Terrible Fire Amiga accelerator project
I'm posting to welcome those interested in Terrible Fire's low cost Amiga accelerator project(s) to this community. This is the section (Amiga Expansion Devices) of the community to post, share, and collaborate on that project in.
Please let me know if I can be of and assistance in helping this project go forward.
#TF530CCC
https://youtu.be/RHnaElLx_CQ
I'm following this since a couple of months. Quite some progress and it's all Open Source :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat job by Terrible Fire !
If anyone orders PCB's and starts building this project, please post here and keep us up to date on your progress. Plus you can collaborate with each other. Share tips, etc.
ReplyDeleteIndeed a group order seems the logical thing to do. I'm all in :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that if enough people are interested we could do a bulk parts order and put together parts kits for everyone.
ReplyDeleteI might be willing to organize that.
Christopher, How many participants do we need to make this a viable thing?
ReplyDeleteMo Ahaddour I don't know, I haven't done anything other than mention the idea today. I'd have to do some research and calculations on costs.
ReplyDeleteJust off the top of my head though, based on past projects, I'm guessing 10-15 would be the minimum.
If at least 5 people show interest, I'll look into it further and post the numbers.
OK Christopher, I will spread the word in the Belgian Amiga Club and Dutch Commodore Club.
ReplyDeleteHi Christopher Gaul a Belgian user is asking how much this would cost?
ReplyDeleteMo Ahaddour It depends on what kind of deal on the parts. But without CPU/FPU I believe it's under $50-60 USD
ReplyDeleteMo Ahaddour Sounds good, the more the merrier.
ReplyDeletePassed the message, and i've posted also to Commodore Amiga Group on facebook with more than 14.000 members :D
ReplyDelete5 already are interested depending on the price.
Christopher Gaul can you come on the Commodore Amiga Facebook group. There are almost 10 members interested.
ReplyDeleteThen they can meet you and address there questions directly to you also.
OK, I did a little parts pricing yesterday and it's clear that the majority of the board's cost will be in the RAM, followed by the CPLD's.
ReplyDeleteMo Ahaddour Sorry I quit Facebook several years ago so I can't access that.
ReplyDeleteNo problem Christopher. :)
ReplyDeleteCould you make a list of how much it would cost for 10,20,30 participants and so on?
Will do. Give me until middle of next week OK?
ReplyDeleteOK Christopher I'll pass the message. :-)
ReplyDeleteI've already done some pricing and I'm ordering enough parts to test some sources and build a couple myself first to get the process down and make sure the parts are right.
ReplyDeleteI have another issue though. I don't have a working A500 right now and I'm not sure I can afford what I'm seeing them go for on ebay presently. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it though.
Thanks for your commitment Christoper :-)
ReplyDeleteBut I'm missing my post from yesterday night with a lot findings and feedback from the members and TerribleFire.
I'll re-post it right now!
Great work Mo thanks. I can't do this alone and that's why this community exists, to collaborate on these projects.
ReplyDeleteNo problem Christopher, we're all in this together and our Community gets smaller each year. :-)
ReplyDeleteYou should make contact with Paul Rezendes, because is willing to assemble them like said in the feedback post.
I'll ask him if he has a Google+ account.
Later today I'll count a the interested members up to now.
Mo Ahaddour OK, thx. BTW remember that anyone that has any Google account can log in here already. So GMail, YouTube, Blogger, etc.
ReplyDeleteAs for the RAM, that part number is 3.3v, not 5v. I'm looking for a 5v equivalent but so far no luck.
I've just posted in the Commodore Amiga facebook.
ReplyDeleteI asked Paul to get into contact with you. Paul is also an Amiga repairer. So if he get in contact with you, maybe he can help you out with the A500 problem.
Mo Ahaddour I really appreciate your stepping up to help with all this.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...I wonder if anyone has a spare A500 (NTSC) they'd be willing to trade me for a finished, tested TF530 board? I'd need the Amiga first to test the board, but I'd send it the minute the board was confirmed working. Then I'd have an Amiga to use and test more boards on. I am willing to assemble a few if people want to just pay someone for an assembled and tested board.
Well Paul is US based, maybe he can help you.
ReplyDeleteMo Ahaddour I just got his request to join the community and approved it so he's welcome to join in in any way he's comfortable with. I'm not asking anyone, just putting the idea out there.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise I'll get hold of one somehow.
