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


Updates

March 25, 2023: 1.13 (released on March 24, 2023) is here, mainly a stability and cleanup release. Remember to upgrade the driver package (LHA) and enjoy!

October 19, 2022: The latest available firmware and driver version for all ZZ9000-supported Amigas is 1.12.1. Note: FW 1.12 had a slowdown bug that was fixed in FW 1.12.1 on 2022-10-19.

Changes/additions from 1.11 (new features contributed by Tom W.):

Also adds support for new black ZYNQ module with MotorComm YT8531S PHY, and fixes a FW 1.12 slowdown bug.

May 3, 2022: The latest available firmware and driver version for all ZZ9000-supported Amigas is 1.11:

Changes/additions from 1.10:

April 12, 2022: Added current ZZ9000AX issues (no audio for Zorro III-based 68040 and 68060 Amiga users) to the Support / Troubleshooting page, and cleaned up several older bug reports that have since been fixed.

April 2, 2022: [Released Apr. 1, 2022] The latest available firmware and driver version for all ZZ9000-supported Amigas is 1.10:

Changes/additions from 1.9.1:

January 13, 2022: Added a note from Lukas Hartmann to the Add-Ons page ("ZZ9000AX audio module", "Additional notes" section) confirming that no soldering is required to connect the Amiga's Paula audio to the ZZ9000AX 16-bit audio module, since the signal comes from the video slot. All that's required to complete audio setup is a simple cable connection.

November 4, 2021: Added two entries to the Support / Troubleshooting page: A fix (thanks to IRC user/dev _Bnu) for PAL-NTSC screen jumping/switching on Amiga 2000s (with rev. 6.2 and original PSU only). Fix was confirmed by IRC user tryphoncosinus. Also added a new bug report from IRC user my_pc_is_amiga regarding a split screen on the flicker fixer, when switching between RTG and flicker fixer in firmware 1.9.1.

October 30, 2021: An October 25th note from Lukas Hartmann regarding the ZZ9000AX: "Yes, there is already support for playback by ZZ9000AX, but not yet for sampling and updating the SigmaDSP. There will be another update." [source]

October 9, 2021: [Released Oct. 8, 2021] The latest available firmware and driver version for all ZZ9000-supported Amigas is 1.9.1:

Fixes issues from 1.9:

Known problems:

Important:

October 7, 2021: [Released Oct. 6, 2021] The latest firmware and driver version for all ZZ9000-supported Amigas is 1.9:

Change log:

Known problems:

Important:

Requires new RTG driver version 1.9. Please download and install ZZ9000Installer1_9.lha from the list above on your Amiga.

Thanks to Bnu for contributions!

  • August 17, 2021: Updated the Add-Ons page with the latest image and official feature list of the SigmaDSP©-based ZZ9000AX audio module. There is a limited batch 1 presale starting on 2021-08-17 with a lower introductory price. It is estimated to ship in December 2021.

  • July 14, 2021: Added news of the new SigmaDSP©-based ZZ9000AX audio module (coming soon); also added it to the Add-Ons page, and updated the Features page.

  • January 4, 2021: [Released Jan. 1, 2021] The latest (stable) firmware and driver version for all ZZ9000-supported Amigas is 1.8. The ZZTop tool hasn't changed since 1.1 Beta and can also be used with all ZZ9000-supported Amiga models.
  • Enhancements in v1.8:

    Important: Requires new RTG driver version 1.8. Please download and install ZZ9000Installer1_8.lha on your Amiga.

  • October 2, 2020 - 1.7.0 Beta 3 of the latest (pre-release) firmware update is now available.
  • New features in 1.7.0 Beta 3 (Amiga 500/500+ and Amiga 2000 only!):

    Note: For A2000, use the "zorro2" firmware. For A500, one of the others, depending on if you have an A500+ or A500.

  • August 11, 2020 - 1.7.0 Beta 2 of the latest (pre-release) firmware update is now available.
  • New features in Beta 2:

  • August 9, 2020 - 1.7.0 Beta 1 of the latest (pre-release) firmware update is now available; currently Zorro III only. Updated the Support / Troubleshooting page with a workaround for the "Red/Stuck screen on warm reboot", and added a possible explanation for an issue caused by the Video Toaster in Lightwave screens.
  • New features since 1.6.2 (with more details to come):

    July 7, 2020 - Added a fix/workaround for ZZ9000 clashes on Amigas using the Prometheus PCI Zorro III card, and a link detailing how to activate the ZZ9000 on systems running AmigaOS 4.1 F.E. to the Support / Troubleshooting page.

