TF1260 Info and Installation Tips

The TF1260 mounts 128MB SDRAM and supports any PGA version of the 68060, all revisions, including LC (no FPU) models.

If you bought the TF1260 without a CPU, you can use your own. Please lay the board flat on the table making sure the connector is off the table’s edge, in order not to exert pressure and bend the board accidentally while plugging in your CPU.

Contrary to many expectations, the 68LC060 CPU works great, provided that the system is configured in a way to avoid using FPU libraries. You can download an example disk image that contains OS3.1 and all the necessary libraries and utilities for the TF1260 from http://alen.dreamhosters.com/LC060new.rar

This disk image can be written onto an 8GB CF card using Win32DiskImager, or can be mounted as a WinUAE hard file, in case you prefer to copy files manually. It will boot on all kickstarts, from 3.0 to 3.2.

Please note that all 68060 systems (including LC) require that the 68060.library be installed beforehand. It is part of the MMU.library v46 package that can be found on Aminet.

You need to have at least Kickstart 3.1 in your A1200 for the board to automatically add the 128MB of Fast Ram to the system. The automatic Fast RAM detection on 3.0 has been dropped in order to make sure the board can work in conjunction with the Mediator expansion board.

WARNING:

A1200 TIMING FIXES

If your A1200 has the E123C and E125C caps mounted on the bottom of the motherboard, you should remove them. Their presence is not necessary and will make the board unstable.

A1200 EDGE CONNECTOR

Please ensure your A1200 does not contain an unbevelled connector. A small minority of A1200s suffers from this problem. If you attempt to plug the TF1260 into one of these, it can damage the expansion connector. For more information please check this link.

TF IDE INTERFACE

The TF1260 IDE interface is operational. It will only work with specific 3.3V CF cards and devices; The device does not support autobooting, since the driver is not in ROM. However, you can load the driver manually from disk by using the loadmodule command (e.g. loadmodule devs:ehide.device). This driver is also included in the CF card image linked above. If you create a custom Kickstart chip, you can include the ehide.device into it, and his will allow you to boot from it. Currently, the TF IDE device is unreliable if the CPU is clocked at speeds higher than 50 MHz, but this will be solved in a new firmware update. Do not use V.Bx CF adapters, they will not work, you need to use the V.H2 type of CF card adapters, with a short cable (~5cm).

CPU SPEED CHANGE

The CPU speed can be changed via software. To do so, use the following AmigaDOS command (also included in the CF card image linked above):

Cpuspeed speed=XX

…where XX corresponds to the desired speed in Megahertz.

If you are using the BETA (999) firmware, use instead the CpuSpeedBeta command and one of the following values:

50, 63, 75, 80.

The actual value that your CPU will run at will depend on the CPU. Most rev1 CPUs will do 63Mhz, rev5s and LCs can do 63 and sometimes 75, and some rev6 cpus may reach 80Mhz. You may need active cooling at higher speeds.

If you are using the ALPHA (1000) firmware, use the Cpuspeed command and one of the following values:

50, 60, 67, 84, 94, 100.

The board also features a fan header, not soldered by default since it would make it hard to fit the card into the A1200 trapdoor, but it can be used if needed.

Upon reset, the board always reverts back to 50Mhz. This means that if the board gets locked up by a frequency that is too high, a reset or a power cycle is enough to restore it to the default operation mode. If you would like to run your board constantly at a higher speed, you can add the CPUSPEED command to the startup-sequence.

LC CPU notes

When installing software with the LC CPU, you should always select 020/030 executables whenever possible. This is because the Amiga compilers always default to FPU code when compiling 060 executables, which will cause the software to crash on CPUs that do not have an FPU.

It is however possible to compile software specifically for the LC060, for example see the ZDoom Amiga port (included in the CF card image linked above) which contains an LC binary file.

The best way to think about the LC060 is to consider it like a very fast 68030 CPU and install the same libraries and files that you would install on a 68030 system.

Support and firmware updates

Every card has its own unique serial number. For boards built by me, those start with the number 2xxx. For all boards with the serial number 2xxx, for support please email directly alenppc@gmail.com

In case of firmware updates, you will be able to update the firmware yourself with the help of a RPi, or you can also follow this helpful YouTube video which explains how to do it. You can also send your board back to me for reflashing (cost of shipment only).

Please note that all buyers have a 30-day money back period to send the card back to the builder for a full refund.

RTC

There is no RTC on the 1260, however the Amiga 1200 has a clockport on the motherboard that you can use to add an RTC. RTC Clockport modules are available from official Amiga resellers.

The onboard A1200 IDE and PCMCIA interfaces remain operational while using the 1260.

OS3.2

The recently released Amiga OS3.2 has a minor bug regarding the handling of the CPU cache at boot. The result is that if the TF1260 is plugged in without a hard drive/CF card present in the IDE port, the floppy boot screen animation never appears and the machine is permanently stuck on a black screen. The machine however boots normally when a HD/CF card is present.

A workaround for this bug has been implemented in the firmware of cards with serial numbers 2065 and above. Earlier cards can also be updated to avoid this.

TFTools download:

You can download TFTools separately from my image here: https://alen.dreamhosters.com/TFTools.lha

Alpha Firmware

A new firmware is currently available that dramatically improves the card’s performance. If your board shipped with either the original or the Beta firmware, you can flash the alpha version yourself.

Please note that if updating to the alpha firmware, you will need a new version of the CPUSpeed Tool which is included in the Alpha firmware archive or in the C: directory in the disk image.

Please note that it is unlikely that Rev1 CPUs will be able to run at more than 50 MHz with the Alpha firmware.