MiniMig V2?

NovaCoder · 20 April 2009, 01:08

I've been following developments of the FPGA arcade and the new Replay Board. It looks like it has more chance of being released than good old NatAmi and may grow to include ECS/AGA support in the future.

News:

I'm getting a lot of questions along the same lines, so I thought I would stick a few comments on here.

The Replay board is going to be available to buy, as soon as possible. Price is not totally fixed, but we are aiming for (much) less than 200Euro hopefully. The FPGA is a Spartan3e and is around 3 to 4 times the size of the one on the MiniMig board. It has 32MByte of RAM on board as well.

The board will support all the games on this site, as well as my Atari ST core and a customized and supported MiniMig Amiga core. Other platforms such as BBC B, Commodore 64 and Spectrum will also follow shortly.

The board has an ARM processor which interfaces the FPGA to the SD card. Hard disk images, ROMs and floppy disk images can be used from the SD card.

There are two expansion boards, one with TV out and some rear mounted connectors for the joysticks (fits in a mini-itx case), and a second board with a prototyping array. There are around 130 pins available on the expansion connector.

The board has DVI and Analogue out. The DVI connector can be used to drive a HDMI input of a flat screen TV, so you can play PacMan on the big screen. I am planning to do Asteroids in true 1080P The analogue audio output uses a very hi quality Wolfson DAC.

Linky

whiteb · 20 April 2009, 07:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by NovaCoder

I've been following developments of the FPGA arcade and the new Replay Board. It looks like it has more chance of being released than good old NatAmi and may grow to include ECS/AGA support in the future.

News:

I'm getting a lot of questions along the same lines, so I thought I would stick a few comments on here.

The Replay board is going to be available to buy, as soon as possible. Price is not totally fixed, but we are aiming for (much) less than 200Euro hopefully. The FPGA is a Spartan3e and is around 3 to 4 times the size of the one on the MiniMig board. It has 32MByte of RAM on board as well.

The board will support all the games on this site, as well as my Atari ST core and a customized and supported MiniMig Amiga core. Other platforms such as BBC B, Commodore 64 and Spectrum will also follow shortly.

The board has an ARM processor which interfaces the FPGA to the SD card. Hard disk images, ROMs and floppy disk images can be used from the SD card.

There are two expansion boards, one with TV out and some rear mounted connectors for the joysticks (fits in a mini-itx case), and a second board with a prototyping array. There are around 130 pins available on the expansion connector.

The board has DVI and Analogue out. The DVI connector can be used to drive a HDMI input of a flat screen TV, so you can play PacMan on the big screen. I am planning to do Asteroids in true 1080P The analogue audio output uses a very hi quality Wolfson DAC.

Linky

Yeah, the FPGAARCADE does have a lot of potential.

The difference being, it will come PRE-Assembled, as the FPGA itself is BGA (Ball Grid) and to be frank is a PAIN IN THE ASS, if not IMPOSSIBLE for the average home hobby Solder fanatic to do. (Well, properly at least).

Keeping an eye on this one, might even sell my Minimig for it

(Yes, my prized, personally crafted minimig).

alexh · 20 April 2009, 10:03

Hardly MiniMig v2 but an interesting development.

Lets just hope Mike doesn't get bored before it is released.

Marcuz · 20 April 2009, 10:23

i'll follow the developments on this with my mouth salivating

tonyyeb · 20 April 2009, 11:03

I've been following the thread on amiga.org and every post Mike makes it becomes more interesting. Looking forward to more info!

gizmomelb · 20 April 2009, 14:53

so off topic but related - did you ever finish the 1541 emulation and was it successful?

NovaCoder · 04 May 2009, 07:49

Progress of developer boards linky

Amiga1992 · 04 May 2009, 08:06

This sounds great, looking forward to it!

What I'd really like is an expanded Amiga AGA core like the C64DTV or something... without having anything to do with Natammi :P

NovaCoder · 04 May 2009, 09:43

Yes that's what I want to see as well. I like that fact that you can stick an 030 board into it...you might be able to build a nice little retro Amiga with this thing one day

AGA FPGA, faster & expanded chipram...faster blitter...DVI output...classic joystick ports....that would be yummy mummy.

Predabot · 04 May 2009, 22:02

This FPGA stuff is pretty fascinating!

The technology seems to improve all the time, and the versatility is quite striking, I must say. Did the C64DTV exist in real life btw? I've never heard of it.

Something endlessly cool, would be if one day it was possible to use the schematics and possible prototype of the Hombre chipset to recreate it within an FPGA... Man, that would be sweeet!

cosmicfrog · 04 May 2009, 22:39

never heard of the c64ctv where you been heheheh yes it dose exsist

alexh · 04 May 2009, 22:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Predabot

Did the C64DTV exist in real life btw? I've never heard of it.

Yes, but it wasn't an FPGA (they are too expensive for mass production) it was an ASIC, C64-on-a-chip

HenryCase · 05 May 2009, 15:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexh

Hardly MiniMig v2 but an interesting development.

Considering the feature set it pretty much is MiniMig v2 in all but name.

