New SAM460EX
  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12157 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    Update:

    > The codenames for those two Nemo successors seem to be "Cyrus" and "Breezin"
    > (don't know which is which). Trevor adds: "These will not be ready for a long time."

    2 new mainboards, both having "CYRUS" written on them:
    http://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1053269_644611952215860_764920679_o.jpg
    (confusingly enough, "Breezin" seems to be both the codename of the Cyrus v1 and v2 boards and of the complete Cyrus v2 system, as well as a reference in old Commodore Amiga tradition that was also followed with the Nemo board.)

    PCB schematics and other pictures:
    http://obligement.free.fr/gfx/cyrusplus_prototype2.jpg
    http://obligement.free.fr/gfx/cyrus_prototype1.jpg

    "Cyrus is the MicroATX board [...] and Cyrus+ is full ATX just like the current X1000."
    http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=37872&forum=16&start=20#711574

    "I can confirm that there's no south bridge on boards."
    http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=37872&forum=16&start=40#711587

    "Both boards have a P5020. Trevor said that I P5040 will be an option at some point. The Cyrus, MicroATX board had the SOC mounted on a small carier card so it may be that they have already been using a P5040 in testing on that board."
    http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=37872&forum=16&start=40#711591

    "The current hope is to have beta testing programme ready for around the time of Amiwest."
    http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=37872&forum=16&start=40#711600

    "The two Cyrus boards were the first & second prototypes (the second barely being finished in time for the show). [...] it sounded like they've got some flexibility/choice on which CPU they eventually end-up using anyway."
    http://www.amigans.net/modules/xforum/viewtopic.php?post_id=80220#forumpost80220

    "Cyrus will have a 5020 CPU, which is dual core, and runs at 2GHz. It takes DDR3 RAM. Eventually it should also run a 5040, which is pin-compatible, quad-core, and runs at 2.4GHz. (This CPU is very new, so they are awaiting pricing, availability, etc.) So the Cyrus design should last a long time. They hope to start beta-testing it by AmiWest, but it won't be on sale for a long time (perhaps a year or more). It will require entirely new motherboard drivers, but at least for beta-testing they will likely use PCI(-E?) cards for sound & networking. Cyrus is planned to be a full ATX formfactor, but they MAY also do a smaller version (undecided)."
    http://www.amigans.net/modules/xforum/viewtopic.php?post_id=80222#forumpost80222

    "The first prototype was the smaller board, the second prototype was the full-sized ATX board. So there COULD be two boards, it isn't decided yet. No doubt they will eventually have one board with different CPU options (e.g. dual-core & quad-core)."
    http://www.amigans.net/modules/xforum/viewtopic.php?post_id=80224#forumpost80224

    Further information from an Interview with Trevor on CYRUS:
    - Xena/Xorro is onboard
    - the older (and smaller) one of the 2 prototype boards is from 2012

    Close-ups of the CYRUS+ board:
    http://oi43.tinypic.com/1zbtlk9.jpg
    http://blog.a-eon.biz/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/CyrusPlus.jpg
    http://obligement.free.fr/gfx/cyrusplus_prototype.jpg
    http://amigaone.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/x5000_radek_01.jpg
    http://amigaone.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/x5000_radek_02.jpg

    From Trevor:
    "While the AmigaONE X1000 remains A-EON's flagship product, we were also there to see the latest prototype of a new motherboard that we had commissioned Varisys to design. The new board, codenamed Cyrus Plus, will be an eventual replacement for the Nemo board. The revision 2.0 prototype contains a Freescale P5020 CPU which is a 2 GHz, 64-bit dual-core PowerPC SoC. The Cyrus Plus board will also accept the new P5040 when it becomes commercially available in greater volume. This is a 64-bit quad-core PowerPC Freescale CPU which operates up to 2.4 GHz. As with Nemo, the new board will now undergo a rigorous testing phase before a small batch is produced for developers. Once that process is complete an additional batch of boards will be manufactured for a reduced beta test programme, which all being well will commence towards the end of this year. The first Cyrus prototype board was completed at the end of last year. It's replacement, the Cyrus Plus 2.0 was delivered to Varisys just two days prior to the show and both prototype boards were on display at the Silicon Dreams show [...]"
    http://blog.a-eon.biz/blog/?p=3943

