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plipbox.device 0.6 does not work #3

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apaul007 opened this issue May 4, 2016 · 44 comments
Open

plipbox.device 0.6 does not work #3

apaul007 opened this issue May 4, 2016 · 44 comments

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@apaul007
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apaul007 commented May 4, 2016

Hello,
i tried the plipbox.device 0.6 with a crasbe plipbox and an AVR NETIO. Both using 0.6 firmware. No function. With the device version 0.5, both hardware is working. (Hardware left on 0.6 fw)

Regards
Andreas
@cnvogelg
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cnvogelg commented May 4, 2016

The 0.6 driver uses fast burst mode on parallel by default. Thats the major change in this version.
I suspect that this mode does not work on your HW.

You can disable the burst mode in 0.6 with:

echo NOBURST > EnvARC:sana2/plipbox.config

What Amiga system are you using?
It would be very helpful to get serial output of the plipbox to have a chance for further diagnosis...

@apaul007
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apaul007 commented May 4, 2016

I tried this already but just found out plipbox.config was in wrong path. Now, with correct location: If NOBURST ist set the 0.6 device works.
My hardware is an Amiga 2000 with GVP G-force 030 @ 25 MHz and an Amiga 1200 with Blizzard 1230 IV @ 50 MHz. Both running OS 3.1

From which mode do you need debug output? I have a serial interface ready at the NETIO.

@cnvogelg
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cnvogelg commented May 5, 2016

PB Test Mode is best suited to debug these kinds of problems (see section 3.5).
It only transfers packet data across the parallel port.

Start with sending single packets manually with 'p' and see if errors occur and record the output.
Then also try an automatic session with 'a' and let it run for some time. Show statistics with 's'.

@apaul007
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I tried PB Test Mode with the A2000 and the AVR NETIO plipbox. Between there is a 1m parallel port cable. Amiga runs dev_test -d plipbox.device

Here is some serial output. PB Test mode, auto

cnt bytes err drop rate
0000 00000000 0000 0000 0000.00 KB/s rx plipbox
0000 00000000 0000 0000 0000.00 KB/s tx
0000 00000000 0000 0000 0000.00 KB/s rx pio
0000 00000000 0000 0000 0000.00 KB/s tx
cnt bytes err drop rate
0000 00000000 0000 0000 0000.00 KB/s rx plipbox
0000 00000000 0000 0000 0000.00 KB/s tx
0000 00000000 0000 0000 0000.00 KB/s rx pio
0000 00000000 0000 0000 0000.00 KB/s tx
000060.7713 [AUTO] off

single p events

000066.2320 [RX:22] ok n=1514 d=5151 v=0073.48 KB/s +req=+0018
000066.2650 [TX:11] ok n=1514 d=5022 v=0075.36 KB/s
000067.2692 [RX:22] ok n=1514 d=5128 v=0073.81 KB/s +req=+0018
000067.3021 [TX:11] ok n=1514 d=5016 v=0075.45 KB/s
000067.6785 [RX:22] ok n=1514 d=5101 v=0074.20 KB/s +req=+0018
000067.7118 [TX:11] ok n=1514 d=5100 v=0074.21 KB/s
000067.8840 [RX:22] ok n=1514 d=5158 v=0073.38 KB/s +req=+0018
000067.9170 [TX:11] ok n=1514 d=5024 v=0075.33 KB/s
000068.0804 [RX:22] ok n=1514 d=5151 v=0073.48 KB/s +req=+0019
000068.1136 [TX:11] ok n=1514 d=5064 v=0074.74 KB/s

@apaul007 apaul007 reopened this May 10, 2016
@salocinx
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Hi - I have currently the same issue using firmware 0.6 on my A1200 with Blizzard 1230 IV, A3000D/16 and A600/ACA620. It does not work with 0.6 but fine with 0.5 if I flash the Arduino to 0.5 and using device driver 0.5. Altough, on my A3000D/A3640 and my A4000/060 it works fine with 0.6.

