AmigaOne is a series of computers intended to run AmigaOS 4 developed by Hyperion Entertainment, as a successor to the Amiga series by Commodore International. Unlike the original Amiga computers which used Motorola 68k processors, the AmigaOne line uses PowerPC processors. Earlier models were produced by Eyetech; in September 2009, Hyperion secured an exclusive licence for the AmigaOne name and subsequently new AmigaOne computers were released by A-Eon Technology and Acube Systems.
A week ago we shared with you our joy as we move towards the rebirth of the Amiga desktop platform. The AmigaOne and AmigaOS4 are projects that have occupied almost every day of our lives for the last two years. For the community, the wait and the false dawns have been unbearable.
— Bill McEwen CEO Amiga Inc, Executive Update, April 12, 2002 [1]
Originally in 2000, AmigaOne was the name of a project for new computer hardware to run the Amiga Digital Environment (DE), [2] [3] later plans replaced by AmigaOS 4. [4] Initially it was managed by Eyetech and designed by the German company Escena GmbH. [5] The AmigaOne motherboard was to be available in two models, the AmigaOne-1200 and the AmigaOne-4000 as expansions for the Amiga 1200 and Amiga 4000 computers. [6] [7] This would probably not have been actually possible. This AmigaOne project was cancelled in the design stage in 2001, mostly due to the inability to find or design a suitable northbridge chip. [8] [9] Eyetech, who at this point had invested funds into the project, was forced instead to license the Teron CX board from Mai to form the basis of the new AmigaONE computer range. [10] The first fruit of this partnership with Mai, AmigaOne SE, was announced with a connector for an optionally attached Amiga 1200, in order to use the old custom chips of an Amiga for backwards compatibility. [11] However, no such solution was ever introduced.
The main difference between the ATX-format AmigaOne SE and AmigaOne XE was that the SE had a soldered-on 600 MHz PowerPC 750CXe processor, whereas the XE used a CPU board attached to a MegArray connector on the motherboard. While the MegArray connector is physically similar to the Apple Power Mac G4 CPU daughtercard connector, it is not electrically compatible. There were G3 and G4 options with a maximum clock frequency of 800 MHz and 933 MHz. The G4 module originally used a Freescale 7451 processor which was later changed to a Freescale 7455, both without level 3 cache. The G4 CPU runs hotter and requires a better heatsink than that supplied on some machines. Consequently, the G4 was often supplied underclocked to run at 800 MHz. In 2007 Acube offered 1.267 GHz 7457. [12] [13] The Micro-A1 was announced in two configurations, under the Micro-A1 I (Industrial) and Micro-A1 C (Consumer) labels. [14] Only the C configuration was produced.
Both AmigaOneG3-XE and AmigaOneG4-XE has four 32-bit PCI-slots (3× 33 MHz, 1× 66 MHz) and one AGP-2x slot. The Micro-A1 has only one 32-bit PCI-slot and an integrated Radeon 7000 via AGP with dedicated 32 MB VRAM.
AmigaOne (SE and XE) motherboards had several hardware issues including conflicts between the onboard IDE and Ethernet controllers, [15] problems with USB device detection [16] and initially no support for the on-board AC97 audio. Due to the mistaken belief that the on-board AC97 audio could not be supported, the AC97 codec was removed from later builds of the motherboard. The technical issues preventing AC97 audio support were later resolved. [17]
When the AmigaOne boards first became available, AmigaOS 4 was not ready: they were supplied with various Linux distributions. [18] From April 2004 onwards, boards were shipped for developers with a pre-release version of OS4. The Final Update of OS4.0 was released in December 2006, for AmigaOne computers only, with the PowerUP version being released in December 2007. AmigaOS 4.1 for AmigaOne was released in September 2008.
MAI Logic Inc. went bankrupt, and consequently the supply of Eyetech AmigaOnes dried up. [19] Eyetech Group Ltd retired from the market in 2005, [20] selling their remaining Amiga business to Amiga Kit. [21]
In September 2009, as part of the resolution of a dispute over ownership of AmigaOS Hyperion was granted (among other provisions of the Settlement Agreement with Amiga, Inc.) an exclusive licence for the AmigaOne (or Amiga One) name. [22] This Settlement Agreement thus created a legal basis for a new generation of AmigaOne computers.
