24-Apr-2024 23:10 GMT.		 UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Anonymous, there are 44 items in your selection
[News] Teron boards from Terra SoftANN.lu
Posted on 03-Dec-2002 08:44 GMT by Lennart Fridén44 comments
View flat
View list
From OSNews: "Terra Soft has partnered with Mai Logic, Inc., an advanced integrated circuits and systems design company, developer of the Articia series chipsets and Teron series development reference platforms, to deliver both stand-alone motherboards and fully integrated, assembled systems." Read more. "Terra Soft Solutions, Inc. will announce tomorrow world's first consumer priced ATX form-factor PowerPC motherboard with full Linux support. Terra Soft, also creators of Yellow Dog Linux, will be selling both the PPC motherboard and a fully equipped computer that will be capable of running YDL 2.3. This will give a new face to the consumer Linux landscape, as Linux effectivelly gets its own platform rather than getting installed side by side with other OSes."
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 1 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Frans on 03-Dec-2002 08:31 GMT
Mobo + 600 Mhz CPU: $495.00
AmigaOne+600Mhz Cpu: €690.00
What is different apart from the 'dongle' for OS4 ?
Surely the dongle won't have to cost about $200 ?!!
Well, I guess the price for OS4 would have to be deducted too but still...
Frans
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 2 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Lennart Fridén on 03-Dec-2002 08:58 GMT
In reply to Comment 1 (Frans):
> Mobo + 600 Mhz CPU: $495.00
> AmigaOne+600Mhz Cpu: €690.00
Given that you can buy a A1 in Sweden (World's highest taxes, VAT25%) for less than €690 (I've seen €580 INCLUDING VAT on Eyetech's site) I think you're being had by that price. AmigaOS 4.0 shouldn't be more than €50 so around €630-650 should be a realistic A1 price. Don't forget that Terra's board probably doesn't inclde VAT (or perhaps only 6% if it does) in the price so the difference isn't as huge as you might think.
Another factor is volume. Terra can probably buy more boards than Eyetech and thus they get a discount from MAI.
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 3 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by anarchic_teapot on 03-Dec-2002 09:02 GMT
In reply to Comment 1 (Frans):
> AmigaOne+600Mhz Cpu: €690.00
??
If you're going to compare prices, do it on an equitable basis. The A1G3SE is €580 *plus VAT*, the Terrasoft package is US$499 *plus VAT* for those of us who live in countries where VAT flourishes.
I noted three things the A1 has that the Terrasoft package hasn't: apparent support for a variety of graphics cards in the kernel (well, they are selling it for use in servers), CPU cooling, and appropriate backplate included in the price. If you look at the Teron CX/A1G3SE mobo, the ethernet connector is where most ATX tower backplates expect the onboard sound connectors to be. Eyetech have undertaken to supply these backplates with the mobos.
And of course, the Teron CX won't run AmigaOS4.
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 4 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by catohagen on 03-Dec-2002 09:21 GMT
In reply to Comment 1 (Frans):
from eyetech site :
Dealers are free to set their own end user prices both for the AmigaOneG3-SE boards and for complete systems to take account of import duty, localisation of support, documentation etc. However our recommended pricing for the AmigaOneG3-SE motherboard, inclusive of a 750CXe 600 MHz G3 PPC processor but exclusive of local taxes and shipping charges, is UKP350, USD500, EUR600.
so eyetech board USD 500
Terrasoft Teron USD 495
five bucks guys :)
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 5 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by catohagen on 03-Dec-2002 09:31 GMT
In reply to Comment 4 (catohagen):
and from KDH, Pegasos mainboard is 579,90 euro, and using an
online currency calculator, that equals 575.3507 USD
so we have,
eyetech board USD 500
Terrasoft Teron USD 495
Pegasos mainboard USD 575.3507
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 6 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Lennart Fridén on 03-Dec-2002 09:32 GMT
In reply to Comment 4 (catohagen):
From Eyetech's site
"As for prices, these have been revised to reflect currency movements since they were originally announced last March, particularly the weakness of the US dollar. Your local dealer will have the local currency prices for the AmigaOne outside the UK and the Eurozone."
G3@600 MHz £360.00 / €580.00
"These prices exclude local taxes, shipping and (apart from the Earlybird offer) OS4."
