PIC Arrived!

[CommodoreRock]

Hello.  I just received my programmed PIC in the mail from ACube (I ordered board without PIC, not realizing it was necessary).  I'm not certain how to insert it and do not want to break it.  I see where I believe it is supposed to go on the board, right next to the SD card slot if I'm correct, however I am not sure how to tell which way it goes in.  The only thing that distinguishes one end from the other is a small notch.  Should that side go toward the outside or the inside?  Is there something to do to get it to go in correctly?  I tried both ways and it doesn't seem to fit easily either way.

Thanks!

[CommodoreRock]

I believe I resolved it.  I realized there is a corresponding shape outlining the PIC's "seat" on the the board.  One side is solid, the other has an indentation.  I figured the notched side of the PIC goes to the side of the indentation.  I was then able to, with some doing, seat the PIC.  I'm going to power on now and see what I get.

[CommodoreRock]

Okay.  PIC is now on the board.  I plug it in, but still no display, which was my suspicion in my previous post.  PIC or no PIC, I did think there should be some kind of display even if it were only a blank screen.  I've got Minimig1.bin and a kickstart file from Amiga Forever on my SD card.  There is still no blue light as described in the manual.   What else might I not be considering, keeping in mind that I have no prior experience with FPGA or Minimig?  I am attempting to output to a 1080P modern display in the US (an LCD TV with PC input).  I would suspect an incompatible display IF I was seeing all the lights described in the manual.  The fact that I am not is leading me to believe the board is either faulty or something is still set wrong on my part.  The LCD TV with VGA input is my only monitor at home, but I could bring to work to try another monitor.

[bbond007]

Okay.  PIC is now on the board.  I plug it in, but still no display, which was my suspicion in my previous post.  PIC or no PIC, I did think there should be some kind of display even if it were only a blank screen.  I've got Minimig1.bin and a kickstart file from Amiga Forever on my SD card.  There is still no blue light as described in the manual.   What else might I not be considering, keeping in mind that I have no prior experience with FPGA or Minimig?  I am attempting to output to a 1080P modern display in the US (an LCD TV with PC input).  I would suspect an incompatible display IF I was seeing all the lights described in the manual.  The fact that I am not is leading me to believe the board is either faulty or something is still set wrong on my part.  The LCD TV with VGA input is my only monitor at home, but I could bring to work to try another monitor.

try and use this to format your SD card:

http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/sd/download/sd_formatter20.html

you should see some activity of the lights even if you don't get a screen.

the other possibility exists that your monitor is not compatible with PAL mode and you are having version error because of mismatched PIC and minimig1.bin.

also a quick google says F1 on boot will force NTSC mode which should work with any VGA compatible monitor.


Minimig Firmware Manual Release version YQ090421, page 11:

It is possible to override stored PAL/NTSC settings while
the FPGA configuration is being uploaded. This takes
place when the DRIVE LED is rapidly blinking after
switching on the power. Press and hold the [F1] key to force the display to
NTSC mode. Press and hold the [F2] key to force PAL mode. Remember
to save these settings to set current video mode as default.

see, you should see some "rapidly blinking" LEDs

[CommodoreRock]

Thanks, bbond007.  I am going to try this first chance I get.  The monitor/TV may indeed have PAL compatibility problems.  I took it to work and hooked it up to a dedicated computer monitor and actually got a red boot up screen with text.  There was a firmware related error message there, possibly something about MDC or some such.  I didn't take a photo at the time, but I'll do so tomorrow. I feel as if I may be almost there.  Thanks for your help.  I am it the IT field, but my skills are limited to desktop support of typical business systems.  I am in completely new territory here.

[Darrin]

Okay.  PIC is now on the board.  I plug it in, but still no display, which was my suspicion in my previous post.  PIC or no PIC, I did think there should be some kind of display even if it were only a blank screen.  I've got Minimig1.bin and a kickstart file from Amiga Forever on my SD card.  There is still no blue light as described in the manual.   What else might I not be considering, keeping in mind that I have no prior experience with FPGA or Minimig?  I am attempting to output to a 1080P modern display in the US (an LCD TV with PC input).  I would suspect an incompatible display IF I was seeing all the lights described in the manual.  The fact that I am not is leading me to believe the board is either faulty or something is still set wrong on my part.  The LCD TV with VGA input is my only monitor at home, but I could bring to work to try another monitor.

First of all, make sure you have set the 15/31KHz jumper to 31KHz.

Try an old CRT monitor.  If nothing else, you should see the blue FPGA boot screen for a second or two as it loads the Minimig core.

Also, check your PSU.  Make sure you have the polarity of the thing set correctly (tip should be positive, end of the shaft should be neg) too happy with a 4.5v setting and would sometimes refuse to start (plugging and unplugging would eventually get it to boot).  The final solution was to set the PSU to 6v instead.

Edit:

Saw your post above.  Looks like your PSU is fine and it is your monitor and a mis-matched PIC/Minimig core.

[Darrin]

Thanks, bbond007.  I am going to try this first chance I get.  The monitor/TV may indeed have PAL compatibility problems.  I took it to work and hooked it up to a dedicated computer monitor and actually got a red boot up screen with text.  There was a firmware related error message there, possibly something about MDC or some such.  I didn't take a photo at the time, but I'll do so tomorrow. I feel as if I may be almost there.  Thanks for your help.  I am it the IT field, but my skills are limited to desktop support of typical business systems.  I am in completely new territory here.

If you have a firmware error then it means the PIC doesn't match the Minimig code on the SD card.  Look on Minimig.net for the latest firmware update and it will have the PIC and the SD card files matched together.  Put the correct core file on the SD card and flash the PIC using a null modem cable with the matching update.

[CommodoreRock]

Awesome.  Thanks, Darrin.  Just an update, I found that my main LCD in the living room displays just fine.  I hadn't tried before because of some cabling logistics in my AV setup and thought the bedroom TV would be easier to just test it.  I now see the red boot up POST type screen.  It shows:

boot loader BYQ090911
FPGA core FYQ090911
Agnus ID: $10(NTSC) Denise ID: $FF
Incompatible MCU Firmware.

I list the above only so I could post the exact message rather than go from memory.  I will absolutely check out minimig.net for the proper firmware.  I just read another thread by someone who it appears had a similar issue, and it would seem that they were told by Amigakit NOT to flash the PIC as they had already programed with latest firmware.  They advised instead to ensure the proper files are on the SD card.  Acube emailed that they preprogrammed my PIC as well, so, more than likely, I somehow have the wrong files on my SD card.  I remember adding a firmware file to my SD card.  I'll check into that.  I can only update the SD card using a Mac I have at work as my PCs do not have SD card readers and do not seem to like the Fat16 formatting when I hook up external readers.  I will get to the bottom of this though in the coming days!