Amiga.org

Amiga News and Community Announcements => Amiga News and Community Announcements => Topic started by: mahen on June 26, 2015, 10:25:49 AM

Title: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: mahen on June 26, 2015, 10:25:49 AM
After a first beta release at the end of 2014 and 6 more months of collaborative work, Rok Krajnc and the Minimig / MiST / FPGA community release a new version of the Amiga AGA core for the MiST FPGA board labelled "1.0".

One may refer to it as minimig-mist-v1.0.

It contains a huge list of fixes which significantly improve the compatibility :
- fixed AGA color table issues
- fixed erroneous detection of HAM, HAM8 & EHB modes in AGA
- fixed AGA BPLXOR implementation
- implemented AGA bitplane scandoubling
- implemented AGA sprite scandoubling & SSCAN2 SH10 coincidence detection
- implemented proper AGA bitplane scroller with quarter pixel scrolling precision
- fixed AGA BPLCON4 values delay
- playfield CLUT offsets fixed
- ECS sprite attach enabled for both odd and even attach bit
- turbo options for chipRAM & kickstart
- new 8kB two-way, write-through, look-through CPU cache with separate instruction & data caches
- CPU PACK & UNPK instruction fixes by Till Harbaum
- updated very fast CPU by Alastair M. Robinson (in the newcpu build)
- CIA TOD bug fixed
- HRTmon with custom registers mirror
- chipset config applied only on reset
- config display added on boot screen

This list won't necessarily appeal to many of us, non-technical users, but the Slam Tilt compatibility definitely will !

Official site & download : http://somuch.guru/minimig/minimig-mist/
Make sure you read the readme.txt !
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: trekiej on June 26, 2015, 01:29:46 PM
Thanks for the info.
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: kolla on June 26, 2015, 07:00:00 PM
Awesome, great news!
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: amoskodare on June 26, 2015, 10:53:18 PM
Great, keep up the good work!!
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: XDelusion on June 26, 2015, 11:11:39 PM
Slam Tilt, Breathless... ya it's looking like it's worth the purchase. Anyone know how the MIDI adapter works with the Amiga core if at all?

Scroll down and enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mist+aga
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: mahen on June 26, 2015, 11:36:51 PM
The compatibility increase is HUGE. The MiST is now turning int a real A1200 replacement with great features (midi ports, hardfiles & floppies support, turbo mode, aga, scanlines, bilinear filtering...).
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: XDelusion on June 27, 2015, 01:28:37 AM
Quote from: mahen;791692
The compatibility increase is HUGE. The MiST is now turning int a real A1200 replacement with great features (midi ports, hardfiles & floppies support, turbo mode, aga, scanlines, bilinear filtering...).


So the MIDI ports are confirmed to work then? Good!!!

Atari 8-bit support is an added bonus!
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: mahen on June 27, 2015, 10:48:50 AM
> So the MIDI ports are confirmed to work then? Good!!!

Well, I don't know if they are supported at the moment, to be honest :) I assumed they would be supported eventually, as they are built-in. They are supported by the ST core though. Really looking forward to using Music-X, as it was used to create some of my favorite CDs (Montage, Dreamcast... by Dr Awesome aka Bjorn Lynne :)
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: AmiDude on June 27, 2015, 10:49:32 AM
Where can I buy this FPGA-MiST board? It's very vague...
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: mahen on June 27, 2015, 11:14:38 AM
Here's the official site but there are other resellers...

http://lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=96 (version without MIDI ports)
http://lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=143 (with MIDI ports)
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: chaos on June 27, 2015, 02:14:53 PM
MIDI ports are supported on the minimig core.
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: XDelusion on June 27, 2015, 03:27:35 PM
OK, count me in, I want one now!

I hope Nova is up to porting all his amazing 060 work over to work with this puppy. ;)
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: Pyromania on June 28, 2015, 12:59:36 AM
This is fantastic news!
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: Robert17 on June 28, 2015, 04:13:12 PM
Looks great, order placed :-)
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: WeiXing3D on June 28, 2015, 07:21:41 PM
I like what I'm reading about the MIST, but the only think I don't like is the "Soviet era, industrial look" of the case they are selling the system in.

I'm waiting what is supposed to be the  imminent delivery of my FPGA Replay, otherwise I'd buy one.
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: 7valleys on June 29, 2015, 01:22:35 PM
I actually think the Soviet era styling is a plus for a retro machine. Price is cheap, I'm in.

Quote from: WeiXing3D;791777
I like what I'm reading about the MIST, but the only think I don't like is the "Soviet era, industrial look" of the case they are selling the system in.

I'm waiting what is supposed imminent delivery of my FPGA Replay, otherwise I'd buy one.
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: Boot_WB on June 30, 2015, 12:36:55 PM
Quote from: 7valleys;791805
I actually think the Soviet era styling is a plus for a retro machine. Price is cheap, I'm in.


Agreed. Will have to wait a couple of months, but i'll be having one of those!
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: XDelusion on June 30, 2015, 01:29:56 PM
So this will handle OS 3.9 just fine then right?
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: mahen on July 07, 2015, 07:05:01 AM
Sysinfo reports the speed of a 65 MHz 68030, pretty good, I watched some mid 90s CNCD / Haujobb / TBL demos with no problems :)
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: spudje on July 07, 2015, 07:27:38 AM
Same here, I don't like the case. If it only looked similar to the Armiga... And lack of hdmi is another deal breaker.
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: mahen on July 07, 2015, 07:38:04 AM
I guess it's a matter of taste... I grew to appreciate it actually. It is sturdy and looks like it will last forever :) HDMI/DVI might be implemented in the future... I guess it's better to have VGA support to keep the compatiblity with more screens. Well, if all screens still have VGA support nowadays ? Eventually it should be replaced though, you're right !

The number one issue is not the output of the MiST actually, but the fact you need a monitor that correctly supports 720x576 and 50 Hz (no matter if it's a VGA or HDMI input).

Which is not a problem with a Raspberry + UAE based device. But rendering and overall experience is SO MUCH better with a Minimig / MiST ! (IMHO)
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: spudje on July 07, 2015, 08:05:54 AM
Mmm, good point. Would the native resolutions and screen modes even be supported over HDMI? If I would consider a FPGA Amiga it's for connecting it to a TV (HDMI or SCART).
Title: Re: Minimig AGA for the MiST v1.0 : Slam Tilt support !
Post by: mahen on July 07, 2015, 08:35:13 AM
I think those modes can be output over HDMI/DVI too, as both the FPGA Arcade and the Indivision AGA MK2 have DVI output. We should ask people who have both the Minimig/MiST and the FPGA Arcade Replay, like Laurent from Amedia. I think they give similar results. Compatibility may differ, however.

One important difference is that you only have SCART output with a Minimig/MiST though, not with an FPGA Arcade.

There are pros and cons in both cases !

But I would like to emphasize, again, the fact the screen plays a big role. I remember using my A1200 in SCART mode on a decent LCD TV : the result was HORRIBLE. Similarly, before using my current Iiyama LCD, I had horrible results with a Minimig and an LG LCD monitor : it did support 50 Hz but didn't have the right pixel clone and scrollings were not smooth at all. I guess TVs generally support more modes.

ANYWAY... If you find a proper screen, IMHO, the result is awesome. A great balance between pixellisation and bluriness that is even difficult to achieve with a real Amiga  and an emulator (on a LCD I mean... an Amiga looks great on CRTs of course). Probably due to the fact it outputs at 720x576 while also enabling the use of scanlines & filters.