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Author Topic: FPGA Replay Board  (Read 823126 times)

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Offline psxphill

Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #14 on: August 29, 2011, 05:26:44 PM »
Quote from: mikej;656543
4 - Yes, with a DVI to HDMI cable. For the audio you will need to run a separate cable from the 3.5mm jack to the RCA inputs on the TV.

is there any chance a future version will have audio over hdmi?
 

Offline psxphill

Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #15 on: August 30, 2011, 12:48:09 AM »
Quote from: mikej;656762
I cannot fit a HDMI connector due to licensing issues, and I can't buy (legally at least) the chips which support HDMI as they have HDCP support - and you need to be a member of the cartel to use them. Future hardware is likely to support display port instead.

So you can go into a shop and buy them, but you can't sell something with one fitted?
 
http://www.maplin.co.uk/hdmi-connectors-217844
 

Offline psxphill

Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #16 on: August 30, 2011, 04:50:50 PM »
Quote from: freqmax;656845
The problem with DisplayPort is the amount of video displays that supports it. Especially those fairly priced.

As display port has basically bombed, they might not want to rock the boat but:
 
DisplayPort is currently royalty free, while the HDMI royalty is 4 cents per device and has an annual fee of $10,000 for high volume manufacturers.[26] HDMI Licensing LLC claims that, like HDMI, the DisplayPort specification allows for compensation from implementers to unspecified rights holders.[27]
 
I guess the problem actually comes from trademarks:
 
"Prior to mass producing or distributing any Licensed Product or component that claims compliance with the HDMI Specification (or allowing someone else to do such activities), each Adopter must test a representative sample for HDMI compliance"
 
So in theory if you don't claim it's compatible with the HDMI specification then you don't need to test it. There must be ways round it, because from the way it's written then even saying it's compliant with HDMI using a DVI to HDMI adapter would be a problem.
 
edit... It looks like DisplayPort to HDMI cables are under fire.... http://www.macrumors.com/2011/07/08/minidisplay-port-to-hdmi-cables-unlicensed-and-cannot-be-sold/, hopefully someone will sue hdmi and sort out the mess.
« Last Edit: August 30, 2011, 04:59:52 PM by psxphill »
 

Offline psxphill

Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #17 on: August 31, 2011, 12:18:24 PM »
Quote from: joemango;657132
...Although I'm sure you're familiar with the spec already. Looks like they'd like to get some more little gadgets on board that hook up to TV sets via MHL. In the application form they have a check box for "Home game console" which I think is what you should tick :)

Wow, a standard that makes sense. I didn't see that coming.
 
http://www.engineeringtv.com/video/MHL-Consortium-HD-interface;CES-2011
 

Offline psxphill

Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #18 on: September 02, 2011, 09:55:31 AM »
Quote from: espskog;657500
Yet, having all in one single cable is of course very nice, but I would gues that it's possible to get a DVI2HDMI adapter which ALSO has a little jack-plug on it so you can feed the adaper with audio that is then carried on thru the hdmi cable to the TV.

I don't think it's that easy as hdmi uses digital audio & the person that makes the cable will have to pay the license fee.
 
I'm sure not paying this much for it.
 
http://www.futureshop.co.uk/atlona-dvi-with-analogdigital-audio-to-hdmi-converter-and-embedder-p-4338.html
 
I don't think my tv can take analogue audio when it's displaying hdmi. So it is a bit of a compromise.
« Last Edit: September 02, 2011, 09:59:27 AM by psxphill »
 

Offline psxphill

Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #19 on: September 06, 2011, 10:43:58 PM »
Quote from: VuData;658227
I've got a 1084S-P and a 1085. Neither of which have SCART. Gutted.

I built a SCART to 1084 converter, it's not that hard.
 

Offline psxphill

Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #20 on: October 13, 2011, 06:15:11 PM »
Quote from: matthey;663262
The CF instructions are well thought out

It's tricky.
 
On one hand a cpu that was compatible with 68000-68060 + CF software would be nice. On the other it is not actually possible to do that 100%, especially because of stack frames & MMU differences.
 
Extending the instruction set beyond what is available now is a dangerous game though. I wouldn't necessarily even add CF, I'd spend the time and gates on getting the instruction rate up.
 
In terms of AGA enhancements, higher bandwidth and chunky pixels is all you really need. Copper and blitter etc can stay register compatible.
 

Offline psxphill

Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #21 on: October 14, 2011, 01:10:33 PM »
Quote from: matthey;663449
No, it's not dangerous. You would need to double the instruction rate to do the work of a mvs or mvz instruction and they would be common. You would need to at least triple the instruction rate to do the work of a byterev which is less common but used intensely in some drivers and data conversions for loaders/pictures etc.


It depends on the software. If you could get a 25% overall increase then you'd still be faster than CF instructions unless your software was all mvs/mvz.
 
The danger comes from platform fragementation. It's rather early for natami to try dominating the Amiga market. There never has been a coldfire Amiga, so there is no software that takes advantage of it except for that which you produce yourself & that software won't run on anything but a natami. That would kill my interest pretty quickly.
 

Offline psxphill

Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #22 on: October 16, 2011, 05:17:55 PM »
Quote from: matthey;663547
I'm sorry if you can't see the potential.

I can see the potential, but it doesn't look good.
 
If they can't make it faster without forcing people to change their code then it's pointless. They might as well just sell a PC and an emulator.
 

Offline psxphill

Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #23 on: October 24, 2011, 04:06:26 PM »
Quote from: kolla;663732
A PC that is umteen times bigger, pulls a heck lot more power, and still is uncapable of cycle exact emulation? We already got those.

Natami doesn't do cycle exact emulation. It's not even on their list of things they want to try. Atom power requirements are quite low, you could even go for ARM and just run AROS.
 
The advantage of going for 68000 compatibility is you get to run existing Amiga software. If you need to recompile it to make it quick because they'd rather add new instructions than speed up existing ones then it's missed the point completely.
 

Offline psxphill

Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #24 on: January 04, 2012, 11:12:16 PM »
Quote from: freqmax;674382
Baud is signaling rate, bits per cycle. The bit rate is possible either by dividing some other clock or by using a PLL (DCM). It might require a update to the FPGA binary (core) however.

I'm pretty sure that it would be implemented by a counter clocked by the fundamental frequency, the same as the amiga was. So it should be able to work with any frequencies the amiga did.
 

Offline psxphill

Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #25 on: January 15, 2012, 12:22:35 PM »
Quote from: tribz;675870
I think with modern flat panel TV's, you wouldnt have a problem with either.

Possibly, possibly not. Depends on the TV, although the spec sheet might not be of any help. You just have to try it.
 

Offline psxphill

Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #26 on: May 11, 2012, 10:14:13 AM »
Quote from: mikej;692713
The Replay board itself is a portable tested, I am trying to get a ZIF socket for the processor.
 
The mask revision is contained in the PCR register, does anybody know what this register should contain for each mask set?
/MikeJ

there doesn't appear to be any documentation on revision, but from a quick google.
 
http://cache.freescale.com/files/32bit/doc/ref_manual/MC68060UM.pdf
http://cache.freescale.com/files/32bit/doc/errata/MC68060DE.pdf?fpsp=1&WT_TYPE=Errata&WT_VENDOR=FREESCALE&WT_FILE_FORMAT=pdf&WT_ASSET=Documentation
 
switch( (PCR >> 16) & 0xffff)
{
case 0x430:
   printf( "MC68060\n" );
   break;
 
default:
  printf( "MC68LC060/MC68EC060/something else\n" );
  break;
}
 
switch( (PCR >> 8) & 0xff)
{
case 1:
printf( "1F43G\n");
break;
 
case 6:
printf( "0E41J\n" );
break;
 
default:
printf( "1G65V/2G59Y/something else\n" );
break;
}
 
revision 6 appears to be the golden one. if you google 68060 revision 6 then everyone goes mental for it.
afaict only full 68060's were availble as revision 6.
« Last Edit: May 11, 2012, 10:41:15 AM by psxphill »
 

Offline psxphill

Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #27 on: May 14, 2012, 07:08:07 PM »
Quote from: mikej;692773
Yes this is true. Possible to span a virtual disk over multiple files?

Yeah, thats how wii & ps2 iso's can be loaded from fat32.
It's slightly annoying but not as annoying as using another filesystem.
 

Offline psxphill

Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #28 on: July 12, 2012, 06:05:34 PM »
Quote from: billt;699603
Yea, he sounds like a hobbyist, no problem with a non-engineer trying to learn to do engineering work. We all had to start somewhere...

Yeah, although it can be annoying if someone asks the wrong question and then argues with the answer because it's not what they wanted to hear.
 
The skill is to know just how much detail to give when asking a question and when giving an answer. If you get that wrong then you're just wasting your time.
 
If you get an answer you don't like, you need to understand why the other person gave it as one or both of you might have misunderstood what the other was saying.
« Last Edit: July 12, 2012, 06:09:36 PM by psxphill »
 

Offline psxphill

Re: FPGA Replay Board
« Reply #29 from previous page: July 26, 2012, 09:17:10 AM »
Quote from: freqmax;701231
Different from SDIO I presume?
 
Toshiba FlashAir only mentions being able to read from the card when inserted in a digital camera. Same with EyeFi but Flucard seems to support some P2P receive mode. The control is done with manipulation of "picture files", definitly an ad-hoc hack.

Yeah my understanding is the cards are intended to sync pictures to a PC and when the card is full they delete old pictures that have already been synced. No device will expect the card to change in real time, so before making changes it will have to simulate the card being ejected.
 
They are expensive because they are aimed at professional photographers, they use them for instant previews on large monitors in a studio. They aren't that new, just rare because of the cost.
It's entirely possible that they are generic enough to work with any type of file.
 
I would imagine that you'll be able to get remote access to the card from your PC eventually anyway.
« Last Edit: July 26, 2012, 09:20:24 AM by psxphill »