Would like to borrow: Hydra controller card

[Treatment]

Hello,

Does anybody have a Hydra controller card I could borrow, to test a Hydra backplane before I put it on ebay, please?

I already have five ARM610's and a Simtec A5000 memory module, and I would like to be able to auction the lot as "tested and working".

Otherwise I'll just list it as "parts only, not working".

[Treatment]

What does the red star mean on the icon for this topic?

[MartinB]

The red star denotes threads in which you’ve posted - i.e. I’ll see one for this thread too now....

[ajw99uk]

Hi Treatment,
I see you have now listed the socket board by itself. Not sure I agree with the comments regarding multicore development and so forth, but that's by the by - I did want to note that the A5000 2MB RAM upgrade has nothing to do with Hydra (being for one of the pre-RiscPC series). Not sure if it would suffer or do any damage if fitted to Hydra.

[Treatment]

It's a Simtec memory module, manufactured in 1998 and clearly designed to fit the Hydra.

[danielj]

Alas, it is for an A5000, not the hydra:
http://www.simtec.co.uk/products/AU4M5000/

d.

[RobC]

Yes - according to the link below, the Hydra shared memory module is extremely rare. I very much a doubt Simtec would have made a specialised board if their standard A5000 memory upgrade would do the job. Given that there can't be many Hydras left around, I wouldn't plug that memory upgrade into it as it might do some damage.

http://www.acornarcade.com/forums/viewt ... adid=12109

[Treatment]

Simtec banned music.

[danielj]

Must have got quite tedious in the workplace then.

[paulv]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142603847393

Really? Really?

That's not even LOL price... That's just depressingly unrealistic.

Paul

[davidb]

RISC OS was the operating system running on the Acorn computers ARM used to perform the demonstrations. This fact proves RISC OS was and is perfectly capable of multi-core operation.

I'd be very surprised if that was ever the case. Maybe someone should tell ROOL, then, if it's that easy: Bounty proposal - Multicore/node support

[vanekp]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142603847393

Really? Really?

That's not even LOL price... That's just depressingly unrealistic.

Paul

That is just insane a board with 4 chips on it.

[danielj]

In fairness, also 5x ARM 610 cards and 1x A5000 memory expansion...

d.

[vanekp]

Ahh had not looked at the other pictures the price scared me off very quickly

[paulb]

RISC OS was the operating system running on the Acorn computers ARM used to perform the demonstrations. This fact proves RISC OS was and is perfectly capable of multi-core operation.

I'd be very surprised if that was ever the case. Maybe someone should tell ROOL, then, if it's that easy: Bounty proposal - Multicore/node support

The Hydra API (Application program interface)

With four slave processor cards fitted a RiscPC with Hydra has, in theory, five times the processing power of a standard RiscPC. Unfortunately the operating system RISC OS is not a multiprocessor OS and has no way of taking advantage of this increased processing power. One way to make effective use of Hydra is to switch to an operating system which does support multiprocessing such as RiscBSD, Helios or Taos. This has the advantage that any applications software which can multithread will automatically take advantage of any available processors. However, for the ordinary RISC OS user, the easiest way to harness the power of Hydra is to use application software written to enhance parts of RISC OS which uses the Hydra API. As the API exists independently on RISC OS, any MP aware applications will make use of the new resources and ordinary applications will run unaffected.

From Simtec Hydra ARM Multiprocessor System, via Hydra multiprocessor board Resources.

[crj]

If (if) people are prepared to pay that much, it's almost worth reimplementing the Hydra from scratch!

Or just tracking down some ex-Simtec people, asking nicely for an IP licence and sending the Gerbers off to some random Chinese PCB assembler.

[Treatment]

There you go, oh Bin Doon brothers, this Hydra is no more.

[mr-macrisc]

Seriously??? What a tit

[Trapper]

All you've done is deprived yourself of any potential income from selling it. Of course it was never going to be worth £3000 as it's totally impractical without OS multi CPU support and a StrongARM out performing it, but it was a very rare piece of ARM/RISC OS history that has now been lost.

If this is a wind up then it really isn't funny, if you actually destroyed it then you need help with some obvious anger issues.

[danielj]

Don't feed the trolls!

[Trapper]

Indeed, but to see that given all we've learnt in the past 20 years about how rare Acorn kit gets. Tis a sad sight - Bletchley Park or The Centre for Computing History would have loved to take this in.

[crj]

Hmm. It's pretty dumb to destroy something that could probably have sold for a couple of hundred pounds, just because you're upset you can't get thousands for it.

[KarateEd]

This is the current state of much of the world today. No value is placed on what has gone before. It's very selfish to destroy history for any reason. We can learn from history, whatever that learning is.

It's a shame a little more forethought wasn't used in this case as to what is possible for rare equipment.

off my soapbox now....

Ed......

[Diminished]

I get the impression this would have been a rather loose interpretation of the word "borrow".

C'est magnifique, Hookey Street...

[Multiwizard]

Don't feed the trolls!

Indeed, just remove them from *. ...

(because of his lack of appreciation of retro things... LOL)

New members should take a be worthy test...


Greetings, Wim...

[RobC]

Indeed, just remove them from *. ...

Judging by this thread on comp.sys.acorn.hardware, he'd quite like to be removed!

[Rich Talbot-Watkins]

To be perfectly honest I haven't the faintest idea what he's on about. Bin Doon? Human Rights Movement? Nothing ever seems to get deleted? Our right to freedom of association? What?

[paulb]

To be perfectly honest I haven't the faintest idea what he's on about. Bin Doon? Human Rights Movement? Nothing ever seems to get deleted? Our right to freedom of association? What?

Indeed. Must be "alt-right" or Daily Telegraph conspiracy memes or something. Maybe something to do with this. Or perhaps this.

Meanwhile, it isn't the first time that this kit has been on sale, not even the second time, in fact. Perhaps comp.sys.acorn.hardware isn't the bustling hub for trading - or indeed for anything - that it once was.

I don't have anything polite to say about people selfishly destroying things, so I guess I will leave it at that.

[Lardo Boffin]

I think Freedon of Association Rights refer to the legal right to voluntarily join and leave groups, presumably in this case this forum. I can only assume he tried to shut down his account and delete his history but couldn’t? Just a guess really.

[danielj]

No request of that nature was ever received.