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Replace X1000 motherboard with X5000

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2017 11:05 pm
by kilaueabart
My X1000 died early last December. I have been in touch with Amigakit, hoping to get it fixed, but so far still in limbo. Yesterday I discovered that I could buy an X5000 motherboard for about half the price I paid for my X1000 complete system. I'm guessing that I could replace the X1000 motherboard with the X5000 and use the same case and various harddrive, etc., connections, and pretty much have a working system again.

I don't really know for sure that the X5000 would boot the same harddrive I used in the X1000. Maybe it depends on CFE instead of UBoot? But I still think there would be a fairly easy fix.

I could buy the whole system, case and all, and still only pay 2/3 what I paid for the X1000, but I would rather not unless someone tells me my first plan won't work.

Re: Replace X1000 motherboard with X5000

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2017 11:36 pm
by amigasociety
Sorry to hear about the X1K.

May I asked what happened?

Have not seen many X1K die but know of a small handful.

Odds are the swap of the X1K to X5K is a clean fit but the OS used on X5K is newer so your old OS may not boot on newer motherboard, plus yes wondering if CFE to uBoot has issues.

But you can always wipe clean and start over putting a fresh OS on the new drive and then see if other drives can be read.

Note... X5K has 2 SATA connection so unless you add a SATA card, you can't add tons of drives.

For me, DVD and HDD take up both on-board SATA.

I need to get a SATA card to add more later.

TJ

Re: Replace X1000 motherboard with X5000

Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2017 4:00 am
by kilaueabart
amigasociety wrote:Sorry to hear about the X1K.

May I asked what happened?
I think it was December 8th or 9th. I was reading email on YAM (OS4.1FE) when suddenly a guru popped up. I have no idea what it said, because another one, the most common one, PSI I think--an option is to ignore further ones of the type--came up on top of it, and I couldn't move it off because the mouse was dead. Attempts to reboot that day and the next couple of days brought up the AEON AmigaONE X1000 screen, but nothing more no matter how long I waited. Soon I didn't even see that anymore.
I contacted AmigaKit and a tech was assigned to the case but he needed serial output from attempts to boot. I finally had to buy a Raspberry-pi just to collect that serial output. Apparently all the output proved was that it was not a RAM problem.
Odds are the swap of the X1K to X5K is a clean fit but the OS used on X5K is newer so your old OS may not boot on newer motherboard, plus yes wondering if CFE to uBoot has issues.

But you can always wipe clean and start over putting a fresh OS on the new drive and then see if other drives can be read.
Yes, but unless I get the whole system, case and all, I don't want to lose the data I have on the old drive. That's why I haven't made up my mind on which to buy, just motherboard or the works, which includes a new drive all set up.
I'm pretty sure that the drives themselves don't know anything about CFE vs. UBoot, and it's just a matter of providing the proper where-to-boot-from command, but "pretty sure" isn't quite satisfying.
As for new vs. old OS, the Enhancer Software that comes with the motherboard runs on OS4 update 6, so probably my OS4.1FE should work. If not, there must be a DVD or downloadable ISO to install the new OS, and I would be able to clear out the old and install the new on the expendable portion of my harddrive. I think.
Note... X5K has 2 SATA connection so unless you add a SATA card, you can't add tons of drives.

For me, DVD and HDD take up both on-board SATA.

I need to get a SATA card to add more later.
Something I will need to consider, too! I have three HDD and the DVD on my X1000.

Re: Replace X1000 motherboard with X5000

Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2017 9:35 am
by tonyw
The motherboard is the same size, so it will fit easily. However, there are some differences:

