A (nearly) Plug and Play Atari STE accelerator!

[@ridiculous_gaming]

I have multiple accelerators for my Amiga computers and it's nice to see support in the ST line.

[@ryanfantus6258]

I really want to get my hands on one of these. Excellent video. I'd love to see how you set up things like xbench, and how you "prettify" your desktop. Also interested in maprom and nvdi and any other tweaks you do. Thanks!

[@granlund23]

That's probably the closest to plug-and-play acceleration I've seen for the ST/E! Exxos really did an amazing job with that one!

[@powerofvintage9442]

No soldering, just software...it's almost Amiga-like :)

[@jfloydsea]

My dad's 1040STFM had socketed CPU, as I swapped a 68010 from a Sun-2 into it until he blamed it for PageStream crashing. I suppose he could have added a socket at some point, but I remember every time that machine was offline as it cut into my Dungeon Master and Ultima IV addiction. The 1040STF I've got now isn't socketed, but will be shortly. My ST536 from exxos was delivered today and the bits from Mouser were already here.

[@powerofvintage9442]

I look forward to hearing how the ST536 is working for you!

[@thetechnoshed]

Exxos has done a spiffing job on the form factor here. Something like the Twister may have more features but a very nice thing is the 536 commonality IMO. And it's quick!

[@powerofvintage9442]

Agree 100% on the form factor. I was surprised at how little physical gymnastics were needed to fit everything in place.

[@rabidbigdog]

Apart from the PDP11, 6502, VAX and Alpha, the 68030 is my favourite CPU. The Apple IIci was their best product ever and 68030 Atari STs need to exist and be played with. Glorious.

[@ecdhe]

That's very cool! Now the Ultima IV monsters can kill you much faster! ;-) All jokes aside, it seems like it's a great option for people who have an ST or STE and don't feel like buying an expensive Falcon.

[@powerofvintage9442]

Judging by how Dungeon Master was playing, I would be more worried about those monsters.

[@user-Atamigaputer]

Wow thanks for vid, i will be getting one

[@powerofvintage9442]

They aren't available just yet. Mine was one of the test batch of 5 initial accelerators :) Let Exxos know you want one!

[@user-Atamigaputer]

@@powerofvintage9442 ok thank you

[@KLund1100]

Great and helpful video!! Can't wait to get one!!! ST/TT/Falcon with any IDE upgrade seem to be very picky about the CF cards they like. It took me 7 different model cards to find one my Falcon liked. It has something to do with the firmware in the cards. They all seem to have slightly different variants. Perhaps you could note the brand/model/size CF cards that have worked for you and the ones that didn't. I use Kingston Elite pro X133 cards for my CF needs, currently.

[@powerofvintage9442]

I did swap around my vintage fleet with CF cards (one of my Amigas could use the one the STE536 didn’t like) and found a nice Sandisk one that works like a charm.

[@TLang-el6sk]

Seeing my name flying by @44:55 - well, when I started developing for the MiNT-Net stack the only available drivers available were for one ethernet card adapted to the ROM port and for connection over serial lines...

[@powerofvintage9442]

That is soooo awesome!!! Thank you for making MiNT even awesomer.

[@TLang-el6sk]

@@powerofvintage9442 Together with a friend we made the MiNT'98 distribution which was most likely not very well known outside Germany. Administration of the system was done via a web browser, we had network printing, I ported Samba to the Atari and the other way round we used NFS.

[@dempseydiscus]

I remember, the Amiga 500 PiStorm only began to work really reliable after about a year and I suspect it will be something similar with this board, its people who typically have other jobs that do this in their spare time so it will take some time to get everything ironed out :-)

[@powerofvintage9442]

You’re right about that. Most of these vintage computer projects are really just passion projects. Folks with day jobs working on these things as a hobby. That’s one main reason I like to highlight them as much as I can because it’s that passion that keeps these hobbies alive.

[@danboid]

Glad to see we agree on the Atari, Commodore > Apple computer hierarchy.

