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Re: Sharp X68000 XVI inbound (tomorrow...)
Posted: 30 Sep 2024 08:38
by HigashiJun
Thanks all !
I hope to rearrange my desk so the X68000 can have a better place.
:D
Re: Sharp X68000 XVI inbound (tomorrow...)
Posted: 30 Sep 2024 11:31
by HigashiJun
And here's what I will get tomorrow:
Xellent30.jpg
An Xellent30 CPU accelerator board for my X68. :D
Really didn't expect to get one so soon and for a "bargain" price.
I will have to repair a broken pin and find an oscillator though, since the original one is missing.
Re: Sharp X68000 XVI inbound (tomorrow...)
Posted: 01 Oct 2024 09:21
by HigashiJun
And here it is:
1.JPG
2.JPG
3.JPG
As you can see, one pin is broken and has to be fixed.
The oscillator is missing and there is also a bodge wire from the oscillator output pin to the 68030 CLK pin, so I guess a trace must be cut somewhere. Not a big deal though and easy to repair.
I think the resistor is a pull-up to activate the MMU on the 68030 CPU, since the original one is a 68EC030 without MMU.
More to come later.
Re: Sharp X68000 XVI inbound (tomorrow...)
Posted: 04 Oct 2024 09:34
by HigashiJun
Had time today to perform some repairs on the Xellent30:
1.JPG
The broken pin is now fixed.
I'm still waiting for a 1.778 pitch 64 pin socket to reach me. It will prevent the repaired pin (and other) to bend and break. But damn, those are really hard to get nowadays.
I also decided to insulate the pull-down (and not pull-up) resistor as seen on the picture.
2.JPG
The missing oscillator is now fitted.
The original one was a TTL oscillator I cannot find anymore. so it was replaced with a CMOS one.
I'm not an oscillator specialist, an guess this change won't affect the operation of the board.
(I really don't know what the bodge wire was for since no traces were cut at all).
Now I have to fit this new toy in my X68000, but it's another story.
Re: Sharp X68000 XVI inbound (tomorrow...)
Posted: 04 Oct 2024 10:09
by rubber_jonnie
Very nice.
I'm assuming this board fits in place of the 68000? What sort of a boost does it give?
Re: Sharp X68000 XVI inbound (tomorrow...)
Posted: 04 Oct 2024 11:51
by HigashiJun
@rubber_jonnie
Thanks !
Yes, you're right. The board fits in place of the 68000.
The 68000 is then installed on the Xellent30 so that during boot you can select with the keyboard whether you want to boot in 68000 mode or 68030 mode.
Fitted.jpg
When 10MHz mode is selected on the X68000, the board works at 20 Mhz, and when 16MHz mode is on, the board then works at 33MHz.
To resume, you have access to the following speeds:
- X68000 at 10MHz (68000 mode) = 10 MHz
- X68000 at 16MHz (68000 mode) = 16 MHz
- X68000 at 10 MHz (68030 mode) = 20 MHz
- X68000 at 16 MHz (68030 mode) = 33 MHz
And with a full 68030 instead of the cheaper and less endowed 68EC030, you get MMU and access to High Memory.
The X68000 XVI becomes therefore more performant than the X68030.
BTW, nice new avatar you have !
Re: Sharp X68000 XVI inbound (tomorrow...)
Posted: 04 Oct 2024 11:56
by rubber_jonnie
HigashiJun wrote: 04 Oct 2024 11:51
@rubber_jonnie
Thanks !
Yes, you're right. The board fits in place of the 68000.
The 68000 is then installed on the Xellent30 so that during boot you can select with the keyboard whether you want to boot in 68000 mode or 68030 mode.
Fitted.jpg
When 10MHz mode is selected on the X68000, the board works at 20 Mhz, and when 16MHz mode is on, the board then works at 33MHz.
To resume, you have access to the following speeds:
- X68000 at 10MHz (68000 mode) = 10 MHz
- X68000 at 16MHz (68000 mode) = 16 MHz
- X68000 at 10 MHz (68030 mode) = 20 MHz
- X68000 at 16 MHz (68030 mode) = 33 MHz
And with a full 68030 instead of the cheaper and less endowed 68EC030, you get MMU and access to High Memory.
The X68000 XVI becomes therefore more performant than the X68030.
BTW, nice new avatar you have !
Very well featured, looks like a great upgrade :)
The Avatar (Thanks for noticing :) ) is AI generated, if you look close it has a good feel of the old Atari 8 bit days :) Took me a while to get the size right though, there are restrictions on Avatar sizes :)
Re: Sharp X68000 XVI inbound (tomorrow...)
Posted: 04 Oct 2024 11:59
by HigashiJun
rubber_jonnie wrote: 04 Oct 2024 11:56
The Avatar (Thanks for noticing :) ) is AI generated, if you look close it has a good feel of the old Atari 8 bit days :) Took me a while to get the size right though, there are restrictions on Avatar sizes :)
:dualthumbup:
Re: Sharp X68000 XVI inbound (tomorrow...)
Posted: 04 Oct 2024 12:10
by chronicthehedgehog
More quality repairs as always :dualthumbup:
Re: Sharp X68000 XVI inbound (tomorrow...)
Posted: 04 Oct 2024 12:16
by HigashiJun
Thanks ! I try to do my best.
:D