    "it will have a Xena/Xorro combination. [...] unfortnately the smaller factor board did not really reduce the cost of manufacture very much ..especially when you factor in NRE
    So we decided to concentrate on the larger board for the timebeing. [...] We took a concious decision a while back to provide sound with a PCI or PCIe card.
    "
    http://www.intuitionbase.com/trevor_irclog.txt

    "The Cyrus development is the future replacement for the Nemo motherboard when the supply of P.A. Semi CPUs finally dries up or the price becomes commercially unviable. The Cyrus board was the original Revision 1.0 prototype and was completed towards the end of last year. Cyrus Plus is the Revision 2.0 board which includes additional PCIe and PCI slots. The Cyrus design is based on the Freescale P5020 CPU which is a dual-core 64-bit PowerPC SoC. It also supports DDR3 RAM and includes an improved Xena/Xorro combination. [...] we are including Xena/Xorro capability on the future Cyrus hardware."
    http://obligement.free.fr/articles_traduction/itwdickinson2_en.php

    "Two prototype boards for future AmigaOne machines were on display. The Cyrus and its first revision, the Cyrus 2.0 /Cyrus +, are evolutions of the Nemo board from the AmigaOne X1000. [...] AmigaOS 4.1/4.2 onwards is not the only OS being considered, and although the Cyrus+ started as a revision of the first Cyrus, serious thought is being put into developing both board sizes to final product, both of which can use Freescales 5020 dual-core 64-bit PPC processor and its 5040 quad-core bigger brother, among other CPUs."
    http://amigaone.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/micro-mart-july-18-2013-uk-silicon-dreams.pdf

    "Cyrus entered development a little while ago and at Silicon Dreams 2013, Trevor from A-Eon put Cyrus (Mk 1) and Cyrus+ (Mk 2) boards on display. The Cyrus Plus 2.0 [...] is a larger (fullsize ATX) board than the Cyrus micro-ATX board, and although it's officially the mark-two version of the board, Trevor is not ruling out the development of both board sizes. [...] The Cyrus Plus 2.0 is designed to take SoC processors from Freescale's P50x0 line with the 2GHz 64-bit dual-core P5020 being the initial target CPU, although it will support the P5040 quad-core 2.4GHz unit when commercially viable. [...] We're talking second prototype here, though, so testing, development and then a small run for a closed beta test will have to take place before a release candidate is selected, so 18 months at the least. [...] The next motherboard for AmigaOS (which may also support MorphOS and Linux)"
    http://amigaone.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/micro-mart-15-august-2013-cyrus.pdf

    Edit: Added some more quotes and info.

    [ Edited by Andreas_Wolf 25.10.2015 - 14:53 ]
  • »06.07.13 - 22:49
    Profile
  • Jim
  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Jim
    Posts: 4977 from 2009/1/28
    From: Delaware, USA
    Any further information available on the T1042?
    "Never attribute to malice what can more readily explained by incompetence"
  • »25.07.13 - 21:38
    Profile
  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12157 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    > Any further information available on the T1042?

    None that I know of.
  • »25.07.13 - 22:20
    Profile
  • Jim
  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Jim
    Posts: 4977 from 2009/1/28
    From: Delaware, USA
    >None that I know of.

    Pity, the lower end chips look interesting.

    With Trevor locking into the P5020 and P5040, we miss some of the features included in later Qorlq products.
    And the lack of AltiVec is regrettable.


    [ Edited by Jim 26.07.2013 - 02:48 ]
    "Never attribute to malice what can more readily explained by incompetence"
  • »25.07.13 - 23:21
    Profile
  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12157 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    > Trevor locking into the T5020 and T5040

    I guess you're thinking far ahead here ;-) T5 may not even come.
  • »26.07.13 - 00:24
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  • Jim
  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Jim
    Posts: 4977 from 2009/1/28
    From: Delaware, USA
    Sorry, I forgot about that.
    Corrected.
    I also really like to e6500 cored products.