[@powerofvintage9442]

I agree, however Apple was a better run business (still had major issues) and had an education market that buoyed it up.

[@bruce_just_]

Thanks for demonstrating this! Will have to get on the waiting list for a later batch.

[@powerofvintage9442]

Let Exxos know!

[@CmJr328]

How can I buy one of these or get on a waiting list? Is it ready for sale yet?

[@atari1040]

Wait! Don't we need at least windows 95 to have a plug and play? 😀 LOL... This (accelerator) is by the way greatest stuff and can't wait to have this "prod-ready" - I will buy not only 2 for my STEs but I will buy another STE - haha!. At the same time I am wondering if Mega STE (my lovely lovely machine...) can be somehow compatible with accelerator? Anyways, once "we" deal with this 68030 on every STE (tattadaammmm..) I think it is time for double-shifter or whatever that will get STE 256 colors and/or some higher resolution - WE... NEEED.... THIS... DESPERATELY ;-) // my dream is to get 640x400x256... with VME I get 1024x768x256 but hey... it's MEGA ste ;-) Great video / great channel - looooove it! Thank you!

[@powerofvintage9442]

There are folks working on the double-shifter now.....

[@Retroguyuk75]

Awesome 💯😎. That music you play on your intro, what machine is it playing on ? I really like it 😁👍🙏

[@powerofvintage9442]

It’s one of the stock KZbin available tunes.

[@TPau65]

This is awesome! Maybe I missed that part, but did the normal TOS-ROMs had to be removed? Saw that they were missing when you put together the STE. Did you have any temperature issues? Or is the heatsink coming with the package only precaution?

[@powerofvintage9442]

Yes the installed ROM's needed removal. I did remove them on video, but it was just like 10 seconds. I had no temperature issues (in fact even running Frontbench and Gembench, the CPU was warm but I could still touch it), but I had plenty of space in the case, so I figured better safe than sorry with the heatsink.

[@PersistenceOfVisionAtari]

That looks a great upgrade, not sure if available working stock of 68030s will fill demand or if we will have to wait for a stable PIstorm solutions. Either way a plugin accelerator and Sidecart make the STe feel modern and speedy.

[@powerofvintage9442]

My personal opinion based on no data whatsoever (other than buying lots of 030 accelerators...I have 8) is that the people looking to accelerate their old computers are a smaller subset of the vintage computing community at large. Also looking at pricing for those CPU's, they are quite low still today. I don't have any insight on global inventories, but they were produced in large quantities and used in many many different and high volume systems from the late 80's through the mid 90's.

[@PersistenceOfVisionAtari]

@@powerofvintage9442 I have a Falcon but no accelerator, just a memory upgrade & CF card. External goodies include a NETUSBee and a bluepill scsi adapter - no idea why I bought it, I guess I thought it was a good idea at the time but I have not used it since setting it up. I have to admit that for 99.9% of things Atari ST/Falcon I use Hatari. As for 68030 CPUs, someone post a vid a while back about fakes chips being an issue.

[@DoG_Atari]

Nice. I got a MonSTerbo from Alan H that I have been playing around with. I have TF536 in a MegaST though. TwiSTer is pretty sweet as well but I haven't tried one of those yet.

[@powerofvintage9442]

Both of those are great products too from what I've read. I really do think it's amazing all the new retro computer products being developed by hobbyist's to tinker with on these awesome machines.

[@AtariLegend]

That looks incredible. What a beast of an STe. Greg, I am a very simple guy and sorry for asking again, but you gotta try those wolf/doom clones on this thing. I wonder how they will run?

[@powerofvintage9442]

let me test Dread right now!

[@powerofvintage9442]

Dread worked under EmuTOS with the acclerator, but the latest Grind binary would not. Neither would run with TOS 2.06

[@AtariLegend]

@@powerofvintage9442 was there a big boost on performance?

[@powerofvintage9442]

@@AtariLegend There was an improvement in Dread versus a stock ST/STE (couldn't get Grind running). Until I can get it running predictably and stably I would suggest not counting on it working with the acclerator.