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 7 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Lennart Fridén on 03-Dec-2002 09:35 GMT
In reply to Comment 5 (catohagen):
Sorry catohagen, the Pegasos IS cheaper. But if you want to run you'll HAVE to go for the A1.
I know you _probably_ didn't mean to troll and that you _probably_ have missed the info I posted above, but this thread is likely to degenerate into Yet Another Lame Flame Thread à la ANN. Let's avoid that, shall we?
-
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 8 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by catohagen on 03-Dec-2002 09:35 GMT
In reply to Comment 6 (Lennart Fridén):
good you corrected me :)
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 9 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by catohagen on 03-Dec-2002 09:38 GMT
used the online currency calc again, 360 UKP equals 563.7865 USD
so final, we have,
eyetech board USD 563.7865
Terrasoft Teron USD 495
Pegasos mainboard USD 575.3507
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 10 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by catohagen on 03-Dec-2002 09:40 GMT
In reply to Comment 7 (Lennart Fridén):
sorry, im not trolling.....i used an online calculator for 360 UKP
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 11 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Lennart Fridén on 03-Dec-2002 09:41 GMT
In reply to Comment 9 (catohagen):
Hmm...I stand corrected Catohagen, so that would make the A1 cheaper than the Pegasos. Odd, there's a huge difference here in Sweden (Pegasos: SEK5750, A1 SEK6595, all prices including 25% VAT).
I smell a cat here and I'm not talking about you cat-ohagen, or the AROS mascot. :-)
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 12 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Fred on 03-Dec-2002 09:42 GMT
In reply to Comment 9 (catohagen):
No big deal if you ask me. For the extra 60 or so US$ you're able to run OS4.0 and also receive a copy of OS4.0. That, and the fact I'll get local support from my Amiga dealer since I'm not in the U.S.
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 13 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Lennart Fridén on 03-Dec-2002 09:43 GMT
In reply to Comment 10 (catohagen):
I was referring to your previous post, before you posted the £360 post. I didn't mean to say that you were trolling EVEN then, only that it could be taken as if you were by erhm certain camps ;-)
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 14 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Lennart Fridén on 03-Dec-2002 09:44 GMT
In reply to Comment 12 (Fred):
Agreed. If you're after AmigaOS "there can only be (Amiga)One". :-D
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 15 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by catohagen on 03-Dec-2002 09:46 GMT
In reply to Comment 11 (Lennart Fridén):
i was surprised too, to see that the A1 was cheaper that Pegasos, as ive always
seen people saying pegasos is cheaper.
Maybe the A1 have a higher transport price or are higher insured ?....its strange
that at the end, a board with lower price, at the end have a higher price...
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 16 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by catohagen on 03-Dec-2002 09:56 GMT
In reply to Comment 12 (Fred):
again from eyetech site :
OS4 pricing is determined by Hyperion but is likely to be UKP42.50, USD62.50, EUR70.00 (excluding local taxes) when bought with an AmigaOneG3-SE board or system.
dunno if that price is added to the price of A1 boards or included...
if included you pay eyetech board USD 563.7865 - USD62.50501,2865 USD
thats 501,2865 USD for the A1 board alone...
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 17 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by AdmV on 03-Dec-2002 10:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 15 (catohagen):
for £29 I get a Duron 1300 + @£50 for a mobo with onboard sound, LAN, GFX, and I cannot understand why ANYONE would buy these systems?
Someone please xplain why they will pay x4 for a mobo + cpu.
If its for Linux, X86 is a better place to be. If its for amiga OS, again, I see no point.
Crazy people.
AdmV
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 18 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Lennart Fridén on 03-Dec-2002 10:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 15 (catohagen):
It is. As it stands now you need to know exactly what you want before buying a PPC mobo.
1. Want a G4? Go for a A1 or wait for Pegasos or Terra Soft.
2. Want SMP? Wait for a Pegasos CPU module that comes with 2 CPUs.
3. Want AmigaOS? Go for an AmigaOne.
4. Want MorphOS? Go for a Pegasos or MAYBE a board from Terra Soft.
5. Want Linux support? Terra Soft it is then.
6. Price is an issue and/or you only need linux? Terra Soft.
7. Size matters? Pegasos is your mobo.
8. Want to run MacOnLinux? Pick your choice but watch the EULA issues involved.
For me 1 and 3 are important. 8 Would be very nice too. Too bad I can't afford any new computers for a while. :-(
For companies/people needing good servers I'd say 5 and 6 matters.
