> all I could use is PCIE x4 card [...] and PCIE x1 card

You can use PCIe x16 graphics cards as the Sam460ex has a PEG slot (with only one fourth of lanes connected, though). Are there even PCIe x4 graphics cards?

> why not use a proper PCI-E card for SATA instead of a PCI card?

I guess because OS4 (or is Sam460's firmware the culprit here?) doesn't support a SATA card in the PCIe x1 slot.

> Makes me wonder why a MorphOS port was even considered.

Initial development of MorphOS for Sam460 was started in 2011.

>> Radeon 9250 is difficult to find, even I would like to stick it
>> next to my Radeon 6870HD on X1000 just to see some 3D.

> Acube sells [...] new Sam 460 systems with Radeon 9250 PCI! [...]
> Maybe you can ask them if they can sell you just the GFX card [...]?

The Sam460ex uses different PCI version with different voltage (3.3 V) than the X1000 (5 V). So caution is due.

>The Sam460ex uses different PCI version with different voltage (3.3 V) than the X1000 (5 V). So caution is due.

There is some vital information.

I can get boat loads of 9250 cards, but I would have some difficulty divining that specification.

>...Are there even PCIe x4 graphics cards?

Not that I know of.

> a card without OpenFirmware

I guess you mean "PPC ROM" here :-)

> the SAM460 can support virtually any PC PCI-E video card.

According to ACube, there seem to be some restrictions, for whatever reason:

https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=9750&forum=3&start=10

>I guess you mean "PPC ROM" here

Not really, the card has extensions/hooks for OpenFirmware.
Is it a "PPC specific ROM"?
Yes, but just like a PC's video card has extensions to its bios, so does a PPC Mac.

"when using a PCI-Express graphic card, we sugges
t to use a Radeon HD2400 or newer
models. Older models like X600, X800 are not fully
compatible with the Sam460ex and may
not work. Some X1550 cards are reported to work OK"

weird. no explanation.

[ Edited by Jim 05.03.2014 - 15:24 ]

Quote:

[wolfmode]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sneak-preview,764-12.html
[/wolfmode]

PCI-cards that fit into both types of slots can handle both 3.3 and 5V.

Quick look on German ebay brought up:
1x Universal PC
2x 5V PC
1x Universal PowerMac

Taken to school yet again.

>>>> Radeon 9250 is difficult to find, even I would like to stick it
>>>> next to my Radeon 6870HD on X1000 just to see some 3D.

>>> Acube sells [...] new Sam 460 systems with Radeon 9250 PCI! [...]
>>> Maybe you can ask them if they can sell you just the GFX card [...]?

>> The Sam460ex uses different PCI version with different voltage (3.3 V)
>> than the X1000 (5 V). So caution is due.

> PCI-cards that fit into both types of slots can handle both 3.3 and 5V.

Yes, universal cards exist of course. Question is whether ACube's Radeon 9250 is a universal one so that it can be used with Nemo as well. I don't know. But I see that Alinea sells a universal 9250:

http://www.amiga-shop.net/product_info.php?products_id=648

And they also sell a 5 V 9000:

http://www.amiga-shop.net/product_info.php?products_id=647

> Taken to school yet again.

We already talked about PCI keying there (with focus on 64-bit PCI back then, but 32-bit PCI is the same in principle):

https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=8334&forum=11&start=7
https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=8334&forum=11&start=15

> I guess it remains to bee seen if they will make some new ones at some point?

https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?forum=11&topic_id=8931&start=143

> graphics cards can be initialized without firmware.

Linux on PowerMac G5 Quad with PPC-flashed Radeon X1900 as primary graphics card and x86 ROM Radeon HD4650 as secondary graphics card:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp_IvG7h5_0

Thanks Andreas,
Asserting something and not providing proof is not that great an argument.
Cool example.
See folks? It can be done.
Keep in mind that there is a reason the X86 card is secondary, no output until the drivers are loaded.
Again, we would have no access to OpenFirmware unless an Apple card was installed as well.
But this could be done, giving us access to cards higher than the X1900 (although I just got back to using an R300 - I'm happy).