[@AtariLegend]

@@powerofvintage9442 thanks

[@jrherita]

I would love a 68030 accelerator upgrade for the Mega STe; I have a VME to ISA / TSENG 4000 video output, and the extra CPU horsepower would make that significantly better.

[@powerofvintage9442]

Totally get it. I tried to see if the STE536 would fit into my MegaSTe....physically as it is designed, I couldn't get it to fit without removing the motherboard from the case and relocating the PSU. So I didn't even try booting with the STE536. I believe there might be a MonSTEr turbo board that is compatible with the MegaSTE...68020, but still some more horsepower.

[@AmAtAm]

Very exciting. I assume it wouldn’t fit in a MSTE at this point. This sort of thing gives food for thought: do I want my STE to be faster than my MSTE 🤔 I’ve had the same dilemma in the past with my Amigas and have always elected to keep my A1200 slower than my A4000 😁

[@powerofvintage9442]

I know the feeling. I did have someone ask me to try the accelerator in my mega ste...it's on the list of things to try :)

[@mikecaster4612]

I would like to see a 3D printed case made for your "4096 STE 535" model board. There might be a pattern on Thingaverse (sic) to use or adapt. I would use a unique color to fit the unique STE, something just slightly darker than the Falcon color. If you can't find a pattern - I can model it for you.

[@powerofvintage9442]

So would I! I know there are a few models out there, but my printer isn’t big enough to print those I’ve found.

[@nigelrhodes4330]

I would like to accelerate my Mega STE, if you have a chance to test it in the Mega STE I would like to see that as a short video.

[@powerofvintage9442]

Interesting! I think I'll try that out after running it a bit more through its paces on the 1040STE. I would expect other challenges to come up with the cache & 16mhz CPU speed.

[@atari1040]

@@powerofvintage9442 Please try however I am not sure if mega ste was supposed to be supported :/

[@powerofvintage9442]

@@atari1040 no it isn't meant to be supported, but it doesn't mean I can't try. It won't break the machine. Of that I'm certain.

[@DeadCat-42]

If only my STE had a socket. My tf536 is for the STFM and it's waiting on the last few buffers to be soldered in. I'm not having luck with the pistorm. At least I got the ICD working. and I managed to find an et4000 isa card in my Pile -o-junk left over from my 90's pc shop days. So looking for a vme adaptor (or gerber files for such). I'm bidding on ebay for a mega( birthday present to self)

[@powerofvintage9442]

Dang, sorry about the socketless STE. Do a search on Frank Lukas for the mega bus to ISA adapter. He is the seller on ebay, but frequents the various Atari forums as well. I got my ISA adapter from him. Good luck with the ST536, and from what @BW's Technoshed commented on Pistorm isn't there yet for Atari ST. He seems to be the one working on it most from what I've seen.

[@DeadCat-42]

@@powerofvintage9442 Yes I found some threads but not any available except an original nova card. I do have one odd thing that you might like to tinker with (and I'd let you borrow for your channel if you'd like) It's a 286 add on that you can drop into a socket-ed atari called an at-once. (the 286 is AMD branded licensed from intel) another relic of my teenage years. I used it to play DOS games on the atari.

[@powerofvintage9442]

See this ebay listing here for a Mega STE version. The seller, Frank, also builds a version for the Mega ST (no E) that plugs into the Mega bus port. If you're looking for one he's the guy...he's active on both Exxos's and the Atari-Forum boards. www.ebay.com/itm/196539508077?itmmeta=01J51BS80BRHEMDAQQYM8KTKGF&hash=item2dc2aae56d:g:jBMAAOSwRL9mlnvL&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAAwDJoA82hhv0g1bcwl%2BN%2Bp%2FsAjrw%2BN1fMb%2BUdsciNRrjelu2dw%2BMqFnIcgdkR2Vr4VboPOgthMVCobohEO04HGKFejr5rQTWrY3%2FyN1u98cK5H96XMboHeEja51FELQ8Hrw3HAKA8Iem9KYR3m7pR6VdB0u28D4Jaw%2FACXAajX4SUGhT2w4uuHt8oFwhJXC4Zzw%2BWgfHGJA3aYxGPWvl91xOEg%2FSSTw6Y2yl1nB95rfJe8o008ScCeoK%2FIbQntxLJSg%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR6aA5auoZA On the 286, shoot me a message to my channel email!