    We could still use a vendor that sells relative "low-cost" systems like Acube (but with more powerful processors).
    "Never attribute to malice what can more readily explained by incompetence"
  • »26.07.13 - 01:51
    Profile
  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12157 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    Update:

    > Seems it's being worked on for Sam460ex as well:
    > http://gitorious.org/aros/aros/commits/sam460
    > http://aros-exec.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=72012#forumpost72012
    > http://aros-exec.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=72034#forumpost72034

    "I did the Sam 460ex port for ACube, but I received little user interest, and have since passed on my development platform to another AROS team member. So, I don't think there will be any Sam460ex updates, at least from me. [...] I do not feel that the PowerPC architecture is commercially viable in the long term (personal opinion here!)"
    http://www.intuitionbase.com/jason_irclog.txt
  • »26.08.13 - 09:30
    Profile
  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12157 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    > Any further information available on the T1042?

    https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=8473&forum=11&start=66
  • »14.09.13 - 16:59
    Profile
  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12157 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    Update:

    >>> https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?forum=3&topic_id=7001&start=745
    >>>
    >>> I can imagine that Varisys base the Nemo successor(s) on their VM400 product,
    >>> which would mean that the 2 new A-Eon systems could be a cheaper lower end
    >>> system with P3041 chip running at, say, 1.2 GHz, and a more expensive higher
    >>> end system with P5020 chip at 2.2 GHz, all using the same basic board design
    >>> thanks to the pin compatibility of the chips.

    >> A slide from Trevor's AmiWest 2012 presentation (direct link, Youtube) reads like this:
    >> "Future PowerPC Possibilities
    >> [...]
    >> - e500mc : 32-bit, quad-core - Mid-level machine
    >> - e5500 : 64-bit, dual-core - Power machine
    "
    >>
    >> This goes very much in line with my speculations above. A quad-e500mc chip
    >> (running at 1.5 GHz, which Trevor mentions in his talk) would mean either the P3041
    >> or the P4040 (P2041 wouldn't be pin-compatible) [...]

    > Apparently, the P3041 is more likely than the P4040 to be able to share a motherboard
    > design with the P50xx:
    > http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=37074&forum=14#693507

    "A-EON Technology commissioned Ultra Varisys to create a new generation motherboard, codenamed Cyrus Plus, built around Freescale’s P3 and P5 QorIQ series of PowerPC processors. [...] The board is pin compatible with several 64-bit Freescale QorIQ CPUs including the P3 P3041, an e500mc quad-core CPU running up to 1.5 Ghz and the P5 series P5020, an e5500 dual-core running up to 2.0 Ghz. The P5040 quad-core CPU which operates up to 2.4 Ghz should also be compatible."
    http://www.a-eon.com/18-10-2013-3.pdf

    Maybe someone should tell A-Eon that the e500mc core is not a 64-bit core but a 32-bit one :-)

    "3 New AmigaOne Computer Systems
    AmigaOne 3041, 5020, 5040
    "
    http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=38284&forum=2&start=20#719651
  • »19.10.13 - 21:48
    Profile
  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12157 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    Addendum:

    > about native AROS/PPC on the X1000:
    > "AROS is now running on PPC SAMs & Sam Crow has said he would see about
    > getting it going on the A1 & X1000, something I asked about at Amiwest.
    "
    > http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=36695&forum=16&start=120#686212

    "that aros guy [...] said that iff anyone would lone him an xone1000 then he could do aros to ppc easy and that it could be implanted to os 4.0 way use time on that when hyperion is allso using recorse on that all ready now"
    http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=38284&forum=2&start=40#719698
  • »20.10.13 - 00:52
    Profile
  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12157 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    Update:

    > "Cyrus is the MicroATX board [...] and Cyrus+ is full ATX just like the current X1000."
    > http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=37872&forum=16&start=20#711574

    Seems like the mATX variant has been dropped for good and only the ATX variant will make it:

    http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=33223&forum=14&start=700#720342
    http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=33223&forum=14&start=700#720380
    http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=33223&forum=14&start=700#720382
  • »26.10.13 - 23:57
    Profile
  • vox
  • Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    vox
    Posts: 541 from 2003/11/24
    From: Belgrade
    Quote:

    Dreamcast270mhz wrote:
    http://www.sam4x0.com/sam460ex.html

    Quote:

