FPGA Replay Board

[mikej]

@mikej
do you know how to identify the correct mask? i think there was a copyback issue that the previous mask were not capable of carrying up properly.

as for softcore in fpga, do you think this can be concurrent to a 060 already? has tg68 been worked on further, since tobias has given up? this is really a sad story this development has practically been killed by natami hype..

We are just reading the product code register which contains mask revision. If you have any data this is not reliable I would love to know about it.

The TG68 is still being developed, I am also running some tests.
I have my own core which is smaller and faster, but I have not had time to work on it for a while. These are both 68020 (lacking MMU and FPU) but can run faster than a 68060.

/Mike

[mikej]

I also was involved with demos on the Atari, and the idea is to be 100%cycle accurate for both cores. A1200 with 020 initially, then overclocked/060 mode.

It will not lose sync as the hardware is very close to the original hardware.
It remains to be seen if we can bend the timing from the original chipset to work with DVI without breaking it - or adding a frame delay which is not ideal. The high-res outputs have customized timing and work well with DVI/HDMI.
/Mike

[mikej]

All the boards in the field are running the same core, which is quite old now.
I have been holding off pushing out any intermediate versions during the re-write, and the new core addresses most if not all of the stability issues. It may introduce more bugs of course, but these will be quickly squashed

/Mike

[mikej]

I see the following options :

7.14 MHz 68000 (cycle accurate with original CPU and chipset)
14.28 MHz 68020 (")

xxx MHz enhanced 68020 FPGA mode - single cycle as much as possible, cache, ~100MHz
xxx MHz 68060 (>100MHz) or until it blows up.
??
/MikeJ

p.s. I'm in Beijing but I'm told a whole load of chips for Replay production just landed at my place

[mikej]

So, if I'm right, we're not seeing any new, more compatible core on the FPGA Arcade in a long time. Could developers please confirm this? There's nothing wrong with it: I can't start to imagine how complex a 68K softcore implementation must be!

Hi,
Sorry for the late response, I have been travelling. In fact, I have just left the factory where more boards are being made. Yes, it is taking much longer than I wanted - I have been a little busy with some other work projects sadly.
This design is FCC/CE certified. It is produced in a factory where they can knock them out by the 10,000. The firmware is relatively stable and a new release is imminent.

Several other cores are already running on the board. As I do not take pre-orders and am using my own cash to fund this, I need to do it as/when I can afford. I need to be 100% sure there are no problems with the board before I make a large number hence the staggered beta program.

The CPU core is not a big issue, I can fix the remaining issues with it quite quickly. I also have my own 68K core which is moving along slowly.

/Mike

[mikej]

I am running PAL/NTSC broadcast spec on the output for testing - not in the Amiga core yet.
This would give you 720x488/60 (interlaced) or 720x576/50(interlaced).
The horizontal visible is maybe 700 so 640 x 512 is probably ok.
I also run 576P50 which is 720x576/50 on each field, which looks great. Any modern TV takes this over DVI/HDMI.

/Mike

[mikej]

worrying.
mikej[AT]freeuk[DOT]com is working - getting a lot of spam on that account though.
support[AT]fpgaarcade[DOT]com is also working.

What address did you use?
/Mike

[mikej]

What's the current ETA for this project? Can I get an FPGA board already?

Daughterboard is pretty complete and ready to be made, but it is on hold until the main board is in production.
I have the FPGAs and some other parts for another 100 boards.
The new firmware is running and finally this gives me the config options/ test I need for the DRAM controller. I am hoping the remaining 20 boards I have which have memory issues will be fine with the new firmware.

I am working full time for the next two weeks on this to get it done!
/MikeJ

[mikej]

no, just static input delay is not good enough for normal device variation.
New core solves the problem on all boards.

[mikej]

Sounds great, Mike. Just out of curiousity -- how do you manage to keep a steady income when you work so much on the replay board ? Have you started to make money from the replay already or are you a killer multitasker betweek day-job and night-job (replay) ? ;-)

I work full time, but as I travel so much I don't need to be in the office all the time.
Normally I can only spend an hour or two per day on these projects

The Replay is sold at around cost so it won't make any money. If I had to run this as a business and pay for engineering time it would not be cost affective - we do this because it is fun.

/Mike

[mikej]

Having hand built the first 8 of these (BGA was assembled by a rework house) even the other SMD components are not fun. There's something like 100+ caps etc.
In other news, apparently several thousand USD worth of Xilinx devices have arrived at the factory, which is a bit of a relief.
/MikeJ

[mikej]

There will be enough for everybody very soon.
/MikeJ

[mikej]

Hell, I didn't even get an email back when I showed interest a few years ago with cash in hand

Sorry about that, I thought I had replied to everybody.
Best,
/MikeJ

[mikej]

I've just finished the layout for a PS/2 to USB converter.

This sits on the pads of the PS/2 connector on the main board and replaces the two PS2 ports with an external USBA port and an internal USB header. There is a small on board micro (VNC2) which handles the two USB ports and communicates over the same four FPGA pins the PS/2 connector used to use - but SPI this time.

This gives a low latency keyboard and mouse input.
This board can be fitted to any RevB board - I'll post some pictures soon.

I need to write the code first and make sure it works (I have an eval board to play with).
/MikeJ

[mikej]

Uhm... I'll take that board offered way back when now :-)

Hi Chris,
So you survived the traveling then? You didn't pop by Stockholm!
I do indeed owe you a board, ping me a mail.
Cheers,
Mike

[mikej]

Does this mean I have to throw away my PS/2 ports to get USB? :huh:

PS/2 is way better.  No way am I getting rid of them.  All my stuff is PS/2 and PS/2 is better for mouse and keyboard (which are required).  USB is only better for nonrequired type things like my external 2TB drives and cameras and mp3 players and things.

Anyway I would rather have both PS/2 and USB.

Ae the PS/2 ports real PS/2 ports?  Like the ones on my Core i5 box?

@Platon42
Does this mean FPGA Arcade will gain some superduper awesome USB support in the near future? :hammer:

Hi.
No problem, let me explain.
I prefer PS/2 for mouse/keyboard and this is the default build option.

For people who want to put it in the case, or want USB mouse/keyboard this is an option to replace the PS/2 with USB.

These USB ports are directly controlled by the FPGA and appear as native Amiga mouse + keyboard.

The daughterboard has a real USB chip and already works with the Poseidon stack.

So you can choose...

Note, the main board also has two 9 pin inputs which accept real amiga/atari mice as well as joysticks.

/MikeJ