Minimig PCB run - interest thread

[ivier]

hmm, could probably use PSRAMs... they are supposed to be as easy to interface as SRAM, but offer the capacity and price of SDRAM.

i personally like the idea of headers instead of ports, and would prefer a pre-assembled board (my soldering skills need more work, SMD is still out of reach for me).

A larger capacity FPGA would be nice, but not necessary.
the actual form factor, i don't care about, as long as it's still small.
I'd like at least an 020, but thats not really important for a first run.

All in all i definitely want to get one.

[nyteschayde]

I'd take one, mini-itx for me.

[Mikkel]

I don't think there are any good reasons why an XC3S500E wouldn't work, the board layout would just have to be changed a bit. It has more available I/O, more capacity and it's cheaper.

Personally, I don't think we should change too much of the original design before the first board run is ordered (or else, it'll never be finished), but changing the FPGA is no bad idea at all. In addition to the things already mentioned, it's newer too(AFAIK), and therefore less likely to get obsoleted soon.

Having to redesign the board and testing the new design could mean that we would have to wait a bit longer for the final board, but getting a board with a higher capacity FPGA and more I/O at a lower price is attractive.

PSRAM seems perfect for this, the only problem is, it's only available in BGA. At least it was the last time I checked. Too bad, as it's damn cheap and available in relatively large sizes. Some sort of dynamic RAM would probably be a good idea for the future, provided we could find a solution that didn't tie up too many FPGA pins, but implementing something like this in the core before the first board run would take a lot of time, so I think we should stick with one 1Mx16 SRAM chip for now.


Anders M.

[Unit01]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for proposing a group order of a pcb I don't know if I could personally afford the AUD $60 for a board though the exchange rate is a killer.

Would it be possible to use a fpga like this one they reckon it costs like US$1.50 I suppose that's in bulk though. I think it has 16000 gates is that too small?

http://www.infectus.biz/developer-features.php

regards
John

[pixie]

Thanks... there's nothing worst then having a bad formed sig... like walking on naked

[whiteb]

Unit01 wrote:
Hi everyone,

Thank you for proposing a group order of a pcb I don't know if I could personally afford the AUD $60 for a board though the exchange rate is a killer.

Would it be possible to use a fpga like this one they reckon it costs like US$1.50 I suppose that's in bulk though. I think it has 16000 gates is that too small?

http://www.infectus.biz/developer-features.php

regards
John

You figure it out, the SPARTAN-3 FPGA 400K 208-PQFP that Dennis used, contains 400,000 gates, chances are, 16,000 gates is a TAD small.

[persia]

No this is a complete reproduction of a 500 in a 12 x 12 cm board.  Custom graphics chips are emulated, it eliminates the need for old electronics which is becoming scarcer and more expensive.  There is no need for Zorro slots, anything you would put in them would be better done through USB.

[freqmax]

Anyone have a list with the exact video modes currently supported by Minimig v1.0 ..?

[Unit01]

Thanks Whiteb for pointing that out.

I was just interested in that one as you can buy it already soldered onto a pcb with a flashrom and usb uC chip.


I guess it really needed to be a ProAsic3 A3P400 or better. :roll:  

http://www.actel.com/products/pa3/

never mind just have to wait till until someone wants to do a pcb run here    :-)

[freqmax]

Seems their software is Libero IDE v8.0 and is supposed to work with Redhat 4.x

[Tomas]

I am definitely interested in a assembled one.

[basman74]

This is my 1st post.  :-P

Now I have to confess that I've never owned an Amiga before (I own Z-80, 6502 and Intel-based PC's) but after reading every thread about the Minimig, I made two conclusions...

1.) Dennis is an absolute legend! From a fellow designer, a good job on the PCB artwork too!
2.) I am interested in owning a Minimig board too :crazy:


Cheers,

Valentin

[amigadave]

Has anyone calculated what all the parts to produce a completed Minimig should add up to, minus the PCB itself?

I am tempted to try the Laser printed PCB trick and buy all the parts to put on it.  If I am unable to produce the PCB myself successfully, I would still have all the parts needed to put on a PCB produced by one of the members here that eventually produces a run of PCBs.

I think I saw somewhere in one of these threads that Dennis has also provided the Gerber file for his v1.0 Minimig PCB layout.

I also wonder what the total count of boards wanted is from this and all other threads.  It must be well over 100 by now.

[narmi]

I was going to do the laser printer transfer myself, until I printed the layout and realized how many vias there are, and how small they are.  They all need to be drilled, and connected on both sides of the board.  I'll have to see if I can find a small enough drill bit first.

The other problem is parts, some can only be purchased in large quantities.  The SRAM appears to be obsolete, which is an even bigger problem.

[Fixer]

basman74 wrote:
This is my 1st post.  :-P

Now I have to confess that I've never owned an Amiga before (I own Z-80, 6502 and Intel-based PC's) but after reading every thread about the Minimig, I made two conclusions...

1.) Dennis is an absolute legend! From a fellow designer, a good job on the PCB artwork too!
2.) I am interested in owning a Minimig board too :crazy:


Cheers,

Valentin

So.. are you saying that the Minimig could well end up being your first Amiga? :-)

[Fixer]

**double post**