|
Guys but there is IDE connector (16 bit, ready to use) - in fact Pico could be used in transparent way as: first accelerated IDE controller (byte swap on RP2040) and secondly do some data processing so not only C2P but also for example HAM conversion especially that both CPU cores can be easily overclocked over 400MHz. small RAM is a bit of challenge but... With help of the PIO and after adding some parallel to serial and serial to parallel (like 74HCT595 and 74HCT597) limited number of I/O on Pico can be workarounded. In fact i'm thinking on using Pico as sound card (capable to capture Paula data too so first setp to Paula emulation/extension), also as scandoubler with features (Pico is capable to do DVI in software so i can imagine 12 bit RGB capture, 24 bit output, Pico as intelligent RAMDAC something like DCTV, HAME-E, P2C - even in Shires single video line will require less than 5KB), side to this it looks like very neat CIA 8520 replacement (Pico has USB host so it should be possible to hook USB keyboard and emulate regular Amiga KB natively as CIA). Most challenging seem to be a MC68k emulation - Pico with PIO and DMA should be capable to nicely emulate at least MC68000. Last idea is floppy HD (so MFM encode/decode in PIO, Paula DMA to send/receive RAW uncoded data with 500kbps speed so twice faster floppy and no fuzz with PC HD at all), Pico connected to floppy port could be used o simulate more than 4 floppies (SEL1, SEL2, SEL3 is in fact 3 bit so 8 devices can be addressed also other lines are connected to CIA so i can imagine some nibble mode I/O).
|