Minimig user feedback required

[yaqube]

Hello!

As some of you may know I have been working on the Minimig's firmware. I would like you to express your opinions and suggestions what you like and what you don't in the current firmware (including user interface). I have already made some changes, e.g. the OSD menu is less transparent since with some background images it wasn't readable.

Please also feel free to tell me about the features you are missing and would like to have. Although there is almost no free space in the current FPGA and PIC to integrate any big features but some small modifications and extensions should be possible.

If you had found any games causing problems or not working at all please tell me their names.

[yaqube]

Hi Darrin!

1. "Hard Drive" support via the SD card.

I have implemented basic hard drive support but it requires a new ARM controller. The performance is not very high but it's sufficient to play some games, the play of Dune II is very convenient. The hard file format is compatible with the UAE's HDFs. This solution is not complete yet and I still work on it.

2. Sub directory access in order to group certain ADF files together (eg, Tower Assualt files plus save game disk)

I haven't toyed with subdirs yet, but it should be possible even with limited PIC's resources. I am also thinking about alphabetical ordering of displayed files but this will be possible only with the ARM micro.

3. 2nd Floppy support (if no hard drive support) in order to make playing games like Dune or Colonization possible without contracting the Minimig equivalent of "disk swapper's wrist".

The current (in development) PIC firmware supports up to two floppy drives and the ARM's one supports up to four.

4. Core file selection on bootup (to allow access to several cores such as PAL, NTSC or a Arcade core).

It's a little bit complicated since some functionality to the FPGA core is provided by the PIC/ARM firmware (floppy and hard disk support, configuration). The best solution would be an application code loaded from the SD-Card to the micro controller memory during boot-up but it's limited by its RAM resources.

5. Solve the bug that breaks Menace (well, it is my favourite shoot-em-up).

I will take a look at Menace.

[yaqube]

@Straycat

Have you tried my FatCleaner to reorder alphabetically files on an SD-Card?

[yaqube]

@mahen

1) subdirectories support (not necessarily alphabetically sorted)

Possible but not present in the upcoming release.

2) second floppy disk

Already done.

3) a better compatibility (I spotted some issues, for instance : in the shoot them up level of Jim Power, parallax scrollings are not displayed properly, or in demos like Arté/Hardwired/Desert Dreams)

I have fixed some small incompatibilities in the CPU and blitter timings but there is still many others to fix. This won't happen soon.

4) would it be possible to add an option to map the joystick to arrow keybs / numeric pad (as in UAE) : this would be useful with defective pads, or to use the Minimig with the X-Arcade joystick (PS2 joystick on which the keyboard is plugged)

Possible and should be implemented in the future.

5) some other GFX filters maybe ? (like scanlines)

I have thought about this already. Scanlines are easy to implement so might be added soon.

6) an option (without the need for jumpers) to set the CPU to 14 Mhz

There is an option to set the CPU speed to turbo mode. The CPU is clocked at 28MHz and now I'm working on the sideband memory interface to allow it to run at full speed (no waitstates). This should work on Minimigs with 55/45 ns memory chips but hasn't been tested yet.

7) an option to speed up the floppy accesses

Already done but the PIC and CPU speeds are limiting factors. Although using the ARM and CPU turbo mode the floppy transfer rate is doubled.

[ about what I wrote in another thread : would it be possible for the minimig to output a more standard screen resolution, like 800x600 instead of 720x576, not to get some distortion with some screens, like mine ]

I tried to implement this but left it since it requires some kind of a genlock to sync with the line frequency. Maybe I will think about it again since I've been toying with an idea of similar flicker-fixer for my A4000 (the Picasso IV built-in FF doesn't work very well with most of  LCD monitors).

[yaqube]

alexh wrote:

yaqube wrote:
The Picasso IV built-in FF doesn't work very well with most of LCD monitors.

How do you mean?

I mean the 910(NTSC)/908(PAL) pixel clocks per line problem. Additionally vertical sync of the PIV FF is not in sync with Amiga's one. That's why some people can notice some glitches in scrolling. And my PIV has rev.5 FF which takes blue component from neighbouring pixel and makes text display blury, it annoys me a lot. That's why I use it in 12-bit non-AGA mode.

[yaqube]

tonyyeb wrote:

Atheist wrote:
I'm not joking about any of the things I've listed that I'd like in a Minimig.

Well this thread was started by the guy who develops a version of the software for the minimig and pretty much all of the things you have asked for would require hardware changes. Hence why I thought you were joking... maybe you just didn't quite understand this thread is about core updates and not the hardware.

Thank you tonyyeb for pointing this out, it was exactly what I meant when posting here. But nevertheless it's good to know what people's expectations regarding hardware are. It would help in designing the future hardware version.

[yaqube]

Atheist wrote:
[...]
I'll list them again briefly.

Must haves:
8 Megs fast, 2 Megs chip
at least 1 56 K modem RJ25 jack

Would really like:
4 or 8 Megs chip ram (as well as 8 megs Fast.)
Second modem jack for ring or star lan.

Wouldn't it be better to have an Ethernet port instead of a modem?

8 mega bytes of chip ram are possible, mine currently has 2MB. But I am afraid that the Minimig with all this stuff would cost so much that nobody could afford it.

[yaqube]

Darrin wrote:

So which of your arms do I need to twist to get hold of an ARM controller?  :-D

No need to do this. There is one already waiting for you.  :-D

[yaqube]

mahen wrote:

If the subdirectories support is not done soon, maybe in the meantime there could be a way to scroll through the filelist faster ? (one page at a time instead of one line at a time

I have increased scrolling speed through the file list but it seems to work faster only on my ARM micro. It seems that the PIC is too slow to traverse through directory entries any faster.

You are refering to a "genlock" required to "sync with the line frequency". Do you mean it would require an extra hardware component ?

I only mean that I wasn't able to implement it at my first try. I don't say it's impossible using current hardware. I must think about it to tell you more.

[yaqube]

@Dwyloc

Thank you for your feedback.
Let me add few words of comment.

1. Second Floppy disk drive emulation support

It's already done.

2. Support for folder to help organise adf images.

This is requested by many people and I may implement this sooner than I intended.

3. Harddisk emulation using existing SD card hardware.

If you meant the existing PIC micro controller it won't be done.

4. CPU speed setting in software

Already done.

5. Selectable PAL/NTSC emulation from menu.

I have already thought about this but the OSD menu is displayed using the same video mode as the Amiga chipset uses. If you change to PAL and your monitor doesn't support 50Hz vertical sync you will end up with no display and won't see an OSD menu to change it back. But I understand that with KS1.3 there is no easy way to switch between video modes before running a game so this option might be added.

[yaqube]

tonyyeb wrote:

I was just hoping for Hardfile support on the SD... What are the chances of this?

It has been already working but requires the ARM controller. When I finish my SVHS adapter I will make a video.

[yaqube]

Right now it allows to have four floppy drives instead of two. It supports a hardfile on an SD-Card (A600 IDE port compatible so you need KS 37.300 or later).

The read speed is about 400-500 KB/s (depends on a card). Writing to hardfile is supported but is slower than reading (needs improvements).

Now I'm working on direct firmware upgrades from an SD-Card instead through the USB port.

Price needs to be calculated but my prototype boards costed 50 Euro each not including assembly.

[yaqube]

Dwyloc wrote:

Thanks for the information on your add on board it looks very cool my only concern is if it will fit in my existing  minimig case

Yes, it will fit. I've got Loriano's case and there is no problems with fitting my controller inside.

Can the USB port on the add on board be used anything else as well as updating the firmware for the add on board?

Currently the USB port is not supported by the Minimig firmware. It could be used to turn the Minimig into an SD-Card reader or to communicate with host PC.

[yaqube]

Darrin wrote:
...
5.  Solve the bug that breaks Menace (well, it is my favourite shoot-em-up).  :-D

I have found and fixed a bug in the playfield collision detection circuit. Now Menace works correctly. I think those few games in which you died immediately after start should also work now correctly. Nevertheless they need to be tested.

[yaqube]

Anding wrote:

It's announced that the MINIMIG firmware will now run on the C-ONE, if I understand correctly.
...
Is this a potential way forward for more features or not really?

In some regards it is: bigger FPGA, more RAM. But generally C-One is not the way I want to go.