Overview Features Coding ApolloOS Performance Forum Downloads Products Order Contact

Welcome to the Apollo Forum

This forum is for people interested in the APOLLO CPU.
Please read the forum usage manual.
Please visit our Apollo-Discord Server for support.



All TopicsNewsPerformanceGamesDemosApolloVampireAROSWorkbenchATARIReleases

APOLLO SILVER2 CORE Update

Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
28 Feb 2016 20:38


Here is SILVER2 APOLLO Core Update for the Vampire2 V600-2
   
  To update your Vampire2 please download this AMIGA executable file.
  Start the update program from CLI.

  EXTERNAL LINK 

   
  Please note the update will reprogram your VAMPIRE.
  The update will take several seconds.
  Turning the computer off during the update, a power-outage or other failure can render your Vampire non-operational.
   
  Please note that you will do the update on your own personal risk.
  The Apollo-Team it not liable for any problem, failures or data loss.
   
  Please note that if your turn the Vampire2 non-functional as described because of powerloss - you can get the Vampire operational again by using an external flash device. This device is not included and must be purchased separately.
   
   
   
  ************************************************************
   
  SILVER-2 CORE Change Log
   
  The SILVER2 Core update will bring you the following changes
 
  * Improved Icache Prefetchers
    Faster Code execution
 
  * Improved Dcache Prefetchers
    Faster Data handling
 
  * New memory controller
    Much faster Fastmem.
   
  * improved Game compatibility
    (some games running to fast)
    IRQ on slow AMIGAs can bounce with very fast CPU cores. E.g 68060 and Apollo
    Apollo is now enhanced to reliable prevent IRQ from bouncing
   
  * improved Game compatibility
    (some games running to slow)
    Instruction execution in chip mem is speed up now
     
  * Bitfield Instructions fixed.
    This fixes FBLIT and some applications
   
  * improved SAGA Chunky Video out
 
  * improved CPU
    Some more instruction Fusings Supported


John William

Posts 563
28 Feb 2016 21:03


It say not found 404


Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
28 Feb 2016 21:10


link fixed


Wawa T

Posts 695
29 Feb 2016 00:24


good stuff. jason rocks ;)


John William

Posts 563
29 Feb 2016 01:30


Gunnar von Boehn wrote:

Here is SILVER2 APOLLO Core Update for the Vampire2
 
  To update your Vampire2 please download this AMIGA executable file.
  Start the update program from CLI.
  File:  CLICK HERE   
 
  Please note the update will reprogram your VAMPIRE.
  The update will take several seconds.
  Turning the computer off during the update, a power-outage or other failure can render your Vampire non-operational.
 
  Please note that you will do the update on your own personal risk.
  The Apollo-Team it not liable for any problem, failures or data loss.
 
  Please note that if your turn the Vampire2 non-functional as described because of powerloss - you can get the Vampire operational again by using an external flash device. This device is not included and must be purchased separately.
 
 
 
  ************************************************************
 
  SILVER-2 CORE Change Log
 
  The SILVER2 Core update will bring you the following changes
 
  * New memory controller
    Much faster Fastmem.
 
  * improved Game compatibility
    (some games running to fast)
    IRQ on slow AMIGAs can bounce with very fast CPU cores. E.g 68060 and Apollo
    Apollo is now enhanced to reliable prevent IRQ from bouncing
 
  * improved Game compatibility
    (some games running to slow)
    Instruction execution in chip mem is speed up now
   
  * Bitfield Instructions fixed.
    This fixes FBLIT and some applications
 
  * improved SAGA Chunky Video out
 
  * improved CPU
    Some more instruction Fusings Supported

I have a question a bout the silver core.The silver core/2 for the V600 can it be used for all the Vampire models or each Vampire have it's own specific core? For example, say I get V500 right now..as an example...can I download the silver-2-core you posted here and flash it on my V500 or would you need to write a V500 specific core?


Igor Majstorovic
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 406
29 Feb 2016 08:05


No you can't.


John William

Posts 563
29 Feb 2016 08:07


igor majstorovic wrote:

No you can't.

So this core only works on V600 then? A new V500 specific only core need to be written for the V500? BEAUTIFUL!

BEEEEAUTIFULLL!! :D :D


Nixus Minimax

Posts 416
29 Feb 2016 10:56


John William wrote:
So this core only works on V600 then? A new V500 specific only core need to be written for the V500?

