and .card files that would be nice. Seems like I am using way out-dated versions.

[trixster]

My setup is:

Hese AA3000+ Firebird with Firestorm firmware

prometheus.library 4.1 from Hedeon 7,328 bytes
prometheus.card 7.530 4,656 bytes
3dfxvoodoo.chip 7.11 28,852 bytes
powerpc.library 17.14 beta 88,236 bytes

I'm using a Voodoo3 and a 256MB Apocalypse (450mhz G4 harrier). These work fine alongside a ZZ9000 and a Prisma Megamix. Ragnarok G3 800 and a Killer K1 both work ok in this machine, but as Hedeon says the K1 is somewhat crashy. G4 450 is very stable, will run for hours and hours.

CPU is a WarpEngine 040 40Mhz, MMULibs

I tried a Killer 2100 on a StarTech PCI1PEX1 PI7C9X adapter, no dice. this was fed back to hedeon.

RTL8029 and 8139 (with DMA) both worked fine too but were slow. I use the ethernet on the ZZ9000 now.

[Crumb]

@Hedeon


here you have the prmscan output and the sashimi one

In order to measure network speeds in a less subjective way we could give a go to "netio":

http://aminet.net/package/comm/tcp/netio

[Hedeon]

Originally Posted by Crumb

@Hedeon


here you have the prmscan output and the sashimi one

I need the 3.1 ones to compare. So sashimi and prmscan.

[spudje]

Would like to setup my AA3000+ firebird as well finally. Where to get the latest drivers/libs? And how can I check what firmware is in the firebird?

Update: never mind, I have all files I think. Only question, how to check firestorm firmware. Is that simply that PCI info command (don't remember the exact name)?

[trixster]

You can use ShowBoards with a recent version of boards.library. Firebird will show up as:

Prometheus Firestorm
Made by: E3B

Product ID: 200 / $C8 Manufacturer ID: 3643 / $0E3B

WhichAmiga will also show it if you have an updated boards.library

[spudje]

Thanks! Is one of these Hex numbers the firmware version?
Or the fact that it says Firestorm means it's the latest one?

[trixster]

The latter.

I think a Firebird without the Firestorm firmware shows up as Matay Prometheus:

Product ID: 1 Manufacturer ID: 44359

[spudje]

Another question, which Warp3D to use? The Mediator once as described in the Sonnet wiki although I'm using prometheus instead of Mediator. Or the generic Aminet Warp3D files?

[Hedeon]

The Aminet ones are not generic. They are Prometheus/grex if the included docs are to be believed.

[spudje]

OK, so I'll use the Aminet ones.

[Crumb]

Originally Posted by Hedeon

I need the 3.1 ones to compare. So sashimi and prmscan.

With prometheus.library 3.1#288 I've tried in the 4th slot and the 3rd one with the same results. PrmScan shows the pcie-pci bridge twice and the rtl8029 is not shown.

[Hedeon]

Originally Posted by Crumb

With prometheus.library 3.1#288 I've tried in the 4th slot and the 3rd one with the same results. PrmScan shows the pcie-pci bridge twice and the rtl8029 is not shown.

Ok, so it was broken there too.

I have purchased also a PCIe to PCI adapter. What's a few more quid in this money pit. But I need to reinstall the Prometheus as I am using the Mediator at the moment. Maybe this weekend

I still also need someone with enough knowledge of PCI bus transactions and a logic analyzer and a Prometheus with new firmware to check what goes wrong. I can donate a K1 card.