That would leave future SMP, size, and Morphos as Genesi's selling points now that Terra Soft is likely to rule the Linux PPC Mobo market.
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 19 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Anonymous on 03-Dec-2002 10:02 GMT
In reply to Comment 16 (catohagen):
KDH:
AmigaOne SE 685.90EUR
Pegasos 579.90EUR
both INCL German tax (16%)
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 20 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Lennart Fridén on 03-Dec-2002 10:06 GMT
In reply to Comment 17 (AdmV):
*SIGH*
Yes, yes. Wintels rule the price/performance chart. They're also very good at other things such as power consumption and thus an increased level of noise due to the fans needed.
They're not o good at running AmigaOS or Morphos. They're not so good at running MacOS X either. A 3.6 GHz P4 won't give me the system I want as I won't be able to run the OSes I want to run. Now, if there was an x86 port of AmigaOS we wouldn't need to have this discussion but I can't see an x86 port, can you?
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 21 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Andrea Maniero on 03-Dec-2002 10:09 GMT
The official pricing is:
A1G3 -> 580 Euro + VAT + the price of OS4 if you don't join the earlybird offer;
Pegasos -> 500 Euro + VAT (including MOS and LinuxPPC);
TeronCX -> 495 USD + VAT.
Kind regards,
Andrea
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 22 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by hgm on 03-Dec-2002 12:48 GMT
Genisi/Pegasos does NOT announce .... it's there!!!!
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 23 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Ole-Egil on 03-Dec-2002 13:04 GMT
In reply to Comment 22 (hgm):
Except chips named after months of the year without even hinting at what these chips DO, of course.
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 24 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Alkis Tsapanidis on 03-Dec-2002 13:43 GMT
In reply to Comment 23 (Ole-Egil):
Can't you just wait for 3 days? :)
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 25 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Peter Gordon on 03-Dec-2002 14:02 GMT
In reply to Comment 24 (Alkis Tsapanidis):
Regardless of whether "all will be revealed", its pretty mental to post a whole news item, hailing a new wonder chip, and not actually telling you what to do with it. Why couldn't THEY wait for 3 days?
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 26 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Robert on 03-Dec-2002 14:10 GMT
In reply to Comment 25 (Peter Gordon):
Hi Peter,
> Regardless of whether "all will be revealed", its pretty mental to post a
> whole news item, hailing a new wonder chip, and not actually telling you
> what to do with it. Why couldn't THEY wait for 3 days?
Precisely!!!!!!!!!!! :)
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 27 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Bladerunner on 03-Dec-2002 14:31 GMT
In reply to Comment 25 (Peter Gordon):
Hey, thats marketing ;-) It`s just to make potential customers curious :-)
Here in Germany started a Campaign, where people just claiming They`re "on" but didn`t even
say for what product or firm they advertise. Ok, it took me just a few seconds to crawl the web
and find out that it was about a Energy Company called E-on.
So be patient, just a few days to go ;-)
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 28 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by xchristofferx on 03-Dec-2002 14:41 GMT
Well, this is all great.. more power to PPC :D. But the best of all is the boards name... ring a bell anyone?
http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/products/boxer/teron_cx.shtml
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 29 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Seehund on 03-Dec-2002 14:53 GMT
In reply to Comment 3 (anarchic_teapot):
> I noted three things the A1 has that the Terrasoft package hasn't: apparent
> support for a variety of graphics cards in the kernel
I'm not sure of what you're trying to say with that, Linux for PPC is Linux for PPC. This has of course aboslutely nothing to do with the motherboard. If a PPC Linux driver exists (and YDL, like all distros I have ever run, does not have gfx card drivers in the kernel, it's in kernel modules), then it naturally runs everywhere regardless of from whom you bought one specific motherboard!
> CPU cooling
With a 750CEx it's not needed if run at spec'ed clockings, and if you like you can buy a NB heatsink for a couple of bucks (for 5 bucks you can get one with a fan). Fan-tastic.
