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Documentation about the Vampire hardware

3.9 Rom

Peter Heginbotham

Posts 214
15 Aug 2016 19:25


Is there a list of all the modules and the versions in the custom rom


Peter Heginbotham

Posts 214
26 Nov 2016 12:50


Or at the very least the version of the scsi.device


Roman S.

Posts 149
26 Nov 2016 16:23


There is no single 3.9 ROM, there fore you can find several such lists - for example this one: [url]http://www.mfilos.com/2010/12/guide-create-and-burn-custom-kickstart.html[/url]
       
But there are several other modules you might want to include:
  - updated layers: [url]http://aminet.net/package/util/sys/layers[/url]
  - updated shell: [url]http://aminet.net/package/util/boot/ShellUpdate[/url]
  - update RAM disk: [url]http://aminet.net/package/util/boot/PatchRAM[/url]
  - CompactFlash in PCMCIA slot (via adapter) driver: [url]http://aminet.net/package/disk/misc/cfd[/url]
  - scsi.device vs 43.45 - [url]http://aminet.net/package/driver/media/SCSI4345p[/url]
  - alternative romboot (startup screens) - [url]http://aminet.net/package/util/boot/romboot44_3[/url]
  - various BlizKick modules - [url]http://aminet.net/package/util/boot/BlizKick[/url]
  - interrupts fix for fast machines - [url]http://aminet.net/package/util/boot/BK_IntAckFix[/url]
  - various RemApollo modules - [url]http://aminet.net/package/util/boot/RemAPollo[/url]
  - (not sure if they are rommable - faster math libs (commercial) - [url]http://www.hsmathlibs.de/index_e.html[/url]
  - various libraries optimized by DonAdan - [url]http://wt.exotica.org.uk/test.html[/url]; check DOS.lzx, GFX31.lzx, SCSI.lzx, WT31.lzx
  - expansion.library 40.3 (commercial, in Cloanto 3.X ROM, I don't know if there is a way to extract it and use in your custrom kickstart)
  - some old Piru exec.library (does anyone know the link??)
  - various libraries optimized by Cosmos(does anyone know the download link? it would be a shame if they got lost)
       
But I'm not sure if you can actually burn your own kickstart into the Vampire... probably not.


Peter Heginbotham

Posts 214
26 Nov 2016 17:26


thanks.

So if I read the release notes correctly, the version of the scsi.device supports 128GB disks or greater.

It would be nice to know the contents of the ROM and the versions




Roman S.

Posts 149
28 Nov 2016 10:30


Some more links for you:
 
- list of modules in various kickstarts: EXTERNAL LINK 
- Windows software to investigate kickstart image (shows modules, etc): EXTERNAL LINK 
- all about large drive support: EXTERNAL LINK


Andrew Copland

Posts 113
28 Nov 2016 11:14


Roman S. wrote:

There is no single 3.9 ROM, there fore you can find several such lists - for example this one:
...
  But I'm not sure if you can actually burn your own kickstart into the Vampire... probably not.

He didn't ask what can go into a 3.9 ROM.

He asked "What is in the Vampires Custom ROM"


Roman S.

Posts 149
28 Nov 2016 13:47


He asked: "Is there a list of all the modules and the versions in the custom rom", and the thread title is "3.9 Rom". AFAIK the Vampire custom ROM is a 3.1 one...


Peter Heginbotham

Posts 214
28 Nov 2016 14:25


There was an assumption that the various screenshots show the Vampire Rom in 3.9, with hindsight the questions should have been:

What is the base for the ROM, (Original 3.1, Cloanto 3.X ROM, Hyperion 3.1, Original 3.1 + 3.9)?
What modules are in the Vampire Custom ROM and there version numbers?
What is the maximum size of the ROM in the Vampire



Tim Waite

Posts 42
04 Dec 2016 06:46


The ROM that comes with the vampire is 3.1 that from my understanding has some sort of patch to exec to get the 128mb of ram recognized properly. Not sure if there is anything else they do it to.

Upon install 3.1 and then upgrading to BB2 and executing the patch for BB2 KS setpatch files that are in the vampire firmware archive you get 3.9.

