Author: The Paranoid (kralle.zdv.Uni-Mainz.DE)
Date: 01-28-2002 13:18
Hi Ragstaff,
i'm pretty lost on technical grounds myself most of the time, but i picked up a thing or two. So i wouldn't dare to say that i could plan and produce a clone - But some things are so obscure even i can identify as being junk.
So let's put some details straight:
About the ST RAM access:
According to Michael Ruge's Chips'n Chips docu, no part of the ST accesses RAM at 16 MHz.
About 133 MHz SDRAMs:
Yes, they are cheap and you can run the DIMMs in 66.5 MHz, too, as far as i know (Johan can tell better). But there's basically no sense in running the RAM faster than the CPU.
About the additional 68882:
The problem is that the 040 has either its internal FPU or none at all. It can NOT handle an external FPU without extra hardware. Adding an 68882 to a 040 does not boost but hinder performance.
About a FlashROM bootdisk:
I don't mind much about having a FlashROM for ROM or Boot-ROM. Just that handling a FlashROM unit "over IDE using DMA" is at least to my point of knowledge impossible - especially since it's already hard to mix IDE and DMA - IDE usually hogs the CPU bus.
About hacking Windows-drivers:
You usually don't get docs about the driver's internals with Windows driver CDs but just plain binaries. It would take ages to understand their internals - Without original developer docs there's basically no chance. With original developer docs however it's pointless to hack Windows drivers - You are better off by writing a driver from scratch.
So honestly, if there's a team capable of designing an Atari clone at FlashLabs in Sweden - my regards and my respect to them.
But if they try to build a machine with the specs mentioned on Anders S. page, it's just simply not going to happen.
The Paranoid
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