X5000 OK?

AmigaOne X5000 platform specific issues.
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kilaueabart
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X5000 OK?

Post by kilaueabart »

I see a lot of X5000 problems here and on other Amiga sites, but of course it is natural to post only problems, not how great the device is. But it does make me wonder about a possible course of action.

My X1000 crashed in December. After a lot of testing and exchanges with Amigakit Support, I ended up sending the motherboard back to England in May. It sat in limbo until some time in July, when it finally reached the repair people, but I still get up-dates like this from August 20th:

Code: Select all

It looks like your Nemo motherboard has just tur ned up. Unexpected, but its here.
I will put it on test and update you. The repair report says a capacitor had been ripped off board.
I started toying with the idea of giving up on the X1000 and putting an X5000 motherboard (and whatever other changes are necessary) into the X1000 case several months ago, but it's really hard to guess whether that is really a good idea or not, like would I be just as well off with an X5000 as I was with the X1000. Any hints?
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tonyw
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Re: X5000 OK?

Post by tonyw »

Differences between X1K and X5K:

X5K > X1K
1) X5K is faster than X1K (2.2 GHz as against 1.8 GHz). Most software runs that much faster.
2) X5K has one 4x and three 1x PCIe slots, X1K has only two 1x slots.
3) X5K has all NVRAM and U-Boot in on-board SD card, can hold Linux kernel with room for expansion. SD card can be accessed and updated from OS4 utilities.
4) X5K is much faster to boot (~40 seconds as against ~65 for the X1K).

X1K > X5K
1) X5K needs an audio card as there is no on-board audio.
2) X5K has only two SATA connectors on-board, X1K has four.
3) SiI3114 PCI card doesn't work properly on X5K. Could be software bug.
4) X1K has built-in PATA controller on-board (dubious advantage).
5) X1K has two RS-232 serial ports, X5K has only one (dubious advantage).
6) X1K has two 16x PCIe slots, X5K has only one.
cheers
tony
xenic
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Re: X5000 OK?

Post by xenic »

kilaueabart wrote:I started toying with the idea of giving up on the X1000 and putting an X5000 motherboard (and whatever other changes are necessary) into the X1000 case several months ago, but it's really hard to guess whether that is really a good idea or not, like would I be just as well off with an X5000 as I was with the X1000. Any hints?
The X5000 doesn't seem to work properly with some sound cards that work with my X1000; mostly some CMI8738 cards. I had to replace the one that came with my X5000 with an old SoundBlaster card.

The X5000 USB powers on and off during initial boot and reboots which causes problems for some USB devices. My USB network adapter frequently isn't ready after a boot or reboot. I have problems with my wireless USB mouse being recognized after boot or reboot. My printer resets when the USB power goes on and off and I usually need to turn my printer off and back on.

The X5000 CD player gets assigned a new device name for every CD you insert (CD1: CD2: CD3: etc) making it impossible to burn a CD with both CD burners I've tried (AmiDVD & MakeCD). You also can't set the device name (like CD0:) in CD player programs because the CD device name keeps changing. According to Rigo "the hard disk driver is still, as yet, unfinished"; which may explain the strange CD behavior.

You will need a SATA card if you want additional hard disks or external SATA backup capability. My sii3512 card works but I accidently bought a half height version which doesn't cover the slot in the X5000 backplate.

The X5000 doesn't have Altivec like the X1000 but I don't know if that makes any difference.

If all the issues are resolved soon, I'd say it's a suitable replacemnnt for your X1000.
AmigaOne X1000 with 2GB memory - OS4.1 FE
outrun1978
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Re: X5000 OK?

Post by outrun1978 »

I'd get yourself an x5000 motherboard if were you, some of the "issues" reported by others are workable, for example if you want to burn CD's at present just connect the CD rom drive to a sil3512 sata controller, until the dedicaed driver appears.
I run my machine with an Envy 24 HT soundcard which works without issue and my main keyboard and mouse are plugged into a USB hub device which doesn't tend to cause me any issues like it does with others having to re-plug in on boot.

As others have commented not sure the lack of Altivec is so much of an issue on this machine. Its certainly a quick beast :-)
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mritter0
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Re: X5000 OK?

Post by mritter0 »

I have not had a single problem with mine. Pull the trigger and buy one. You won't be sorry.

I got mine customized through Amiga On The Lake. See if they will do the same for you.
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icbrkr
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Re: X5000 OK?

Post by icbrkr »

Bought mine from AOTL.