Yes, sure. And it will take another seven years[/irony]




Igor Majstorovic
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 406
29 Feb 2016 18:56


ok let's clear this.
  V500 is differently done but that has nothing to do with main core who will be used in all versions. Porting core and adding some additional features is not something that will need 7 years. If you search on eab, those are the stuff I have done and published 3 years ago on old version of V500. Compiled core for V600 CAN'T work on any other versions because various reasons. Chip bus on A500 is mostly the same like on A600 but there are some signals like VPA,VMA,E who are on A600 generated differently. Also pin assignment on each accelerator is different. V500 will have also emulated gayle, IDE and some other stuff that are to some point already on A600. So,to sum this up internal apollo-core will be the same for all models, only things around it won't and can't be the same. 


John William

Posts 563
29 Feb 2016 19:38


igor majstorovic wrote:

ok let's clear this.
  V500 is differently done but that has nothing to do with main core who will be used in all versions. Porting core and adding some additional features is not something that will need 7 years. If you search on eab, those are the stuff I have done and published 3 years ago on old version of V500. Compiled core for V600 CAN'T work on any other versions because various reasons. Chip bus on A500 is mostly the same like on A600 but there are some signals like VPA,VMA,E who are on A600 generated differently. Also pin assignment on each accelerator is different. V500 will have also emulated gayle, IDE and some other stuff that are to some point already on A600. So,to sum this up internal apollo-core will be the same for all models, only things around it won't and can't be the same. 

@Igor

I have one technical question to ask you. I am ignorant and the reason I am asking this question is because I am ignorant and I need you to update me with knowledge I do not know. When you said you are emulating gayle and other stuff that already exist on A600 does that mean with the help of V500 installed into the system a person in the future can make a 16 bit PCB board that hooks on the Zorro II side and turn the Zorro II (adapter) into a 16 bit PCMCIA port like A600 for example. Here is quote from Wikipedia "The A600 was the first of only two Amiga models to feature a PCMCIA Type II interface. This connector allows use of a number of compatible peripherals available for the laptop market, though only 16-bit (Type II) PCMCIA cards are hardware compatible, newer 32-bit CardBus or PC Card peripherals are incompatible." Does that mean in the future say like Kipper2K decided to make such adapter a person can literally turn their A500 into A600 with keypad thanks to V500 emulating the missing parts on the A600? Is something like that feasible?



Igor Majstorovic
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 406
29 Feb 2016 19:50


Adding PCMCIA to A500 is trivial and can be done in number of ways. But this topic was about something else so let's not spam here about this :)



John William

Posts 563
29 Feb 2016 20:05


igor majstorovic wrote:

Adding PCMCIA to A500 is trivial and can be done in number of ways. But this topic was about something else so let's not spam here about this :)
 

(GRIN) OK :D


Dawid Davka

Posts 4
04 Mar 2016 16:55


Should CPU MIPS value in SysInfo/SysSpeed change after flash?

I have flashed and see no difference in these benchmarks, also I have "No board" to attach P96 Settings. So I flashed it second time - flasher app showed that I have SILVER2 core but it flashed it succesfully again. Still no difference.

Should I do something specific after flash to activate new core?


A1k Walter01

Posts 21
04 Mar 2016 19:06


Dawid Davka wrote:

  Should I do something specific after flash to activate new core?

no



Ian Parsons

Posts 230
05 Mar 2016 09:20


I think you may need to power off completely and when you power back up the new core will be loaded from flash into the FPGA and the system should boot up.


Andrew Copland

Posts 113
06 Mar 2016 15:57


Well I flashed it, it said that it succeeded, restarted, and now it's not working at all.

Running the program again says that it can't find any flash.

I've ordered a JTAG programmer and will reflash it using that but... where do I get the image to reflash?

Thanks,

Andy


Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
06 Mar 2016 16:02


Andrew Copland wrote:

Well I flashed it, it said that it succeeded, restarted, and now it's not working at all.
 
  Running the program again says that it can't find any flash.
 
  I've ordered a JTAG programmer and will reflash it using that but... where do I get the image to reflash?
 
  Thanks,
 
  Andy

contact us in IRC



Andrew Copland

Posts 113
06 Mar 2016 16:22


Am on IRC :)

Additional info is that it now doesn't appear at all. It's a basic, unexpanded A600 with 1MB chip and nothing else.


Michael AMike

Posts 152
10 Mar 2016 08:42


Hi,
I've got yesterday my vampire and the card works great - thanx for your hard work! Can I read out which core is installed? sysinfo shows me about 104.000 Drystones which is more that I expected and the benchmarks of the silver cores which I know shows below 100k.

posts 19