Ummm.. here is my two cents:

while it all sounds great and I'm happy to see all the excitement, I would not want to sound pesimistic here but because of the past I suggest we all take some valium and see when it actually happens.

I want it to happen yesterday and I'll buy one today..

IF, IF, IF it ever sees the light of day.

thank you.

@all
Seems to me ACK made a smart choice on the design of this board

if Dr bombcrater gets his way ACK could make a right mess of it let me explain.

Adams design specs match almost that of the original reference board.
all he is doing is making a small change of the IDE chip from a single ide port along with a CF port to that with four sata ports. This is in one small mostly empty of signals corner of the board. That means most of the layout and design remains the same. As long as the original PASemi design is solid. The end Amigaboard is solid. To add such things as onboard sound or more PCI slots would require just a few add on parts. But that would require a rework of the layout . That is not so simple by any stretch of the Imagination. At these frequencies layout is the diference between a buggy board or a stable board. Costs would soar and delays would increase and the end product may not be that good. Worse bugs in layout could crop up much later after boards are produced and sold.

In my local computer store there are more PCIE TV cards than PCI cards.
so stick your sucky SB in the PCI slot and your TV cards and SCSI/IDE cards in your PCIE. or the USB.

The board is just fine the way it is. I would rather have a stable board than one with a sucky AC97 codec.

My only sugeston to adam would be to use the open ended PCI express connectors
if you are not planing on already using them that is
This way you could put a 4x card in the 2x slot.

I probrably would of taken the easy way out and removed the CF slot and added another IDE connector no real circuit change or layout change as longs as the parts were available the design could be done in less than day and in production within a week.

tha hard part would then be the firmware and hal for the OS.

Kgrach

Here are my 2 cents.

First I wait how things go with the "entry" level machine.
There is still the "issue" with OS4 or 5.

Even when we can only get Linux working on the Power System, I might consider it. At least it will be more power efficient than a "comparable" X86 solution.

@kgrach

I think the changes are more extensive than that. I'm looking at the "ElectraGettingStarted-0-3.pps" file in the pasemi website, and I see the following differences:

1. PCIe Slots: Electra has 1x16, 2x4; Ack-One has 1x16, 1x2, 1x1
2. USB: Electra has 2xUSB, 1xUSBoTG; Ack-One has 6xUSB
3. IDE: Electra has 1xIDE; Ack-One has 4xSATA-II

Also, it looks like there's already a Linux port for the board: a PPC version of Ubuntu.

[edit] Interesting, the powerpoint slides and the PDF disagree slightly on the specs. The PDF says the PCIe slots are 1x16, 1x4, 1x1

Last edited by CodeSmith on 08-May-2007 at 03:54 AM.

@ACK

Actually after studing the original layout ADAM SCRAP THE SATA.
TWO PATA ports would be sufficient and that would leave the 4x PCIexpress port
for more addon cards plus you would not have to worry about layout issues

I also love the 16x port at the bottom of the board. This way a graphics card does not block the other slots as it does on most PC's.

Kgrach

jpg of board

@codesmith

I agree adam should of stuck to the original more
you could add an additional IDE port instead of the CF slot.
with no design change and it would of been way better

kgrach

Last edited by kgrach on 08-May-2007 at 04:46 AM.

For me it would also be interesting as a Linux ony platform. But with AmigaOS it would sure be more then that for me. (I was looking for a G5 Dual/Quad Mac, but even used they are $2.5K or so)
And, please no chances! Just make it happen this time.

_________________
AmigaOne XE G3/933/VIA/FM801/R200 (fixed),
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XE/G4 (broken 7450/800)

@kgrach

Well, it may still be possible to change it. Adam still hasn't said when the high systems are going to be released (which I'm interpreting as "some time after the low end ones")

Quote:

Well, it may still be possible to change it. Adam still hasn't said when the high systems are going to be released (which I'm interpreting as "some time after the low end ones")

(irc log...this night)

[04:32:20] ackcontrols: The entry level machine this summer....the high end machine will be driven by PA Semi meeting their dates.
[04:32:44] NomadOfNorad: So, the $1500 machines around Q4 2007?
[04:33:05] kindergip: oooh, I get to buy two Amigas
[04:33:28] ackcontrols: Best case scenario would be Q4 2007.
[04:33:48] NomadOfNorad: And worst case scenerio?
[04:33:58] ackcontrols: Q1 2008

_________________
Amiga demos on Youtube - Icaros native/Linux Gentoo/Haiku/Winxp/Win7 user.
My pictures (no Amiga related)

From www.amiga.com

Entry level product ready for Customers Summer 2007
Power level product ready for Customers Winter 2007

I didn't see this first... or it was added later.
So we can start complaining or celebrating very soon ;)

/Xter

I think Amiga Inc has acted really wisely here. They have been blamed for not giving license to any one. They did not want OS4 to succeed. They still do not want to see OS4 succeed. Now, they are lifiting the blame off themselves by giving license to the most unreliable hardware producer. Later when nothing come out of it, Amiga Inc will say they did all they could with the best of their intention. ACK is being played.

Firbodi

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MicroA1 G3, 512MB RAM, DVD-RW; and A1-SE G3,512MB RAM, CD-RW & DVD-ROM
Avatar: Perspolis, Capital of Achaemenid Empire 500 B.C.

If that comes out in this decade, I'm willing to buy it bundled with AOS4.

(I would not mind if MOS or Linux multitasks on the other core at the same time)


Price... MacPro starts from around ¤2400, and it's not "Amiga", so this ACK machine looks ok priced to me. Hope it materializes.

_________________
- KimmoK
// For freedom, for honor, for AMIGA
//
// Thing that I should find more time for: CC64 - 64bit Community Computer?

Impressive specs and right price. The problems are:
1-OS4
2-Drivers to support this beast
3-Will it materialize?

If we can get OS4 (only option for me is supported by Hyperion) we really have an high end system.

If these specs are for a complete system... even good.

_________________
ikir

Quote:

If this comes to reality,i'll buy one

Agreed...I will remain neutral until such time that actual hardware hits the shelves. Too many false hopes...

Remember these great hits?
The extremely polarizing Amiga MCC



The very damaging Alien Design BoXer



The elusive AmiJoe



And probably the piece of hardware most damaging to the Amiga community, the Cyberstorm G4! Ready for your prepaid order!



Irving Gould thanks you for continuing in the tradition of announcements.

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@gobgob

Thanks for the info, I guess it makes sense given the chip availability. At least we won't be picking up the scraps that fall from Apple's table I guess it's up to the $500 one to build up the market for the first 6 months or so then.

My advise : Calm down.

Believe it when I see it fits very well here too.
I don't believe in hype anymore.

_________________
AmigaOS or MorphOS on x86 would sell orders of magnitude more than the current,
hardware-intensive solutions. And they'd go faster.-- D.Haynie

@Manu

Well, now that we've seen what the roadmap looks like, all that's left is to wait and see.

[edit] wait... you didn't say what I thought you said

Last edited by CodeSmith on 08-May-2007 at 06:47 AM.

To bad about the boxer and the amijoe..

I think the ACK board have some nice specs. But before I see it released its all vapour.

Why oh why can't "they" release AOS for Sam440 or the Efika is beyond me (I know about the license issue) but still, its HW that is available...

_________________

Quote:

Also, Adam, you avatar is VERY annoying

I disagree, it's great!

@TheDaddy

Quote:

The case is not included! We need a case!

But we've got one already! A nice and shiny, An Amiga-special court case! What more do you want?

OldFart

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Life is a waste of time.
Time is a waste of life.
Get wasted all the time
and you'll have the time of your life!