I've been wanting to examine a PowerUp board for an A3000 or 4000, but don't need a functional one.
Does anyone have a malfunctioning card they'd be willing to parts with cheap?

Jim

[ Edited by Jim 30.05.2011 - 04:32 ]

While I can't help you with your request as I sold my (albeit functional) CSPPC six years ago I guess you might be interested in the following regarding your ambitious endeavour:

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&u=http://www.amiga-news.de/forum/thread.php?id=19296%26start=75

Thomas Dellert's assistance was never really likely. But you have proven just how hostile he is (as everyone has suggested).
Apparently Dellert's still sore over not having as much commercial success with this as he would have liked.
I can understand his points about the time, equipment and financial investment sunk into this, but then it was their decision to make (a their risk).

Thanks for a very useful document Andreas. Considering the level of hostility that my still exist I think it best if I never examine a Phase5 products directly.

> Considering the level of hostility that my still exist I think
> it best if I never examine a Phase5 products directly.

My intention was not to discourage you but only to give you some basic information on the PowerUP boards' hardware and software design from the horse's mouth.

>My intention was not to discourage you but only to give you some basic information on the PowerUP boards' hardware and software design from the horse's mouth.

Don't worry, like you I tend not to allow the attitudes of others to phase me. And some of the most useful comments in there were Dellert's own about how the design would have to be updated.

I just realigned my goals, changed my approach, and am now focused on something slightly different.

Your post was actually immensely helpful!

"...from the horse's mouth", indeed. I wonder if he realizes he useful his commentary was?

[ Edited by Jim 30.05.2011 - 16:39 ]

> I just realigned my goals, changed my approach, and am now focused on
> something slightly different.

This might interest you:

"I think Jens Schoenfeld has been considering making a PowerPC expansion. At Amiwest 2010 he spoke briefly about the subject and mentioned that there currently wasn't a suitable chip available."
http://www.natami.net/knowledge.php?b=6¬e=40246&x=2

Update:

> "I think Jens Schoenfeld has been considering making a PowerPC expansion.
> At Amiwest 2010 he spoke briefly about the subject and mentioned that there
> currently wasn't a suitable chip available."
> http://www.natami.net/knowledge.php?b=6¬e=40246&x=2

"I've always been of the opinion that the PPC was the worst thing that could happen to the Amiga. I've been asked many times before on PPC, I told my opinion and still made the offer to develop a PPC board by order, and it amounted to exactly the same as here in this thread: nothing. [...] I also was able to collect some experience with the PPC in 2009/2010: The Nequester project started on a PowerQUICC II Pro (MPC8313 at 266MHz). The evaluation board from Freescale is unstable, and the list of errata reads like "we know that something is fishy, therefore better do not use option XY". That runs like a thread through the whole series [...]. I still had the latent idea in mind to build Clone-A with the PowerQUICC II Pro, but since my experience with Nequester I finally drew the curtain over PPC. If someone should place an order to develop a PPC card for the Amiga he will have to sign that the periphery of the embedded CPU (which would be used aptly) is not part of the acceptance. All Amiga drivers would have to be based on the abysmally poor Linux sources from Freescale. Just thinking about that already puts off the majority of programmers, and we can't rope the Frieden brothers in for every effing job (even though the two belong to the few whom I would trust to find a solution). Conclusion: PPC only in case it's fully financed externally and that I'm off the hook." (translation)
http://www.a1k.org/forum/showpost.php?p=445998

> Thomas Dellert's assistance was never really likely.

Yes, and it hasn't become more likely since:

www.amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2013-01-00035-EN.html

Despite the fact that not everybody liked him, I think everybody can agree that he made some really good hardware for the Amiga.

R.I.P.

Heh, if you can ever track mine down from the hole they all went into over at DCE you can have it! Getting one of them was the biggest waste of money I have ever spent. Sad when I think back about saving up for nearly a full year as a kid, only to send it in for repair and never see it again.

Sad to hear he passed on, they did make some really cool hardware in the day.

[ Edited by Acill 14.01.2013 - 08:12 ]

Condolences to family and friends, RIP Thomas.

Phase5 (and DCE) made the best accelerator cards. Long-term reliability aside, the Cyberstorm mk3 was a fantasic upgrade (never found enough use to justify using the CSPPC really, so ended up changing back to the mk3).

> Thomas Dellert's assistance was never really likely.

Apparently, even his colleagues are not able to help:

"Phase 5 documents are finally lost - even my efforts to save something is to nothing, even though I have repeatedly phoned for months with the right people who have access to the data of Thomas Dellert. The Final rejection I got the end of November 2013.
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&u=http://www.a1k.org/forum/showpost.php?p=721861

"What remains? Graphics cards with chips that you can not buy?"

Jens is SUCH a cheerful guy.
Actually, I looked at sourcing some PC cards with the same GPU, removing the chips and re-balling them.
I had more trouble locating the needed programmable logic components (which CAN still be done).
The point is, with such a small market, would even the high price that these command make it worth it?
Not really.

And I'm not looking at this abstractly.
I just financed a run of 80 column display cards for Tandy Color Computers.
An almost as small market, but with more potential profit (I'm now discussing a OPN4 based sound card with the designer of the 80 column card).

Small scale production can be a fun sideline/hobby.
It won't make you rich, but with the assistance of a low cost Chinese PCB manufacturer, it is a relatively small investment.