In February 2010, a new Belgian company A-Eon Technology CVBA, in co-operation with Hyperion Entertainment, officially announced a new AmigaOne model, the AmigaOne X1000 , [23] first presented at the Vintage Computer Fair at Bletchley Park in June 2010. [24] The project was delayed but the new platform was launched in 2012 with AmigaOS 4.1.5. [25]
In September 2011, Acube Systems introduced the AmigaOne 500 based on a Sam460ex mainboard. [26] [27]
In October 2011, Hyperion Entertainment announced that it was launching an AmigaOne netbook in mid-2012, [28] [29] but it was announced at Amiwest 2013 that the netbook project had been cancelled. [30]
Also at Amiwest 2013, A-Eon Technology Ltd, a British computer company, announced three new AmigaOne motherboards, [31] [32] with the project named Cyrus. A-Eon had a list of proposed names which could be voted for [33] and in January 2014 A-Eon Technology announced names for new models as AmigaOne X5000/20, AmigaOne X5000/40 and AmigaOne X3500. [34] [35] The new motherboards were aimed as replacements for the AmigaOne X1000. The AmigaOne X5000/20 was released in October 2016 [36] [37] and - unlike the X1000 - sold via various distributors. [38] ArsTechnica review of the AmigaOne X5000 commended its compatibility with old Amiga applications and games, but criticised the very high price and lack of new software. [39]
Lastly, A-Eon Technology Ltd announced at Amiwest 2013 that A-Eon had signed a 1.2 million-dollar investment contract with Ultra Varisys for the ongoing design, development and manufacture of PowerPC hardware for its AmigaOne line of desktop computers. [40]
In January 2015, Acube Systems started selling AmigaOne 500 computers based on the Sam460cr motherboard, a cost reduced version of original Sam460ex. [41] Features that were removed included the Silicon Motion SM502 embedded MoC and 1× SATA2 port. [42]
In autumn 2015, A-Eon Technology Ltd announced a new motherboard with the project development name Tabor [43] based on a P1022 1.2 GHz SoC. The motherboard design is a microATX form factor with single PCIe slot and SODIMM memory slots. The full system is to be designated as the AmigaOne A1222. [44] The A1222 was released in early 2024. [45]
| Computer | Vendor | Timescale | Memory | CPU | Expansion slots | Hard drive | Connectivity | Peripherals | OS Version | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AmigaOne SE | Eyetech | 2002–04 | Varies PC133 SDRAM | 750CXe 600 MHz | 1× AGP 2× 1× 66 MHz PCI 3× 33 MHz PCI | Ultra ATA/100 | 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX Ethernet | 4× USB 1.1 | 4.0 or 4.1 | This ATX format motherboard was sold only to developers and beta testers. |
| AmigaOne XE | Eyetech | 2003–04 | Varies PC133 SDRAM | 750FX 800 MHz 7451 800 MHz 7455 933 MHz | 1× AGP 2× 1× 66 MHz PCI 3× 33 MHz PCI | Ultra ATA/100 | 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX Ethernet | 4× USB 1.1 | 4.0 or 4.1 | ATX format motherboard |
| Micro-A1 - C | Eyetech | 2004–05 | 256 MB PC133 SDRAM | 750FX 800 MHz 750GX 800 MHz | 1× 33 MHz PCI | Ultra ATA/100 | 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX Ethernet | 4× USB 1.1 | 4.0 or 4.1 | Mini-ITX format motherboard Integrated Radeon 7000 32 MB (AGP 2×) |
| Micro-A1 - I | Eyetech | never produced | 256 MB PC133 SDRAM | 750GX 800 MHz | 1× 33 MHz PCI | Ultra ATA/133 | Gigabit Ethernet | 4× USB 1.1 | - | Mini-ITX format motherboard Integrated Radeon 7000 32 MB (AGP 2×) |
| AmigaOne 500 | Acube Systems | 2011-14 | 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM | 460EX 1.15 GHz | 1× PCIe x16/x4 1× PCIe x1 1× 33 MHz PCI | SATA2 | Gigabit Ethernet | 6× USB 2.0 1× USB 1.1 | 4.1 | Complete system (or motherboard as Sam460ex) [46] Integrated Silicon Motion SM502 SATA 3512 Controller in PCI slot |
