Mirari KiCad Design Phase…
Harald (Geennaam) started around May 2024 with the Mirari board design using KiCad. KiCad is an open source software suite for Electronic Design Automation (EDA)
KiCad 3D Renders
After the component placement the 3D renders came to live.
Getting ready for the first Proto`s
All data was send to the factory, and now we wait. Some pre-production stage pics…
A package has arrived
After a few weeks the first 5 prototype Mirari boards arrived. Time to observe and see if all components are in place.
White Smoke ?
Harald slowly putting the correct voltages on the board. This “smoke” test makes sure the components are working correct and are well placed.
Houston…we have a problem…
Missing an important clock due to a problem with an oscillator, it needed to be replaced. After replacement there was a clean 24 and 100Mhz clock!
U-boot and more..
The Mirari mainboard, with its promise of modernizing the Amiga experience, presents exciting possibilities. However, integrating cutting-edge technologies like NVMe drives and a recent U-Boot version (specifically 2024) introduces some interesting challenges.
The NVMe Hurdle:
NVMe drives offer blazing-fast storage speeds, a significant upgrade from traditional IDE or even SATA solutions. However, their integration with the Mirari and its Amiga architecture isn’t straightforward:
- Driver Support: The AmigaOS4 operating system needs specific drivers to interface with NVMe controllers. While progress has been made already by Harald, his driver is still under development.
- Booting from NVMe: Booting directly from an NVMe drive requires appropriate firmware and bootloader support. This is where U-Boot comes in.
U-boot developments have already started and progress can be found on the Github page. https://github.com/0xECEAD/u-boot/tree/lf_v2024.04
Dec 2024. All SerDes lane connected devices start to show-up. NVMe and USB controllers. Interal switches and network interface. Slowly but surely the voltage will be increased until we reach the 12v.
Jan 8, 2025, Sata and Ethernet devices are starting to showup in Uboot. Great progress is being made.
Jan 20, 2025, Using existing open source code, which has been reworked for integration in u-boot 2024, and fixing bugs in the vesa driver, we have the Mirari Bootscreen.
Jan 26, 2025. Linux up and running on the Mirari board. At the moment several PPC Linux distros can be used. Void PPC, Adelie and Fienix Linux. Also nice to mention, they are running of a NVME drive connected to the onboard controller of the Mirari.
Jan 30, 2025 The Mirari Renesas highspeed USB3.0 Controller is up and running.
Feb 08, 2025 Another puzzle has been solved. The last few days were spend on the allocation of all the RAM for use by Linux. But here we are, a fully working Linux distro using all 8GB of the inserted dual rank DDR S0DIMM.
PCIx1 Headache..
March, 9 2025 As the board is running fine there still was one issue that needed some attention. Cards placed in the PCIx1 slot did not get detected. Harald had a hard time solving the issue…but as always.. he succeeded. We needed two small resistors to be soldered onto the Mirari`s PCIx1 slot. Marco did a great Job soldering the components and making sure we have a working PCIx1 slot now!
FPGA Progress
The Mirari FPGA has been updated and HDD led, PWR led, Reset Switch and Power Switch are fully functional. Also the FPGA is accessible from within Uboot.
Butterfly Trip
One of the Mirari boards has arrived at MorphOS team member Frank Mariak. Frank has started porting MorphOS to the Mirari board. Love it already !
Keeping it cool(er)
A new cooler design has arrived, and combined with a 60 x 60 fan the temperature looks even better than before. Full load on 4 cores give us 42 degrees celcius, and the mainboard 30 degrees celcius. Two fantypes have been tested by Harald. The Silent 6 and Xilence are both nice but the Xilence produces less dB.
Frank Mariak’s Unwavering Dedication.
23-05-2025..The journey to a functional operating system is often paved with countless hours of coding, debugging, and problem-solving, a testament to the dedication of its developers. For the MorphOS team, one pivotal moment stands out: the very first successful boot-up of the MorphOS operating system. This momentous achievement, a significant milestone in the project’s history, was made possible largely through the relentless hard work and unwavering dedication of one key team member, Frank Mariak.
The name Mirari finds its origins in the Portuguese language, where it is derived from the word milagre, meaning miracle.