3.9 at this point is not flashed into the vampire but works like any normal amiga with 3.1 after BB2 setpatch.

So other than the patched EXEC (I believe) the modules are the same from BB2 setpatch for the 3.9 KS

Hope this helps.


Thierry Atheist

Posts 644
04 Dec 2016 19:25


Tim Waite wrote:
The ROM that comes with the vampire is 3.1 that from my understanding has some sort of patch to exec to get the 128mb of ram recognized properly. Not sure if there is anything else they do it to.

Hi Tim,

Never thought about this before.

Very interesting. The RAM of course is accessed directly by the CPU ("68080") rather than where it's expected to be, on the motherboard, or in an expansion slot.

This really gets interesting when it's DIRECTLY accessed by the 68080 on the standalone, where NO intervening decision making software is involved in accessing the 1 Gigabyte of RAM in 32 and even 64 bit transfers.... THAT THING IS GOING TO ROCK!!!


Thierry Atheist

Posts 644
04 Dec 2016 19:47


Roman S. wrote:
But I'm not sure if you can actually burn your own kickstart into the Vampire... probably not.

Hi Roman,

The standalone MAY have flash rom???

Then, upon boot-up, that could be shadowed into RAM at 64 bit speed!

Elevate everything I said to "fascinating"!!!!


Tim Waite

Posts 42
07 Dec 2016 04:42


It has "flash".  The ROM image is part of the FPGA core of sorts. 

I did forget from my previous post is to explain another change to the ROM is the scsi.device is patched for large HD and a few other changes.  Made it very nice to add a nice big CF card to the Amiga.

I am pretty sure there could be a way in the future to "change" the KS image in the FPGA flash core or even support booting a kickstart image from something like the uSD slot if need be. 

FPGA flash updates are done from the Amiga currently which means kickstart images could be flashed as well. 

The kickstart ROM on the A500 or A600 is NOT used while the Vampire 2 is being used.



Roman S.

Posts 149
07 Dec 2016 06:40


Problem 1: current Vampire KS is patched to support the on-board memory, also the exec needs patches to support more CPU registers; none of these patches are available in a Remus-compliant form.

(BTW: if I understand correctly, if you want to use BB2 exec, Piru exec, Cosmos exec, etc., in any way - you are currently out of luck)

Problem 2: Sometimes the user-created Kickstart image is botched and won't work; there needs to be an easy way to unbrick the Vampire in such case.

KS image from SD card would be cool, though :)




Vincent Rivière

Posts 87
07 Dec 2016 10:20


Roman S. wrote:

KS image from SD card would be cool, though :)

+1 :-)


Henryk Richter
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 128/ 1
12 Dec 2016 07:52


To problem1:
A Remus-compatible exec is not out of the question. While it might not be a good idea to provide the library directly (I don't like to be dragged into copyright issues), an spatch against 40.10 will be made available along with Gold2 (or shortly thereafter).

To problem2:
We are experimenting with a MAPRom feature. With that, Kickstart images may be tested in RAM before they're going to be flashed.


Peter Heginbotham

Posts 214
13 Dec 2016 20:42


Peter Heginbotham wrote:

  There was an assumption that the various screenshots show the Vampire Rom in 3.9, with hindsight the questions should have been:
 
  What is the base for the ROM, (Original 3.1, Cloanto 3.X ROM, Hyperion 3.1, Original 3.1 + 3.9)?
  What modules are in the Vampire Custom ROM and there version numbers?
  What is the maximum size of the ROM in the Vampire
 
 

 
  Anyway back to the original question. Whats in the Vampire 3.9 rom e.g.
 
 
 


Kolbjørn Barmen
(Needs Verification)
Posts 219/ 2
14 Dec 2016 18:25


Henryk Richter wrote:

To problem1:
  A Remus-compatible exec is not out of the question. While it might not be a good idea to provide the library directly (I don't like to be dragged into copyright issues), an spatch against 40.10 will be made available along with Gold2 (or shortly thereafter).

And exec 45.20 that is standard of 3.9 BB2?

posts 17