Oh my lord this is amazing!!
I would be interested in buying one
I would be interested in buying one
A4000TX ATX Amiga motherboard
- Thread starter hese
- Start date
- Replies 477
- Views 174643
thebajaguy
Member
Saw a few questions above I think I can help with a few answers:
1) A1200 donate chips? You will need more chips. Super Buster, Ramsey, Fat Gary, RTC, a number of TTL parts, plus likely CPU parts or a CPU card. You won't re-use Gayle, 68020.
2) Omit 68030/68882? The Alice board can be configured to not have a CPU, so my guess is it is similar here. A standard A4000T (And some A4000D's) don't have a CPU, and expects a CPU card.
1) A1200 donate chips? You will need more chips. Super Buster, Ramsey, Fat Gary, RTC, a number of TTL parts, plus likely CPU parts or a CPU card. You won't re-use Gayle, 68020.
2) Omit 68030/68882? The Alice board can be configured to not have a CPU, so my guess is it is similar here. A standard A4000T (And some A4000D's) don't have a CPU, and expects a CPU card.
Awesome work! Maybe I am just imagining this, Hese, but, are there quite a few less passive components on this board than on a standard 4000 and the Alice? Maybe it's just my old eyes, but I could swear there are fewer pads for MLCCs and TFRs than on the Alice PCB I am currently assembling.
alienkidmj12
New member
Very nice,I'd be interested in a board also.
Wonderful!!! Hese, you are our hero!
As many other people has said (and with my experience on A4000 Alice), please you could consider:
1.- 112 MB Hack (or at least 64MB Hack that is very very simple to implement. One more GAL needed).
2.- Don't remove 68030/68882, it is a very good way to have a basic Amiga 4000. For those that don't want to use it, you can let it un-populated.
3.- Let space for all GALs in order to have PLCC sockets (THT preferably).
4.- You could include a "ratte auto monitor switch" for the VGA, it needs a very few PCB surface. Will every one have RTG?
As many other people has said (and with my experience on A4000 Alice), please you could consider:
1.- 112 MB Hack (or at least 64MB Hack that is very very simple to implement. One more GAL needed).
2.- Don't remove 68030/68882, it is a very good way to have a basic Amiga 4000. For those that don't want to use it, you can let it un-populated.
3.- Let space for all GALs in order to have PLCC sockets (THT preferably).
4.- You could include a "ratte auto monitor switch" for the VGA, it needs a very few PCB surface. Will every one have RTG?
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Now Hese seems to use SMD resistor packs.
- - - Updated - - -
CPU 68030 -> ebay.
CPU 68060 -> ebay, amibay.
Custom chips -> ebay, amibay, other online shops (like icomp.de, amigastore.eu, analogic.co.uk, etc.)
Electronic components and connectors -> mouser, digikey, etc.
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bunnos
New member
Conratulations Hese, another impressive offering.
Not sure of the usefullness of the ISA slots. The inclusion of PCI slots would have been better. But I guess pcb realestate limitation would have procluded the circuitary required. However could a variant be produced that had the PCI slots on, which could then be activated by pugging in a Elbox Mediator card?
Not sure of the usefullness of the ISA slots. The inclusion of PCI slots would have been better. But I guess pcb realestate limitation would have procluded the circuitary required. However could a variant be produced that had the PCI slots on, which could then be activated by pugging in a Elbox Mediator card?
Madowax686
Member
Wonderful work, definitely interested in one if it will be available. I got a Commodore Gaming Case ready for this beauty!! :devil:
Harkonnen75
Active member
It is necessary to clone hese. I propose to do a crowfounding to replicate hese! :roll:
This thevenin termination was State of the Art at the time of A3000/4000...
Now Active Termination ist the choice, but this 1117 regulator ist not sufficient, there must be source/sink capability, so some Regulator for SCSI termination like 1118 ist required.
This High Current Termination with 330/220 Ohm was build with >5 Slots in mind, with fewer Slots the resistor values could rised to 440/330 Ohm, so with active Termination 180Ohm Arrays and two LT1118-2.85 schould sufficient to power all 52 terminated Lines
Scorpiovet
Member
I'll certainly buy one..or two. Do you have a email list or other way to announce when are you do sell these?
johnklos
New member
I'm definitely interested. I'd love to be able to use a new motherboard and many new components because my main A4000 is too flakey these days.
theGoat
Member
Amazing work. I'll be following this story as it develops.
beholder242
Member
This is awesome and I'd absolutely buy a finished one if they become available, Hese!
I hope you're taking notes of some of the suggestions in the thread though for enhancements. There's some good suggestions in here...
I hope you're taking notes of some of the suggestions in the thread though for enhancements. There's some good suggestions in here...
Wow, so many replies 
I'll put the remaining blue prototype PCBs for sale soon here on Amibay. I'll order the production PCBs after I have added some small of the features that have been requested (if there is enough space on board).
The GVP QuikPak 68060 "ultrasound" accelerator doesn't fit on the board. It's too wide.
Yes, something like that would be doable.
That sounds interesting, I'll check out the project. Support for USB keyboards would also be nice to have.
Yes, support for expanded Kickstart ROMs would be nice to have. But you need an extra GAL chip (etc.) for it and as far as I know the project hasn't been published. If I'd get a permission to add this to the motherboard, I would.
The next major revision (2.0) will add support for PCI. Whether it is by using Prometheus or Mediator, I'm not certain yet. But it will be done.
