FPGA Replay Board

[Darrin]

@ Ptek.

Just make sure you get a monitor that supports a 50Hz vertical refresh.  I use a couple of ViewSonic models with my Minimig and FPGA Arcade.

Something like this:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3835537&CatId=5469

[Darrin]

So with the current core. It's not useable as an Amiga?

No, it works as an Amiga, but it is a very old core and has bugs in it.

The new core addresses a lot of these bugs and adds new features such as RTG graphics.

[Darrin]

Sorry guys, appreciate the patience. I have had some hassle with the day job, but still moving forward....

That's the problem with jobs, they always get in the way of the important stuff.  

I'm home in 4 days and then off for a week (moving house, so not really relaxing).  Any chance of the core update then?

[Darrin]

C'mon, MikeJ! Give this young recruit something to play with! He always tells you when he's going home. You'll make him very happy!

LOL.  I think he never sends it to me because my wife is paying him not to.

[Darrin]

In other news testing is ongoing. The batch look to be assembled well, few minor things to correct but nothing major. However the boot loader just does not run on the ARM at all, it is very odd. My first though was the chips were fake, but the internal ID code matches the device marking. Debug is ongoing.
/MikeJ

That doesn't sound good.  Were there any changes to these board designs or components from the last working set?

[Darrin]

No, and same component supplier. Different batch of ARM chips though.
/Mike

Hope it isn't a faulty batch, or it will be more delays.

[Darrin]

What's a soak test?

I believe it has something to do with wanking over them and not wiping it off until it dries.  Mike will have to confirm this.

I'd put my name down for board #11 if this is the case.

[Darrin]

And can these things be tuned?
 * KS 1.2 vs 1.3
 * Chip mem 512kB - 1MB - 2MB
 * Floppy drive(s) 1 - 2 - 3 - 4
 * PAL - NTSC

I don't have my FPGA Arcade with me, but you can set the Chip RAM from the OSD, assign the number of floppy drives and use whatever Kickstart file you want (I have 1.3 and 3.1 on my SD card).

To be honest, WHDLoad on a HDF file will take care of most games and then you can configure the machine to run the ADF of any "problem" games.

[Darrin]

Is CD-rom (amiga cd32 style) implemented?

You mean the ability to mount an image of a CD as if it was in an actual CD ROM drive?  No.

Once we have USB we can connect an exteral CD/DVD drive.

[Darrin]

I will probably need to start shipping the hardware with the boot loader and supply regular minor sw updates in the field actually - the hardware is stable, tested and isn't going to change. Maybe I shouldn't wait for software perfection
/MikeJ

I've been hinting at that for about..... a year!  

I think you should take the Chameleon64 approach and issue the core, let people play with it and get some feedback on the bugs.

[Darrin]

How is payment done?

You stuff $500 in used Dollar bills into a plain brown envelope and then leave them in the trashcan next to the bench by St Paul's Cathedral at midnight.

[Darrin]

@ Kamelito

While using the old core, just grab a DVI-VGA cable and use that.  I tried using DVI adapters when I first got my FPGA Arcade, but they didn't work.

@ Mike:

When can we expect the new core?  I've been off 3 weeks and I have 5 days left before I go back to work...

[Darrin]

@ All the current FPGA owners using the Amiga core ..
 
1. How are drives being handled for FD0 and HD0 using the SD card ?
 
2. How do you get kickstart and WB loaded on an SD card ?
 
3. Since there is no physical floppy support yet, I presume all FPGA owners are only able to use ADF files which are being mounted via an integrated ARM controller ? .. Or, is some form of WHDLoad being used ?
 
I'd love to dive in and just want to make sure there's water in the pool first ..

#1:  Up to 4 floppy drives emulated and ADF files (located on the SD card) loaded via OSM (just like UAE), and 2 hard drives emulated via HDF files on the SD card.  I just use a single 4GB SD card with ADF files in one directory, 1.3 and 3.1 Kickstarts and a single 2GB hard file (ClassicWB with lots of games loaded to run via WHDLoad).

#2:  Download the Kickstart files and WB ADF files from the net onto your PC/Mac and then copy them onto the SD Card.

#3:  Both.  See #1.

[Darrin]

Had a strange thought... How does Replay cope with Widescreen monitors? Does it keep 4:3 aspect and use bars down side or stretch screen?

Depends on how I set my monitor.  If I set it to 4:3 then I have bars down either side, and if I set it to HFILL or JUST then it stretches it.

[Darrin]

I have Amiga Forever from Cloanto on my PC, as well as an old A1000 (working) and A600 (not), either of which I'm seriously considering cannibalizing with an FPGA Arcade board.  Question - would the Kickstart & Workbench files provided by Cloanto's Amiga Forever work with the FPGA?

I'm not sure if the core was written to work with Cloanto's KS files as well, but if you rip the KS ROM images from within Amiga Forever then you end up with non-encoded images.  Personally, I just suggest you download them from the Internet.

I own just about every KS from 1.2 onwards via real Amiga computers and I can't be bother ed to "rip" something that I can download in a couple of seconds.  I already own the physical thing it so what difference does it make at the end of the day?

[Darrin]

Still no luck  I tried a DVI to VGA adaptor but got "Mode not supported" message from the TV. (my TV is a samsung UE4B6000) I've one similar to this one but as there's many, is this one the right one (enough pins)? http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adapter_DVI_to_VGA.jpg  I also tried a composite cable like this one : http://zxbvlm.blogspot.fr/2013/07/6-feet-3-rca-composite-av.html  But if I switch the TV then the FPGA Arcade, I got the message "No signal". If I switch the FPGA Arcade then the TV I see a partial workbench screen (half black and half workbench vertically, the quality is bad) then 2s after the "No signal" message.  Any help is more than welcome. Kamelito

That's similar what I had when I first got mine and tried using a DVI-VGA adapter along with a VGA-VGA cable.  I thought I had a faulty board and then I tried a DVI-VGA cable and it worked.  If you have one handy (or can borrow one) then give it a go.