    * flex-ATX form factor (21.6 x 17 cm)
    * 8 layers PCB
    * AMCC 460ex SoC ? upto 1.066 Ghz
    * max 2 GB DDR2 Ram ? 200-pin SODIMM up to 533 Mhz
    * Silicon Motion SM502 embedded MoC (audio/video) max 64Mb gfx Ram
    * Audio 5.1 Realtek ALC655 codec
    * PCI-express 4x lanes slot (16x mechanical connector)
    * PCI-express 1x lane slot (* check notes)
    * PCI slot, 32 bit, 66/33 Mhz, 3.3V
    * 1x SATA2 port (* check notes)
    * 6x USB2 EHCI/OHCI ports
    * 2x 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports
    * Lattice XP2 FPGA with 80 I/O pins expansion connector (optional)
    * UMTS/GSM module (optional requires add-on card)
    * 512 MB NAND Flash (optional)
    * integrated SD card reader
    * RTC clock
    * Serial port, 8-wires
    * I2C and SPI/I2C buses
    * passive cooling
    * U-Boot 2009.08


    Me wantee


    Hope soon MOS will be out for SAM460ex.

    Will it support onboard sound, gfx and FPGA or will it require external ones?

    What could be use of NAND Flash and how much does it cost?

    Onboard SATA is embarrassment since its 1 device only.
    ------------------------------------------
    iMac G5 1GB with MorphOS and MacOS X
    Lame PC with AmiKit XE
    YT channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdHl_msNWHEVPf229h_gijQ
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  • »03.03.14 - 00:24
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  • vox
  • Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    vox
    Posts: 541 from 2003/11/24
    From: Belgrade
    Quote:

    Andreas_Wolf wrote:
    Update:

    > "Cyrus is the MicroATX board [...] and Cyrus+ is full ATX just like the current X1000."
    > http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=37872&forum=16&start=20#711574

    Seems like the mATX variant has been dropped for good and only the ATX variant will make it:

    http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=33223&forum=14&start=700#720342
    http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=33223&forum=14&start=700#720380
    http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=33223&forum=14&start=700#720382


    Since X1000 is publicly declared not to be MOS target due to CPU and other limits of Nemo design, will Cyrus be of any interest?
    ------------------------------------------
    iMac G5 1GB with MorphOS and MacOS X
    Lame PC with AmiKit XE
    YT channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdHl_msNWHEVPf229h_gijQ
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  • »03.03.14 - 00:43
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  • vox
  • Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    vox
    Posts: 541 from 2003/11/24
    From: Belgrade
    Quote:

    Andreas_Wolf wrote:
    According to A-Eon, the X1000 will only be sold as complete system, i.e. full setup including OS4 pre-installed.


    Interesting, just like MOS Team said SAM460ex NEVER, now AEON sells Nemo board, sadly after I purchased the whole system. My calculation is that I could save 30% of money if I was to build system in my own country. Moreover, Cyrus was introduced rendering Nemo obsolete - correcting X1000 biggest gap and that is low CPU performance. Sadly its again two versions of Cyrus with CPU soldered instead of one board with changeable CPU.
    ------------------------------------------
    iMac G5 1GB with MorphOS and MacOS X
    Lame PC with AmiKit XE
    YT channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdHl_msNWHEVPf229h_gijQ
    Telegram MOS group: https://t.me/+zCLnwCvwhs4wMTI0
  • »03.03.14 - 07:21
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  • vox
  • Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    vox
    Posts: 541 from 2003/11/24
    From: Belgrade
    Quote:

    Andreas_Wolf wrote:
    > I'm not worried about the X1000 processing capability. [...] I'm sure if I bought a 2.0 GHz
    > 7448 processor for my Powermac, it wouid esily outperform the X1000

    MPC7448 @ 2.0 GHz (overclocked) vs. one core of PA6T-1682M @ 2.0 GHz would be an interesting comparison. It might not come out as clearly as you think, maybe even the opposite way :-)

    > I see no advantage to the implementation they're making with the X1000 (Xena).
    > [...] I don't understand A-EON's intent (with their XENA design).

    Here I'm completely with you. XCore/Xena on Nemo makes no sense to me. Their intention might be to offer something they can pretend to be resembling the old Amiga custom chips in philosophy (see Hyperion stating that Xena, "in true Amiga tradition, provides the AmigaOne X1000 with a custom chipset"), which I consider misleading.