I am using MiamiDX10 on all machines. But the "NOBURST" flag in ENVARC:SANA2/plipbox.config has no effect at all on the machines v0.6 is not working. Do I need to place plipbox.config at another place when using MiamiDX10 instead of AmiTCP?

Thanks.

@cnvogelg
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Hi,
the config file is hard-coded in plipbox.device to ENV:SANA2/plipbox.config.
It is read by the device itself therefore it does not matter what TCP/IP stack is used.

@Lotusshaney
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Thanks, This fixed my problem on an A4000/GVP 040 WB 3.9 with pillbox v0.6 not working at all. I had response times on a trace route of over 3000 MS !

@Lotusshaney
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FYI, I just updated my Amiga A4000 with boingbags 3&4. One of these contains a fix for Genesis for small packet corruption. I can now run my Plipbox without NOBURST enabled and speeds have gone from 55,000-60,000 cps to 104,000 cps using iBrowse !!!

@stevee617
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stevee617 commented Jun 2, 2018 •
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So what does this mean?

"The 0.6 driver uses fast burst mode on parallel by default. Thats the major change in this version.
I suspect that this mode does not work on your HW.

You can disable the burst mode in 0.6 with:

echo NOBURST > EnvARC:sana2/plipbox.config"

Where exactly is this "echo NOBURST > EnvARC:sana2/plipbox.config " go? The Startup-Sequence, User-Startup or what? It would be nice if there was a little more clarification.

Furthermore, adding NOBURST to the plipbox.config while running 0.6 FW with the 0.6 plipbox.device does nothing.

What does the /S switch mean in when used with NOBURST? That little detail was left out.

I'm trying to get this running an an Amiga 2000 w/ GVP0030 combo accelerator, 9MB RAM.

@salocinx
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salocinx commented Jun 2, 2018

Where exactly is this "echo NOBURST > EnvARC:sana2/plipbox.config " go? The Startup-Sequence, User-Startup or what? It would be nice if there was a little more clarification.

This is an AmigaDOS command. You need to enter this line to a CLI or Shell window. It basically creates a new file called plipbox.config if not yet existent and does simply write "NOBURST" into that file. The plipbox driver looks up this file when started and reads out it's content and does the appropriate processing; in this case, disabling the burst-mode introduced in revision 0.6 of the plipbox driver. Please re-check if plipbox.config is indeed at the EnvARC:sana2 folder. I did test this and worked always fine.

I don't have additional information on the /S switch myself; maybe somebody else?

@soydemadrid
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Hi I can't get my Plipbox on A4000 with MiamiDx to work.

I've also tried the echo NOBURST > EnvARC:sana2/plipbox.config

too but it makes no difference...

DHCP isn't working, and if I use static addresses it just says it is online but anything I ping gets 100% packet loss.

I have the boingbangs already updated too.

It may be that I have a faulty parallel port as I know my serial port doesn't work.

I bought a Hypercom board so I have more serial and parallel ports which I know do work. How do I set the Plipbox to work on my Hypercom parallel ports instead of the built in default parallel port?

Thanks for any help

@10MARC
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10MARC commented Dec 10, 2019

I had the same issue as Soydemadrid above - 100% the same. I had bought a Plipbox using a cheap Thinary Electronic Arduino, and I could not even flash it back to V .5 - It would not work with any version of the AVRDUDE software at all. I could use a terminal program to log into it, though.
I solved my issue by buying a higher quality Arduino right from Arduino - I still had to flash it to V .05 to get it to work. It was totally unresponsive to the "NOBURST" trick in plipbox.config - It just did not care and would never see the network. Downgraded to .05 and it came online and worked within about 5 seconds.
I tried it on an Amiga 2000 with a GVP 040 card and an A1200 with a Blizzard '40 card. If I could flash the cheap Arduino I could probably get it working, too.
Maybe there is an issue with the V .06 firmware?