Great news, Paul is great guy :-)
ReplyDeleteI got my first shipment of parts today. This was all of the SMD components which I got from Farnell/element14.
ReplyDeleteI ordered enough for 5 boards AFAIR. Will give details on exact costs and unit pricing once I have everything. Also ordered some solder paste to make life easier soldering the SMD's which should be here tomorrow.
We're progessing. Steady we go :)
ReplyDeleteSome gave an eBay link of Xilinx on EAB. This was TF's reaction:
ReplyDelete"Really dont recommend using ebay for anything unless you cant get it from RS, Farnell, Digikey or Mouser ( and they all stock most of what we need)."
We should keep this in mind even if the offerings from Chinese suppliers is tempting ;)
The problem is that those suppliers have terrible pricing for small quantities. Plus, at least here, their single shipping option (UPS) sucks and is overpriced.
ReplyDeleteFor example, just to get things done quickly, I bought the SMD parts from element14 (which is Farnell in Canada) and I paid $20 to ship $15 worth of parts!
That's why I'm hoping to find a third option.
As for the 68030/68882, ebay is pretty much the only option unless you want to get bent over for used ones on AmiBAY, EAB, or other Amiga/MAC/Atari forums.
Yes you're shipping can be a breaker :(
ReplyDeleteFor CPU\FPU parts is indeed eBay or Amazone the only option.
Christopher, did you manage to source the CPU socket easy enough ?
ReplyDeleteADR-Richard I wouldn't say easy, but I did find some on e-bay for now.
ReplyDeleteWhat sucks is that it appears that the ceramic/gold and plastic PGA versions of the 68030 have different pin layouts! This made me real hesitant about sockets.
I'm sure Stephen has used both types in the TF530 with the same socket/pinout. This is the only source of socket I can find (below) at about £20 for 2 I'm hoping to find something a bit cheaper! I purchased a ceramic CPU and I'm pretty sure it matches the board and the socket below.
ReplyDeleteebay.co.uk - Details about 128pins PGA socket (13x13) for 68030
ADR-Richard That looks like the one I went with too. Might even be the same seller/socket.
ReplyDeleteBut, I'm still convinced there are multiple pin configurations for the 68030. At least based on what I could find online. It's almost sad how Motorola Processor info/resources are fading away off the web.
ADR-Richard
ReplyDeleteCheck this out...
ebay.ca - QTY (4) 121 PIN PGA SOCKET 13X13 PGA121H003B1-1312R BERG FOR 68030 | eBay
Now I, like you probably just did, assumed the e-bay seller just had his head up his butt and mislabeled these. However, being me, I did some research anyway and I actually found some photos of '030's that seem to match this pinout.
Then there's this, which implies a third pin layout, argghh!
http://www.silirium.ru/motorola-68030.html
He has a mistake on that page, there are two pinouts (Three if you count the surface CPFG-132) His page implies the top cpu is a CPGA-124. It's not, it's a CPGA-128.
ReplyDeleteI think the *pga-124 will also go into the 128 pin socket but lacks the pins for the MMU. (I wouldn't quote me on that though :-) )
Here's another CPU site worth a quick look. brainstones.narod.ru - MOTOROLA MC68030 n.n. Microprocessor Package Additional ...
Hi Christopher Gaul what's the actual status of the TF530 project. Anything I can share with the Facebook group?
ReplyDeleteMo Ahaddour report that it's still ongoing and that we're still waiting on parts. The plan still holds. Get one complete order in place, then do a cost per unit breakdown and use it to comparison shop and determine where we want to go from there.
ReplyDeleteWill a group buy be worth it, or do we just put together a spreadsheet of confirmed parts and suppliers. Will some of us start building TF530's for others? Will be do group build Hangouts? etc.
As for parts, I am very close to having a complete set. The obvious key hold-up is the PCB's. Without those, I can't start anything. However, I did pay the extra for express shipping and if everything goes without a hitch I could have those next week.
I'll work on a preliminary version of the spreadsheet as soon as I get all the critical parts in, and update it as the rest arrive.
I've passed your message :-)
ReplyDeleteAny luck sourcing the CPU & FPU?
Yesterday evening I was contacted by Aaron Morris. He's offering A501 type ram expansions for the A500 in our fb group.
ReplyDeletenwretrorepair.com - Amiga 501+ style RAM Expansion – Northwest Retro Repair.
This expansion is designed by a friend of him a former Supra or GVP engineer. Can't find the confirming post for that.