| January 8, 2015 | 460EX 1.10 GHz | Provided via a PCI interface card | 4.1 Final Edition | Complete system (or motherboard as Sam460cr) SATA SiI3114 Controller in PCI slot Envy24HT audio card in PCIe x1 slot | ||||||
| AmigaOne X1000 | A-EON Technology | 2012–15 | 2 or 4+ GB [47] DDR2 SDRAM | PA6T 1.8 GHz | 2× PCIe x16 (1×16 or 2×8) 2× PCIe x1 2× 33 MHz PCI 1× Xorro | SATA2 Ultra ATA/133 | Gigabit Ethernet | 10× USB 2.0 | 4.1 Update 5 [48] | Complete system and later also only the motherboard Integrated "Xena" 500 MHz XCore XS1-L2 124 coprocessor |
| AmigaOne X5000/20 | A-EON Technology | 2016- | DDR3 SDRAM | P5020 2.0 GHz | 1× PCIe 2.0 x16/x4 1× PCIe 2.0 x4 2× PCIe 2.0 x1 2× 33 MHz PCI 1× Xorro | SATA2 | Gigabit Ethernet | 8× USB 2.0 | 4.1 Final Edition | Integrated "Xena" 500 MHz XCore XS1-L2 124 coprocessor |
| AmigaOne A1222 | A-EON Technology | 2024 | DDR3 SDRAM | P1022 1.2 GHz | 1× PCIe 2.0 x16/x4 | SATA2 | Gigabit Ethernet | 4× USB 2.0 [49] | 4.1 Final Edition Update 2 |
The Sam440 mainboard (complete with AMCC PowerPC 440EP SoC) is an embedded motherboard launched by Acube Systems in September 2007. AmigaOS 4 was released for the Sam440 in October 2008.
The Sam460ex mainboard (complete with AMCC 460ex SoC, PowerPC 440 core) is an embedded motherboard launched by Acube Systems in April 2010. AmigaOS 4 was released for the Sam460ex in January 2011. A cost reduced version, the Sam460cr, was released with AmigaOS 4.1 Final Edition on January 8, 2015.
The Pegasos II mainboard (complete with PPC G3 and G4 CPU) is a MicroATX motherboard launched by Genesi and discontinued in 2006. AmigaOS 4 was released for the Pegasos II in January 2009.
Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 16/32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphics and audio compared to previous 8-bit systems. These systems include the Atari ST—released earlier the same year—as well as the Macintosh and Acorn Archimedes. Based on the Motorola 68000 microprocessor, the Amiga differs from its contemporaries through the inclusion of custom hardware to accelerate graphics and sound, including sprites and a blitter, and a pre-emptive multitasking operating system called AmigaOS.
PowerPC is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM. PowerPC, as an evolving instruction set, has been named Power ISA since 2006, while the old name lives on as a trademark for some implementations of Power Architecture–based processors.
MorphOS is an AmigaOS-like computer operating system (OS). It is a mixed proprietary and open source OS produced for the Pegasos PowerPC (PPC) processor based computer, PowerUP accelerator equipped Amiga computers, and a series of Freescale development boards that use the Genesi firmware, including the Efika and mobileGT. Since MorphOS 2.4, Apple's Mac mini G4 is supported as well, and with the release of MorphOS 2.5 and MorphOS 2.6 the eMac and Power Mac G4 models are respectively supported. The release of MorphOS 3.2 added limited support for Power Mac G5. The core, based on the Quark microkernel, is proprietary, although several libraries and other parts are open source, such as the Ambient desktop.
Pegasos was sold by Genesi USA, Inc., and designed by their research and design partner bplan GmbH based in Frankfurt, Germany. It is a MicroATX motherboard powered by a PowerPC 750CXe or PowerPC 7447 microprocessor, featuring three PCI slots, one AGP slot, two Ethernet ports, USB, DDR, AC'97 sound, and FireWire. Like the PowerPC Macintosh counterparts, it boots via Open Firmware.
Mini-ITX is a 170 mm × 170 mm motherboard form factor developed by VIA Technologies in 2001. Mini-ITX motherboards have been traditionally used in small-configured computer systems. Originally, Mini-ITX was a niche standard designed for fanless cooling with a low power consumption architecture, which made them useful for home theater PC systems, where fan noise can detract from the cinema experience.
