A1000 Phoenix

  • Thread starter Thread starter DonutKing
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 34
  • Views Views 10136
I've been busy today... I received a G540 USB programmer and a few different GAL chips. So I can finally start installing the missing options on the phoenix :)

I also recieved an 8735 Agnus which I installed into the board, and configured for 2MB Chipram, but then it wouldn't boot :(

Turns out that I require a new version of the U60 PAL chip to make the board work with an 8735 - otherwise the board will work without that U60 chip, but only with an 8732B or 8732AB if you want 2MB chipram.

That version of the U60 chip was never developed, the most recent version does not support the 8735 - so I've had to give up on that one for now. If you only have a 1MB Agnus you are stuck with 1MB chipram without that U60 chip. The U60 seems to do some address line hacking so you can get 1MB chip + 1MB slow on a 1MB agnus.

The other thing with the U60 is that it apparently doesn't work in a GAL, even on the 2005 boards all the other chips were GALs but the U60 remained a write-once PAL. Andrew Wilson (the board designer) said he never got it to work in a GAL.

So I didn't think this would work but I figured, what the hell. nothing to lose....

vuEx2.jpg


gqQKZ.jpg


gGu8P.jpg



IT WORKS! no idea how or why... but it does...

I ran the PHNXRAME.JED file through paltogal.exe, then burnt it onto a Lattice GAL22V10D, populated all the RAM sockets on the board with 256x4 chips, jumpered for 1MB chipram + 1MB slowram. It's not possible to configure for 2MB chipram with this configuration.

The board passes all the memory tests I tried, even with the sidecar installed with 1MB :)

1Pw8q.jpg



Strangely enough, using the U60E chip made the phenomena-spectre 'dots' demo work perfectly- I tried it on the phoenix before and the graphics were corrupted, same as on an A500, only the original A1000 ran it properly.

There's some real wizardry going on in that U60 chip...

I have also fitted the kickstart switcher GAL, plus a 2.04 kickstart ROM...

puCDU.jpg


3j73b.jpg


So now I've got 1.3 and 2.04 installed :) The interesting thing about this board is that its got 4 sockets that you can use to install a single kickstart image across 1 megabit EPROMs. Since my programmer is not compatible with the normal kickstart roms or anything similar, I can split an image odd/even then high and low and write it to 4 EPROMs. I've ordered some ROM chips and I'll have a go at getting 3.9 plus updates installed, so I'll be able to have a 3 way kickstart switcher :)

I also fitted the FPU GAL, a 20MHz crystal and a 68882... unfortunately the system doesn't boot with the 68882 installed, screen goes black-grey-white over and over again. If the GAL is left in but the 68882 is taken out it boots normally.... if I leave the GAL and the 68882 in but take out the crystal it does the reboot loop thing again... so it makes me think the GAL I programmed isn't at fault, but maybe the 68882 is faulty... would it stop the system booting like that though? unfortunately I don't have another FPU to test, or a different card that I can try the 68882 in. :(

Under KS1.3 it will boot with the FPU installed but there is graphics corruption and missing text in the AmigaDOS window. something screwy is going on there.


I also tried fitting the chip for the 2000 CPU expansion slot but the system doesn't boot at all then. I don't have a card to use anyway but it should still boot with the chip installed - will have to look into it further.
Still waiting on some parts for the SCSI controller to arrive, but I did track down a Yamaha scsi-ide adapter so I'll try and get workbench installed on a CF card- that'll be the next part of the project :)
 
Fantastic work , your doing a brilliant job! The Phoenix will indeed rise again. I hope your going to save all your notes and images (roms) to aminet. It would be great to save all your hard work so everyone can share it.

Mike.
 
I've got them all on my Dropbox, But I hadn't thought of aminet... Would these files be allowed there since they are still copyrighted ?
 
probably not sadly ... but a written guide on Aminet would be helpful at least .
 
Some further research...