Predabot · 05 May 2009, 23:24

AlexH: Thanks for the low-down! I didn't know what an ASIC was before this.

alexh · 05 May 2009, 23:36

Hey I guess it could stand for :

Amiga Specific Integrated Circuit

whiteb · 06 May 2009, 01:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Predabot

AlexH: Thanks for the low-down! I didn't know what an ASIC was before this.

Australian Securities Investment Commission ?

alexh · 06 May 2009, 08:57

My business cards are printed with "A-Sick Engineer" which always gets a laugh. (But then we are sad lonely people, who don't get out much with no sense of humour!)

Amiga1992 · 06 May 2009, 09:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexh

My business cards are printed with "A-Sick Engineer"

lololooooooooooool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quote:

(But then we are sad lonely people, who don't get out much with no sense of humour!)

oh, ahem.....

Predabot · 06 May 2009, 22:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by whiteb

Australian Securities Investment Commission ?

No... Application Specific Integrated Circuit.

A circuit meant for one singular purpose... More specific than a logic Gate-matrix, but less generic in function than a microprocessor. Or, as AlexH put it, a system-on-a-chip.

HenryCase · 06 May 2009, 23:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Predabot

No... Application Specific Integrated Circuit.

A circuit meant for one singular purpose... More specific than a logic Gate-matrix, but less generic in function than a microprocessor. Or, as AlexH put it, a system-on-a-chip.

I think he was joking my friend.

20 April 2009, 01:08	#1
NovaCoder Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Melbourne/Australia Posts: 4,400	MiniMig V2? I've been following developments of the FPGA arcade and the new Replay Board. It looks like it has more chance of being released than good old NatAmi and may grow to include ECS/AGA support in the future. News: I'm getting a lot of questions along the same lines, so I thought I would stick a few comments on here. The Replay board is going to be available to buy, as soon as possible. Price is not totally fixed, but we are aiming for (much) less than 200Euro hopefully. The FPGA is a Spartan3e and is around 3 to 4 times the size of the one on the MiniMig board. It has 32MByte of RAM on board as well. The board will support all the games on this site, as well as my Atari ST core and a customized and supported MiniMig Amiga core. Other platforms such as BBC B, Commodore 64 and Spectrum will also follow shortly. The board has an ARM processor which interfaces the FPGA to the SD card. Hard disk images, ROMs and floppy disk images can be used from the SD card. There are two expansion boards, one with TV out and some rear mounted connectors for the joysticks (fits in a mini-itx case), and a second board with a prototyping array. There are around 130 pins available on the expansion connector. The board has DVI and Analogue out. The DVI connector can be used to drive a HDMI input of a flat screen TV, so you can play PacMan on the big screen. I am planning to do Asteroids in true 1080P The analogue audio output uses a very hi quality Wolfson DAC. Linky

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20 April 2009, 10:03	#3
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,337	Hardly MiniMig v2 but an interesting development. Lets just hope Mike doesn't get bored before it is released.

20 April 2009, 10:23	#4
Marcuz Registered User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: . Age: 48 Posts: 5,562	i'll follow the developments on this with my mouth salivating

20 April 2009, 11:03	#5
tonyyeb Has the Amiga bug again Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Hull, UK Age: 43 Posts: 791	I've been following the thread on amiga.org and every post Mike makes it becomes more interesting. Looking forward to more info!

20 April 2009, 14:53	#6
gizmomelb Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: melbourne Age: 55 Posts: 541	so off topic but related - did you ever finish the 1541 emulation and was it successful?

04 May 2009, 07:49	#7
NovaCoder Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Melbourne/Australia Posts: 4,400	Progress of developer boards linky

04 May 2009, 08:06	#8
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	This sounds great, looking forward to it! What I'd really like is an expanded Amiga AGA core like the C64DTV or something... without having anything to do with Natammi :P

04 May 2009, 09:43	#9
NovaCoder Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Melbourne/Australia Posts: 4,400	Yes that's what I want to see as well. I like that fact that you can stick an 030 board into it...you might be able to build a nice little retro Amiga with this thing one day AGA FPGA, faster & expanded chipram...faster blitter...DVI output...classic joystick ports....that would be yummy mummy.

04 May 2009, 22:02	#10
Predabot Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Swedun' Posts: 397	This FPGA stuff is pretty fascinating! The technology seems to improve all the time, and the versatility is quite striking, I must say. Did the C64DTV exist in real life btw? I've never heard of it. Something endlessly cool, would be if one day it was possible to use the schematics and possible prototype of the Hombre chipset to recreate it within an FPGA... Man, that would be sweeet!

04 May 2009, 22:39	#11
cosmicfrog The 1 who ribbits Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: leek, Staffs, UK Age: 56 Posts: 3,557	never heard of the c64ctv where you been heheheh yes it dose exsist

05 May 2009, 23:24	#14
Predabot Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Swedun' Posts: 397	AlexH: Thanks for the low-down! I didn't know what an ASIC was before this.

05 May 2009, 23:36	#15
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,337	Hey I guess it could stand for : Amiga Specific Integrated Circuit

06 May 2009, 08:57	#17
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,337	My business cards are printed with "A-Sick Engineer" which always gets a laugh. (But then we are sad lonely people, who don't get out much with no sense of humour!)

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