FPGA Replay Board

[Darrin]

Thats far better than what you had to do on a minimig

Darrin do you know if say, different cores are available (for different systems), if it will be possible to have a menu on switch asking you which core you would like to load (for example Amiga, C64, Atari ST, etc).

There are different cores available now (there's a VIC core - which I haven't got working because I have to add some files) and supposedly some arcade games (which I haven't got my hands on) and others are in development (but I have no idea what stage they're in - Chameleon64 just got a Spectrum core so I'm sure we'll see that soon).  Mike said that he would try and get some sort of menu to select between multiple cores.  Failing that, you'll just need a collection of cheap SD Cards.

[freqmax]

Do you mean for reflashing the firmware (like on the bare Minimig where you have to use the serial port)?  Yes, you can simply reflash by putting a file on the SD card and then accessing the OSM "Firmware/update" option.

Yeah the code that controls the ARM-CPU, that controls the FPGA..

Guess the catch is that you can brick the ARM, so that one need hardcore tools anyway to rectify such situation. The intent is ofcourse to be able test new code

[denli]

One board ordered (presumably from batch 2)

[denli]

Anyone knows about a SEGA/SNES core for the FPGA Arcade?

Would be neat to just jack one of these Retrode babes in via USB and play straight from the cartridge

[Darrin]

Anyone knows about a SEGA/SNES core for the FPGA Arcade?

Would be neat to just jack one of these Retrode babes in via USB and play straight from the cartridge

Dont forget that any emulators that exist for the Amiga will also run on the Amiga core, so we'll be able to run stuff for the 68k Mac, Speccy, BBC, etc from there until native cores become available.

[denli]

True

[freqmax]

And it's actually possible to stuff the HDL code for existing implementations of 68k Mac, Speccy, BBC, etc into your own synthesizer software and use the resulting bitfile (core). :p

[jackflash]

Loooong time lurker here. I have let Mike know I want 2 from the second batch (I want 1 for my desktop and 1 for my arcade cab)

I have 2 questions

1. I have a miracle keyboard that plugs into the Amiga's serial port, will the  replay have the option of adding a 25 pin serial port?

2. The bus on the ocs was 7mhz, aga 14mhz, are there any plans to increase the chip bus to say 21 or 28mhz?

[denli]

Dont forget that any emulators that exist for the Amiga will also run on the Amiga core, so we'll be able to run stuff for the 68k Mac, Speccy, BBC, etc from there until native cores become available.

But with Retrode you can jack in the original game pads too.
No need for keyboard steering (although the controls is presented as an USB keyboard) or building your own interface for the FPGA Arcade. :idea:

[mikej]

Loooong time lurker here. I have let Mike know I want 2 from the second batch (I want 1 for my desktop and 1 for my arcade cab)

I have 2 questions

1. I have a miracle keyboard that plugs into the Amiga's serial port, will the  replay have the option of adding a 25 pin serial port?

2. The bus on the ocs was 7mhz, aga 14mhz, are there any plans to increase the chip bus to say 21 or 28mhz?

1. It has a 9 pin serial on the back and enough io pins on the patch panel if you fancy wiring up and adapter. It also has two cable headers with more io pins where you can connect to an adapter (should one exist).

2. yup.
/MikeJ

[amigadave]

1. It has a 9 pin serial on the back and enough io pins on the patch panel if you fancy wiring up and adapter. It also has two cable headers with more io pins where you can connect to an adapter (should one exist).

2. yup.
/MikeJ

That is good news, as I also have a Miracle Piano keyboard that I would like to be able to use with the Replay board.  Of course I would need instructions on how to make an adapter to get it connected and working, if something more complicated than a simple 9pin to 23pin Serial port adapter is required.

Maybe someone else with mechanical ability and electronic smarts will make a few of these adapters for dummies like me to purchase in the future.

What about a Parallel port that is compatible with the original Amiga's parallel port for devices like the DCTV, DSS8+, or other peripherals that need a connection to an Amiga parallel port?  Would that be possible with some extra code using the available extra i/o pins?

[amigadave]

One board ordered (presumably from batch 2)

You aren't THE Dennis are you?  The one who invented the MiniMig?

Does anyone know what Dennis is up to these days?  I heard that ACube sends Dennis a portion of every sale of the MiniMig's that they sell, which I hope is true.

[denli]

You aren't THE Dennis are you?  The one who invented the MiniMig?

Nop.

[freqmax]

something more complicated than a simple 9pin to 23pin Serial port adapter is required.

What kind of pinout does that Miracle piano keyboard use really?

What about a Parallel port that is compatible with the original Amiga's parallel port for devices like the DCTV, DSS8+, or other peripherals that need a connection to an Amiga parallel port?  Would that be possible with some extra code using the available extra i/o pins?

If there's pins to do it, then yes. Only the voltage level conversion might need some extra components to deal with. But the question is .. why?
A lot better stuff could be wired via the USB port etc.

[JimS]

That is good news, as I also have a Miracle Piano keyboard that I would like to be able to use with the Replay board.  Of course I would need instructions on how to make an adapter to get it connected and working, if something more complicated than a simple 9pin to 23pin Serial port adapter is required.

Maybe someone else with mechanical ability and electronic smarts will make a few of these adapters for dummies like me to purchase in the future.

What about a Parallel port that is compatible with the original Amiga's parallel port for devices like the DCTV, DSS8+, or other peripherals that need a connection to an Amiga parallel port?  Would that be possible with some extra code using the available extra i/o pins?

You might have to rig up an external power supply for some of those devices. Remember that the Amiga supplied +-12v through the serial port for external devices. The parallel port had 5v... There's another problem trying to do the parallel port. The FPGA uses 3.3v logic levels. It may not be 5v tolerant, so you'd need some kind of level shifting in between the old school devices and the FPGA. At least that's what I've read so far... just got the Xilinx ISE13 last week.

[freqmax]

The FPGA I/O level depend on the Vcco voltage (asfair) that can vary between 1.2 - 3,3 V. Which voltage that is used depend on the designer (mikej). Any other voltage has to be dealt with using a voltage conversion. The standard trick is a zenerdiode to "Vcc" to limit voltage and a resistor to limit current. The trick has the drawback that it MIGHT overload the supply line that the zenerdiode it's wired to and thus fry most things there (see Xilinx appnote).

A better approach is a dedicated level conversion chip.