MiSTer: FPGA Amiga + loads more

[ransom1122]

Everything dreadnought is correct.. There are many members in eab with mister fpga boards, and all that have it are happy

Here's rsns amiga core button config vid

[ Show youtube player ]

[Anubis]

Originally Posted by dreadnought

32MB SDRAM is enough for everything but some big NeoGeo games.

So, you'll need
-DE10 board
-32SDRAM
-OTG USB hub (powered is best).
-heatsink & fan

Overall~ 150E

You can also buy I/O board and USB board but these are expensive and not really needed.

Thank you for fast response.

I was looking into it, DE10 + 128MB and I/O board with heatsink and fan. I already have couple of USB hubs (with and without power). If I want to do I/O board, will vertical RAM work, or I have to get some other form?

[Gavster29]

I know we wouldn't want to stray from the awesome Amiga but I hear other cores are available, is it possible that you can switch easily between say an Amiga and a Sega Megadrive without having to plug and unplug loads of things?

[Anubis]

Originally Posted by Gavster29

I know we wouldn't want to stray from the awesome Amiga but I hear other cores are available, is it possible that you can switch easily between say an Amiga and a Sega Megadrive without having to plug and unplug loads of things?

I don't even have FPGA, but look at video ransom1122 posted. Let me know what you see..

[Gavster29]

Originally Posted by Anubis

I don't even have FPGA, but look at video ransom1122 posted. Let me know what you see..

that will teach me not to look at the video! So the cores are listed from the main menu! In my deffence I am at work and didn't want to load up a video

[MickGyver]

Originally Posted by Gavster29

I know we wouldn't want to stray from the awesome Amiga but I hear other cores are available, is it possible that you can switch easily between say an Amiga and a Sega Megadrive without having to plug and unplug loads of things?

Yeah, seems like you already figured out how easy it is. The MiSTer is a wonderful thing, you get SO much for the price!

Originally Posted by Anubis

Thank you for fast response.

I was looking into it, DE10 + 128MB and I/O board with heatsink and fan. I already have couple of USB hubs (with and without power). If I want to do I/O board, will vertical RAM work, or I have to get some other form?

The official vertical 128MB RAM will work and is the recommended one to get.

[ransom1122]

Instant power on and main menu, instant core switching.. just a FYI

Look at smokemonsters amiga mister videos to learn more

I have 32mb ram on my mister, everything works except for about 5% of the Highend neogeo games

[Amiga1992]

Originally Posted by dreadnought

You can also buy I/O board and USB board but these are expensive and not really needed.

Does the I/O board let you use old school peripherals like a joystick? I think that'd be very much needed for me.

What options are there? can one make their own?

Also, has anyone seen the SiDi and what are your thoughts on it?
https://manuferhi.com/p/sidi
[ Show youtube player ]

[ransom1122]

Originally Posted by Akira

Does the I/O board let you use old school peripherals like a joystick? I think that'd be very much needed for me.

What options are there? can one make their own?

Also, has anyone seen the SiDi and what are your thoughts on it?
[ Show youtube player ]

https://misterfpga.co.uk/product/mis...v6-1-with-fan/

Sidi? No idea. De nano10 comes with basic mounting kit . If you want to go fancy go buy a case

[Amiga1992]

SiDi already comes with VGA and RGB (looks like megadrive 2 connector) output at 99 euros. Seems like a great starter pack. RGB/VGA is a must for a machine like this.

[MickGyver]

Originally Posted by Akira

Does the I/O board let you use old school peripherals like a joystick? I think that'd be very much needed for me.

What options are there? can one make their own?

Also, has anyone seen the SiDi and what are your thoughts on it?
https://manuferhi.com/p/sidi
[ Show youtube player ]

The IO board has a USER IO port that uses the same connector as USB3. With a SNAC adapter you can then use native controllers.

I have also made a few USB adapters for native controllers that have minimal lag (most of them under 1ms). You can build them yourself for cheap or buy "fancy" ready made ones from me at daemonbite.com (I have other adapters coming soon).

[Anubis]

Akira, there is option to add MIDI to FPGA. I know this probably is off interest for you as fellow music enthusiast.

Also, Amiga and Atari core got updated to work better with MIDI by MickGyver.

https://misterfpga.org/viewtopic.php?t=910

[Amiga1992]

Originally Posted by Anubis

Akira, there is option to add MIDI to FPGA. I know this probably is off interest for you as fellow music enthusiast.

Yeah kind of interesting.
I'm just very confused about what I need to interface with legacy peripherals and what peripherals are supported.

In my view I absolutely need:
- RGB analog video
- DB9 joystick connectors
- Serial and parallel for peripherals like MIDI and samplers

[dreadnought]

I don't know about MIDI but for analog video you only need HDMI-VGA DAC: https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Main...i/Direct-Video

Or the I/O board with analog VGA out.

For DB9 you buy these SNAC things:
https://misterfpga.co.uk/product/mis...c-adapter-usb/
https://misterfpga.co.uk/product/mis...ller-adapters/

Though I'm not sure if all cores support the DB9 itself (I know most of consoles are covered).

[MickGyver]

Originally Posted by Akira

Yeah kind of interesting.
I'm just very confused about what I need to interface with legacy peripherals and what peripherals are supported.

In my view I absolutely need:
- RGB analog video
- DB9 joystick connectors
- Serial and parallel for peripherals like MIDI and samplers

You will need a VGA->RGB cable, same as the one used by MiST.

I have made custom builds of the Minimig, AtariST and 486 cores that support MIDI over the USER IO port. I will soon have ready made interfaces. The link Anubis posted have alternative MIDI boards you can use. MIDI is also supported using some USB MIDI adapters, but then you can experience jitter, it shouldn't be too bad though.

Parallel communication is not supported (yet) so you can't use a sampler etc.

[Amiga1992]

Originally Posted by MickGyver

You will need a VGA->RGB cable, same as the one used by MiST.

I have made custom builds of the Minimig, AtariST and 486 cores that support MIDI over the USER IO port. I will soon have ready made interfaces. The link Anubis posted have alternative MIDI boards you can use. MIDI is also supported using some USB MIDI adapters, but then you can experience jitter, it shouldn't be too bad though.

Parallel communication is not supported (yet) so you can't use a sampler etc.

I checked out your page, glad to find the MIDI stuff you work on on any platform! Didn't know you were also a music gear head The Roland Boutique MIDI tool seems very interesting.

Anyway, nobody here tried these two Spanish boards, SiDi and Mistica, that already have all the old school analog video output options on board, plus some other stuff? Seems very convenient and well priced.

Originally Posted by dreadnought

For DB9 you buy these SNAC things:
https://misterfpga.co.uk/product/mis...c-adapter-usb/
https://misterfpga.co.uk/product/mis...ller-adapters/

Though I'm not sure if all cores support the DB9 itself (I know most of consoles are covered).

What's the difference getting this versus any retro controller to USB interface?
I'm still worried about lag in both cases.

[Higgy]

I got one of the PI-MIDI hats to run MT-32 Pi.
I have a USB to MIDI but there is also a RXD & GND connection for a header.
There is no real documentation but it says for FPGA so I don't know if I can skip the USB to MIDI and connect MiSTer IO directly to that?

[dreadnought]

Originally Posted by Akira

Anyway, nobody here tried these two Spanish boards, SiDi and Mistica, that already have all the old school analog video output options on board, plus some other stuff? Seems very convenient and well priced.

I'm a bit wary of these side projects because I bought ZX Uno first and it wasn't a good experience - only ZX core was decent enough, rest was half baked, the project defunct, Spanish forum... I went and bought MiSTer straight away.

Sidi & Mistica look much more advanced than UNno and are still being updated, but the price difference between MiSTer is not so big, so I wouldn't really bother.

Like I've already said you don't need to buy I/O board to have VGA because you get the same functionality from the Direct Video dongle (dirt cheap). Though it all also depends what you need VGA for, some cores can cause problems on this angle.
https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Main...-compatibility

What's the difference getting this versus any retro controller to USB interface?
I'm still worried about lag in both cases.

I don't use them, but as you can read in these links (you did read them, didn't you? they are supposed to be lag free, and were specially designed for MiSTer.

To be honest, MiSTer already has super low-lag (0 on analog) and you can tweak USB polling too, so I suppose further shaving off with these SNAC boards is getting into the "audiophile" zone. I don't need it myself, but it's an option.

https://github.com/eniva/MisSTer_Gui...rmance-Ranking

[ransom1122]

Originally Posted by Anubis

Akira, there is option to add MIDI to FPGA. I know this probably is off interest for you as fellow music enthusiast.

Also, Amiga and Atari core got updated to work better with MIDI by MickGyver.

https://misterfpga.org/viewtopic.php?t=910

There is another Amiga/Minimig Core made form MickGyver. I have tried it and it wont run MT32 games out of the box, This core is a modified core so you can attach real Roland devices to the Mister (I believe)

[ransom1122]

Originally Posted by Akira

What's the difference getting this versus any retro controller to USB interface?
I'm still worried about lag in both cases.

There is NO lag with either method of controller, I used my Xbox One controller or any other controller I have laying around the house.. Using DB9 is just personal choice