> appropriate backplate
Yay! A saving of one whole shiny dollar, unless your case comes with an ATX/PC99 backplate like most do (like, for example, the cases Terrasoft sell), or if you can't get one for free from the floor of any PC shop!
> And of course, the Teron CX won't run AmigaOS4.
Saying it like that makes it sound like the Teron CX sold by one vendor is different from the Teron CX sold by another vendor. Of course it will run AmigaOS, but the thing that sucks is that it's only allowed to do so when it's distributed by Eyetech, bundled with AmigaOS.
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 30 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Seehund on 03-Dec-2002 14:57 GMT
In reply to Comment 29 (Seehund):
> With a 750CEx
Doh. Alert! Take anti-nitpicking-useless-flamewar-subthread preemptive action! 750CXe.
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 31 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by AdmV on 03-Dec-2002 16:01 GMT
In reply to Comment 20 (Lennart Fridén):
Well, you can use WinUAE, or Amithlon on PC. You can run Linux or other OS's and your point is pretty lame regarding MAC-OS as legally you can only run it under Mac hardware.
Given the DMCA, and other laws, running MOS under linux is an act of circumvention/piracy and I think apple will take a dim view of it. If you run it in the environment people keep harping on about (ie, IT) you are going to be breaching legal and licensing and companies who have their IT audited/sorted will not do that. As an employee you could get fired for doing so.
So that leaves the hobbyists.
So yeah, I am still waiting for valid reasons to buy one of these PPC boxes.
AdmV
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 32 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Senex on 03-Dec-2002 16:09 GMT
1) Linux support is given by Pegasos also. Even a complete, CD-bootable Debian-Distribution (see today's press-release). Furthermore Suse and YDL do run as well, AFAIK. For CeBIT they expect OpenBSD for Pegasos to be finished (again, see today's press-release).
2) As you can see above, there has been indeed some news in Genesi's press-release. And regarding that chip... - well, isn't it main use quite obvious?
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 33 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Thomas W on 03-Dec-2002 16:13 GMT
In reply to Comment 22 (hgm):
What is there? A betatester machine?
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 34 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Lennart Fridén on 03-Dec-2002 16:45 GMT
In reply to Comment 28 (xchristofferx):
Yo xchristofferx! Long time, no see. Well, except for Seehund that is...;-)
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 35 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Senex on 03-Dec-2002 16:50 GMT
In reply to Comment 33 (Thomas W):
@ThomasW:
> What is there? A betatester machine?
No, BETATESTER-boards are history now. Any board you'll buy now is a PEGASOS (with April, that is).
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 36 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Thomas W on 03-Dec-2002 19:46 GMT
In reply to Comment 31 (AdmV):
Why do you keep on waiting AdmV?
If you don't want one, go get something else.
If you want AmigaOS on x86: tough luck.
If you want to run Linux do it on x86.
I want AmigaOS and I find the prices very fair - especially compared to Apple's hardware. And yes, I am prepared to pay a bit extra for getting something back. If you can't see / don't feel that way about PPC + AmigaOS I say it's time you got on you way to some other community where people care about whatever it is you want.
All I've seen in your last comments has been (paraphrased) "This is too expensive and anyone who wants AmigaOS is a nut anyway". If that's your opinion go run cheaper hardware and mainstream OSes. But don't bitch about it here, because we really don't care.
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 37 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by strobe on 03-Dec-2002 21:55 GMT
ugh, unfortunately TerraSoft is on its own misinformation campaign:
http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/products/boxer/g3-vs-g4.shtml
For example:
"Does this mean that the G4 offers nothing for Linux users? Not at all. For heavy code development, high performance (scientific) computing, and video rendering the G4 is a must. "
Don't be fooled into thinking that there is currently any Linux code which takes advantage of the G4. Basically TerraSoft is saying that if you want to take advantage of it, you have to do it yourself. Well thanks a lot.
