Published: 2019-08-09 Updated: 2020-02-12 12:55:48 +0100

MNT ZZ9000 Amiga Graphics Accelerator + Network, USB

MNT ZZ9000 is the successor to the VA2000 Amiga graphics card. But it can do more than just graphics: based on the Xilinx ZYNQ XC7Z020 chip, it features not only a powerful 7-series FPGA, but also 2x 666MHz ARM Cortex-A9 cores and 1GB of DDR3 memory. All Picasso96 rendering functions are fully accelerated using custom ARM routines. As a bonus, ZZ9000 features an Ethernet connector with SANA-II support, and a USB connector for mounting an USB stick as an Amiga drive.

Purchase ZZ9000

ZZ9000 is available in the MNT shop.

AmigaOS Drivers

Download the latest Installer package at:

https://source.mntmn.com/MNT/zz9000-drivers/releases

Newest version: 1.5.1 (2020-01-05)

Contains RTG graphics driver (P96 compatible), Ethernet driver (SANA-II compatible) and USB Storage driver.

Recommended P96 version: Updated P96 by Individual Computers

Requires Kickstart 3.1 or higher and Motorola 68020 or higher.

Firmware (BOOT.bin)

Download the latest firmware version at:

https://source.mntmn.com/MNT/zz9000-firmware/releases

Newest version Z3: 1.5.1

Newest version Z2: 1.5.1

Newest version Amiga 500: 1.5.1

Extract and copy BOOT.bin to the root of MBR/FAT32 formatted MicroSD card inserted into ZZ9000 MicroSD card slot.

We test with Amiga 2000 Rev 6.2, Amiga 3000D, Amiga 4000D and Amiga 500 Rev 5.

User Manuals

ARM Cortex-A9 Software

Software packages for the ARM Cortex-A9 processors in ZZ9000 are under active development.

If you want to develop ARM applications for ZZ9000, you can download the Software Development Kit (SDK) with some example programs here: https://source.mntmn.com/MNT/zz9000-sdk

Known Bugs and Workarounds

Problem (V1.0): Sometimes E7M clock is not correctly synced at startup so that sampled native Amiga Hi-Res pixels are swapped. Solution: Cold-restart the computer. Fixed in 1.5.

Problem (V1.0): Red screen on A4000 cold startup. Solution: The red screen happens if the Amiga initializes faster than ZZ9000. The red screen goes away after a few seconds and the system will work normally.

Problem (V1.0): Ethernet download speed is slow (around 20kB/s). Solution: Fixed in 1.4b.

Problem (V1.0): ARM SDK applications don't work with Zorro II firmware. Solution: While technically ARM SDK applications can work on Zorro II machines, we're still finalizing the memory map and a windowing method for the limited Zorro II address space.

Problem (V1.3c): On some 68030 systems, mouse pointer "smears". We are working on a solution.

FAQ

Q: How can I use the USB port?

A: The USB port can be used since firmware version 1.5 to read and write to USB mass storage (tested with USB sticks).

Q: How can I use the MicroSD slot?

A: The MicroSD slot is reserved for holding ZZ9000 firmware (BOOT.bin) only.

Q: How can I hack on the firmware?

A: The ZZ9000 firmware is open source! The README explains how to get started with developing: https://source.mntmn.com/MNT/zz9000-firmware

Q: Where do I get help if something doesn't work?

A: Join the IRC channel #mnt-amiga on irc.freenode.net to chat with other ZZ9000 users and/or drop us a line at zz9000@mntre.com.

Features

RTG: Up to 1920x1080 FHD screen resolution at 8bit 256-colors "Chunky", 16bit or 32bit color depths. (1920x1080 at 16 bit, all other resolutions up to 32 bit).

Enhanced VA2000CX Amiga native video passthrough functionality with AGA support (scandoubler with interlace flicker-fixer)

Dual 666MHz ARM Cortex A9 coprocessors to offload computing tasks like JPEG, MP3 decoding and graphics acceleration

1GB DDR3 RAM

Ethernet interface: Get your Amiga online, SANA-II compatible driver

SD Card interface (for firmware updates, not currently usable from AmigaOS)

For Amiga 500, 2000, 3000 and 4000 (Zorro 2 and 3 compatible)

Drivers, firmware and schematics are open sourced: https://source.mntmn.com/MNT

Includes ZZ9000CX video slot capture card with cable

Includes metal slot bracket

USB port supports USB mass storage devices. The driver is in beta and allows you to access USB sticks from workbench.

For technical information about the ARM SDK, check https://source.mntmn.com/MNT/zz9000-sdk

Picasso96/P96 Acceleration

Acceleration for all currently available P96 graphics functions has been implemented, with slightly faster code paths being used in situations where the handling of the draw mode and/or mask can be skipped. Unless otherwise noted, mask and all draw modes are supported and accelerated for all rendering functions. Much of the more advanced acceleration has been contributed by beeanyew.

FillRect: Mostly used to clear areas or specific bit planes from an area on the screen.

BlitRect: Used for things like copying/moving an area of the screen to somewhere else.

BlitRectNoMaskComplete: Mainly used for calls to BltBitMap and BltBitMapRastPort. In addition to mask support, all minterm modes are supported and accelerated.

BlitTemplate/BlitPattern: BlitTemplate is mostly used for drawing text, while BlitPattern is used for drawing things like the chequered backgrounds on scrollbars and the like.

InvertRect: This is sometimes used to conditionally clear parts of an area on the screen, usually in combination with a specific mask value.

BlitPlanar2Chunky/BlitPlanar2Direct: Used for converting planar graphics to chunky/hicolor and truecolor data. Speeds up rendering of window widgets, saves on Chip RAM for large planar Workbench icons and is heavily used in for instance Personal Paint for drawing everything on screen in RTG video modes. All minterm modes are supported and accelerated.

DrawLine: Used for drawing lines, using a slightly adapted version of the Bresenham algorithm. Pattern drawing is accelerated, but not 100% accurate. It is however enough to render everything tested except for the P96 line pattern tests properly.

In addition, hardware mouse cursor support is available with support for large mouse pointer. Doubling the size of the hardware mouse pointer is currently not supported, so it may appear slightly smaller than normal in pixel doubled low resolution display modes.

Hardware Installation Pictures