On the Phoenix utilities disk there is a list of jumper settings which isn't in any of the manuals you can download off the web. I've managed to extract it using WinUAE.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9151127/amiga1000/jumpers.doc

I think I know why the system doesn't boot when the U70 chip for the B2000 CPU slot is installed - there is a row of 3 jumpers, L118, which need to be on if the chip is installed without a B2000 CPU card.
These jumpers are actually missing from my board, I've got some spare IDC headers lying around so I might solder them in just so I can leave the U70 chip in the board (I'll probably lose it otherwise which will be the cause of much angst if I ever do track down a B2000 CPU card...)

There are also some jumpers for the FPU:
Code: 
Link       Position                                Ref.    Norm.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
L26        L of U61                                COPRO

This 2-pin link forms the left end of a 6-pin link block. It feeds into pins
18 and 19 of unused the 20L8 PAL U61 that controls the maths coprocessor. It
is not used at the moment.


L27        L of U61                                COPRO

This 2-pin link forms the right end of a 6-pin link block. It links pin 14 of
the 20L8 PAL U61 to earth.
 

L28        L of U61                                COPRO   IN

This 2-pin link forms the middle of a 6-pin link block. It feeds the DTACK
signal from Gary to the 68000, and should be in if there is no maths
coprocessor present. If it is out, DTACK is not passed through, and the 20L8
PAL controlling the maths coprocessor has to mix the DTACK signal from Gary
with the DSACK from the maths coprocessor, to produce a DTACK signal from
the 68000.

Although it says PAL U61 that socket is actually for a kickstart EPROM and is empty on my board. I'm pretty sure the chip it is supposed to be referring to is U21, which controls the FPU.

This schematic would confirm it...
http://phoenix.a1k.org/pix/Sheet4-CoProcessor.jpg

On my board only L28 is on, the others are off. Seems that L26 is unused, while L27 I'm not sure about?
It appears to me that L28 should be off if an FPU is installed - however, the board will not boot AT ALL if this jumper is out, whether an FPU is installed or not. Just sits at a black screen. I also tried different combinations of L27 and L28 but I couldn't get it to work.

Of course I can't discount that the FPU is not faulty yet...

any advice/suggestions? :)



I've also uploaded the other files I extracted. The catalogue might be of interest to some people. These boards originally retailed for $945! a 1MB RAM expansion was $399 and an 8MB expanion was $999.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9151127/amiga1000/catalogue.doc
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9151127/amiga1000/68881.doc
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9151127/amiga1000/scsi.doc
 
Very, very cool! Well done on getting it working, and on sharing the documentation.

Lovely. Just Lovely!
 
well its not quite finished yet... still waiting on parts for the SCSI controller to arrive and I still haven't got it to boot with the FPU installed.
I have no way of testing the FPU unfortunately :(

I did get it to boot with the chip for the B2000 CPU slot installed, turns out that L18 and L19 need to be on, not L117 and L118 like I thought.

I also found that L10 controls NTSC and PAL mode, so I might install a switch for that...
 
DonutKing said:
I've been busy today... I received a G540 USB programmer and a few different GAL chips. So I can finally start installing the missing options on the phoenix :)

I also recieved an 8735 Agnus which I installed into the board, and configured for 2MB Chipram, but then it wouldn't boot :(

Turns out that I require a new version of the U60 PAL chip to make the board work with an 8735 - otherwise the board will work without that U60 chip, but only with an 8732B or 8732AB if you want 2MB chipram.

That version of the U60 chip was never developed, the most recent version does not support the 8735 - so I've had to give up on that one for now. If you only have a 1MB Agnus you are stuck with 1MB chipram without that U60 chip. The U60 seems to do some address line hacking so you can get 1MB chip + 1MB slow on a 1MB agnus.
Click to expand...

Alternatively, I see no reason that a MegaChip or equivalent couldn't be used to give you 2MB ChipRAM. One of those might be easier to track down than an 8372B Agnus or the magic U60 PAL chip.

