C128 in an FPGA?

[FrenchShark]

Hi. I am a happy owner of three MCC-216 VGA and one MCC-216 S-Video.

I mostly use them with the C64 core done by Frenchshark, and will start tinkering with the Amiga core once it is launched.

The C64 core works pretty well with old and new C64 games, some of the most important features it has are:

- PAL and NTSC C64 models supported
- Stereo 8580 SIDs support with filters
- Perfect smooth scrolling if your monitor supports the MCC resolutions / refresh frequencies
- 1541 emulation with read and write support of D64 images, with good compatibility with fast loaders
- Support of mount of up to 10 d64 images for multi disk games
- Very fast reset and startup of the C64 core: less than 4 seconds boot including the d64 images mount
- Supports very well the JiffyDOS rom and JiffyDOS 1541II rom for fast loading of d64 images
- Swap joysticks feature (swap ports 1 <-> port 2): only needs one joystick
- Proprietary USB joypad support
- Mouse support (PS2 mouse)
- Very nice and colorful menu for selecting the games / disc images
- Very good games compatibility (above 90% based on tested games)

I wrote down an article on lemon64 forum with some tips for using the C64 core, it has almost all you need to know to use it (strengths and weaknesses too), you can read it here:
http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34194&start=550

The MCC-216 works very well for me and for many other people, you can check the customer’s feedback from Ebay buyers:
http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=arcaderetrogaming&ftab=AllFeedback&myworld=true

For a C64 fan that wants to run games on new hardware I would definitively recommend it, and I expect that the new Amiga core that it is coming will be great too.

Regards, Juan

Thanks Juan. You don't have to to do that.
Be careful you will get some bashing from some guys here :-).
Moreover, your only 3-post count will look suspicious, maybe it is me writing this comment :-)
Anyway, with any product, you cannot get 100% of the customers happy, that's a rule.

Regards,

Frederic

[juga]

Thanks Juan. You don't have to to do that.
Be careful you will get some bashing from some guys here :-).
Moreover, your only 3-post count will look suspicious, maybe it is me writing this comment :-)
Anyway, with any product, you cannot get 100% of the customers happy, that's a rule.

Regards,

Frederic

Hi Frederic, no problem!

Don't worry, I am only saying that I like the MCC and the features it has.  

Little posts here, I only come to learn about the Amiga since I only had a VIC20 and a C64 on the golden 8-bit years.

Keep the good work and I hope to see tha launch of the Amiga core soon!
 

[gaula92]

Be careful you will get some bashing from some guys here :-).

That's nonsense. juga didn't sell me a piece of junk with defective cores based on GPL ones without releasing the modified sources and easy-to-break components. He's just another user, with a different point of view about your product, that's all. I'm not bashing him and your insinuation is very irritating and unnecessary.

He may not care about support, bug-fixing or quality, but I respect him because he hasn't fooled me like you do with your advertisement and your product.

I mostly use them with the C64 core done by Frenchshark, and will start tinkering with the Amiga core once it is launched.

The Amiga core for the MCC-216 was launched almost two years ago (and I'm sure you know it). It's an illegal core based on GPL code. Even if a new core is to be released in the future based on original work, that doesn't change the former fact.

And even then, frenchshark, most TG68 incompatibilities will have been addressed and I won't have a reason to believe you: you can fool me once, but not twice.
And as I said, I hope real developers will try hard to stop you.

[Hattig]

So the original MCC Amiga was based upon the Minimig sources? And those source changes were posted back to minimig.net, or not?  The existing Amiga core would only infringe copyright if the source changes (to make it run on the MCC) were not published, and made available upon request (e.g., download of the source).

The new Amiga core is a totally new implementation, once it is released, with no Minimig (or other GPL) components?

I'm just trying to understand here, because the allegations being made are quite serious.

[koaftder]

tl;dr, anybody who does anything Amiga related in Verilog is going to be accused of ripping off Minimig. What a shame.

[gaula92]

So the original MCC Amiga was based upon the Minimig sources?

Yes. There's a new version in the works, apparently, but current Amiga core is Minimig-based.

The existing Amiga core would only infringe copyright if the source changes (to make it run on the MCC) were not published, and made available upon request (e.g., download of the source).

That's the situation.

And those source changes were posted back to minimig.net, or not?

No. He posted some small pieces of code on minimig.net, but not the complete sources. Not by far. That's why no one could fix the current implementation for the last two years, and that's why it's illegal.

[juga]

The Amiga core for the MCC-216 was launched almost two years ago (and I'm sure you know it).

Yes, you are right.

I don't use this beta Amiga core (of course I have tested it), I am waiting for the new Amiga core for using the Amiga emulation on the MCC.

[gaula92]

tl;dr, anybody who does anything Amiga related in Verilog is going to be accused of ripping off Minimig. What a shame.

This is confusing. There's no "ripping off", but GPL violation here. Don't try to confuse people.

[koaftder]

This is confusing. There's no "ripping off", but GPL violation here. Don't try to confuse people.