[@exxosuk]

What a cool new toy :) The CF issues don't seem to happen when using SanDisk cards. But I'm not totally sure if the problem is with the CF cards or the adapter. But will get to the bottom of it eventually :)

[@powerofvintage9442]

What's really funny is that when a duplicate CF card (of the one that works) arrived today, it for some reason causes the computer to crash completely. Exact same brand, same size...I literally hit the "order another" button on Amazon.

[@exxosuk]

@@powerofvintage9442 i would stick with SanDisk cards. They never seem to have troubles like a lot of others do.

[@exxosuk]

@@powerofvintage9442 if you move the jumper next to the ROM to the top location it will boot EMUTOS. It's better equipped for the 030 CPU and it may improve things. Maybe try mint again and see if it behaves better than TOS..

[@powerofvintage9442]

Definitely will try that out. Although, I REALLY like the Atari ST536 boot logo. I have been running EmuTOS on my Mega ST with an original TF536 (with the ST firmware) for a while now.

[@powerofvintage9442]

Yep just ordered one...

[@joelavcoco]

Very cool. What model TV is that that supports 15KHz sync?

[@powerofvintage9442]

It's a Seiki 4k SE39UY04

[@DeadCat-42]

dell se272zh work really well with the st and they are easy to find.

[@jay1177]

Looks good so far. Just a few bugs

[@powerofvintage9442]

A lot fewer than I was expecting.

[@SimmeringPotpourri]

What make and model is that big screen TV that does 15 khz?

[@powerofvintage9442]

Brand: Seiki Model number: SE39UY04

[@ByetTony]

You're very lucky , i would like to get it. But the price , or a pistorm could outperform this board ...? Sorry for my poor english .

[@powerofvintage9442]

A pistorm, when it is stable, will outperform this in many ways. I believe work is being done to provide the equivalent of a VGA graphics card in addition to the faster CPU. That would be pretty neat. Personally, I prefer using historical CPU's like the 68030, 68020, etc.

[@dav1dbone]

Are there options for us ste guys with the socketed cpu? (handy with soldering iron, smt microscope - hot air etc....)

[@powerofvintage9442]

Do you mean "without" the socketed CPU? If there was enough demand, I could imagine the accelerator could be built with a socket to go around the CPU soldered to the motherboard just like the Amiga 600 accelerators do. That said, I'm not the electronics designer, but I know the guy who is :) @exxosuk what do you think?

[@dav1dbone]

@@powerofvintage9442 Yes I am a big fan of Exxos' work;-) Yes, my plc 68000 is soldered to the board, from what I've read on the Exxos forum there has been "funky" issues with certain sockets, that's where my uncertainty lies, does it carry through to the pin layout on the board if the cpu is removed? I'm thinking a soldered connection to the booster would be better also? I'd imagine there would be a demand for folk in the same predicament:-)

[@dav1dbone]

Also, I've not watched your video completely, I'm assuming since this is a 68030 CPU, that there is a way to revert back to 68k ?

[@powerofvintage9442]

You can easily remove the accelerator and put the original 68k CPU back in. No irreversible changes to the computer are made (no soldering either) if that's what you were asking. If you were asking if there is a "toggle" switch on the board to boot in "compatibility 68k mode", then no that is not available on this design.

[@user-Atamigaputer]

DId exxos give any thoughts on when the beta will finish and be available for sale?

[@powerofvintage9442]

Not that I've seen, but we're still really early (although my experience is VERY promising in my opinion)