AmigaOne

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AmigaOne is the name of a computer platform, based on the Teron series of PowerPC POP mainboards and mainly intended to run AmigaOS version 4.0 (created by Hyperion Entertainment, Belgium).

These motherboards are based on Articia northbridge chipsets designed by MAI Logic Inc, a fabless Taiwanese-American integrated circuit (IC) company.

The trademark name AmigaOne is used with agreement of Amiga, Inc. by UK computer vendor Eyetech Group Ltd, exclusively for the purpose of selling various hardware for running AmigaOS 4.

Originally, AmigaOne was the name of a project for new Amiga hardware, managed by Eyetech and designed by the German company Escena GmbH. The AmigaOne motherboard was to be available in two models, the AmigaOne-1200 and the AmigaOne-4000. It was to have connectors for an optionally attached Amiga A1200 or an A4000 respectively, in order to use the old custom chips of an Amiga. This AmigaOne project was cancelled in 2001, mostly due to the inability to find or design a suitable northbridge chip.

After the Escena design was abandoned, Eyetech sought an alternative solution. The result was that in 2002 decided to use the Teron CX PowerPC evaluation motherboard for a product named "AmigaOnepointfive" which eventually became the AmigaOne SE. Later, the AmigaOne XE was based on the Teron PX motherboard, followed by the Micro-A1 (also known as µ-A1), based on the Teron Mini. The Teron is based on IBM's PowerPC Open Platform specification, and uses the U-Boot firmware.

The main difference between the ATX-format AmigaOne SE and XE was that the AmigaOne SE had a soldered-on 600 MHz PowerPC 750FX processor, whereas the AmigaOne XE used a CPU board attached to a MegArray connector on the motherboard. This MegArray connector, while physically compatible, is not electrically compatible with those on Apple Computer's Power Mac G4. There were G3 and G4 options with a maximum clock frequency of 800 MHz and 933MHz. The G4 module uses a Freescale 7455 without level 3 cache. The G4 CPU runs hotter and requires a better heatsink than that supplied on some machines. Consequently, the G4 is often supplied underclocked to run at 800 MHz. The last Teron motherboard used by Eyetech was the Teron Mini, series of motherboards, which were somewhat similar to the Teron PX but made in a Mini-ITX formfactor and with some additions, such as onboard graphics, and a better 750GX CPU. The Micro-A1 was announced in two configurations, under the Micro-A1 I (Industrial) and Micro-A1 C (Consumer) labels. Only the C configuration was produced.

When the AmigaOne boards first became available OS 4 was not ready and they were supplied with various Linux distributions, from April 2004 boards were shipped with a "developer prerelease" version of OS 4 and owners are entitled to subsequent updates to bring their system up-to-date with the final version when it arrives.

Contents

[edit] Models and variants

Model name Main Logic evaluation board developed from Timescale RAM (base) OS Version Additional Information
AmigaOne SE Teron CX 2002 - 2004 Varies (pre)4.0 ATX format motherboard
AmigaOne XE Teron PX 2003 - 2004 Varies (pre)4.0 ATX format motherboard
Micro-A1 - C Teron Mini 2004 - 2005 256 MB (pre)4.0 Mini-ITX format motherboard
Micro-A1 - I Teron Mini never produced 256 MB (pre)4.0 Mini-ITX format motherboard

[edit] Operating Systems

  • Linux for PowerPC
  • AmigaOS version 4.0.

[edit] Current Status

MAI Logic Inc. went bankrupt and hence the supply of a major part for the Eyetech AmigaOnes dried up. Eyetech Group Ltd stopped the production of the MicroA1 due to a lack of bridge chips and supply issues of processors from IBM, and have recently sold all of their remaining "classic" Amiga stock to AmigaKit.

Because the AmigaOne boards were produced in a relatively small quantity (perhaps 1500 or so of all models combined) and are no longer being manufactured they are now difficult to obtain.

[edit] Other PowerPC hardware

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  • Amigaworld.net - The largest AmigaOne/AOS4 based community website portal. News, Forums, Interviews, Reviews, Tutorials and IRC Network.
  • Intuition Base - Darren Glenn and cos site all about AmigaOS 4, and the release Eytech AmigaOne boards - includes replacement micro-A1 manual and photographic evidence of the hardware.
  • Micro Mart - Weekly computer magazine published in the UK and available on newstands across Britain - has a weekly Amiga page (and has done for over 6 years). Writer, Sven Harvey chronicles the rise and fall of the A1 and following PowerPC motherboards for AmigaOS 4.
  • The Register - An article about the AmigaOne.
  • Eyetech - Archived page containing AmigaOne update and information on the AmigaOne partnership between Eyetech, Hyperion Entertainment and Amiga Inc.
  • Micromart - An archived article from Sven Harvey detailing the release of the AmigaOne G3-SE and commenting on the AmigaOne-1200 that was previously announced but never materialised.
  • Amiga Inc - Bill McEwen provides a status update and announcement of the AmigaOne and AmigaOS4
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