    July 1, 2020 - More page cleanups, and added some encouraging news from Individual Computers' website (posted on June 30, 2020) regarding an upcoming update [archived image] to P96 that should benefit all Amiga RTG users and developers:

    "A new version V2.4.6 of P96 is available for all registered customers and those who want to become registered. A small bug when opening bitplaned modes has been fixed. These are rarely-used modes with graphics cards, and the bug was only triggered with intuition V46 or higher. There are more changes in the works: We're working together with graphics card manufacturer MNT Research GmbH [not MNTMN, which is Lukas Hartman's handle] and others [CS Labs?] on adding a new key feature to the P96 graphics software. Further, work on the Permedia2 driver has been started in order to improve it — we'll be able to offer a major update to P96 in the next few months that will also be useful to users of CybergraphX cards."

    June 11, 2020 - Stable firmware 1.6.2 and drivers 1.6 are now available (Amiga 500 firmware coming soon). V1.6.2 replaces V1.6 and V1.6.1 which were tested in public and still had some problems with CyberStorm MK I and MK II. Also updated the Installation and Benchmarks pages.

    Changes (since 1.5.1; Zorro II support added June 16, 2020; Amiga 500 support pending):

  • May 27, 2020 - Revamped the Support / Troubleshooting page for better readability, as well as some additional cleanups.
  • May 5, 2020 - Added a reference image from Lukas Hartmann's Twitter feed regarding a possible ZZ9000 audio module to the "Possible" list of the Features page. Some minor cleanups to several pages.
  • April 8, 2020 - Added preliminary news of WebM/VP9 playback being part of the upcoming firmware 2.0 release to the Features page. Added some images for better illustration to the Installation page. Many minor corrections and cleanups to various pages.
  • February 5, 2020 - Added the new Add-Ons page to accommodate the new ZZ9500CX Denise Adapter for Amiga models without Zorro II/III slots, as well as any future ZZ9000 expansion boards. Also added a note that pre-orders for Batch 4 of the ZZ9000 are now open.
  • January 6, 2020 - Stable (firmware and drivers) 1.5.1 is now available (as of January 5, 2020). Also added a new "work-in-progress" F.A.Q. (Frequently Asked Questions) page.
  • Changes (since 1.5 beta):

  • December 23, 2019 - Pre-release/beta (firmware and drivers) 1.5 is now available (as of December 21, 2019). In addition—albeit tightly—the ZZ9000 (as of batch 2) fits into the Checkmate A1500 plus.
  • Changes (since 1.5):

  • October 17, 2019 - Added some explanation info from _Bnu (#mnt-amiga) regarding the horizontally-squashed screen when switching from NTSC to PAL mode in the Amiga's Bootmenu to the Support / Troubleshooting page.
  • October 11, 2019 - Pre-release firmware 1.4b and drivers 1.4b (Zorro III only) are now available. Note that the Zorro II version is not available yet, as this is a Zorro III testing version to check the stability of new improvements. Thanks to beeanyew and shanshe for code contributions!
  • Changes (since 1.4a):

    Also added a note to the Pending Features page that an official ZZ9000 driver installation diskette is still planned on. This is mentioned in the "Software Installation" section (third paragraph) of the ZZ9000 manual: "3. Double click "Install ZZ9000" from the ZZ9000 Install package available from our website or on floppy disk from our online shop."

  • October 5, 2019 - Added an experimental means for adding 128 MB of RAM from your ZZ9000 to your Zorro III-only Amiga 3000(T) or 4000(T)'s Fast RAM to the Apps 'n ARMs page. Unfortunately, the Zorro II bus doesn't support that level of addressing space.
  • October 4, 2019 - Updated several pages:

  • October 2, 2019 - Added two new notes to the Support / Troubleshooting page (contributed by ProfPlum of the English Amiga Board). Lukas Hartmann is aware of these details:

  • September 24, 2019 - Added the issue regarding a tight (batch 1) ZZ9000 card fit into Amiga 4000 systems to the Support / Troubleshooting page. Lukas Hartmann is aware of it and has noted that this will be fixed in the second batch of cards (sold out). Also added two screenshots illustrating the intermittent "swapped Hires pixels" bug in the scandoubler (occurs in roughly 10% of cold starts).
  • September 22, 2019 - Added this "Updates" page and reorganized currently known issues on the Support / Troubleshooting page.