FPGA Replay Board

[Darrin]

Frankly speaking there is not much to show right now. Everything has been delayed slightly.

I should get the new revision of the board shortly after Mike has verified the design. The daughter board should be ready in January.

In the meantime Tobias has managed to implement missing bitfield instructions. It has increased the core size to 75% of the FPGA.

We are still working on fixing minor problems. Finally we've got the RNC Copy Lock games to work.

Cheers for the info.  Sounds like things are just about done with th exception of a few morer tweaks.

Just out of interest, will/can the AGA core be ported to the C-One?

[Darrin]

Cheers Mike for the update.  I hope you're not getting too frustrated.  Remember:  Beer is your friend.  

[Darrin]

Yes, I have a working C64 core but not an accurate SID at the moment.
Work is on-going reverse engineering the analog part of the chip at the moment (see visual6502.org for details of how it is done)

I thought that there was a new C-One C64 core available with working SID emulation.

[Darrin]

yes, but last time I checked the c-one was bound up in some stupid non-disclosure deal which meant the source code (even though it is based on FPGA-64) cannot be distributed.

http://www.syntiac.com/fpga64.html

Daft.

So, we'll write our own SID and release it with an open license for the Replay board.

SID die shots:
http://mail.lipsia.de/~enigma/neu/6581.html
http://oms.wmhost.com/misc/

I'll be checking the binaries for other boards to see if any of our code is used....
/Mike

Damn, that is a waste.

Even as a C-One owner I have a hard (almost impossible) time trying to find out what is going on (if anything) with the core developments.  The Amiga core for the C-One seems to work for some people and is buggy as hell for others (like me).

The net result is that I power it up for a while, get frustrated and then mothball it for 6 months, which is a real shame as the potential for it is huge (actual C64/VIC-20 serial port, c64 cartridge port, printer port, IDE, A1200 clock port, etc).

My last attempt resulted in me finally getting the Amiga sound to work correctly, but a real SID fitted to the board (jumpers configured correctly) produced a single tone and became hot enough to fry an egg on in seconds.

Now if only the joystick detection on the new C-One Amiga core worked correctly like it did on the old one...

[Darrin]

I put the C-One under my desk and occasionally bring it out when someone posts a 'fix' to a mailing list, or releases a new core. I get excited that it might actually work since I paid... oh what $400 for it and have had it since 2005 ...  but no, it still doesn't do what I want it to do, I get discouraged, and I put it back underneath the desk.

Sounds familiar.  

On the plus side, the C64 and VIC-20 screens look fantastic via the VGA connector.  

[Darrin]

Just out of curiosity: What would it take to redesign the OSD so that it resembles the early startup and has mouse support ? When the OSD menu gets lots of options, it might be cool to have a graphical menu system for configuring --- unless this eats up all the ARM memory ?

Using the cursor keys to configure is fine by me.  What I would like is a way to save several confurations:

Basic A500-like with KS1.3, OCS, 1 drive, etc @ 7MHz
Super Minimig with KS3.1, best chipset available, maximum RAM, hard file, etc
etc
etc

[Darrin]

Do we have any SysInfo results yet with a Minimig core?

[Darrin]

It was posted some time ago.

We are still working on it. Recently Tobias has implemented the missing bit field instructions and we are testing them now.

The performance will improve further when 32-bit wide transfers are implemented.

Very nice!

I can see a few second hand Minimig v1.1 units appearing on eBay when this beastie gets released.  

[Darrin]

Very Nice 112 MB/s but just out of curiousity, wouldnt it be better to also add a CPU 32-bit data bus aswell?
 
And would it be also possible to increase the Ram to say 256 Mb or greater?
 
Thanks
DC

More RAM = more cost.

I think the goal should be to get this board out as it is and into the hands of customers and then look at making a v2 with higher specs if the demand supports it.

Let's face it, we have a machine here capable of performing above 68030 speeds at the price of a 68030 CPU card.  Upgrading to a new, improved board ever 12-18 months and selling the old one should be within everyone's budget.

[Darrin]

@espskog, I think something like 200 EUR were mentioned earlier.

Which is a bargain considering a "new" refurbished A1200 will set you back around 140 EUR while the Minimig has extra RAM, scan doubler, PS2 mouse and keyboard adapters, SD card adapter and faster performance.

On top of that we also have to remember that this board isn't just an Amiga either.  

Edit:  I should also point out that if Yaqube delivers on the RTG front then a real A1200 would need a Mediator and Radion card to catch up.

[Darrin]

Could you try to explain the main differences between NatAmi which just announced its board on this forum and the Replay board. I am definitely pro-replay but I am still curious about the side-by-side differences and how they operate + their potentials.


-What are the main technical differences ?
-Do they offer the same functionality ?
-Are they meant to cover the same area of use ?
-A big price difference ?
-Production difference ? (Handmade / Machine made)
-What can A do that B does not ?


//Espen

The easiest way I can thing about putting it is A500 v A2000 or A1200 v A4000 where the FPGA Arcade is your cheaper, light-weight "wedge" and the Natami is going to be your "big box" (especially when you start plugging things into those PCI slots).

However, the FPGA Arcade is not just an Amiga.  Look back through these posts and you'll find a list of other cores being worked on.  So, before you switch on your FPGA Aracde, you'll have a choice of different computers or arcade games cabinets.

I intend to buy both, but I expect to be using the FPGA Aracde more because it will be my "fun" machine geared towards gaming and put into a small portable case (probably a keyboard like my Minimig) while the Natami will replace my A4000 tower and be aimed more towards word processing, graphics and internet.

I also expect to see a large price difference between the boards.

[Darrin]

Bump....

Anyone have something to post ? Any news on progress ?

How abour the daughterboard. We're dying to hear how it goes
Maybe some specs ?

Espen

The first 500 boards were shipped to customers last week.  Haven't you got your yet?

[Darrin]

I'm still in China but I have got almost enough parts now to build another 50 boards. Jakub has his up and running. I'll post some vids when I get home early this week.
/Mike

and just in case anyone took my last post seriously, I should point out that I was kidding.  

[Darrin]

Well, I posted a pic of it running on my website (http://www.fpgaarcade.com)

Attempting to video it, proving tricky.
It's running AGA chipset, 68020 core and workbench 40.42.
It is still outputting standard PAL video at the moment, so it is as flickery as the original...
/MikeJ

It has S-Video out?  Grab a $20 cheapo video grabber from Walmart and plug the FPGA Replay output directly into that and grab it to a MPEG file.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3504456&CatId=1428

Nice case.  I still want to see if I can cram one into a keyboard.  

[Darrin]

Nice to see it in action.  Those screens pop up like greased lightning!