@broadblues

I finally had time to experiment with this and in order for it to work with the PPC build, I have to define a screen with the appropriate name in Prefs/Screens. And this brought back a memory of having to do this many years ago, on a different OS4 system, when I was working on this project. So that makes sense.

But what doesn't make sense, is the fact that the m68k version automatically opens this screen, even if it is not defined in Prefs/Screens! And I see no mention in the AutoDocs of automatic creation of non-defined screens. So it's a bit mysterious!

I have an odd problem with the WA_PubScreenName tag, which I am using in a call to open a window using ReAction. Here is a snippet of the code:

m_poWindowObj = (Object *) WindowObject,
WA_Title, (ULONG) a_pccTitle, WINDOW_Position, WPOS_CENTERSCREEN,
WA_PubScreenName, a_pccScreenName, WA_PubScreenFallBack, TRUE,
TAG_DONE);

This code is multiplatform and can be compiled for m68k/OS3 or PPC/OS4. If I run the m68k build on OS4 then it works and the screen is opened successfully, but if I run the PPC build on OS4 then the screen is not opened, and the window opens on Workbench.

Does anyone have any ideas?

@LiveForIt

Thanks, I tried that but no luck. In the end, I figured it out - I was using NP_CloseInput, FALSE, and NP_CloseOutput, FALSE and that was causing it to not work! I am guessing that this causes the output to become buffered, so it never gets flushed to the PIPE: and I can't read it.

As soon as I removed these tags it all worked!

@arfcarl

No, I can't reach the boot menu. It hangs just after detecting the graphics card, before trying to scan for boot devices.

Hello everyone.

I have some code that launches an executable using SystemTags() that looks like this (error checking removed for simplicity):

int32_t exitCode = 0;
BPTR stdInRead = Open("Console:", MODE_OLDFILE);
BPTR stdOutWrite = Open("PIPE:RADRunner", MODE_NEWFILE);
BPTR stdOutRead = Open("PIPE:RADRunner", MODE_OLDFILE);

LONG result = SystemTags("SomeCommand", SYS_Asynch, TRUE, SYS_Input, stdInRead, SYS_Output, stdOutWrite,
NP_ExitCode, (ULONG) ExitFunction, NP_ExitData, (ULONG) &exitCode, TAG_DONE);

char *buffer = new char[STDOUT_BUFFER_SIZE];
LONG bytesRead;

do
{
if ((bytesRead = Read(stdOutWrite, buffer, (STDOUT_BUFFER_SIZE - 1))) > 0)
{
buffer[bytesRead] = '\0';
printf("%s", buffer);
}
}
while (bytesRead > 0);

You can see that it launches "SomeCommand", passing it a handle to a PIPE: and then reads the output from the command via that pipe, until the command exits and the pipe closes, and Read() returns 0. This works well. But I need to change it to use CreateNewProc() instead:

int32_t exitCode = 0;
BPTR stdInRead = Open("Console:", MODE_OLDFILE);
BPTR stdOutWrite = Open("PIPE:RADRunner", MODE_NEWFILE);
BPTR stdOutRead = Open("PIPE:RADRunner", MODE_OLDFILE);

BPTR segList = LoadSeg("SomeCommand");

struct Process *result = CreateNewProcTags(NP_Seglist, (ULONG) segList, NP_Synchronous, FALSE, NP_Input, stdInRead,
NP_Output, stdOutWrite, NP_ExitCode, (ULONG) ExitFunction, NP_ExitData, (ULONG) &exitCode,
NP_CloseInput, FALSE, NP_CloseOutput, FALSE, NP_Cli, TRUE, TAG_DONE);

char *buffer = new char[STDOUT_BUFFER_SIZE];
LONG bytesRead;

do
{
if ((bytesRead = Read(stdOutWrite, buffer, (STDOUT_BUFFER_SIZE - 1))) > 0)
{
buffer[bytesRead] = '\0';
printf("%s", buffer);
}
}
while (bytesRead > 0);

However, this doesn't work! It gets stuck on the call to Read() and I never get any output from the child command that was launched. I have tried everything but no luck. Am I doing something wrong or does the PIPE: not work with processes created using CreateNewProc()? I have confirmed that the child command is being launched successfully and is executing and exiting.

PS. The reason that I have to switch to CreateNewProc() is that I need to get the exit code from the command being launched. For this I use NP_ExitCode, but this only works with CreateNewProc(). When using it with SystemTags(), it returns the exit code from the *shell* that launches the command, not the command itself.

