Minimig user feedback required

[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.

[tonyyeb]

yaqube wrote:

3. Harddisk emulation using existing SD card hardware.

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

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

[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.

[tonyyeb]

Wow! How cool is that?!? Does it do anything else (performance increase, features etc...)? How much will that be to buy?

[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.

[Dwyloc]

@yaqube

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 (http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=47540) supplied by "TheDaddy".

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

[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.

[TheDaddy]

Yes I can confirm that too. Jakub has tested his lovely ARM controller and it should fit. :-)

Since the updates will be done through SD Card and not through USB (Jakub is working on that too) there is no need to modify the case, unless one day we have USB support. :-)

Ciao

[Darrin]

TheDaddy wrote:

Since the updates will be done through SD Card and not through USB (Jakub is working on that too) there is no need to modify the case, unless one day we have USB support. :-)

Ciao

Anyone wanting to access the USB port on the ARM controller need only run a short USB extension cable and drill a small hole in the case..

[wolfchild]

Hi Yaqube,

Well done with your improvements.  Ditching the PIC and using an ARM opens up lots of possibilities!

My additional wishes would be:
  1. SDHC support
  2. More RAM
  3. Ethernet (10 Mbit)
  4. Use an XC3S500E

SDHC support is supposedly a software-only mod when using the ARM controller.  I would wish for folder support as well...

More RAM can be added through static RAMs and an extra address line, or by rewriting the interface to support SDRAM.  The latter would result in a massive price reduction.  Tobiflex is using SDRAM, so his design could be a point of reference for implementation.

I think that for experimenting, it should be possible to piggy back a couple of extra static RAM chips on the current PCB design and routing the extra address lines to the spare IO connector.

Ethernet would be a nice idea, especially if using a cheap and easy ENC28J60 interfaced through SPI - either directly to the FPGA as an Amiga peripheral with DMA capability, or through the ARM as some kind of virtual serial port.

As for using the XC3S500E, it would mean an extra 20% in logic capacity at a slightly lower price, while still allowing for home assembly.

On very small priority as wishes come, I was thinking about what Belial6 suggested.  I would do it slightly differently as I can't see his point exactly but his concept is good food for thought!  

What about moving slow I/O ports such as keyboard, mouse, joysticks, serial and parallel port to the ARM?  There are surely several unused I/O pins on the ARM.  The reclaimed FPGA pins could be put to good use for more demanding peripherals (such as 24-bit video, IDE, HDMI or anything that would come to mind).

Just my 2cents, and my compliments for the great work ;-)

Edwin

[Illuwatar]

All that stuff sounds really interesting and not off the wall as some other ideas are. But it will require a redesign of the MiniMig itself. The primary reason is the XC3S500E - it is not pin compatible with the XC3S400 used today. By doing that, we could put the ARM and all the other new chips on the mainboard too...

Edit: if someone takes care of the core software, I would happily create a new Mini-ITX out of this... :-D

[wolfchild]

Illuwatar wrote:
Edit: if someone takes care of the core software, I would happily create a new Mini-ITX out of this... :-D

Ok, so we have a very good PCB designer on board :-)  Now, there's the need of a hardware designer, a firmware developer, an HDL developer and an Amiga side developer.

I used to do hardware and firmware development, and am used to  cost reduction techniques.  Problem is that I no longer have any free time now between work, uni and a new family...

Still, if we can form a loose collaborative team with a plan, this project could take off nicely...

Cheers!
Edwin

[denli]

Illuwatar wrote:
if someone takes care of the core software, I would happily create a new Mini-ITX out of this [a XC3S500E]... :-D

This sounds very interesting indeed.

A cheaper and bigger FPGA in combination with the ARM would allow for a lot of improvements.
Especially in combination with big, cheap and fast SDRAM.
The ARM USB-port is another nice feature that begs to be experimented upon later on (i.e. thinking USB to Ethernet dongles).

Would this constitute a Minimig v2.0?

[Dwyloc]

I personally would prefer another minmig in tha same form factor as the existing one rather than a larger mini-itx board for me 99% of the appeal is the Minimigs small size.

[omnicron10]

You know, the new FPGA Upgrade board for the C-One will run minimig.  It has a lot more ram, I believe a larger FPGA and more IO ports.  I don't know if the additional IDE, PCI, Floppy and other ports will work with the ported core but I am sure they can be added later with some work.  The 68000 is FPGA based so faster speeds might be possible as well.  

I think it even has a clock port.

Also the new FPGA upgrade board will be the basis for the DEV system for the Clone-A.

Here are some links.

http://www.c-one.net/tiki-view_forum_thread.php?topics_offset=1&forumId=9&comments_parentId=31

And as mentioned in a previous post.

http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=35582
   

[denli]

@Dwyloc
A Minimig v2 doesn't need to be Mini-ITX. That's just one of Illuwatar's current projects. As is his Mini Minimig.

@omnicron10
C-One isn't open source and, I suspect, neither will Clone-A be.
And the C-One is also bigger than the Minimig.

PS. The pictures in this thread is somewhat bloated.
Could you please scale them down? DS.