ACA500plus + Blizzard 1230 III + Cpu Switch

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Don't Panic. Please wash hands.
  • Hi there! I just managed to snag a Blizzard 1230 III and then I noticed that the CPU switch option isn't available and THEN I did my research just like a pro 8)

    I do know that Blizzard cards aren't officially supported and reading the feature list and CPU Switch I noticed the Blizzard 1230IV is specifically listed and the 1230III is not. My question is: Is there a hardware limitation for this in the 1230III-card or is it theoretically possible? It's not the most important thing ever but in my dream scenario I can go from "stock" to 1230 by profiles alone <3

  • I never had access to a B1230-III, and it would take not only some reverse-engineering to find out how the card is switched off in software, but we'd need actual hardware to test this with.


    For starters, reading out the ROM of the card might help. Are you familiar with machine code monitors such as C-Mon or Megamon, or the built-in HRTmon? This *should* give you access to the autoconfig space of the card, where the ROM and config nibbles are most likely located.


    Also, just out of curiosity: Does the B1230-III really offer a soft-switch-off? Maybe even with the same key combination like the B1230-IV? Do you have an A1200 to test with?


    Jens

  • Thank you for the quick reply!

    Unfortunately I'm a bit in the dark here, I didn't even know some 1230 cards had soft-switch-off and I'm not familiar with the tools either but I can learn and I'm more than willing to tinker if that could offer a solution =)

    Luckily I do indeed have access to an Amiga 1200 as well but a quick google suggests that it might only be IV cards that supports this with the "2" hotkey. Manual for the III doesn't mention it but the IV one does. I suppose I can always just test but I'll do a little more digging as well before I start pulling cards!

  • a quick google suggests that it might only be IV cards that supports this with the "2" hotkey. Manual for the III doesn't mention it but the IV one does.

    This is a key feature that takes some engineering to make it happen. I did have "completely switch off" in the hardware starting with the ACA1220 and ACA1232 cards, but only added a soft-switch-off to the ACA1233n. Even the latest ACA1221lc does not have a soft-switch-off, because it would have made the circuit considerably more expensive, going against the "budget" approach that the ACA1221lc follows. So as a replacement, it has a sync 14MHz mode, making it "almost" a stock A1200 (but does not let an ACA500plus return to 68000).


    So from an engineering point of view, it is a key feature that takes up considerable development time. Therefore, marketing would have mentioned it back in the day, as it's a reason to raise the price :-)


    Jens

  • Yeah, I just tried to do a quick card swap to my Amiga 1200 and it doesn't seem like holding down '2' does anything unfortunately (mind you I only verify through my 3.2 boot stating that there's a 030 in the system)

    I test it by:

    *) cold starting
    *) Rebooting using Ctrl-Amiga-Amiga

    *) Holding down '2' (non-numpad)

    So with that and your engineering insight I think it's a fairly safe assumption that it's not supported by the Mk-III. Curses, should have held out for a Mk-IV or went straight for the 1234 :D

    Oh well, still an awesome setup and there's always the possibility of a trade in the future. Thank you so much for your time Jens =)

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