So...our current hardware is pretty damned powerful.
Any future hardware is likely to be more than adequate.
And there is a way to use the most modern GPUs.

Good times to be a MorphOS user.

Update:

> Linux on PowerMac G5 Quad with PPC-flashed Radeon X1900 as primary
> graphics card and x86 ROM Radeon HD4650 as secondary graphics card:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp_IvG7h5_0

Linux on PowerMac G5 Quad with PPC-flashed Radeon X1900 as primary graphics card and x86 ROM Radeon HD6570 as secondary graphics card:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYgFfRLYhLU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so35SrThHUs


Edit: added another video

[ Edited by Andreas_Wolf 27.04.2015 - 10:32 ]

> graphics cards can be initialized without firmware.

pega-1 wrote:

"you can already use standard PC-BIOS/AtomBIOS equipped R5xx range AGP cards with AGP G5 models and MorphOS 3.8"
https://morph.zone/modules/news/article_storyid_2215.html

:-D

I am glad Frank stated that publicly, as I was not sure if it was fair to repeat that.
Redrumloa PM'd me yesterday letting me know he had ordered a Radeon X1950Pro based AGP video card.
I have one ordered, but will probably receive it later than he will.

Still, compared to the X800XT, I only expect a modest performance boost.

The generally low prices on these cards is a real bonus.

[ Edited by Jim 21.05.2015 - 10:08 ]

How about a new wish list for 4.0?
PCIe G5 support, acceleration for the Radeon HD cards, and removing the need for Apple video card firmware so that we could use the HD cards on those G5s.
Sounds far out?
With developers like these, I could see this happening.

Quote:

Yup, I've got my fingers crossed it is delivered Saturday so I can try it out this weekend. Chances are it won't until after the holiday next week, but I'm holding on to hope! I want to benchmark it in my G5 2.5Ghz system!

@red
256 or 512MB ?

Would be interested in wether one could see&use the full 512MB and how much it would impact memory available to ABox (as you would go over 2GB addressed if all stayed the same).

Quote:

256M version. The only 512M cards I found were very expensive. While somewhat tempting, bragging rights alone isn't enough to pay the premium.

@red

40-50€ around here, not that super bad (well 256 seem to available for <20€ ...), and the added VMEM seems the only real benefit for me.

But even that ain't a biggie as I sofar had no problems with "just" 256MB.

Yep, the card I ordered is a 256 as well.
I didn't realize video card memory was being mapped into address space.
That is actually pretty cool.

Quote:

I did quite a bit of looking. $200 + shipping is the best I found in the US.

https://www.google.com/search?q=radeon+x1950+agp&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#tbm=shop&q=radeon+x1950+agp+512mb

On eBay I found one a bit cheaper in the UK, but with international shipping would have still cost ~$110.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sapphire-ATi-Radeon-X1950-PRO-512MB-GDDR3-AGP-8x-DUAL-DVI-HDTV-Graphics-Card-/131502606673?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3

I picked up a 256MB card for $40.50, including shipping. I just can't imagine anything on MorphOS needing 512MB VRAM, so I went the cheap route.

Well this is what I found:
x1950pro

40€ incl P&P but he does nit ship international.
There are atleast 3 more "buy now" under 50€ incl P&P, but none of them would chip to the US.

But the point is moot as I've been told that everything above 256MB will be ignored.

Quote:

Oh, that's good to know!

> How about a new wish list for 4.0?

Or 3.10? :-)

> PCIe G5 support, acceleration for the Radeon HD cards, and removing the need
> for Apple video card firmware so that we could use the HD cards on those G5s.

Isn't the last point (removing the need for Apple video card firmware) what already happened?

> Sounds far out?

Absolutely not, as this is already possible on Linux as has been proven.