    PA Semi is low power desktop type of G5 CPU with high L1 and L2 cache, FPU, Altivec and memory transfer performance. So G4 would beat it instantly. However, Nemo board is ahead of any G4 board. If looking performance per wat, PA Semi is a winner.

    It seems Pa Semi on Nemo is downclocked to 1.8GHz from 2Ghz, so its now question how to make additional 10% clock boost (jumpers, software overclock?)

    It turned out poor X1000 booting performance was partially caused by slow CFE firmware but also its setting to wake CPU at 500Mhz only (!!!!) that comes as default (!!!!).

    Not to mention OS4 doesn't support nearly half of board features now. So its more Linux machine in practice, even it has great potential and I found decision not to port MOS as sad. That is why I now have SAM460ex on table.

    XCore is not UNUSABLE chip, but since it doesnt have Linux PPC Tools and OS4 one are early, plus you need XORRO card + hardware work on it + programming with no visual tools - they have made it far too complicated. But it can do things like SMART HOME CONTROL.

    A real DSP on board would be way more Amigish, like Falcon had.

    And they did false advertising with its comparison to Transputer
    and adding more Xena cores (how when Xorro isn`t it? Via USB? PCI?) for more
    additional power. Sadness to make baby be born and not care about it.

    [ Edited by vox 03.03.2014 - 08:28 ]
    ------------------------------------------
    iMac G5 1GB with MorphOS and MacOS X
    Lame PC with AmiKit XE
    YT channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdHl_msNWHEVPf229h_gijQ
    Telegram MOS group: https://t.me/+zCLnwCvwhs4wMTI0
  • »03.03.14 - 07:25
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  • Moderator
    Kronos
    Posts: 2325 from 2003/2/24
    The nemo ain't underclocked, PASemi overhyped their 1.8GHz CPU as a 2GHz part.
    As to comparing it to a G4, allready done my 2x1.8 Quicksilver won over tommysammy's X1000 in a Blender test.
  • »03.03.14 - 07:37
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  • Paladin of the Pegasos
    Paladin of the Pegasos
    Yasu
    Posts: 1724 from 2012/3/22
    From: Stockholm, Sweden
    @Kronos

    Do you have the numbers somewhere? I would love to see them.
    AMIGA FORUM - Hela Sveriges Amigatidning!
    AMIGA FORUM - Sweden's Amiga Magazine!

    My MorphOS blog
  • »03.03.14 - 08:20
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12157 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    > X1000 is publicly declared not to be MOS target due to CPU

    I don't think the MorphOS Team has any problem with the PA6T per se.

    > and other limits of Nemo design

    It's not so much about the board design, I believe.

    > will Cyrus be of any interest?

    https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?forum=3&topic_id=7183&start=858 ;-)
  • »03.03.14 - 11:20
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12157 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    > Cyrus was introduced [...] correcting X1000 [...] low CPU performance.

    CPU performance comparison between QorIQ P3/P5 and PA6T, especially running under OS4, remains to be seen.

    > Sadly its again two versions of Cyrus with CPU soldered instead of one board
    > with changeable CPU.

    It's 3 versions:
    - X5000/40 with P5040
    - X5000/20 with P5020
    - X3500 with P3041

    QorIQ chips come in BGA packages, so they must be soldered to the board. Only possibility to have them changeable would be by putting them on a CPU module such as COM Express.
  • »03.03.14 - 16:29
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12157 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    > PA Semi is low power desktop type

    Actually, the PA6T-1682M was originally (i.e. before becoming embedded part) intended to be a notebook type CPU.

    > of G5 CPU

    "G5" is usually considered as belonging to PPC970 microarchitecture family. However, the PA6T is a unique microarchitecture of its own, developed from scratch.

    > It seems Pa Semi on Nemo is downclocked to 1.8GHz from 2Ghz

    No, according to Varisys and A-Eon it isn't:

    https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?forum=3&topic_id=7183&start=472

    > OS4 doesn't support nearly half of board features now.

    I think it supports more than half.

    > XCore is not UNUSABLE chip [...]. it can do things like SMART HOME CONTROL.

    Which, as I said, would make no sense to me on something like the X1000.