Either way, best of luck with your Phoenix! It looks like a fantastic project!

:thumbsup:
 
Hmmm thats a good point, although a little pricey.

I think I'll just stick with the version of the U60 that I have, 1MB chip + 1MB slow isn't too bad :)

If I do manage to find a dead A3000 though I'll vulture the Agnus out of it :ninja:
 
DonutKing said:
Hmmm thats a good point, although a little pricey.

I think I'll just stick with the version of the U60 that I have, 1MB chip + 1MB slow isn't too bad :)

If I do manage to find a dead A3000 though I'll vulture the Agnus out of it :ninja:
Click to expand...

Old thread, I know! :)

Just tried installing an 8372B into my Phoenix board and while the machine boots and I can load WB, there is no display going to the monitor!

I've tried every damn jumper configuration I can to no avail. Results are a purple screen at boot up (OS3.1), garbled graphics or just a blank screen.

So there's a different U60 PAL to handle 2MB Chip on this board then? The one I have is marked U60E.

Reading into the rather incomplete and skimpy original docs, gathered that the 2MB Chip Ram kit originally came with 1mbx4 RAM chips and a couple of jumpers. Is it not just a matter of a special "magic" U60 PAL then, but need to use a different config of RAM as well?

BTW: Thanks much for your insight into this board DonutKing! Going over the jumper settings now that you provided. Great explanation of what's what!
 
Last edited:
Reading into the rather incomplete and skimpy original docs, gathered that the 2MB Chip Ram kit originally came with 1mbx4 RAM chips and a couple of jumpers. Is it not just a matter of a special "magic" U60 PAL then, but need to use a different config of RAM as well?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I don't have that board any more. However I believe this is correct. There is a mod you need to do which involves soldering two jumper wires across the back of the board. Once you've done this and replaced the RAM chips with 4 * 1MBx4 chips, and are using the right Agnus (I think an 8372B) you can run with 2MB Chipram. I seem to remember that you don't even need the U60E chip, that just lets you have 1MB chip/1MB Slow on 1MB Agnus chips.

Here's the ROM/GAL code I used
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/9151127/amiga1000/phoenix.zip

Some other docs I still have
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/9151127/amiga1000/jumpers.doc
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/9151127/amiga1000/scsi.doc
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/9151127/amiga1000/68881.doc
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/9151127/amiga1000/catalogue.doc?

I got a lot of these from A1k.org's phoenix section but I don't seem to be able to select anything from the menu there...

You can also get a phoenix utilities disk from here http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/phoenix
This has some useful tests and documentation on it, although the docs may be outdated.
 
I can recommend that you have a Lok at the intl. section of a1k.org. Quite a few People there own a phoenix and have applied various Hacks, including the SCSI Hack.

Cheers,
McT
 
And if you have a look at a board I sold on here recently, the person who bought it (apologies the name slips my mind at the moment) seems to have a bit of knowledge also - specifically about the 2mb mod :D
 
Hi,

what 2MB mod are you referring to?

The 2MB are jumper-selectable, see tha manual on amiga.resource.cx.

The hardware-hack I know of covers the SCSI...

Cheers,
McT
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

kinchan
  • Locked
Fully working tested ORIGINAL replacement Amiga A1000 motherboard by Phoenix Microtechnologies made in Australia in 1990
Replies
0
Views
3K
kinchan
kinchan
Pghulme
  • Locked
Sold A1000 + Phoenix Board - Boxed
Replies
18
Views
6K
NeutronUK
N
M
  • Locked
Sold Phoenixboard - huge collection sale
Replies
8
Views
2K
McTrinsic
M
PJM
  • Locked
Sold AMIGA 500s, 600s, motherboard and A1000 keyboard!
2
Replies
23
Views
3K
PJM
PJM
B
  • Locked
Closed Trade for a A1000 Phoenix motherboard
Replies
3
Views
1K
britlord
B
Back
Top Bottom