FPGA Replay Board

[espskog]

I got mine yesterday (first batch). Not being sure if what I payd is what batch#2-boards will sell for, I won't be able to comment on that price. I believe that Mike has written some messages on this thread a while ago what he'll charge for the boards.

[espskog]

Trying hard not to be jealous.... Any first impressions?

Well, it is very small in size. Very handy And the build is good. It simply looks fantastic and feels great. That is about all I can say for first impression, as I have not yet booted it. I need to DL the core and the files from Mike first

But as soon as i have it powered up, I will definitely post some information.

Now I can't wait for the Daughterboard from Yaqube to arrive when he finishes it and it goes into production. That is gonna me a kick-ass Amiga desktop replacement unit. Oh man...

Espen

[espskog]

I also recived my FPGAArcade board yesterday (first batch).
We have no firmware yet (.bin), because MikeJ is to China in a hurry for work last friday.
He dropted the boards off @ the airport.
He will upload the needed files to us soon.
So all we can do for now looking live at it without any action LOL ;-)
We realy need the files !!!!!!!!!! hahaha....

Hehe..true. He posted it on his way to the airport, and it arrived IN MY MAILBOX at 12m ..just a few hours later...and I live in a different country. Man, he must have bribed the postal dude cause I have never experienced such a fast delivery. It must be the power of Amiga that was doing its mojo-thang

I hoped he had forgotten his test-sd card in my board, but ....no luck

He'll upload the image and send us the tutorial/info/manual/textfile on how to operate this 747

[espskog]

A tip for people:  If you're looking for a monitor to use with the Minimig/FPGA or a normal scan doubled Amiga for PAL modes then chcek out the Viewsonic range.  I picked up a couple of 1920x1080 models with VGA & DVI inputs and they work like a charm.  In fact, my A4000 has the RTG output to the DVI in 1920x1080 for Workbench and the VGA is used for native modes via the IndivisionAGA.  The otehr identical monitor is connected to my A2000 using a Cybervision 643D and an "Amber" SDFF both to the VGA and a PC to the DVI.  Minimig looks good on it too.

THank you very much for this info. I was wondering how I was gonna dig up a decent model of a monitor that I could use that will cope with the 50Hz sync.
Do you know the modem number of the one you got working ?

Espen

[espskog]

Guess FPGA-Arcade will be very handy now ..

Though an 68000 version would be useful for A500, Minimig, etc.. Just a compile option away?

Is there any free C compiler that runs under AmigaOS on 68k?

I am just wondering, why would we want to run AROS on a 68k system when we can run Workbench the normal way ? What are there advantages ?

[espskog]

Thanks Darrin for that info. I will go and check which model my local webshop offers.

EDIT: When I checked one of the webshops here, the WA1931WA-LED is listed as a 76-xx Hz and not from 50Hz->

So I am not quite sure what to do It sucks to buy one that does not work, or has this nagging "out of sync" message
flying around on the screen".

I think the best thing to do is to just test a few and see what I end up with. Otherwise I might end up with a disfunctional
LCD screen.

OR: I might buy a LCD with a tuner so I can run my C64-DTV on its sVIDEO ....hmm...maybe that'll be smart. Then I am 100%
sure it will work --- however, I am then locked in a SVIDEO mode...and I don't want that....it's too blurry on WB.

EDIT #2: OR...maybe a LCD TV with a Tuner *MUST* sync at 50Hz for VGA aswell, since it has to sync the PAL signal from the RF tuner. Hm,m,....i need to test

[espskog]

I concurr with desiv. AROS 68k makes it possible to offer an "turnkey" solution for Amiga. Ie you plug in power + video to the board and it just works(tm).

So to summarize that one up rather quick:

Alternative A:
For users who already own an Amiga and there for have WB 3.x disks

Alternative B:
For "new" users who does not have real WB 3.x disks

I see the advantage. But I am wondering if the compatibility on AROS 68K good enough to use as a replacement for "real" WB3.1 + Kickstart from Commodore?

Also -- are there any advantages when running AROS 68k ? Like, memory handling or other things that AROS programmers have though of which lacks in WB ? If yes, then I really agree that it is a nice way to go. But finally, how is the compatiblity to run natice 68k SW when AROS68k is used ? And is there a speed difference ?

