FPGA Replay Board

[mikej]

The daughterboard exists as layout in my laptop.
I'll post a piccy when it's completely done.
/MikeJ

[mikej]

They are shipping now, just slowly as I work through the pre-orders.
It takes a lot of time to hand assemble and test each board.
Now I have FCC and CE approval I'm going ahead with mass production.
/Mike

[mikej]

Ha, Angelina Jolie's knickers did not arrive - there it your problem.
Actually I'm in China again which was a bit unexpected, and I'm a bit sick.
However, I've brought a board and usb debugger with me.
You can force it into 15K mode manually by adding a wire...
Tell you what, I'll try to do a "bodge" merge of the old code today.
Espen, mail me and I'll tell you how to do the 15K mod. However, the composite out won't work with this still.
If you are taking a laptop with you and micro usb cable you can update when you get there?
/Mike

[mikej]

If MikeJ has just spent $20k to $30k on getting the FPGA Arcade Replay board certified, he must have some serious plans for mass production and sales to recoup that amount of investment.

well, it wasn't quite that much - but was a bit pricey.
I'm having fun (and spending a fortune) learning how to produce hardware....

I am working as we speak in a bar in China on getting the new ARM code/core to support DVI/composite etc.

Cheers,
Mike

[mikej]

My version of Jakub's core is now up and running - I've been adding some customisation for the Replay board etc. Not totally finished yet but getting close. This will beta while Jakub and I figure out to merge back. He is focusing more on RTG graphics and the 68060 at the moment.

I've finished testing another 5 boards today which will ship.

I'm also working on the daughter board, still aiming for mid-late April PCB production, depending on how long it takes to get the new firmware released.

/Mike

[mikej]

Is the source for these improved cores available somewhere?

Wodan,
Unlike every other project in this area, the source for this will be available at release.
May I ask why you ask? If you are interested in developing, and have some experience in this area drop me a mail.
Best,
/MikeJ

[mikej]

Shame that it's produced in China.

It's a fair point. The first boards were all made in Scandinavia, but I had real trouble finding a company who would bother to look at it. Those that did quote were >10x the price of a very good factory in China. I have also had quality issues with EU companies, not China ones interestingly.

With volume production it may be possible to move back to Europe, but for now you would have to pay @50-60Euro more per board for that.

I did get some help from two UK companies, but at that time I had already done the deal in China.
/MikeJ

[mikej]

I "think" it will run at full speed, the design is timing-clean now. However, I have broken write to SD card at the moment, so I can't save a config file.
I will recompile and change the defaults to check.
It is running with selectable scan doubler now and svhs output it working well.
Composite is a bit iffy in PAL but the sync's are not quite right. Using my test pattern generator I get a clean picture.
/Mike

[mikej]

Well, it's not really pre-orders - I don't confirm and ask for any cash until the board is packed and ready to ship. Good job as I am behind schedule!

More are coming, I'm seeing the factory next week again.
/Mike

[mikej]

Meanwhile, the x86 Core is working like a charm.  The softcore Pentium 2 manages around 600MHz which allows the installing of WinXP if you put the ISO of the install DVD on the SD card and mount it.  The emulated Radeon 7xxx series graphics card allocates 64MB of RAM which is enough to play lots of games.  Just make sure you get a huge SD card as Windows needs a large hard file especially if you plan on installing lots of games.

Here's a screen shot of the FPGA Aracde running World of Warcraft in a 1024x768 display on WindowsXP (it is rather large so I had to link to it):
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b134/darrin01311/FPGA1.jpg

Ha ha, ok, I deserve that
I have you know I have brought a board with me to China and was working on it in the bar.
I echo the OSD to the rs232 port, so I don't need a monitor attached.
Good news, I fixed the problem with the file system, seems to work nicely now with no timeouts. More testing to be done. The ARM software now runs up the core and can load disk images. I am working on the hard drive code now.

I have been chatting a lot to Jakub who has been helping out.
The ARM code is a rewrite for several reasons. It now builds under free tools (Yagarto) and uses a real embedded file system which is good for other reason which will become apparent.
However, a lot of the really clever stuff that Jakub wrote, like the directory sort and ADF/HDF mounters have to be re-written completely.

The core itself seems to be working nicely and meets timing.
Best,
MikeJ
(from WuHan airport)

[mikej]

Since the daughterboard needs a cpu, I started poking around ebay for a  used 68060, but the prices are rather steep.. (~100USD). Then I found  this one
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nortel-Meridian-NT5D03FB-CP-Rlse-02-68060E-128MB-64F-Module-/320877034462

Anyone know if that cpu actually would be usable? A bit of googling  shows that it should be a proper 68060@50MHz, and at that price I bought  one. (still one available if you feel like possibly wasting money)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_68060 shows that Nortel did use a 68060, but I'm not sure about that e at the end..

Don't know, can't see the beast under the heatsink - but you may be lucky.
This is the one you need : MC68060RC50 mask 71E41J rev6
I am talking to some suppliers in Shenzhen to see if I can get some + sockets + heatsinks.
/MikeJ

[mikej]

Genuine MC68060RC50 with 41J mask work, others have bugs.

They are getting expensive. I am talking to a supplier here.
By the time we include shipping, handling and testing it will be around 60Euro + vat for the processor. (Worst case 70Euro I think) Is this a price people are willing to pay?

If I buy larger numbers I can get a better price.
Were there any XC68060RC50 with the same mask set? Are there any faster versions?
Re-labelling is a major problem here, so I am talking to a friend who runs a chip testing company here as well.

/MikeJ

[mikej]

Genuine MC68060RC50 with 41J mask work, others have bugs.

They are getting expensive. I am talking to a supplier here.
By the time we include shipping, handling and testing it will be around 60Euro + vat for the processor. (Worst case 70Euro I think) Is this a price people are willing to pay?

If I buy larger numbers I can get a better price.
Were there any XC68060RC50 with the same mask set? Are there any faster versions?
Re-labelling is a major problem here, so I am talking to a friend who runs a chip testing company here as well.

/MikeJ

I received yesterday a box of brand-new genuine MC68060RC50s ... but they were the 1st mask set so I have rejected them. The supplier is attempting to find more of the 41J revision. If we can't get them in Shenzhen, I don't think we are going to get them anywhere
.
We may have to accept the second mask set where all but one of the Errata's were fixed, but they don't go as fast as the 41Js. The young ladies are on the case here, I'll know more in a week or so.

/MikeJ

[mikej]

The young ladies are on your what???

ha ha, I won't tell you what happened in the bar now
/MikeJ

[mikej]

LOL, I can imagine.  Remember, I worked in Shekou for a while.  

Oh yes, I forgot that - well yes we were hanging out in Shekou, and probably where you expect. This may explain why there has been little progress on the software front last week

[mikej]

Sorry guys, I've been travelling back. I'm working through the emails, but it will take a day or so to catch up.

Layout is pretty much complete for the daughterboard, but not 100% yet, still fiddling with it. I need some time to go through it with Jakub before manufacture.
/MikeJ