@salocinx
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salocinx commented Dec 10, 2019 •
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@10MARC: The Chinese Arduino clones use usually the CH340 USB to Serial chip. The Atmel CPU is the same for the Chinese and original Arduino boards. Therefore you need to install the appropriate CH340 driver in order to flash these boards. Here's a link to the CH340 driver. This one is the original Chinese website of the CH340 manufacturer including download links as well.

@soydemadrid: I would fix the Serial & Parallel ports of your A4000D properly. Probably there's more stuff defective due to capacitor leackage. I do lots of Amiga repairs. Contact me if you're interested in sending me your board for repair.

@10MARC
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10MARC commented Dec 10, 2019

@salocinx Thanks for that info - I do have those drivers - the guy who assembled the Plipbox linked them to me. Using a terminal program to get into the Arduino works 100% and I can change settings, it is just reflashing which does not work. It always reports that it cannot connect to the programmer because it is out of sync. Tried every BAUD rate known to man, and three different programs. The new Arduino board and a second one I have both reflash without much trouble - so I am pretty sure it is a funky board.

@salocinx
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salocinx commented Dec 10, 2019 •
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@10MARC: Yes I also had a bad Chinese Arduino, but most of them work fine. It's a bit strange, that the seller was able to flash the firmware to it and you are not able to do it again. I had the out-of-sync issue as well some weeks ago when I tried to upload some code to a Chinese Arduino Nano from the Arduino IDE. Then I realized, that they introduced a new "bootloader (old)" entry in the menu. With this one it worked. And I remember, that I also used avrdude directly to program that Arduino later on by using this command:

avrdude -CC:\Arduino\hardware\tools\avr\etc\avrdude.conf -v -patmega328p -carduino -PCOM3 -b115200 -D -Uflash:w:C:\Users\nicolas\plipbox-0.6-57600-nano-atmega328.hex:i

@GadgetUK164
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GadgetUK164 commented May 23, 2021 •
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The BURST mode does work with the 0.6 plipbox.device (and 0.6 firmware) on the A1200. I noticed that the echo command posted above fails because the sana2 directory does not exist in EnvARC. The solution is get a shell cli up,
CD EnvARC
makedir sana2
CD sana2
echo NOBURST > plipbox.config

Power off the Amiga and the plipbox, power back on the plipbox and then the Amiga.

It should be working!

@craziazkowboi
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craziazkowboi commented Mar 31, 2023 •
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Hi folks,

I have an Amiga 1000, and the A1000 version of the plipbox running firmware v0.6.

I have recapped the mainboard and the power supply of my Amiga 1000. The Plipbox is from https://amiga68k.com and I am using a 9v barrel connector, but have also tried the 5v USB to supply power. I am using Roadshow (registered).

When I was running with a 68000 CPU, the plipbox would work flawlessly with the v0.6 driver, but when I run with a 68030-TK2 running at 40MHz, It works for a few minutes using the v0.5 driver, but won't work at all with the v0.6 driver.

Using v0.5 driver:
Power on and the plipbox works for a while, then just stops. I can ping google.com, run "SampleNetSpeed", an run "NetlogViewer" - nothing shows up as an error, it just goes from working to 100% packet loss doing nothing more than ping google.com.

ShowNetSpeed shows activity, and once the plipbox dies, it immediately shows no activity. Interestingly, if I leave it running, I start to see blue lines running down from the centre black line (receiving packets maybe?). Normally the vertical lines are white in colour and run up from centre line. There are no white lines when the blue lines appear and after the Plipbox has stopped working. A possible clue?

SampleNetSpeed shows activity and when the plipbox dies, it immediately goes flat - 0 activity and never recovers.