Espen

[espskog]

For file management, I prefer Dopus 4.x.

[espskog]

Yeah, I did too back in the day - nice software.

But it won't fit into the odd spare 30KB on a ROM!

Rom ? Where ? What ? :-) In which setting do you want dopus in a rom area?

Espen

[espskog]

You can use DOpus as a Workbench replacement, it's lighter than Wanderer so has been discussed as an option until Workbook is ready.

I've used Dopus5 as WB replacement and I kind of liked it. Yet, for filemanagement I like NewShell or simply Dopus4.x. As for launching programs, I prefer using a shell.

[espskog]

Mike, what is the connector for beside the DVI output (the one which looks to be some kind of plugin option for a videocard) ?

Also, can you post some status on the current core. Like what is can perform today (cpu type, MHz equivalent, IO thruput etc) and what the roadmap is for the softcore ?

In case you also have some nifty bits of info about the daughterboard to share, that'd be cool too. E.g. the specifications for ports, options, cpu-type options, speed and last but not least: what one can gain from adding the board.

Regs
Espen

[espskog]

Hey, we always wants funky stuff...cool to hear the IO is available there. Nice to have for the future.

Ps! A pic of the daughterboard is here: http://www.minimig.net/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=36&p=4347#p4347 if someone wants to take a look.


Thanks to both you, Mike, and Yaqube for following these threads and answering questions and keeping us updated. It's a real boost to get news. Keep it up. :-)

Are there any cores apart from the amiga core that we can test ? Like arcade cores etc ? Could be cool to try out if they are available.

[espskog]

I know there are 10 promo boards (First batch).
espskog have one
Stefan have one
I have purchased one
So I know 3 persons the others i don't know.

I'm Running WB3.1 Filesystem PFS3 v5.1 with Magic Icons/Newicons right now.
For some reason the turbo/cache mode is not working yet (it gives red screens and reboots) So the speed for now is 6.03 times A600.
The AGA Firmware is from yacube and I hope there will be a update soon so I can use this @ full speed.
A other strange thing is when I use Cygnused, my textfiles get corupted when I use the editor.
When I use the .HDF in UAE Cygnused is working without trouble/errors.

The board is a nice build so small, yet so powerfull ;-) a real gem if u ask me !!
I'm very happy with this FPGAReplay board..

Regarding CynusED and corrupted text, this is not a Replay board issue. It is just a screen mode issue.  Had this on my Amiga 4000 awell. Just put it to use "Workbench Screen" instead of its own screen. Then it's ok :-)

[espskog]

Sorry I have to disagree.
I'm using Workbench screen.
Cygnused V4.2
1. Load s:startup-sequence into ced
2. delete first line.
3. now use the cursor down key to go to the bottom of the text.
4. text is corupted.

Don't save the file ;-)

When I put this .HDF image on WINUAE (so my workbench .HDF), I do NOT have this problem.
All is fine in WINUAE without coruptions.. same HD same settings.
You also have a FPGA Replay just try it out...

I agree, this sounds like a different scenario from what I had. But since the Core is under development, bugs like these (reproduceable ones) are nice for Mike and Yaqube as this can help fix the Core up.

[espskog]

Just as a curiosity, will you be able to provide some sort of servicing if the board bricks ?
I guess you are the only person among the x-kazillion ones on this planet who are certified fpga replay engineer ;-)

//Espen

[espskog]

I have to ask though, if your running a 680x0 machine then what advantage does AROS give you over Amikit or ClassicWorkbench installation of a "real" workbench?

I was also asking myself that very same question. It seems like the biggest selling point is that you can boot it without a valid licensed copy of the original Workbench. However, when that is said, I am 100% sure that absolutely nobody really cares about that. I am pretty sure that everyone here owned/owns a classic Amiga and therefore already have payd the licensing fee to Commodore at one point -- therefore it does not matter if you DL the kickstart/wbdisks from the net at a later point. In my opinion.

I mean -- we're in 2011 now. Nobody makes money off WB anymore. It's a retro thing now. It's for fun.

:afro: :afro: :afro: