- amiga history guide Supporting Amiga and compatibles since 1997 -
-
-
- banners - disclaimer - faq
 
- - -
- -     -
-
recent updates
amiga history
features
amiga models
magazines
technical
interviews
internet links
downloads

 

-

© 1997-2006
Gareth Knight
All Rights reserved

-

 
-

AmigaOne G3/G4 ATX

Amiga XE board

Developer: Teron / Eyetech
Announcement Date: October 2000 (Neuss show)
Launch date: 2Q (summer) 2002
Discontinued: 3Q (autumn/fall) 2005

The AmigaOne is a PPC motherboard capable of running Amiga OS4.x. It is the second board to be branded AmigaOne, replacing Escena's unreleased AmigaOne 1200/4000. The AmigaOne is a modified version of the Teron CX motherboard, dubbed version 1.5. It uses a standard ATX form factor and uses off-the-self components that are common in the Intel world - AGP slot (2x speed), 4x PCI slots, on-board UDMA100, USB (), and 10/100 ethernet. A notable difference to the Teron CX motherboard is the inclusion of an 'OS4 enabler' - a piece of software code in the firmware (BIOS) that confirms that Amiga OS4 is running on an official Amiga board. This is intended to reduce piracy by preventing Amiga code being run on non-sanctioned PPC machines, such as the Pegasos or the Apple Mac.

Three variations of the board have been sold. The low-cost AmigaOne G3-SE contained a G3 600Mhz processor that was soldered onto the motherboard. It was announced with a retail price of 382.94 UK Pounds (550 US Dollars/652.50 Euros). More costly models contain Apple's "Megarray" CPU socket. This allows the processor to be upgraded at a later date. These boards use either a G3 750FX CPU running at 800 MHz (announced retail price 582.94 UK Pounds / 850 US Dollar / 1002.50 Euros), or a G4 7455 CPU running at 800 MHz.

The board is capable of running Amiga OS4.x and PPC Linux variants (TurboLinux, SuSE Linux and Debian Linux). It can run MacOS PPC/68k through emulation, via Mac on Linux.

Technical Summary

Item AmigaOne G3-SE AmigaOneG3-XE AmigaOneG4-XE
CPU G3 750CXe (soldered) G3 750FX (socketed) G4 7455 (socketed)
CPU speed 600 MHz 800 MHz 800 MHz
CPU upgradable No Yes Yes
Max memory 2 GB 2 GB 2 GB
Memory type DIMM Registered 133 DIMM Registered 133 DIMM Registered 133
Northbridge ArticiaS ArticiaS ArticiaS
Southbridge VIA 82C686B VIA 82C686B VIA 82C686B
PCI 33MHz 3 Slots 3 Slots 3 Slots
PCI 66MHz 1 Slot 1 Slot 1 Slot
AGP speed 2x 2x 2x
Ethernet 3COM 820C (10/100 ethernet) 3COM 820C (10/100 ethernet) 3COM 820C (10/100 ethernet)
USB ports 2 socketed on board, 2 headers 2 socketed on board, 2 headers 2 socketed on board, 2 headers
PS2 ports Keyboard & mouse Keyboard & mouse Keyboard & mouse
Serial ports 2 x 16650 equivalent 2 x 16650 equivalent 2 x 16650 equivalent
Parallel port 1 x EPP/ECP 1 x EPP/ECP 1 x EPP/ECP
IRDA port on header on header on header
Firmware PPCBoot & OS4 enabler PPCBoot & OS4 enabler PPCBoot & OS4 enabler

Reaction

The motherboard has been plagued with problems since its launch and driver support for onboard expansion has been limited. Software developers have described the difficulty in obtaining complete documentation on key components and several commentators, including Genesi, have declared the ArticiaS northbridge to be incomplete. Many owners have been advised to purchase PCI USB/Ethernet expansion cards, rather than await drivers that resolve onboard issues. Eyetech have expressed their frustration with the continued development problems. Although the company continues to distribute and support the AmigaOne motherboard, they have made no announcement on its continued development. It appears the company is selling existing stock and does not intend to fund further production. However, no official statement has been made.

Relevant links
overview of the AmigaOne
AmigaOne in a standard tower case
AmigaOne 1200/4000 prototype
AmigaOne concept case.
Alan Redhouse comments on new A1 design (Feb 25, 2002)

Press Releases
Mai Logic Incorporated And Eyetech Group Limited Partner to Capture New Amiga Territory (9th July 2002)

BACK

Last Update: 08/04/2006

-

Latest updates to the Amiga History Guide. (more)


-
· Amiga Hardware
· Amiga History.de
· Amiga Magazine Rack
· Amiga-news(en)(de)
· Amiga.org
· Amiga World
· AmigaOS 4.0
· Amiga University
· Commodore Retrobits
· Dave Haynie archive
· Lemon Amiga
· MorphOS Support
· morphos-news.de

-

Other interesting items in the archive!


-  

--

home · changes · amiga history · features · amiga models
magazines · technical · interviews · internet links · downloads

Hosted by:
Bambi - The Amiga Web Server