User avatar
Zippy Zapp
CA, USA

Posted Wed Sep 12, 2018 12:18 pm

I just saw this and it had me curious. It is available for Pre-Order and it is apparently:

RTG Graphics board
ARM Co-Processor
Ethernet interface
And much more.

I don't see any other information other then at this link: ZZ9000 Pre-Order and a posting on EAB.

It will be released as Open Source, which is nice. Looks very intriguing.

What do you think?

User avatar
McTrinsic

Posted Wed Sep 12, 2018 12:29 pm

The developer is quite active on a1k.org.

He continuously optimises the drivers and fpga - firmware of his previous gfx-card.

98% of his product works as expected. I’m confident he will work out all quirks.

The card you mention currently has issues with the sd-card-slot.

Cheers,
McT

User avatar
Zippy Zapp
CA, USA

Posted Wed Sep 12, 2018 4:25 pm

Cool. It looks interesting. At least if he knows about the issues he can fix them. That must be why it is on pre-order right now.

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LambdaCalculus
New Jersey, USA

Posted Fri Sep 14, 2018 6:17 am

I was thinking about getting one of these for my A4000 once that gets fixed up.

User avatar
McTrinsic

Posted Sat Mar 27, 2021 2:15 am

Lukas / mntmn is currently working on a new firmware with impressive features.

Core functionality is a Linux on the ZZ9000 that is accessible from the Amiga. Here are some links.

https://twitter.com/mntmn/status/1375556007833837569

https://twitter.com/mntmn/status/137559 ... 57258?s=20

The second link shows UAE4arm on the ZZ9000 in an Amiga ☺️ .

At the same time, however, he is looking for help with the Linux part. Here are some ideas he is working on:
https://notes.mnt.re/s/SJHTZIoVd

User avatar
obitus1990
USA

Posted Sat Mar 27, 2021 8:51 am

I haven't messed with mine much since installing it a year ago...so the firmware isn't up to date for sure. Does ethernet and USB work, currently?

User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Sun Mar 28, 2021 2:06 pm

Does ethernet and USB work, currently?
I'm kinda where you are, Obitus. But last I checked, not really. It's all still very beta from what I can tell. It's as if once the board was released and shipped, focus moved to the weird mnt reform laptop.

User avatar
McTrinsic

Posted Sun Mar 28, 2021 2:51 pm

Personally, I am really impressed b by the progress they make with the ZZ9000. In an experimental firmware, they were able to use single applications from the ARM Linux on the Amiga Desktop. Firefox with Workbench!

A member of a1k is considering to help with the Ethernet driver.

This is a one man show. How he handled the power/voltage issue was really great service.

He keeps managing making more batches. It’s not like spinnaker big money on this.

What do you expect?

He delivers more than others promise.

User avatar
obitus1990
USA

Posted Sun Mar 28, 2021 5:36 pm

So, I got around to updating my firmware today, after doing the modification to the board under the microscope to fix the short in my Rev 1 board. It's awesome to have the 256MB fast memory that this version firmware opens up. I am using the card in an A4000T, with a 3640, so, prior to this update, I only had the memory on the motherboard.

Sadly, I cannot get USB to work. I've tried a number of sticks (each one inserted before the computer is turned on, as hot-swapping isn't allowed), but, nothing works for me. The drivers are all updated, as well, and the proper device file is in the DEVS folder. I first thought that I needed to use POSEIDON as a USB stack, but, was told that it has its own, built in stack that should automount it. I don't see anything listed in the list of assigns or mounted drives, so, it simply isn't mounted.

I sent a support request to them yesterday, so I hope to get a response early this coming week.

User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Sun Mar 28, 2021 7:04 pm

This is a one man show. How he handled the power/voltage issue was really great service
I had a local friend fix mine, thankfully, right before lock down last year (1 year ago! I miss hanging out...). I believe you know Christian from A1K.
He keeps managing making more batches. It’s not like spinnaker big money on this.

What do you expect?
This one is hard for me to answer as I love Lukas H, his work, and respect him very highly. Please don't take offense to this.

If I go back in my mind to when I bought it, I think I expected USB/Ethernet to be "partially baked" but wasn't sure how long the development to finish them would take. I assumed, "eventually" but not open-ended. That was well over a year ago. And as a customer, one must be very pro-active to get a handle on software updates, I've learned.

My main reasons for buying it were for the RTG graphics card output, and for the hope of it being a capture card. My understanding today is that the capture card aspect of the card is not 100% awesome yet. I could be wrong but that's what I was told by a Twitch streamer.

When I bought the card I guess I kind of thought it would have been supported a bit more than by a small handful of other customers, but that was probably naive on my part. It's not like the market for this card is massive. And out of that entire market only a tiny percentage would have the talent and skills to actually write code to improve the firmware and drivers.

I wasn't entirely focused on the USB / Ethernet then. They were bonuses and not the main selling points for me. But I know I helped justify buying the card by telling myself they would be there some day. After a close friend of mine who also got the card was honest with me in his own experiences, I came to realize those features might get full support some day, but if they do it'll simply be a pleasant surprise.

In other words: get the ZZ as a graphics card first and foremost unless you happen to be a hardware programmer and like to tinker, or are very patient for the rest of the hardware to get full support. I count myself in that 2nd bucket. And keep using your Rapid Road/X-surf setups if you really depend on those features today. That's what my friend ultimately did; he backtracked and used all of it together as the ZZ's "extras" simply aren't where they need to be yet.

The graphics card is really what it is all about and it delivers big time.

And let's be honest. It's a new card AND 1/3 the cost of what 20 year old RTG cards fetch on Ebay. So if you really want to have a modern display with HDMI on your old hardware, in my view this is really the only way to go. Well... the new much cheaper rPi solution might gain some traction for those just wanting crisp output without higher resolutions... I've put my name on that list, for what it's worth. (And the board developer lives 30 minutes away from me, I recently learned!)

I don't think we should feel upset, or defensive, about the USB/ethernet options on the ZZ. But let's be honest about them, too. They aren't the top-shelf product that the ZZ card itself is for video.

That's all I'm saying.





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