ZZ9000 Compendium

More than a modern Amiga graphics card
Compiled by a ZZ9000 owner and enthusiast

Updated: March 25, 2023 | ZZ9000 is © 2019-2023 MNT Research GmbH


Preface | Specifications | Requirements / Compatibility | Production / Shipping | Installation | Screen Modes
Add-Ons | Apps 'n ARMs | Benchmarks | Features | Support / Troubleshooting | F.A.Q. | Links | Contact


Features

"ZZ9000 is highly extensible." — Lukas Hartmann

Implemented:
[Firmware v1.4a] Ethernet speed boost.
[Firmware v1.5b] Initial AmigaOS access to the USB port. Note: Still in beta, and not yet hot-pluggable. ("Planned new feature for Batch 3 is to make the USB port useful from the Amiga in some way... This functionality will also be backported to Batch 1 and 2 owners.") [source link | archived image]
[ZZ9500CX] Amiga 500 compatibility with RGB capture cable.
[Firmware v1.8] Added 256 MB AutoConfigTM Fast RAM to the AmigaOS (for Zorro III Amigas only). [source link] This provides the AmigaOS with a portion of the ZZ9000's 1 GB of DDR3 RAM. See the Apps 'n ARMs page for manual use of this feature.
[Firmware 1.9] Completion of firmware v1.5b's AmigaOS access to the USB port via zzusb.device embedded in the ZZ9000's 'ROM'. Though still not hot-pluggable. [source link | archived image]
[Firmware 1.10 and ZZ9000AX audio card] ZZ9000AX audio module.
[Firmware 1.12] MHI driver for the ZZ9000AX, contributed by Thomas W.
Planned:
More bug fixes, and acceleration for MP3 and JPEG. ("The next steps are still more bug fixes and acceleration for MP3 and JPEG.") [source: Lukas, Dec. 1, 2021, IRC] ... [Earlier: ARM-powered datatypes that decode images, and an ARM-enabled music player. ("ARM SDK (baby steps so far, later I could use some help from people knowledgeable with datatypes and/or extending a music player): https://source.mntmn.com/MNT/zz9000-sdk] [source link | archived image]
Firmware v2.0 (in development since April 6, 2020):
WebM (audio/video) and VP9 (video) playback on your Amiga with ZZ9000 ("yes, you can play back WebM/VP9 on your Amiga with ZZ9000 FW2.0 (in development)") [source link | archived image]
• Interrupt-driven Amiga M68K to ARM interface ("ZZ9000: Amiga M68k -> ARM interface now finally interrupt driven (GIC), freeing up most CPU time on both ARM cores") [source link | archived image]
• HDMI capturing and streaming support ("currently fixing ZZ9000 firmware's HDMI timing to allow capturing and streaming to work...") [source link | archived image]
An official ZZ9000 driver installation diskette is still planned ("Double click "Install ZZ9000" from the ZZ9000 Install package available from our website or on floppy disk from our online shop.") [source PDF | archived image]
ZZ9000 memory management: ("We'll need proper memory management on the card, but I don't know when I can build that yet.") [source: Lukas, April 30, 2022, IRC]

Potential:
AmigaOS access to the microSD card. ("...and to make the microSD card accessible from AmigaOS. These improvements will also be available for Batch 1 owners as a firmware/driver update.") [source link | archived image] ... "sHaNsHe figured out some way to access the file system on the SD card while the firmware's running." [source: _Bnu, Oct. 24, 2021 IRC]
FPGA expansion. ("J10: FPGA Expansion. 10 additional unused FPGA inputs/outputs for later use.") [source PDF]
ZZ9000 Zorro bus mastering. ("Would be great if we could figure out if we can do bus mastering on the ZZ9000 ... ZZ9000 bus mastering is technically theoretically possible. But have never tried.") [source: Lukas, March 17, 2021, irc.freenode.net/#mnt-amiga]
Support for a 24-bit FullHD (1920 x 1080) screen mode. ("Maybe this can be reexplored in the future.") [source: Lukas, Dec. 1, 2021, IRC]
Support for OpenSSL/TLS acceleration. ("OpenSSL accel on ZZ would be really nice TBH (or any TLS accel).") [source: Lukas, Oct. 19, 2022, IRC]