That's BS. You're accusing this guy of ripping off other people's work and not giving back as evidenced by quite a few posts of yours across multiple forums. You've taken this well beyond a simple polite discussion about GPL compliance.

[ferrellsl]

@gaula92

Thay may be true for an unreleased core, but the core running in your commercial product HAS BEEN a primitive Minimig for almost two years.
You have been selling a product with GPL code closed and expanded without opening back the sources.
And the fact that this product is badly built is just and additional problem.

And your problem with this is?  People create and sell poorly designed products all the time and people will still buy them....but as for Frederic's product being poorly designed, I don't think most of us on this board have the qualifications to make that kind of statement, yourself included.

And your accusations about GPL violations are off-base as well.  People write closed-source applications and modules all the time that interface with open sourced and GPL code.  This same issue is being addressed with Nvidia Optimus technology on Linux platforms, so I don't see why you're trying to make this an issue except that you have some sort of immature personal grudge match that you've declared.

[gertsy]

Not sure of the benefit of a c128 over a c64.  I had a 128d for 3 years back in (well a long time ago) and used its 128 mode sparingly.  I did use CPM a little though.

[psxphill]

And your accusations about GPL violations are off-base as well. People write closed-source applications and modules all the time that interface with open sourced and GPL code. This same issue is being addressed with Nvidia Optimus technology on Linux platforms, so I don't see why you're trying to make this an issue except that you have some sort of immature personal grudge match that you've declared.

A lot of people consider that NVidia violate the GPL. But they link their modules in a way that they think gets them round it, they are tolerated because nobody wants to sue and NVidia are producing drivers.
 
If any changes have been made to the minimig code to make it work on the MCC then not releasing the changes is a blatant violation. Whether you class that as ripping off or not is semantics.

[ferrellsl]

@psxphill

I really don't care what some people "consider" a violation.  I only care about the facts. And all I've seen here is gaula92 using this thread as a personal attack directed at Frederic. Until someone cares enough to PROVE with facts that Frederic is violating the GPL, then they need to shut up and stop attacking his credibility while hiding behind an online forum.  If gaula92 is so convinced that Frederic has violated the GPL,  and he has proof of it, then he should file a law suit instead of turning this thread into a weapon for personal attacks.  Where I come from, that's called "Put up, or shut up!"  Right now I'd like a lot of "Shut Up" as far as this matter and GPL violations are concerned.

[psxphill]

Until someone cares enough to PROVE with facts that Frederic is violating the GPL, then they need to shut up and stop attacking his credibility while hiding behind an online forum.

I don't think there is any dispute that MCC uses minimig source, MCC doesn't provide any source. Well I think that raises enough doubt that there is a violation that discussion online is fine.
 

If gaula92 is so convinced that Frederic has violated the GPL, and he has proof of it, then he should file a law suit instead of turning this thread into a weapon for personal attacks. Where I come from, that's called "Put up, or shut up!" Right now I'd like a lot of "Shut Up" as far as this matter and GPL violations are concerned.

I think suggesting filing a law suit is unhelpful.
 
I'm not using personal attacks & I think discussion of GPL violations is fine. You don't have to read it.
 
Of course you could argue that it's off topic for this thread.

[gaula92]

Current beta Amiga core for the MCC-216 is, in fact, a Minimig core port. A new core, unrelated to Minimig, is in the works, but the core published almost two years ago is Minimig based. Frenchshark didn't have anything as advanced back then: he used to report advancements in the unofficial MCC-216 forum (retrorebooted.com, now offline) and I remember the situation perfectly, as anybody who was at that forum does.

He announced he was starting his own 68K soft-cpu and chipset implementations AFTER the core was published.

And no, I won't be going for a lawsuit as I don't care about the MCC-216 anymore: I believe time puts people in the place they should be. I feel scammed by the low quality of the thing, the broken cores announced as "supportedd systems" (like the lame AppleII situation where it can't even load a disk image because the original core author won't touch the MCC-216 with a 10mts pole anymore) and the lack of fixed and the general support (or lack of).

[Hattig]

@psxphill

I really don't care what some people "consider" a violation.  I only care about the facts. And all I've seen here is gaula92 using this thread as a personal attack directed at Frederic. Until someone cares enough to PROVE with facts that Frederic is violating the GPL, then they need to shut up and stop attacking his credibility while hiding behind an online forum.  If gaula92 is so convinced that Frederic has violated the GPL,  and he has proof of it, then he should file a law suit instead of turning this thread into a weapon for personal attacks.  Where I come from, that's called "Put up, or shut up!"  Right now I'd like a lot of "Shut Up" as far as this matter and GPL violations are concerned.

The only person that can file a lawsuit is the owner of the minimig source copyright - which is probably a combination of Dennis, yaqube and other people who have contributed to it over the years. The fact that they're not exactly screaming about this violation probably says a lot.

However I do think that the full sources to the minimig-derived core should be made available as per the license requirements, and I don't see the harm in releasing it.