    > A real DSP on board would be way more Amigish, like Falcon had.

    Atari computers are "Amigish"? Interesting note :-)

    > they did false advertising with its comparison to Transputer

    Let's see what "they" actually claim with regard to Transputer:

    "XMOS calls it "Software Defined Silicon", we call it 'Xena' [...]. It's the inheritor of the 'transputer' concept [...]. [...] you might have a Xorro board with an array of additional XMOS chips on, connected together to allow highly multi-threaded applications to run in parallel, in a similar fashion to the famous Transputer concept, the predecessor of the XMOS technology."
    http://www.a-eon.biz/nemo.html

    I can't really see anything "false" in these claims.

    > and adding more Xena cores (how when Xorro isn`t it? Via USB? PCI?)

    http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1135
  • »03.03.14 - 17:09
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  • vox
  • Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    vox
    Posts: 541 from 2003/11/24
    From: Belgrade
    Actually, the PA6T-1682M was originally (i.e. before becoming embedded part) intended to be a notebook type CPU.

    > of G5 CPU

    "G5" is usually considered as belonging to PPC970 microarchitecture family. However, the PA6T is a unique microarchitecture of its own, developed from scratch.

    True, but actually all G designations are Apple designations for chip generation, and dont exist. Its kind of PentiumPro or 64-bit modern arhitecture designation.
    At least I download Mint PPC G5 64-bit and it does work on PA Semi.

    PA Semi is great chip, sadly I have just its only

    > It seems Pa Semi on Nemo is downclocked to 1.8GHz from 2Ghz

    No, according to Varisys and A-Eon it isn't:

    https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?forum=3&topic_id=7183&start=472

    Well I don`t believe them a bit. My chip is clocked at 1.8Ghz and originally it was introduced as 2Ghz only. Its now possible to buy it at 2Ghz at selected dealers.

    http://forum.hyperion-entertainment.biz/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=2199


    > OS4 doesn't support nearly half of board features now.

    I think it supports more than half.

    Trust me, less then half. DOnt let me count em.

    > XCore is not UNUSABLE chip [...]. it can do things like SMART HOME CONTROL.

    Which, as I said, would make no sense to me on something like the X1000.

    It can make sense if you make use of it, sadly its not boosted in any proper way. My hardware boys find interesting possible uses, but its MUCH MUCH hustle.

    > A real DSP on board would be way more Amigish, like Falcon had.

    Atari computers are "Amigish"? Interesting note :-)

    Falcon is. more then crippled A600, A1200, A4000 and CD32.

    > they did false advertising with its comparison to Transputer

    Let's see what "they" actually claim with regard to Transputer:

    "XMOS calls it "Software Defined Silicon", we call it 'Xena' [...]. It's the inheritor of the 'transputer' concept [...]. [...] you might have a Xorro board with an array of additional XMOS chips on, connected together to allow highly multi-threaded applications to run in parallel, in a similar fashion to the famous Transputer concept, the predecessor of the XMOS technology."
    http://www.a-eon.biz/nemo.html

    I can't really see anything "false" in these claims.

    Don`t let me find all adverts from that time.

    > and adding more Xena cores (how when Xorro isn`t it? Via USB? PCI?)

    http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1135


    I have wrote only review of Xena and X1000, thanks.
    ------------------------------------------
    iMac G5 1GB with MorphOS and MacOS X
    Lame PC with AmiKit XE
    YT channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdHl_msNWHEVPf229h_gijQ
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  • »04.03.14 - 10:01
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    • Moderator
      Kronos
      Posts: 2325 from 2003/2/24
      a) the Falcon is just as crippled as A600 and A1200.... 16bit bus on a 030?? WTF !!!
      b) all P6T are 1.8 anything 2.0 is overclocked
      c) learn proper quoting!!
    • »04.03.14 - 11:02
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    • Acolyte of the Butterfly
      Acolyte of the Butterfly
      KimmoK
      Posts: 102 from 2003/5/19
      >>vox wrote:

      >Well I don`t believe them a bit. My chip is clocked at 1.8Ghz and originally it was introduced as 2Ghz only. Its now possible to buy it at 2Ghz at selected dealers.

      To my understanding it is not possible to be bought as 2Ghz chip, because all chips ever manufactured were 1.8Ghz parts (run also at 2Ghz, though, but only as overclocked a little).

