Using C64 Core on MiniMig boards.

[Palm]

Is it possible to load a C64 core onto the MiniMig board via the SD card ? If so, will the CPU be "emulated"/implemented in the core itself (making the onboard 68k cpu "disabled"/unused ?

Is the MiniMIg board capable of running more than just a Amiga core ? E.g. Atari or other which uses 68K CPU.

Just curious, since I read that C-one can run C64 cores + minimig cores (with modifications). Having both Amiga and C64 on the same board would be supercool. Maybe a bootloader to choose core ?


Espen

[Palm]

If the MinMig board is sold in even larger quantities, maybe more ppl see the interest to release C64 Cores for it aswell. It would be supercool if the MiniMig board could be released in a new version too, with much open design so that it can be added modules to it (e.g. busboards and stuff like that) so that 3rd parties can create whatever HW they want for it (and make the drivers ofcoz). That way, the MiniMig could be a more like a "open" board which has the ability to run MiniMig core _aswell_ as much other stuff.

E.g.:

1. Have option to insert own cards that holds chips. (e.g. a 6581 SID chip, 6510 CPU) for better c64 emulation etc

2. Open design that lets ppl create insertion-boards (although todays design is pretty open

3. Have the possibility to choose which FPGA to use (if they can be hot-swapped and pinouts are the same) to enable the owner of the board to run larger cores...if this is really necessary..i dunno...just emptying my mind here :-)

4. Maybe over-dimension things in the design to extend the lifespand of the board so that cores etc. which is made 2 years from now which might be 10x larger than todays, can be used too without making a new board.


Is it possible to have a jumper for the pic that tells the pic which core to use ? Or even better, a OSD which does this ? E.g you can have CORE1.BIN, CORE2.BIN...COREN.BIN on the SDIO card and by switching the jumper from 1 to 2, or from 2 to 3 it will load the corresponding core. That way you can add a ince display on the front of the minimig case which says which core is being used :-)

Can HDMI port be added ?

Are there any Linux cores which can be used on the MiniMig ?


I´ll stop here ... :-)


Espen

[Palm]

So, the question is:

Which board to go for. MiniMig or COne board. Whichever runs the most cores and has best development and is cheapest, will probably win the tug.

I for sure would like to have my two favourite machine in the same FPGA (c64+amiga500 ...or a1200 if possible in the future). I also want as much options as possible to connect all my legacy HW to it (drives, cartridges etc).

Of course, this is a wet dream, I hope for the best.

At the moment, I own a minimig. So I hope to see a clean and nice C64 core for it as soon as possible :-)
If that happens, what are the electrical possibilities to see functions added like expansion slots and IEC bus ? Does the FPGA has some pins I can pull this from if a C64 Core is made/adapted ?


Espen

[Palm]

Regarding MiniMig ITX V3.0
----------------------

* Will it still feature the MiniITX 17x17 form factor ?
* WIll the ports on the back have the same positions as on
the 2.0 board ?
* Is it possible to create addon-cards/daughterboard for 2.0 which lets the 2.0 owners have 3.0 options if they want ?
* Will there be some kind of a trade-in deal for upgraders from 2.0->3.0 ?
* Is there a roadmap for 3.0 (and 4.0 ?) or a spec-list ready ?

I believe there are many wishes for what to add to the 3.0 board. Let the duscussion flow here a bit so that as much cool stuff is added to the 3.0 mobo as possible. The more the merrier


Regs
Espen

[Palm]

Peter at Illuwatar also sells pre-soldered boards. I bought one from him a few days ago, so he is definitely shipping :-)

If someone can make a working c64 core and continue to develop it, I fure sure would be part of donating.

Anyone ?

[Palm]

That is good news. What need now is some kind of a bootloader for which core to load. Is this possible to make using the onboard PIC ? It kinda sucks to have to swap SD card just to boot different cores :-)

It would be like the old days with the disk-boxes. But instead of disks, we have SD cards Imagine how small a sexy that box would look hehehe...