Once it stops (ping appears to hang in the CLI window, no new lines of text), I use CTRL-C to stop the ping where it shows that it has started dropping all the packets, and I can no longer ping google.com or any other address. I can ping the loopback address 127.0.0.1 successfully, but if I ping my router I get a message of:

ping: sendto: unknown error code error
ping: wrote 192.168.1.1 64 chars, ret= -1

100% packet loss

I can ping google.com with the v0.5 driver, but once it hangs, if I try to ping google again, I get:

ping: host name lookup failure for "google.com"; try again

Using the v0.6 driver, I get an IPAddress from my router, but am unable to ping my router or google.com (loopback address does work 127.0.0.1). Which is strange because the IPAddress came from the router?

Pinging my router gets the same unknown error ret=-1 from above, pinging google.com returns:
ping: host name lookup failure for "google.com"; try again

my plipbox.config has a single line: NOBURST TIMEOUT=800000 PRI=25 however this will not work, but changing this to just NOBURST and deleting everything else does let the v0.6 driver work temporarily (same problem as the v0.5 driver though, dies after a few minutes).

my plipbox file in DEVS:netinterfaces is configured to use DHCP, as well as my names_resolution file in the DEVS:Intenet is set to prefer dynamic.

Plipbox in Devs:NetInterfaces also uses these options:
downgoesoffline=yes
hardwareaddress=1a:11:a1:a0:00:01

I have also tried increasing my iprequests and writerequests to 128, up from 32.

I have also tried removing power from the computer and the plipbox, no impact.

I can use my serial port with a WiModem232 successfully, and I am sure my CIA chips are good, I replaced them both last year. I have also had trouble getting an A595 to work - it was working, but no longer works in any kickstart/OS or CPU combo, however I think my parallel port is working is fine as 1) other people are having the same problem 2) it works perfectly for a few minutes before dying.

SHowNetStatus plipbox tells me that on v0.5 I have a transmission speed of 100000 Bits/Second, and on v0.6 I have 491520 Bits/Second, it also tells me the link is Up.

When it is working I can use IBrowse (registered), UHC Tools, and Telnet using Telser.device in NComm perfectly, until the plipbox just stops responding, and then I need to power off The Amiga and power on again to get a few more minutes of network access.

The plipbox is behaving as through there is an overflow at some point and then it crashes?

I am using the 020 version of the plipbox.device driver with my TK2 installed, and I have tried the 000 release of plipbox.device but with the same result using both the v0.5 and the v0.6 drivers. Only the v0.5 020 release works, but only for a few minutes...when it feels like it?

Any thoughts or advice? Could I have a dodgy Arduino, or is a v0.7 driver perhaps needed? Is there anything else I can test?

Thanks.

@craziazkowboi
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craziazkowboi commented Apr 1, 2023 •
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Intermittent success...

First, I read about Chinese Arduino Nano's being flaky, and I opened my Plipbox to find a JoyIT Nano inside, very likely a Chinese clone of the Arduino Nano.

So I spent a few hours desoldering it out and then installed a new Arduino Nano V3, and used AVRDUDE to install the v0.6 firmware. I had to use a baud rate of 115200 to flash the firmware, where GitHub says 57600. 57600 would not sync for me.

But I still had the same problem... until I flashed v0.5 firmware, and using the v0.5 plipbox.device driver - it looks like my problems are resolved. I left my Amiga pinging Google for 3 hours and it had not hung - that was a lifetime compared to what I was getting before.

This means I am limited to 100,000 baud, as the v0.6 drivers and firmware DO NOT work for my Amiga 1000.

For anyone hoping to fix theirs - what I would try is flashing the v0.5 firmware first, and using the v0.5 plipbox.device driver as that is probably what fixed it for me. If that doesn't work, maybe consider replacing the Arduino nano for a real Arduino Nano v3?

But be warned, it's a mongrel to remove and you could damage your plipbox board without the right tools, lots of flux, and lots patience.

NOTE: After testing for a few days, using v0.5 does work but intermittently. Sometimes it works, and then dies mid way through a transfer, other times it won't work at all right from startup, and sometimes it does work for long enough to complete a transfer. Its really still not a viable solution.

