exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

TF536 on A600
CPU: 030
FPU: No
RAM: 64MB
IDE: Yes, GAYLE emulated
SPI: No
FlashROM: No
Fit without Relocator: No
Relocator: No, Beta only, designed by Kludge https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/forum/membe ... file&u=382, need to be redesigned!

Tested TF536 in A600 with help of a relocator designed by our forum member Kludge. He was very kind and sent me one for testing purposes. This relocator was initially designed for TF530/TF534, so no wonder TF536 not fit, even more, we didn’t knew what to expect from this, actually we wasn’t even sure will it work… But to my surprise – IT WORKS! And it does nice and stable. No glitches, no problems AT ALL. It just works as it was designed for A300/A600…
Same as on A500 - dimensions of the TF536 accelerator are slightly different, so relocator should be redesigned to fit the card and be able to close housing properly. This will be very tricky, since space in A600 is VERY limited. There is also keyboard ribbon in way that makes this task even worth..

As about TF536 itself - it works just as it should, nice and stable without any crashes or unexpected gurus. Haven’t stumbled on any bugs till now. Even IDE is slightly faster than on A500 - 1.4MB/s out of the box. I think it's because of onboard GAYLE chip.. Haven’t managed to let muFastROM to work. Let me know how to install MMULibs correctly.. Have no idea which hardware should i test.. maybe PCMCIA? :idea: :P

Nice stack of headers there :D

I had a gut feeling the 536 would work, as it seems more compatible overall. Promising stuff, this!

Regarding redesigning the adapter, I don’t think it’s really feasible without making the adapter huge, and then it would have a lot of dead space on it. I think that a TF636 should be made with the proper mounting holes to secure it.

As for PCMCIA, I believe Stephen said it would not work as at uses some of the same addresses or interrupts or whatever as fast IDE. Should be possible with a new firmware, though. Maybe a TF636 could have a jumper to select if you want it PCMCIA compatible or not? But I don’t know if the CPLD has any spare pins.

I’m glad to see that the concept is working!

We could man in the middle the Gayle registers I guess so that pcmcia works. Hasn’t been a priority but I guess I’ll need to sort this for the A1200 at some point.

kludge wrote: 06 Jul 2019 08:38 Regarding redesigning the adapter, I don’t think it’s really feasible without making the adapter huge, and then it would have a lot of dead space on it. I think that a TF636 should be made with the proper mounting holes to secure it.

i was thinking of it before i fell in to sleep, the best way to make - is an adaptor containing of 2 boards, second board can be soldered under angle, will build one of paper to show You my idea

kludge wrote: 06 Jul 2019 08:38 As for PCMCIA, I believe Stephen said it would not work as at uses some of the same addresses or interrupts or whatever as fast IDE. Should be possible with a new firmware, though. Maybe a TF636 could have a jumper to select if you want it PCMCIA compatible or not? But I don’t know if the CPLD has any spare pins.

I’m glad to see that the concept is working!

Yeah, this is on the bottom of priority list but may be used on A1200, so worth to try.... BTW, Steve, any updates from Eduardo?

terriblefire wrote: 06 Jul 2019 12:09 We could man in the middle the Gayle registers I guess so that pcmcia works. Hasn’t been a priority but I guess I’ll need to sort this for the A1200 at some point.

It would certainly be a nice feature. I don't really want to lose the PCMCIA port.

8 Bit Dreams wrote: 06 Jul 2019 12:25 i was thinking of it before i fell in to sleep, the best way to make - is an adaptor containing of 2 boards, second board can be soldered under angle, will build one of paper to show You my idea

Yeah, I guess an adapter sandwich could work, but in my mind that would still only be a proof of concept. The adapter part with the PLCC socket on it would still have to be quite large to be able to mount it securely. Just press fitting the PLCC onto the CPU won't hold longterm.

Its funny. My first Amiga was an A600.. yet i've never build an accelerator for it.

terriblefire wrote: 07 Jul 2019 20:22 Its funny. My first Amiga was an A600.. yet i've never build an accelerator for it.

Well... I have the upside down 68000 PLCC68 Eagle lib I made for the adapter... Just sayin' ;)

if someone sends me a A600 adaptor i'll test it out.

terriblefire wrote: 07 Jul 2019 21:05 if someone sends me a A600 adaptor i'll test it out.

I’ll solder one up and send it to you. Hopefully within the next couple of days. PM me your address.

terriblefire wrote: 07 Jul 2019 20:22 Its funny. My first Amiga was an A600.. yet i've never build an accelerator for it.

You already did, Steve :lol:
We just need to figure out how to fit it inside the A600 case :lol: