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Author Topic: Minimig user feedback required  (Read 17271 times)

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Offline yaqubeTopic starter

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Re: Minimig user feedback required
« Reply #14 from previous page: November 23, 2008, 12:26:32 PM »
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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.
 

Offline yaqubeTopic starter

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Re: Minimig user feedback required
« Reply #15 on: November 23, 2008, 02:25:48 PM »
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Anding wrote:

It's announced that the MINIMIG firmware will now run on the C-ONE, if I understand correctly.
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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.
 

Offline yaqubeTopic starter

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Re: Minimig user feedback required
« Reply #16 on: November 27, 2008, 02:20:20 PM »
I'm doing my best to release the new firmware before Christmas but there might be a slight delay depending on  what else I would like to fix and add.

The new firmware will require a reflash of the PIC and I do not consider it to be a milestone.

 

Offline yaqubeTopic starter

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Re: Minimig user feedback required
« Reply #17 on: November 29, 2008, 04:43:54 PM »
@Frederic

I'm using AT91SAM7S256 right now but I'm thinking about switching to LPC2388. This chip has 2 USB ports which can act as device or host ports. In the future they could be used to connect USB keyboard/mouse/game pads or to be used as Amiga native ports (if someone writes appropriate drivers).

This micro also has 10/100 Mbits/s Ethernet MAC so only external RMII PHY is required. I'm thinking about putting TCP/IP stack on the ARM and make a bsdsocket.library wrapper on Amiga side. That's a plan.

My board will have definitely different form factor than the current one. It's simply too small to accommodate all the goodies.

I will add SVHS and composite video connectors and keep both PS/2 ports.

I'm thinking about using SDRAM or SSRAM as chip ram. The SDRAM is much cheaper but SSRAM has very low latency. I have not decided yet.

I'm for EP3C25 Altera FPGA but PQFP240 version has too few IOs. Probably I will end up with 324-ball BGA, I must try to do escape routing from IO balls to see how many can be used on 4-layer PCB, I don't want to use 6-layer PCB.

The 68SEC000 could be replaced with an expansion connector for the CPU module. In basic version we could use Tobias Gubener's TG68 so no additional board would be required.

On an optional CPU module we could have a 060 with an SDRAM as fast ram and as the emulated hard file speed isn't very impressive I would add a CF connector (and maybe 2mm 44-pin header). The CPU module will have a multiplexed bus so a small FPGA working as a bus bridge, SDRAM controller and HDC will be required. That's my idea.

24-bit VDAC is a must and also I would like to have 32-bit wide memory so IO pin count is relatively high. That's why I'm thinking about BGA package.

The joy ports will be put on external shift registers to free some IOs and make them 5V tolerant.

Right now I'm working on improving compatibility.


 

Offline yaqubeTopic starter

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Re: New Idea
« Reply #18 on: December 02, 2008, 09:36:57 AM »
@ Belial6

A little clarification:

I didn't mean the ethernet port for the PIC replacement ARM board when I was talking to Frederic about the next generation of the Minimig.

It will be a different hardware design.
 

Offline yaqubeTopic starter

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Re: Minimig user feedback required
« Reply #19 on: December 02, 2008, 10:05:50 AM »
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kolla wrote:

SVHS? You mean S-video, right? I dont feel any need to hooking up an old VHS tape deck, super or not ... :-)

SVHS and S-Video are the same. Not every TV has a SCART connector.

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As for IDE/PATA, are there any good reasons for not using SATA instead?

Probably all SATA controllers are PCI/PCIe based. Iplementation in an FPGA requires embeded SER/DES and external PHY.
 

Offline yaqubeTopic starter

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Re: Minimig user feedback required
« Reply #20 on: December 02, 2008, 07:51:47 PM »
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mahen wrote:

Here are a few games I didn't manage to get working [...]

- Jim Power : works but parallax scrollings flicker on the shoot them up level (after the first boss)
Edit : works with a different version - Worms (Fairlight version) : black screen

I have tested "Jim Power" with my current core and the described effect is visible. Do you mean you have another ADF image which works correctly? If so have you tried the bad one to run on UAE or real Amiga and see if the same happens?

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- Kid Chaos : some tokens/bonuses tend to flicker a bit when scrolling quickly, but this may be a normal behaviour. The scrollings are perfect and the game 100% playable.

I'm not able to notice any flickering. I am using a core with modified CPU and blitter timing and maybe it solved the problem.