      (you could sue those marketing those 2Ghz chips perhaps)

      >>> OS4 doesn't support nearly half of board features now.
      >>I think it supports more than half.
      >Trust me, less then half. DOnt let me count em.

      I try.

      >CPU: PA Semi Dual-core PA6T-1682M, nominal 2.0GHz (1.8GHz standard) PowerISA™ v2.04+

      Supported as well as existing OS can do it.

      (Second core is not supported by AOS4 as AOS4 is not capable to do SMP yet. And IIRC, GCC for AOS4 does not yet fully optimize for PA6T.)

      >4x DDR2 RAM slots
      >10x USB 2.0
      >1x Gigabit Ethernet
      >2x PCIe x16 slots (1x16 or 2x8)
      >2x PCIe x1 slots
      >2x PCI legacy slots

      All supported.

      >2x RS232

      I think they are supported.

      >1x Xorro slot and xena

      Supported in some ways (similarly as the FPGA of SAM?)
      So far no developer has done anything signifficant with it and one can not blame a-eon for that I think.

      Other supported/in use things are:
      Onboard SATA2(not perfectly IIRC), audio,

      GPU is poorly supported, only in 2D+compositing when AOS4 is used.
      There is no 3D driver for modern GPUs on PPC amigalikes.

      Not sure if onboard PATA is supported.

      Anyway, it would be nice to see the lest of the another half of HW features that are not supported.

      >>> A real DSP on board would be way more Amigish, like Falcon had.
      >>Atari computers are "Amigish"? Interesting note :-)
      >Falcon is. more then crippled A600, A1200, A4000 and CD32.

      LOL!
      Btw PA6T has huge DSP performance via Altivec. And xena can do DSP functions also (just inferior when compared to Altivec capabilities).

      xena is a bridge chip. One can use it to do things like bridge to A1200 trapdoor connector (like original eyetech/AInc idea was). (I'm sure no one will do that bridge) Another example would be to bridge legacy ports via xena and the available xorro prototyping board.

      >> and adding more Xena cores (how when Xorro isn`t it? Via USB? PCI?)

      To my understanding xcore links are available on the xorro slot. One should be able to add matrix of xcore chips there.

      and...
      >Cyrus was introduced rendering Nemo obsolete - correcting X1000 biggest gap and that is low CPU performance.

      As long as AOS4 SW is not capable of using multiple cores, but capable of using Altivec of PA6T, Cyrus is not much faster.

      >Sadly its again two versions of Cyrus with CPU soldered instead of one board with changeable CPU.

      I think that would require a CPU card. And it would make Cyrus more expensive.
      And there is three cyrus versions in the plans. x3500, x5000/20 and x5000/40.
      (I think they should forget the x3500, though ... unless they manage to come close to SAM460 price)

      IMO: x1000 is great HW. Only too expensive for me and for (too) many others.

      [ Edited by KimmoK 04.03.2014 - 15:30 ]
      :-x :-P 8-)
    • »04.03.14 - 13:09
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    • Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
      Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
      boot_wb
      Posts: 874 from 2007/4/9
      From: Kingston upon ...
      Quote:

      vox wrote:

      >> XCore is not UNUSABLE chip [...]. it can do things like SMART HOME CONTROL.

      >Which, as I said, would make no sense to me on something like the X1000.

      It can make sense if you make use of it, sadly its not boosted in any proper way. My hardware boys find interesting possible uses, but its MUCH MUCH hustle.


      This keeps coming up, and I've yet to see a reason why this is something for which one would choose X-Core/Xena/Xorro (I'll just stick with 'X' from now on).
      Sure, it's possible, but why is it desirable? In what way does this utilise X's 'special properties (low latency, multithreading, programmable, high bandwidth CPU connection)? How useful are these strengths in home automation (lighting, thermostatic, intruder detection, communication, audio/video switching, etc).

      It really confuses me every time this is mentioned.

      Sure, you can probably find something useful for it to do, but something that justifies its existence on the board in the first place?
      Why is it a) there, and b) connected to the CPU like that. What practical application does that enrich above sticking it on a PCI card and calling it an 'option'?
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    • »04.03.14 - 15:00
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