@jabirulo

Here is my list of environment variables:

] printenv
baudrate=115200
loads_echo=1
hostname=Sam460ex
stdout=vga
stdin=usbkbd
hush=0
ide_doreset=on
ide_reset_timeout=15
ide_cd_timeout=20
pcie_mode=RP:RP
pciconfighost=1
ipaddr=192.168.2.50
serverip=192.168.2.222
video_activate=pci
bootcmd=menu; run menuboot_cmd
menucmd=menu
boot_method=boota
usb_enable_4x0=1
usb_retry=1
usb_ohci_power_down_before_reset=1
scan_usb_storage=1
ethact=ppc_4xx_eth0
serdes=pcie
s4sii_maxbus=1
ethaddr=00:50:c2:80:d6:19
boot1=usb
boot2=s4siicdrom
boot3=s4sii
boota_timeout=2
menuboot_delay=2
os4_commandline=debuglevel=0
bootargs=root=/dev/sda3 console=tty0
ver=U-Boot 2015.b (Dec 23 2022 - 13:11:28)
menuboot_cmd=boota

Environment size: 644/1020 bytes

There was no x86emu, so I set it to x86emu=1 but it still just hangs after detecting the video card. Nothing appears on the serial port and it doesn't try to scan boot sources. So it seems that I have bought an incompatible RX card that just hangs Uboot!!!

@kas1e that's a very useful video. I am using serial as I understand that nothing will appear on the screen with an RX560 card.

In your video, when you didn't have a USB stick in, you got this output on serial:

VGA: 1
VESA: OK

Then it stopped. I get the same thing. But when you put a USB stick in, it started scanning it. When I put the SD card in, I don't get any text coming up about scanning for boot devices. It just stops at VESA: OK. When I remove the RX560, I get this:

VGA: NO CARDS
Model: Sam460cr/le, PCIe 4x + PCIe 1x
USB: EHCI 1.00
scanning bus for devices... 3 USB Device(s) found
scanning usb for storage devices... 1 Storage Device(s) found

So I understand that I won't get any output on the monitor, but why is the boot process stopping for me after it detects the RX560 card? It does not continue and print Model: and "scanning bus" etc.

This is the part that I don't understand.

Thanks for the information.

So before I pay €90 for the Enhancer 2.2 software I want to confirm:

1) This contains the driver that allows me to use a Radeon RX560 in my Sam460LE
2) Using an RX card allows me to use 3D OpenGL

I ask because on the Enhancer software page (https://amigakit.amiga.store/enhancer-software-release-p-1278.html) it talks about 2D support for Radeon RX but doesn't mention 3D. I bought my Sam460LE because I want to be able to run a modern graphics card with 3D support, so if the RX doesn't do 3D then it's not very useful for me.

Hmm, interesting.

From the research I did before buying the card, I was under the impression that I could edit the OS4 installer SD card to add the RX drivers to it, and then I could boot and install using the RX560. Is this not correct?

Also, you say "And U-Boot doesn't display anything with RX cards."

Could you explain exactly what that means, please? thanks for the information!

Ok, I tried booting with the supplied SD card but that just results in Uboot crashing with a machine check exception and going into a reboot loop.

Quality-wise, this is very disappointing.

Answering myself. Without the card inserted, I get the following output from Uboot:

VGA: NO CARDS
Model: Sam460cr/le, PCIe 4x + PCIe 1x
USB: EHCI 1.00
scanning bus for devices... 3 USB Device(s) found
scanning usb for storage devices... 1 Storage Device(s) found
Press SPACE for menu, ESC or Q for prompt, Enter for boot source
Countdown.. 0
FLB: no SLB found in any of the designated boot sources; returning to u-boot.
Press any key to continue

So it seems that it is hanging while trying to initialise the video card. Uboot detects it as a VESA card, tries to emulate its x86 BIOS code (I believe this is how PPC Uboot works) and this doesn't work.

So even though I read loads of forum posts and selected my graphics card very carefully, I've got one that doesn't work. *sigh*

And the fan on the CPU is so loud it feels like my head is going to explode. I'm really not impressed with this €1000 lemon. No documentation, no website, no support, only a half implemented Uboot... Oh and the PCI slot is too close to the PCI-express slot, so the SATA card I bought with the system bumps up against the graphics card. Did it not occur to the designers that graphics cards are pretty big these days and perhaps it's better to swap the positions of these two slots?

Hello everyone.

I am trying to set up my Sam460LE but it is a painful experience. There seems to be no documentation delivered with it, so each step has to be figured out the hard way.

I have an RX560 so I connected the serial port and in the terminal on my PC I get this:

U-Boot 2015.b (Dec 23 2022 - 13:11:28)

CPU: AMCC PowerPC 460EX Rev. B at 1140 MHz (PLB=228 OPB=114 EBC=114)
No Security/Kasumi support
Bootstrap Option H - Boot ROM Location I2C (Addr 0x52)
Internal PCI arbiter enabled
32 kB I-Cache 32 kB D-Cache
Board: Sam460, PCIe 4x + PCIe 1x
I2C: ready
DRAM: 2 GiB (ECC not enabled, 456 MHz, CL4)
PCI: Bus Dev VenId DevId Class Int
PCIE0: link is not up.
PCIE1: successfully set as root-complex
02 00 1002 67ff 0300 ff
Net: ppc_4xx_eth0
FPGA: Revision 03 (2010-10-07)
SM502: not found
PERMD2:not found
VGA: 1
VESA: OK

So far so good. But then it just hangs after displaying VESA: OK and I cannot proceed any further. This is regardless of whether I put the OS4 SD card that was delivered with the system in the SD card slot or not.