No, it's optional. You can leave the 68030 CPU unpopulated and use a CPU card (A3640, CSPPC, ...) instead.
I can add 64MB Fast RAM hack to the next revision but the motherboard needs major rerouting (and increased to more layers) as the board is so full of traces that adding more components is quite difficult. I'll post some pictures of the Eagle project soon so you can see how dense the board is with traces.
Yes, PCI support will come to the 2.0 revision.
If you mean the PC PS/2 keyboard and mouse, the prototype motherboard doesn't fully support them. They work somewhat but aren't really useable. The PC PS/2 device support needs a bit of rework and will be supported only in the production version that will be released later.
Not in the current revision but possibly could be added to the next one.
No, there is no room to accommodate every A4000 accelerator. You can't install a GVP 68060 "ultrasound" accelerator there, and I'm not certain about QuikPak 4060 accelerator either. But others should fit.
64MB Fast RAM hack can be implemented to a later revision. IDE PIO2 hack just needs the original PIO0 GALs to be replaced with another chips, so that support is already there.
The on-board 68030 can't be clocked to run at 50MHz, it runs synchronously with the motherboard's 25MHz clock.
The ATX power-on is implemented using NE555 timer circuit. The motherboard supports standard ATX power push button, so no need to do any modifications to the ATX case.
True, the resistor packs get very hot. Please let me know when you have the busboard working, I would be interested in replacing the solution with something more suitable.
If I receive permission from the author, I certainly would like to add the Romy to the motherboard.
The prototype boards are blue. The production boards will come in black.
The 64MB Fast RAM hacks that I have seen required an additional GAL chip to work. There is a solution that doesn't require extra components?
No. A1200 doesn't have the SuperBuster, Bridgette, Fat Gary or Ramsey chips that are also needed for this motherboard.
You are not imagining. The board uses smd resistor arrays that contains four resistors in a single chip, thus taking four times less space than using individual 1206 resistors.
Can do but would it be enough to have sockets for the IDE GALs only? I don't see the need to socket the other GALs.
Lolz
I have so many projects that I'd like to do (some of them are already progressing) and so little time...
I'll put the remaining blue prototype PCBs for sale soon here on Amibay. I'll order the production PCBs after I have added some small of the features that have been requested (if there is enough space on board).
k0x said:
The GVP QuikPak 68060 "ultrasound" accelerator doesn't fit on the board. It's too wide.
k0x said:
Yes, something like that would be doable.
k0X said:
That sounds interesting, I'll check out the project. Support for USB keyboards would also be nice to have.
k0x said:
Yes, support for expanded Kickstart ROMs would be nice to have. But you need an extra GAL chip (etc.) for it and as far as I know the project hasn't been published. If I'd get a permission to add this to the motherboard, I would.
k0x said:
The next major revision (2.0) will add support for PCI. Whether it is by using Prometheus or Mediator, I'm not certain yet. But it will be done.
k0x said:
No, it's optional. You can leave the 68030 CPU unpopulated and use a CPU card (A3640, CSPPC, ...) instead.
mattymuc said:
I can add 64MB Fast RAM hack to the next revision but the motherboard needs major rerouting (and increased to more layers) as the board is so full of traces that adding more components is quite difficult. I'll post some pictures of the Eagle project soon so you can see how dense the board is with traces.
daywalker said:
Yes, PCI support will come to the 2.0 revision.
krisbA said:
If you mean the PC PS/2 keyboard and mouse, the prototype motherboard doesn't fully support them. They work somewhat but aren't really useable. The PC PS/2 device support needs a bit of rework and will be supported only in the production version that will be released later.
rlake said:
Not in the current revision but possibly could be added to the next one.
fabbie54 said:
No, there is no room to accommodate every A4000 accelerator. You can't install a GVP 68060 "ultrasound" accelerator there, and I'm not certain about QuikPak 4060 accelerator either. But others should fit.
64MB Fast RAM hack can be implemented to a later revision. IDE PIO2 hack just needs the original PIO0 GALs to be replaced with another chips, so that support is already there.
The on-board 68030 can't be clocked to run at 50MHz, it runs synchronously with the motherboard's 25MHz clock.
MatthiasH said:
The ATX power-on is implemented using NE555 timer circuit. The motherboard supports standard ATX power push button, so no need to do any modifications to the ATX case.
MatthiasH said:
True, the resistor packs get very hot. Please let me know when you have the busboard working, I would be interested in replacing the solution with something more suitable.
thebajaguy said:
If I receive permission from the author, I certainly would like to add the Romy to the motherboard.
Wallbraker said:
The prototype boards are blue. The production boards will come in black.
Flash951 said:
The 64MB Fast RAM hacks that I have seen required an additional GAL chip to work. There is a solution that doesn't require extra components?
Casey4147 said:
No. A1200 doesn't have the SuperBuster, Bridgette, Fat Gary or Ramsey chips that are also needed for this motherboard.
kirk_m said:
You are not imagining. The board uses smd resistor arrays that contains four resistors in a single chip, thus taking four times less space than using individual 1206 resistors.
shanshe said:
Can do but would it be enough to have sockets for the IDE GALs only? I don't see the need to socket the other GALs.
Harkonnen75 said:
Lolz
I have so many projects that I'd like to do (some of them are already progressing) and so little time...
Replacement JED files for PIO2 are available here :
http://leblogdecosmos.blogspot.com/2011/06/a4000d-pio-2.html
The Schematics and JED files for 4MB ROM are here :
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=88182