We'll he said his friend is looking into the TF530 project and will probably fork it.
His intensions is to simplify it, make it smaller, 8MB ram and do cost reduction.
Sounds interesting to you also Christopher Gaul?
Mo Ahaddour I'm not sure how you could simplify it or cost reduce it.
ReplyDeleteBut certainly it's interesting and good on him if he can do it.
Be sure to post on the project here.
Looking good :D
ReplyDeletehttps://plus.google.com/photos/...
ADR-Richard Nice!
ReplyDeleteMine are out for delivery right now, hoping the courier doesn't screw me with the old "leave a delivery attempt notice and run" game.
I'm not sure what your postal service is like but mine went through the letterbox fine :) (ordered the 10+- pack and got 10)
ReplyDeleteSo ADR-Richard you're almost set to start playing around with the TF530 :-)
ReplyDeleteADR-Richard our postal service is actually pretty good, but this is coming via DHL and none of the commercial couriers have impressed me with their dedication to getting parcels into the hands of customers safely, securely, and quickly.
ReplyDeleteForgot to mention that I advised Aaron Morris that his friend should make take contact with TF himself. An exchange of knowhow is always welcome in our small community.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I suggested would that would be nice to have is SDRAM instead of SRAM. It would need extra logic as TF said but the RAM itself is cheaper and bigger in storage space.
@Mo, I'm still waiting for most of the components to arrive from China, more importantly my USB scope that I need before I can either consider starting :-)
ReplyDeleteFortunately I already had one of those same USB microscopes. In fact I was using it for the same thing. Inspecting soldering and other things on circuit boards etc.
ReplyDeleteAn USB microscope sounds interesting. Can you post a link?
ReplyDeleteMo Ahaddour
ReplyDeleteThis is the same one that both TerribleFire and I have.
ebay.ca - Details about 50X-1000X 8LED USB Digital Microscope Endoscope 2MP Mega Pixels Camera Magnifier
I went for the Andonstar, ebay.co.uk - Details about Andonstar 500X 2MP Digital Microscope USB Video webcam Magnifier Camera Stand
ReplyDeleteIt was reviewed by EEVblog a while back, cheap but I hope it will be good enough. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2P1_JZYnVc
Mo Ahaddour I got mine for $15 so shop around.
ReplyDeleteThanks guys for the links. $15 is not that much :-)
ReplyDeleteMo Ahaddour The cheap one is not as bad as Dave makes it out to be. I bought a cheap toy plastic microscope and cut off the optical tube and strapped mine to it with rubber bands. Works great that way. Plus the stand it comes with isn't quite as useless as Dave makes it out to be. But mostly, I just leave it out of the stand and grab it by hand as needed to inspect each solder joint as I make them.
ReplyDeleteThe more expensive unit is no doubt a better model, but I'm just saying you may not need it. Not that it wouldn't be nice to have. If you're watching the budget, the cheaper one is fine.
Nice tip Christopher. Can you post a picture showing how it's assembled?
ReplyDeleteMo Ahaddour umm...not today, I have to dig it out. There's a crap ton of them on e-bay with different pictures, try opening the link I posted and look through all the other one's e-bay finds listed below. Let me know if you can't find what you're looking for in those photos......oh wait, I just realized that I think you mean my hacked microscope and not the original OEM.
ReplyDeleteYeah, sure. Once I dig it out I'll post a pic or two.
Indeed I meant your hacked one ;-)
ReplyDeleteMo Ahaddour You're in luck, I just remembered that I posted about this when I got the microscope and again when I made the hack.
ReplyDeleteThis post has some images from the scope.
plus.google.com - Fun with a microscope I got one of those 50-500x USB microscopes. I then bou...
I think the quality is pretty solid and I don't think Dave really gave it a chance.
And this post has pictures of the hack.
https://plus.google.com/+ChristopherGaul/posts/GUvmR6FwqX9
You can see that I used rubber bands so that I could leave the USB microscope itself unmodified and I can easily remove it and use it by hand or in it's original stand whenever I want.
The first post contains some photos I took while checking some of my own SMD soldering work. Including one where I found a bad join.
ReplyDeleteThanks Christopher, i'm impressed by the high quality of the images. I'll remember this one for sure when I do my comparison :-)
ReplyDeleteHi would I be able to use my external amiga 500 scsi hardrive with 8 mb of ram with the terrible fire installed?
ReplyDelete