Now over to the devs - any chance of a 0.7 firmware and driver that is A1000 compatible?

@10MARC
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10MARC commented Apr 1, 2023 via email

@craziazkowboi
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craziazkowboi commented Apr 1, 2023 via email

@craziazkowboi
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Seems GuruNet is not available to purchase on eBay or Amiga on the Lake anymore. Does anyone know where to get one please?

Alternatively - any chance we will see an updated Plipbox driver? I still have intermittent problems even with the v0.5 firmware and driver - anyone have any advice foe reliable usage on an Amiga 1000?

@10MARC
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10MARC commented Apr 13, 2023 via email

@craziazkowboi
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Anyone know where to buy Gurunet per chance? The Plipbox is really upsetting me - just too unreliable and it looks like support/interest in Plipbox is no longer there looking at the lack of correspondence to this thread. It's OK, it happens. Pity as there was a lot of potential in this device.

@craziazkowboi
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craziazkowboi commented Apr 23, 2023 •
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Might be another clue - I put a thermo-camera on my Plipbox and noticed there is a component in there running at 70+ degrees celsius (that is getting close to the max operating temperature of 85 Celsius for an Arduino/AtMEGA chip, and when the Arduino gets too hot, it shuts itself down...). It looks like it is the AtMEGA328 MPU running super-hot. I removed the 9v barrel power plug and changed to a USB power plug and the temperature has dropped to around 44 degrees Celsius.

Will continue to monitor over the week and see if internet is more reliable.

The component is on the left side of the parallel interface when plugged into the Amiga 1000, and I am facing the front of the Amiga, leaning over it to see the back.

@craziazkowboi
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The past few days have been a big success. Further investigation and looking good for a resolution.

It was not the AtMega, but an AMS chip, the screen print says U1, AND the chip on the ethernet board that were running super-hot.

With a thermo-camera, I registered the chip on the Ethernet board at 62.5 Celsius that was even using USB for power!!

The AMS chip (TRIAC?) registered at over 70 Celsius when using the barrel power connector, and in both cases that was without the network doing anything.

I changed my power to use USB, and I have added Arduino heat-sinks (the little copper heat sinks you can buy for Raspberry Pi and Arduino's). This has reduced heat to about 40 Celsius, and 50 Celsius when doing a big download (35Mb from Aminet). The AtMEGA chip was running a very cool 26 Celsius, no need for a heat sink. It's now running better than it ever has!

In the past, this would have failed within seconds for me. I have now upgraded my firmware back to 0.6 and am using the 0.6. driver. Again this would have been impossible a couple of weeks ago. I'm getting about 30 CPS (~240k bits/second) using the 0.6 firmware and driver, and no crashes in the past hour of testing.

Note to put a heatsink on the AMS chip, I had to cut the plipbox enclosure around the top of the heatsink - it sits about 0.5mm too high. It's worth it.

Very interested if this works for anyone else?

@Lotusshaney
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Do you have details on how to convert the poop box to USB power ?

@craziazkowboi
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craziazkowboi commented Apr 24, 2023 via email •
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@powaking
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The BURST mode does work with the 0.6 plipbox.device (and 0.6 firmware) on the A1200. I noticed that the echo command posted above fails because the sana2 directory does not exist in EnvARC. The solution is get a shell cli up, CD EnvARC makedir sana2 CD sana2 echo NOBURST > plipbox.config

Power off the Amiga and the plipbox, power back on the plipbox and then the Amiga.

It should be working!

I can not for the life of me to get my Plipbox to work on my A1200 unless I add NOBURST. I've updated the firmware to .06 and using the correct drivers. The only way I can get it to work is if I add NOBURST. Could it be a motherboard revision as to why it works on some but not others? I haven't been able to find any info on that. I'm using MiamiDX. Unless there is some other setting or tool I need to use to get it to work???