I understand that eventually, I will have to add the RX560 drivers to the SD card in order to boot with the Radeon, but that won't help if Uboot gets stuck before I can select a boot medium! Anyone have any suggestions on how I can move forward here?

Hello everyone.

I'm setting up my SAM460LE and I'm not sure of how to connect the case panel connectors to the motherboard header pins. The PDF file for the motherboard only gives the following simple piece of information:

Case panel connector (near the ATX Power connector) - J29
1-2 HD led
3-4 Power led
5-6 Power Switch
7-8 Reset Switch

I did some Googling and it seems that some of these have a +5v and matching GND pins, so you have to connect them the right way around (the two LED connectors on my case have + and - marked on them) but how do I know which is + and which is - on the motherboard's pins? They are not marked and are also not documented. Does it matter which way around the power and reset switches are connected? I don't want to blow my expensive new system up!

Does anyone know if there is some better documentation available? The only PDF I could find is for the old SAM460cr here: https://www.acube-systems.biz/download ... cr_EndUserManual_v1.0.pdf

Hello everyone.

I am just putting together a SAM460LE and was wondering what sort of power supply I should buy. Is a "normal" ATX power supply required, or can I use something smaller.

Most importantly, how many watts should it be? I have heard that if you connect a very powerful power supply on a motherboard that doesn't require too much power, it won't work. Is this correct?

Sorry for the dumb questions - I'm a software guy, not a hardware guy!

@kas1e thanks for the video - I'll look at it in my "Amiga time" this weekend.

I was considering getting a 5450 as that one is well known, but they cost twice as much on Amazon as an RX 550/560!!! At least here in Japan, they do. So I'll go with the RX 560, even though it has uBoot issues. As long as boot issues can be sorted out remotely with a serial terminal it's ok.

What I'm concerned with is that if I buy a random card, it will turn out not to work. So I was hoping people might say "I have a Sapphire Radeon RX 560 2 GB" or something like that, so I can be sure I'm buying a good card.

Or is that not a problem and most cards will just work? I usually buy the one that doesn't...

Hello all!

I want to buy a Radeon card for my SAM460LE and let's say that the driver support situation is... confusing.

For the older cards, you can see Hans's compatibility list here:

https://hdrlab.org.nz/projects/amiga-o ... er-hardware-compatibility

This only goes as far as the Radeon R5/R7/R9 2XX series though. Before I buy my RX550 card, I'd like to make sure the one I'm choosing is actually compatible.

Is there a similar list to the one above, but for the new RX5XX cards?

Also, how do I know whether I should use the PCIe 1x or PCIe 4x slot in my SAM460LE? Is there a chance that I buy a card and it won't work in one of these slots?

Many thanks for any help you can give!

I had the same problem with std::to_string(int) and IIRC the solution to the problem was to compile with -std=gnu++14 instead of -std=c++14.

But then (again IIRC) the solution only worked for either OS3 or OS4 so I had to use the std::stringstream workaround that someone posted in this thread. I don't have access to my development system at the moment so I can't check.

But try -std=gnu++14 or -std=gnu++11 and see if that helps.

Thanks for the idea @daveyw. I tried it, but no luck.

In the meantime though, I found the old Voodoo-3 that came with the system (I got it second hand from a friend and thought that I had thrown the Voodoo-3 away). The Voodoo-3 is AGP and it works, so that proves that yes, you can use AGP on the AmigaOne. I might look into the AGP version mentioned by @Paul. It is also possible that the card I bought is simply broken. It was only €19 so no big loss - I might try another one.

Can anyone tell me if the 9250 supports Warp3D and/or Open GL? I was under the impression that it does but I saw it mentioned somewhere recently that it doesn't...

Trying to get some sort of 3D acceleration going for an old AmigaOne XE is almost impossible it seems. :-/

Hello Amigans.

Should AGP graphics cards work in an AmigaOne XE? I was under the impression that yes, this is the case, so I bought myself an ATI Radeon 9250 AGP graphics card. But I get only a blank screen when I turn the system on.

I am very interested to know if anyone else is running an AGP based graphics card and if so, what type it is!

I have been trying to find something (anything!) that will allow me to do some basic OpenGL programming, but on this old AmigaOne XE it is pretty difficult. Any suggestions would be welcome!

I miss coming up to ANT to talk Amiga (and a bit of programming) with you guys. But it is a bit far to come from Berlin!

Would you believe that there is no Amiga user group in Berlin? Unbelievable that a city of this size, in a country where the Amiga was (and still is) quite popular, doesn't have a user group.