"The Linux OS graphical user interface, however, is not customized to use any particular CPU. As it is maintained for several platforms such as Intel, AMD, and IBM/Motorola PowerPC CPUs alike, there is no performance hit for lack of the AltiVec unit. Linux is fast because it is lean and designed to stay that way. "
TerraSoft can't just give you a straight answer, can they?! First of all they downplay the fact that the "Linux OS graphical user interface" isn't optimized for anything, spinning this into sounding positive. Then they say there is no performance hit as if that's something special, as if we would expect there to be a performance hit when using a G4 as opposed to a G3. Then they type the nonsequitur "Linux is fast because it is lean and designed to stay that way" as if to imply that Linux has fast graphics, since the previous sentences in the same paragraph were about graphics. This is tantamount to a bold faced lie. Linux SUCKS at graphics. Both in terms of usability and speed.
Wow, what a load of CRAPOLA!
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 38 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by strobe on 03-Dec-2002 21:57 GMT
In reply to Comment 37 (strobe):
Oh, I forgot to mention that the "however" part in the previous quote also implies that some part of "Linux OS" is optimized for the G4. Bullshit! NONE of it is!
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 39 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Hammer on 04-Dec-2002 00:18 GMT
In reply to Comment 20 (Lennart Fridén):
>Yes, yes. Wintels rule the price/performance chart. They're also very good at >other things such as power consumption and thus an increased level of noise >due to the fans needed.
IF heat generation is a problem, then go for VIA C3 or Transmeta Crusoe.
AMD and Intel are not the only ones in X86 CPU business btw.
>They're not o good at running AmigaOS or Morphos. They're not so good at
>running MacOS X either.
"Comment 17" has stated if one would run "Linux" stuff.
>A 3.6 GHz P4 won't give me the system I want as I won't be able to run the OSes I want to >run.
Terra Soft's motherboard doesn't run MOS, MacOS, AmigaOS "out of the box" at this time.
>Now, if there was an x86 port of AmigaOS we wouldn't need to have this discussion but I >can't see an x86 port, can you?
Poeple may have to wait for AOS 5.0, or another party may fill the void. The X86 market is just large to be ignored.
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 40 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Hammer on 04-Dec-2002 00:21 GMT
In reply to Comment 31 (AdmV):
>So yeah, I am still waiting for valid reasons to buy one of these PPC boxes.
Developing PPC based embedded solutions.
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 41 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by JoannaK on 04-Dec-2002 01:03 GMT
In reply to Comment 40 (Hammer):
Actually Teron Reference boards (and their direct clones like Eyetech) are IMHO not too good for being embedded. They are way too big to become embedded themselves and for making PPC code GCC_cross compiler on x86 linux is way faster/cost effective. So it's bit difficult to find any real use for those. But it's all matter of opinion, so they may be ideal for some people to some uses.
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 42 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Kjetil on 04-Dec-2002 01:28 GMT
In reply to Comment 41 (JoannaK):
Well yes you compile code faster how ever it extremely easy to put code in side any loop that do not need the extra code in side the loop but can have it out side the loop, an slower system is better for any developer to test his program if it needs to be fast, am I making any sense?
If you are a user, then I agree with you.
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 43 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by Anonymous on 04-Dec-2002 09:09 GMT
In reply to Comment 42 (Kjetil):
No. You aren't making any sense, because common sub-expression removal is a compiler optimisation, Gnu CC will do that for you.
But anyway, the actual reason for buying one of these things in the embedded business is that it's cheaper and more readily available than your prototype hardware [which may still be in a CAD package somewhere, not on a board] yet it is so similar that you'll find most of the bugs very quickly. It's also designed to be properly debugged. The prototype can only have so many "extra" ports and features that aren't intended to be deployed in the final product, whereas the Teron boards can easily have space for extra PCI devices, I/O and so on that can be used while debugging.
Some things always slip through (allegedly PS2 devel systems perform the Load/Save functionality in a way which gives progress feedback, real PS2s just sit there, and then suddenly progress goes to 100%) but you'll catch most of them before you build your custom hardware.
Teron boards from Terra Soft : Comment 44 of 44ANN.lu
Posted by priest on 09-Dec-2002 06:14 GMT
In reply to Comment 18 (Lennart Fridén):
"Want SMP? Wait for a Pegasos CPU module that comes with 2 CPUs."
AmigaOne-XE / TeronPX can have SMP as "well".
Anonymous, there are 44 items in your selection
Back to Top