@craziazkowboi
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craziazkowboi commented May 22, 2023 via email

@salocinx
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Some also say, that old capacitors might be the problem. Signal quality on the parallel port probably improves with new capacitors.

@craziazkowboi
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craziazkowboi commented May 22, 2023 via email

@powaking
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My A1200 was professionally recapped. I will try and see if I can get a heat sink on the Ethernet cpu. I am using a pistorm32 right now. I can try with my Blizzard but doubtful if that will show any difference.

@salocinx
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The ENC28J60 Ethernet controller chip indeed can get hot. As long as you can put your finger on it, it should be fine. But as craziazkowboi already mentioned, it's normally a good thing to cool it with a little heat sink. It's worth a try.

@craziazkowboi
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craziazkowboi commented May 23, 2023 via email

@salocinx
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You may want to post a picture of your device. Have you installed pull-up resistors on the data and control lines?

@powaking
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IMG_9176

this is my plipbox. I did not build it, it was given to me as a gift. As you can see I can not use USB to power the device and must rely on the barrel connector. I don’t feel anything being warm enough to warrant a heat sink.

@salocinx
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The ENC28J60 chip which is sometimes getting hot, is beneath the Arduino Nano, on the middle PCB. Can you remove the Arduino Nano (socket or soldered) ? If so, you could run the Plipbox for some time and then turn-off the Amiga and remove the Arduino Nano and check the temperature of the chip beneath.

@craziazkowboi
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craziazkowboi commented May 23, 2023 via email

@powaking
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Just for giggles I downloaded the Network Bootdisk for Amiga and on the first boot after setup it failed to connect. Sure enough there was no plipbox.config. I created one and set the NOBURST and on reboot it connected immediately. This just proves its not my MiamiDX config or something.

I then ordered some microchip headsinks and placed them on the chip. Removed the NOBURST and power cycled everything. Again no dice. Just won't connect without the NOBURST. Not sure what else to try other than A) Find a reliable PCMCIA ethernet card thats reasonably priced or B) wait for the Pistorm team to get the Pi's wifi working.

@craziazkowboi
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craziazkowboi commented May 25, 2023 via email

@craziazkowboi
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craziazkowboi commented May 26, 2023 •
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ZHey all,

I purchased a v3 Plipbox from Amiga68k.com which arrived today and it is absolutely worth upgrading! woah!

After downloading a 4.6Mb file at ~21,000 CPS, I could only get it to 23.6 Celsius! That’s nearly half the V2 model! Whoop! Whoop! Impressive!!

FTP from my Amiga 1000 to my Mac has jumped from a sustained ~50KB/s to a sustained ~66KB/s wow - that was unexpected!

IMG230526160538

@craziazkowboi craziazkowboi mentioned this issue May 26, 2023
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@powaking
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That is a heck of a blog post. I was thinking of getting a Parceiro for my A1000 but due to space and the fact my A1200 was already accelerated I decided to spend most of my time and $$ on that machine. Not sure what I will do with my A1000 to be honest.

As for v3 of plipbox that looks interesting. I may be best to find a PCMCIA card as that would be best suited for my setup, just trying to find out thats not ridiculously over priced.

@craziazkowboi
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I would keep the A1000 close to stock and use it as an OS1.3 only machine. I love the Parceiro for this - just a few essential quality-of-life improvements.

The A1200 is well suited to being the beefy/accelerated Amiga on a modern OS3.2 etc. Both machines great to have if you want to do some development work and maintain compatibility across Amigas.

Amiga 1000 was my first Amiga, so it's special...

@powaking
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The A1000 was my first as well. Have kept it all these years. That is one of the reasons why I have held onto it but I think getting it back up and working properly is going to run me some $$$. Will see how it goes.

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@cnvogelg @soydemadrid @Lotusshaney @powaking @salocinx @apaul007 @stevee617 @10MARC @craziazkowboi @GadgetUK164