User avatar
obitus1990
USA

Posted Fri Jan 15, 2021 8:00 pm

I decided to take the plunge into the MiSTer FPGA project, and ordered a build it yourself kit from LegacyPixels.com. I chose this seller because he sells both assembled and unassembled kits, with the unassembled ones being heavily discounted.

I ordered the Terasic DE10-Nano from Mouser, and, everything arrived today. The most critical part of the system, it seems, is the USB hub, because without it, you can't interact with the Nano due to having no way to connect a keyboard. The Nano has one micro-USB port on it, and I don't have a keyboard that has anything other than a standard USB connector on it. So I soldered up the USB hub today, in all it's 0806 glory, and proceeded to prepare the SD card for the OS per the Wiki on the MiSTer GitHub page. Since I can now connect a keyboard, I had it update the system and start, I assume, downloading the cores(?). It's been running this task for quite some time now, so hopefully in a little while, I'll be able to check it out and see what seemingly everyone who has one is raving about.

I'll build the I/O board and the SDRAM board, and maybe the RTC tomorrow. Once it's all done, I am thinking I might put it into a spare A1200 case and build myself a keyboard for it, from Grey Unicorn's github (since AOTL will likely never get their act together with that Kipper2K keyboard -- what a shame), then connect it via a Keyrah.

I love stuff like this.... :)

User avatar
obitus1990
USA

Posted Fri Jan 15, 2021 8:44 pm

IMG_0677.jpg
USB Hub all soldered up...

User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Sat Jan 16, 2021 9:56 am

Did the update finish? Which cores did you install?

I've always been a huge fan of Mattsoft's Mister/A600 conversion. For a pure gaming machine and console, it's so nice. HDMI out, USB joysticks, functional original keyboard, tidy package. Heck, it's easily portable.

Plus the fact you can wave a magic wand over it and turn it into a Mac, or arcade machine, is kind of mind blowing.

User avatar
obitus1990
USA

Posted Sat Jan 16, 2021 2:09 pm

IMG_0682.jpg
128 MB SDRAM module built up.

User avatar
obitus1990
USA

Posted Sat Jan 16, 2021 2:12 pm

intric8 wrote:
Sat Jan 16, 2021 9:56 am
Did the update finish? Which cores did you install?

I've always been a huge fan of Mattsoft's Mister/A600 conversion. For a pure gaming machine and console, it's so nice. HDMI out, USB joysticks, functional original keyboard, tidy package. Heck, it's easily portable.

Plus the fact you can wave a magic wand over it and turn it into a Mac, or arcade machine, is kind of mind blowing.
Using the update script pretty much installed every console, computer, and arcade game core, I believe. I am still in the process of figuring things out. I put a 3.1 KS ROM on the SD card, and configured it as an ECS machine, and put a WB 3.1 ADF file in DF0: but so far, no dice in seeing it boot. The arcade games I have tried with it so far seem to work properly, so, maybe I am missing something. Time to go read the wiki some more, I guess.

Since I don't have a spare A600 case, I'll probably go with my spare 1200 case. I saw that Mattsoft had started designing the 3D printed supports for the 1200 case, similar to the 600's design, and had shared the first part of the design on Thingiverse, but, nothing further progress has been made on it since 2019. Paging @mattsoft :)

User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Sat Jan 16, 2021 3:16 pm

Dude. You should have seen the incredible A1000 version he made, but never published anywhere. It was a one-and-done kind of deal, and I believe he even sold it off. He brought it into the SEA-CCC club at one point and we were all trying to figure out what he'd done before he explained. Top guess was a vampire with the HDMI port. Nope! ;)

He's been going through quite a purge over the past year or so to try and trim down his retro basement.

But yeah, his skills are top shelf. Once he figures something out he's on to the next thing, seems like.

User avatar
obitus1990
USA

Posted Sun Jan 17, 2021 11:39 am

I figured out why I couldn't get the Amiga and C64 cores working at all. I tested several other cores, such as the VIC-20 and C16, which worked fine. I then ran the memtest utility, and found that it was not detecting my SDRAM expansion at all. So, I disconnected it from the MiSTer and checked all the solder points with my meter, and found that several legs of the RAM ICs didn't have good solder joints. The way that the header is connected to this PCB can actually cause the RAM ICs to not sit flush when soldering them, since the solder tails of the pin sockets emerge underneath the RAM ICs. If there is even the slightest dome of solder raised above the through-holes, the IC can't be held flush enough against the board while soldering, preventing the formation of a solder joint. After fixing this, I now have a 100% functional AGA, ECS, and OCS Amiga (and C64!). Last thing I have to build now is the IO board, then I can get around to fitting it to the spare case I have.
IMG_0686.jpg
3.1.4, A1200 implementation
IMG_0687.jpg

User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Sun Jan 17, 2021 12:52 pm

So cool!!

Now I wonder if you'll be able to use one of these with that modern rig, which would be so cool!

User avatar
obitus1990
USA

Posted Sun Jan 17, 2021 2:52 pm

intric8 wrote:
Sun Jan 17, 2021 12:52 pm
So cool!!

Now I wonder if you'll be able to use one of these with that modern rig, which would be so cool!
The linked file or image isn't working...what is it?

User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Sun Jan 17, 2021 3:09 pm

Sorry - I screwed that up. I've fixed it. But here it is again.

And here's the video for it. Totally wild. Puts an LED controller board in your a1200 (and others? I'm not sure) to run MODs and have a total light show.





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