PowerPC G4 is a designation formerly used by Apple to describe a fourth generation of 32-bit PowerPC microprocessors. Apple has applied this name to various processor models from Freescale, a former part of Motorola. Motorola and Freescale's proper name of this family of processors is PowerPC 74xx.
Amiga, Inc. is a company run by Bill McEwen that used to hold some trademarks and other assets associated with the Amiga personal computer. The company has its origins in South Dakota-based Amiga, Inc., a subsidiary of Gateway 2000, of which McEwen was its marketing chief. Gateway 2000 sold the Amiga properties to McEwen's company Amino Development on December 31, 1999, which he later renamed to Amiga, Inc. The company sold the Amiga properties to Mike Battilana on February 1, 2019, under a new entity called Amiga Corporation.
This is a list of models and clones of Amiga computers.
The Amiga is a family of home computers that were designed and sold by the Amiga Corporation from 1985 to 1994.
AmigaOS 4 is a line of Amiga operating systems which runs on PowerPC microprocessors. It is mainly based on AmigaOS 3.1 source code developed by Commodore, and partially on version 3.9 developed by Haage & Partner. "The Final Update" was released on 24 December 2006 after five years of development by the Belgian company Hyperion Entertainment under license from Amiga, Inc. for AmigaOne registered users.
WarpOS is a multitasking kernel for the PowerPC (PPC) architecture central processing unit (CPU) developed by Haage & Partner for the Amiga computer platform in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It runs on PowerUP accelerator boards developed by phase5 which contains both a Motorola 68000 series CPU and a PowerPC CPU with shared address space. WarpOS runs alongside the 68k-based AmigaOS, which can use the PowerPC as a coprocessor. Despite its name, it is not an operating system (OS), but a kernel; it supplies a limited set of functions similar to those in AmigaOS for using the PowerPC. When released, its original name was WarpUP, but was changed to reflect its greater feature set, and possibly to avoid comparison with its competitor, PowerUP.
Sam440, also known by Sam or its codename Samantha, is a line of modular motherboards produced by the Italian company ACube Systems Srl. The Sam440ep version is a motherboard based on the PowerPC 440EP system-on-a-chip processor which includes a double-precision FPU. It is made by AMCC. Their primary targets are the industrial and embedded markets, running operating systems such as Linux and AmigaOS 4.
ACube Systems Srl is a company that started in January 2007 from the synergy of the Italian companies Alternative Holding Group Srl, Soft3 and Virtual Works.
The following history of the AmigaOS 4 dispute documents the legal battle mainly between the companies Amiga, Inc. and Hyperion Entertainment over the operating system AmigaOS 4. On 30 September 2009, Hyperion and Amiga, Inc. reached a settlement agreement where Hyperion was granted an exclusive, perpetual and worldwide right to distribute and use 'The Software', a term used during the dispute and subsequent settlement to refer to source code from AmigaOS 3 and earlier, and ownership of AmigaOS 4.x and beyond.
Eyetech Group Ltd is a company founded in 1983, in order to provide commercial companies with automatical data collection systems. They had already been involved in the provision of the automatic toll collection systems used at the Dartford River Crossing, as well as many of the bar code based tracking systems used by UK national parcel service.
AmigaOne X1000 is a PowerPC-based personal computer intended as a high-end platform for AmigaOS 4. It was announced by A-Eon Technology CVBA in partnership with Hyperion Entertainment and released in 2011. Its name pays homage to the Amiga 1000 released by Commodore in 1985. It is, however, not hardware-compatible with the original Commodore Amiga system.
Sam460ex is a line of modular motherboards produced by the Italian company ACube Systems Srl. The machine was released in October 2010 and can run AmigaOS 4, MorphOS, or Debian GNU/Linux.
Warp3D was a project founded by Haage & Partner in 1998 that aimed to provide a standard API that would enable programmers to access, and therefore use, 3D hardware on the Amiga.
Retargetable graphics is a device driver API mainly used by third-party graphics hardware to interface with AmigaOS via a set of libraries. The software libraries may include software tools to adjust resolution, screen colors, pointers, and screenmodes. It will use available hardware and will not extend the capabilities in any way.
A new version of AmigaOS was released on December 24, 2006 after five years of development by Hyperion Entertainment (Belgium) under license from Amiga, Inc. for AmigaOne registered users.
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