The soundcard that came with it didn't work properly in the PCI slot it was in. Moved it. Only works for about an hour and dies. Had to buy a new card. That one didn't work either. Bought an old Soundblaster too. Working.

Keyboard didn't work. Got another keyboard. Didn't work. Tried a 3rd one. Didn't work. Found a Mac keyboard. Worked.

Had a USB wireless mouse. Didn't work. Bought a wired one.

Since there's no OS 4.x wireless driver that works with newer cards, I have to hook a PCIe NIC to a wireless bridge (the onboard NIC doesn't work yet). USB isn't turned on or is turned off/on when you boot up, so I had to hook it up to a USB power supply. Not really happy, I have enough things plugged in.

Leave a CD in the drive? Ooops. Computer won't boot up.

I mean, I understand that bugs will happen, but I'll admit, I'm a bit disappointed. This is my first NG Amiga, and I bought one put together so I -wouldn't- have to play the 'find the part until it works' game like I did with my 4000T. Lots of things I'm complaining about are pretty basic and I'm surprised it wasn't caught up front.
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daveyw
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Re: X5000 OK?

Post by daveyw »

I also have an X5000 and I don't regret it. Bought the motherboard from AmigaKit UK and built my own machine, which I found quite rewarding.

Altivec would speed up certain mathematical functions, such as video encoding (which I do a bit of). For example, the SAM has a higher clock speed than my A1XE, but using FFMpeg compiled for Altivec on my A1 actually outperforms the SAM. I don't have an X1000 to speed test, but I wouldn't be surprised if the same held true for the X1000 vs X5000.

As I migrated software from my A1 to my X5000, I had to be careful to not use the Altivec versions I previously used.

It's a shame to lose Altivec, but the P5020 is pretty darn fast in its own right.

I have not had any major issues with my soundcard, although I do have quite a low end PCIe unit that only cost $NZ15 and performance matches price. ;) I wish OS4 had a better TCP/IP stack, but that affects all NG Amiga users, whether you're on a MicroA1 or a X5000/40. Had no problems with my peripherals. Mouse works (cheap Zalman model), keyboard works (not-so-cheap custom keyboard), printer works (with the venerable TurboPrint). Had a few issues with graphics cards to start off with, and I have no idea how I solved them, but if you buy a complete machine from a vendor you shouldn't have that worry.

The only outstanding problem I have is that I am unable to play or rip commercial DVDs. I can't figure out why. I don't know if I'm missing some software, or because the p5020sata.device hasn't been finalised yet (as alluded to above).
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kilaueabart
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Re: X5000 OK?

Post by kilaueabart »

Many thanks to the five (six, all of a sudden) who have given me good food for thought. outrun1978 and mritter0, and now daveyw, gave particularly encouraging responses, and no one was totally negative, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to put in an order with Amiga on the Lake. (Early this year I was a bit surprised to find out that I had an X5000 motherboard in a "cart" there, but I guess when they broke off with A-EON and AmigaKit they not only scrapped that but my sign-in account as well. I had to set one up again just now, just to be ready when I finally make up my mind.)

I had originally planned to use the X5000 motherboard in my X1000 case. Otherwise I would have another, if somewhat more compact, case to find room for, even though that would save a lot of trouble ordering parts to replace the X1000 ones that would no longer serve a purpose. But there still remains the possibility that AmigaKit might tell me, right after I order an X5000, that they can fix the X1000 motherboard. Maybe it would be worth getting it done, and having an X1000 case to put it in and try to sell it? I wonder if those things still sell. Or would the case, etc., sell with no motherboard? I need to do some more googling...
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daveyw
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Re: X5000 OK?

Post by daveyw »

If you do plan on transplanting HDDs from your X1000 to your new X5000, one thing to be aware of is that SFS is no longer part of the base OS4 and isn't included in the OS4.1 FE distro for the X5000.

However, SFS is included in the Enhancer software, which I believe all distrubutors are including for free. You would need to install it to your new boot partition and enable it in kicklayout.
icbrkr
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Re: X5000 OK?

Post by icbrkr »

Yeah don't get me wrong. I don't regret buying it. I do actually like it, the OS works well and 4.x is 'familiar' to me as I had only used 3.9. The system is definitely fast, and honestly, when I'm running tons of things, the CPU usage barely budges, even with a single core.

I'm just pointing out things that could have been done better - especially for someone who has never had an Amiga before, or maybe never messed with a NG Amiga.
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