Amiga in an FPGA : Minimig

[Dessimat0r]

I'm interested also. In fact, I registered just to register my interest! Hopefully, this will be the great beginnings of Amiga 2, a new-age homebrew and commercial platform.

[Jethro_Tull]

Soon after reading this thread my morale and faith in the Amiga community went down like the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean.  I simply cannot beleive almost everyone so far beleived this guy's far out tale!  

The complete Amiga chipset taking up 60% of a 400K gatearray.  A humble Vic-20 takes up way more then that! htp://home.freeuk.com/fpgaarcade/vic20_main.htm

I'm writing this message neither to debunk this absurd lie, nor to slug it out with this Dennis bloke.  But simply to vent my disappoinment that so many Amiga.org members have fallen for this.  No wonder Elbrox can spin tales of fabled Sharks and Dragons, no wonder old unreliable boards change hands for almost a grand!  If this is what's left of the Amiga community then we're all well and truly *****

I do understand this post might be offensive, and will definitly show me in a bad light.  But for Christ's sake, this guy deserved to be shot down in an apocalyptic flamewar the moment he posted his absurd claim!  Instead I see people rejoicing and heralding the arrival of the Amiga 2.  How can you be so NAIVE!!

[GadgetMaster]

Jethro_Tull wrote:
Soon after reading this thread my morale and faith in the Amiga community went down like the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean.  I simply cannot beleive almost everyone so far beleived this guy's far out tale!  

The complete Amiga chipset taking up 60% of a 400K gatearray.  A humble Vic-20 takes up way more then that! htp://home.freeuk.com/fpgaarcade/vic20_main.htm

I'm writing this message neither to debunk this absurd lie, nor to slug it out with this Dennis bloke.  But simply to vent my disappoinment that so many Amiga.org members have fallen for this.  No wonder Elbrox can spin tales of fabled Sharks and Dragons, no wonder old unreliable boards change hands for almost a grand!  If this is what's left of the Amiga community then we're all well and truly *****

I do understand this post might be offensive, and will definitly do me no favours.  But christ's sake, this guy deserved to be shot down in an apocaplyptic flamewar the moment he posted his absurd claim!

Hey! Not everyone.

Give some credit where it's due  :-P

/Edit

Ah you wrote almost...

Anyway I am prepared to look a bit silly if I am wrong.

[Colin_Camper]

Jethro_Tull wrote:
I simply cannot beleive almost everyone so far beleived this guy's far out tale!

Well I think Gadgetmaster believes this, and my money would also go in the same direction.

[GadgetMaster]

Colin_Camper wrote:

Well I think Gadgetmaster believes this, and my money would also go in the same direction.

Don't you mean I believe otherwise  ;-)


[Edit]

Just to clarify. I'm a non believer

Hey Dennis ! Prove me wrong. I'm a skeptic.  :-P

[Jethro_Tull]

@Colin-Camper
A fool and his money are easily parted.  Read what 'GadgetMaster' just contributed to this thread!

[Jethro_Tull]

>>Anyway I am prepared to look a bit silly if I am wrong.

My humble pie is always ready for the eating too!  However, given Dennis's post which makes frivolous work of such an undertaking, I think my pie will rest safely in the fridge!

[Ogun]

Jethro_Tull wrote:

The complete Amiga chipset taking up 60% of a 400K gatearray.  A humble Vic-20 takes up way more then that! htp://home.freeuk.com/fpgaarcade/vic20_main.htm

Well, it might just be that that core is not optimized.
Jeri Elsworths C64 core fits inside an Altera 100k gate chip. A C64 is a lot more complex than the VIC20.

[Jethro_Tull]

@Ogun

>>Well, it might just be that that core is not optimized.

Sure!  There might also be the remote and slightly bizarre possibility that this Dennis guy is telling a truckload of lies.......

Also, the Altera core you mentioned contains a highly optimised processor core emulating a C64, not a circuit replica, which is more akin to running UAE then having the real thing.  

Anyways, lets' not give undeserved attention to Dennis, the hallucinating bloke.  When a trustworthy member of this community sees the FPGA Amiga in action, then I'll beleive this tale, otherwise, let's not fuel this attention seekers' fire any longer, shall we?

[Xanxi]

AWESOME! :-D

I hope it's not a joke!

I will certainly buy one, and for sure, price is not an issue (i have spent billions of dollars in Amiga hardware so far :-p).

But, is it supposed to connect to a TV screen or RGB monitor or does it have a scandoubler integrated?

[SHADES]

I have to agree. I don't see it as being possible, at least not on one FPGA. Most of the chipset designs are lost also and this is a claim to also have circut compatibility?

I'm an x engineer and this type of stuff is far from easy when you do have chip schematics to pull from. It's not impossible, Jeri E did it with C64 however the chipset/circuts weren't nearly as complex and schematics were availble. She looked up the old chips in engineering books.

I'd wonder why ppl insist on stiring up a hornets nest.
Good luck to those who want to try, I'm waiting/wanting new hardware or replacements.

[ChaosLord]

I agree that it is a hoax.

[Lando]

Jethro_Tull wrote:

The complete Amiga chipset taking up 60% of a 400K gatearray.  A humble Vic-20 takes up way more then that! htp://home.freeuk.com/fpgaarcade/vic20_main.htm

I really know nothing about FPGA's, but a different page on that same site you linked to has a project to recreate the Amiga and Atari ST on FPGA's and he says:-

The Atari chips are very simple, the Amiga AGA chipset is more complex, but will still easily fit in a small FPGA. The only problem is the amount of time needed to get it right ...

So someone else also seems to think it is possible also (AGA chipset on one FPGA).

[Jethro_Tull]

Hi Lando, I never said implementing the Amiga on FPGAs was not possible.  Indeed the BoXer motherboard was just that! However , the page I pointed to was merely to expose Dennis' lies.  If you've read MY link, you would have seen that even a relativly simple Vic-20 needed more gates then Danny boy's MiniMig implementation!  

The page author himself, who undoubtedly has far more proven experience then our Dennis here, hasn't got very far in his attempts. In the same page, he states that barely got through connecting a 68000 to a Gate Array! And just completed the code for a simple Yamaha sound chip, something much simpler and more documented then the Amiga's Paola.

My originial point was simply an appeal to be realistic, and not to be so gullable!!  If you're happy to beleive to every charlatan and liar that comes here then suite yourself!  :lol:

[Argus]

Agreed, it is a hoax, though who wouldn't want to be proven wrong?  If it took the Lorraine team several years to design and work the bugs out, what chance does a newbie lone wolf in Holland have in 12 months?  Not much.....

[Jethro_Tull]

@Argus, I would be more then happy to be proven wrong! Indeed, I'd buy one myself! But, as you've rightly concluded, the wording and absurd technical details in Dennis' posts clearly point to a lie.  

I've noticed that Troika are online right now, maybe they'll negotiate a deal with Dennis for a PPC Amiga with classic chipset!! Vapour, Vapour everywhere, this place looks more and more like a sauna.  ACK, Troika, Dragon and now MiniMig! Bring it on guys!!!  :lol: