FPGA Replay Board

[mikej]

Very nice the boards indeed, but is there any way to buy one?

ha ha, soon!

[mikej]

status update? =)

Complete, boxed up and on their way out of China.
/MikeJ

[mikej]

he says like nothing special happened...

DANCING BANANA OVERLOAD!! THIS IS MAJOR!

They have to get to me, and work, before I am happy

[mikej]

Sorry if its a silly question or answered elsewhere but will there be an aga core for this or ecs only?

AGA, although there are some compatibility issues with it yet to be resolved.
/MikeJ

[mikej]

I've no idea what batch my board came from... it has been so long!  It still works though so it was definately made to last.  It hasn't even got a case, it just sits ontop of the desk with cables hanging off it.

There are RevA boards - with the single joystick connectors on the back. There are only four of these with developers.

RevB1 (around 20 exist), with double height joystick and option of SVHS/Composite vid.
RevB2 (around 50 exist) is the same, but with the spacing between the DVI and audio jack improved, as well as a fix for DVI power backfeed (powering the board through the monitor basically).
RevB2 batch2 (100) is currently on it's way from China. Exactly the same as B2 but with FCC logo on the board as well.

New firmware supports all RevB boards.
It's printed on the top of the board, Darrin you have a B1 I think.

The new USB adapter replaces the PS2 connector and can be fitted on any all RevB boards.
/MikeJ

[mikej]

So no possibility of using an A4000 keyboard anymore?

You can always wire up a connector onto the spare IO pads if you are handy with a soldering iron. I maybe able to fit a header as an option during ordering.
Will look into this.
/Mike

[mikej]

Or maybe we need an A4000 to USB keyboard interface.

Yuk, then you have two back-to-back USB translators. It would work, but neater to speak keyboard directly.
/Mike

[mikej]

Mike, when will you ship to those of us on the list?.

It depends how long it takes to get to me and clear customs.
It's over 40KG of boards, so it's going to take a while.
/Mike

[mikej]

yup, everybody who has mailed me will be contacted once I know the yield.
Not all are sold, mail (don't pm)
mikej at fpgaarcade dot com

[mikej]

Me to, and I have mailed MikeJ's mail

Yes, I have received quite a few mail. I will try and respond to you all.
I have added everybody onto the list.
Obviously I don't know how many are free until they are tested and people tell me if they still want them or not - so I'll just work down it when they arrive.

I will kick of another batch as soon as these are tested, so there will be lots soon.
/MikeJ

[mikej]

It's not going to be cheaper than those

You're lucky that mikej was able to afford the time and money to do this. But I expect he'll want to recover that when he starts selling them.

I will not recover the time or NRE costs - if I was to factor in my time as I would when I am consulting or doing my day job (ASIC/FPGA design), then there would be no way this would even cover costs, never mind any return on investment.

I wish it was finished a while ago too, but I have to squeeze it around all the stuff which does pay the bills
/MikeJ

[mikej]

I hope I've replied to all the emails I received - I may have missed a few, but I have a complete record of everything.
I will go though and update my order list, and send out details when stock arrives.
If you don't receive a mail then - and you mailed me before - mail me again then.

I'll work on the website and pop an order button on there soon.
Thanks,
MikeJ

[mikej]

Update:
I've holding the shipment in Shenzhen as the inspection by my forwarder highlighted some potential problems, specifically a few boards with the wrong build options (some bits missing which shouldn't be).

They have been returned to the assembly plant on Friday for a full audit.

Depending on my confidence level,I will release them tomorrow - or they will have to wait another week until I arrive in China and inspect them.

The freight is very expensive (hundreds of USD) + import tax and VAT etc. I don't want to have to send them back again.

This first large-ish batch is to get the process in place for full production, so I need to be a little cautious otherwise there will not be enough funds to make the next batch

I'll update you as I find out more.
/MikeJ

[mikej]

Wait until next week and take a large empty suitcase with you

I did consider that, but the excess baggage fee for ~60Kg would be not funny
actually, it's not bad. Something to thing about.

[mikej]

I did consider that, but the excess baggage fee for ~60Kg would be not funny
actually, it's not bad. Something to thing about.

Inspection shows they are all correct. An old picture was used by the shipping agent, not one they took of the actual boards!

As I am down there next week I will inspect/bring back what I can and ship the rest.
Exciting times
/MikeJ

[mikej]

Mike, existing owners?

I can't seem to find specific mention of support for usb joysticks/pads. What level of support can we expect in the short term? Are HID digital pads supported? Can we expect analogue sticks to work? Emulating 9 state digital or full analogue support?

I only ask as I have a stash of amiga/atari DB9 sticks, but only 1 works perfectly. I snapped the last of the spare springs on my QuickJoy sticks...

I've got some PC 15 pin midi port flight sticks too, but I'm guessing i'd need an adapter to DB9 for those.

The current core is very close to the original hardware, so only 9PIN digital.
There are analog inputs on the ARM which can be used in future.
The USB adapter adds keyboard and mouse, and can be extended to all sorts of stuff in future.
Cheers,
Mike