* The X5K has different PCI-e and PCI slots.
* The X5K can't use the RAM DIMMs out of the X1K (different speed).
* The X5K uses good ol' U-Boot instead of Open Firmware (CFE) in the X1K. That is probably not a problem, but needs different handling.
* The kernel is compiled for a different processor, so the X1K's System disk won't boot on the X5K. You would have to replace the kernel at a minimum, or simply install the system from CD again. If you are prepared to do some hunting, you could boot the Install CD on the X5K, then find the X5K version of the kernel on the CD and install it yourself in Kickstart/.
* The X5K does not have built-in audio, so you will need an audio card if you want to hear audio. Do not buy a card with a CMI8738 chip, its PCI bridge has interrupt issues and won't work (it has problems on PCs too). Some later models have a fixed PCI bridge but you won't know until it's too late.
* The X5K does not yet have a working device driver for the on-board Ethernet, so you will need an Ethernet card. The Rtl8139 and 8169 are dirt cheap and work well.
* The X5K has only two SATA ports, so you will probably want to fit an SiI3512 or SiI3112. Steer clear of the SiI3114 as we have a problem with that card on the X5K.
* U-Boot can only "see" and boot from the on-board SATA ports, it can't boot from a PCI card, so the system disk must be connected to one of the on-board ports.

That's all I can think of right now. The OS for the X5K is not as mature as that for the X1K, but it sure goes faster!

Re: Replace X1000 motherboard with X5000

Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2017 2:30 am
by kilaueabart
tonyw wrote:The motherboard is the same size, so it will fit easily. However, there are some differences:
I appreciate this very much. You address some concerns I only started to think about last night, and bring up some new ones.
What I had started to worry about was whether the slots on the new motherboard would match the back of the X1000. The picture makes me think they probably would, but.
* The X5K has different PCI-e and PCI slots.
Maybe not too important, since I would need new cards for those slots anyway.
* The X5K can't use the RAM DIMMs out of the X1K (different speed).
I knew that, but had the stupid idea that RAM came with the motherboard. I'd need to add
8GB (2x4GB) AmigaOne X5000 $69.50, from amigaonthelake.com, the US dealer.
* ... You would have to replace the kernel at a minimum, or simply install the system from CD again. If you are prepared to do some hunting, you could boot the Install CD on the X5K, then find the X5K version of the kernel on the CD and install it yourself in Kickstart/.
I'm not sure where I would get the CD. amigaonthelake.com offers OS4.1FE for Emulation, for Classic, and for X1000. Maybe the X1000 would work? If so, I may even have it, or close enough, already.
* The X5K does not have built-in audio, so you will need an audio card if you want to hear audio. Do not buy a card with a CMI8738 chip...
I trust SoundWave 5.1 PCI for AmigaOne X5000 $25.99 should work, unless amigaonthelake is lying with that "for ... X5000."
* The X5K does not yet have a working device driver for the on-board Ethernet, so you will need an Ethernet card. The Rtl8139 and 8169 are dirt cheap and work well.
The dealer in question says, "Whilst the network driver is still under development we will provide a free RTL 8139 PCI ethernet card to each customer."
* The X5K has only two SATA ports, so you will probably want to fit an SiI3512 or SiI3112. Steer clear of the SiI3114 as we have a problem with that card on the X5K.
[/quote]Amigaonthelake doesn't seem to offer either of those (I have the 3114 in my X1000), but I guess that wouldn't be an immediate concern.
Apparently the full system comes ready to go, although it's not entirely clear: http://amigaonthelake.com/amigaone-x500 ... rs-bundle/.
But right now I have a dysfunctional X1000 on the floor of my crowded room, and dysfunctional SAM460ex on top of it, and a functioning Raspberry-pi on top of the SAM. I don't know where I would put another box.
It's still possible that AmigaKit will say they can fix the X1000. I am going to try to get the SAM running. If either of those happen, I can be a little bit more relaxed about moving up to X5000 and be sure of doing it right. Thanks again for the tips.

Re: Replace X1000 motherboard with X5000

Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2017 12:54 pm
by tonyw
I'm not sure where I would get the CD. amigaonthelake.com offers OS4.1FE for Emulation, for Classic, and for X1000. Maybe the X1000 would work? If so, I may even have it, or close enough, already.
No, the X1000 CD contains a lot of X1000-only files, you would have to get the X5000 Install CD also, to get the X5000-special files like the kernel.

The Update 1 archive contains all the files for each type of machine, so it suitrs all platforms.