Espen

[Palm]

Dude, me too. Right away

Who sets up bounties. And what should it be. I guess C64 core would be most appreciated ? What do you  think ?


Espen

[Palm]

Allright, I can for sure live with different SD cards for different cores. If a C64 Core would be released, i am totally for that.

Is there anyeone who has tried to load a c64 core to the minimig ? Is there a way to join up for such a task ?

Maybe a some kind of a wiki for the minimig and other FPGA solutions would be nice. To collect all info in one place.


Espen

[Palm]

Would it be possible to use the core of a C64DTV if it could be extracted somehow

[Palm]

So, what is the major difference between MiniMig and your board ? I am just curious. Which one is most modular in design to be able to use most cores which are available/will be available ?

Seems to me that the "future" are FPGA boards which are generic in design being able to run all sorts of cores of old machines. Just a big question remaing:

-Which board wins the race.
-Which is the best and has the right price
-And which one gets most users.

I would love that MiniMig, FpgaArcade and other FPGA-board developers kind of teamed up somehow so that most cores either works on all boards, or that the board-developers try to make them boards compatible with eachother as much as possible so that the users gets to enjoy all the different cores around.

I do believe that for the MiniMig developers, they are interested in getting as much running on its board as possible, to pull users. And I believe FpgaArcade developers wants the same :-)

So, can someone list pros and cons for MiniMig and fpgaArcade (and other spartan3 boards ?) so that we can compare them ?



Espen

[Palm]

I guess your´re right there Alexh. And the DTV is kinda like not really a c64. It has some extra stuff, which imo should not be there. It is too pimped up

But back to Mike´s post. I wonder if I might have bought the Minimig too early. To me, the Replay board seems to have much more coresupport than the minimig has.

However, parting with my newly obtained mini itx minimig is kinda sad too. I think that if the minimig community can get the Replay cores ported and running on minimig boards, it would be very nice.

Let us just hope that this FPGA thing does not end up in a war between the different developers :-)


Espen

[Palm]

If I am not mistaken, the new ARM board from Yaqube replaces the minimig PIC.

Or do I remember wrongly here ?

Espen

[Palm]

Ah, very nice. I like that. Good.

So when can we expect to see a demo of your board ? youtube maybe? running c64 core ? It would be very nice to see it.

Espen

[Palm]

Taken into consideration that the minimig is quite a nice board, we should be able to get alot of cores running on it before switching to a new mobo probably. If the Replay and the MiniMig users keep fairly good sharing between the mobos and if cores can be shared for these two boards without too much hazzle, it would be nice with another mobo on the market. Nice to have a choice. But my biggest fear is that the boards (and future fpga board) develop in different direction so that neither boards can share cores easily. That is kind of like a lose-lose situation for all of us. Maybe a common roadmap for the developers of the boards would be a good idea.

I am sticking to my minimig hoping for a c64 core soon. That makes my world a perfect one One CD card labeled "Amiga" and the othe "C64". Could I ask for more ? :-)
(oh, I could...but I wont hehe)


Regs
Espen

[Palm]

Yes. Fingers crossed. Regarding casing, I have the ITX version so I have the possibility to choose standars ITX ones, but they are expensive as hell :-( So I am gonna make a simple homemade PLEXI box for it instead. Will cost me a fraction of a commercial mini itx casing.

Did you make that white nice box in plastic ? If so, great work. Looks very nice.

Even though minimig dies in the end because other boards are for sale which has more power and more capacity, that doesn´t matter too much because every board has its lifespan, and the minimig is not that new anymore. But it was "the" board which probably kickstarted all this amiga-in-a-chip in the beginning. I am very thankful for both the minimig board and Dennis´ work here. But as time goes by, more people will follow in his footsteps and make better boards. And this is just normal i guess. It benefits everyone. It is just a shame that the market for these boards are limited to the retro-people. So not much money to earn here. Although, they do earn quite some respect in the community, and this is priceless, right ? ;-)))


Regs
Espen