MiSTer: FPGA Amiga + loads more

[thgill]

I wouldn't mind seeing someone come out with a budget A500 or A600 FPGA accelerator based off the the 68020 CPU code in the Minimig core.

[MartinW]

Originally Posted by dreadnought

Has anybody tried to display the Amiga core on a CRT TV?

Not a TV as such, but I had mine linked up to my Microvitec M1438 CRT before it died. Basically, just make up a pin adapter to go from the VGA out on the I/O board to the 23pin of the Amiga CRT (or Scart of the TV, or whatever).

It looked very nice until my CRT died. Actually, let's be fair, it looked identical to my 1200. Because it was identical to it.

[dreadnought]

Originally Posted by MartinW

Actually, let's be fair, it looked identical to my 1200. Because it was identical to it.

Ok thanks, for me this is a make or break issue (and I've heard that MiSTer + CRT can be problematic).

[MartinW]

Well, I can only tell you how it was for me. I’ve not used it for months and months now. But at the end of the day the signals coming out of the 15pin socket on the I/o board are the raw I/O signals.

[MickGyver]

Originally Posted by dreadnought

Ok thanks, for me this is a make or break issue (and I've heard that MiSTer + CRT can be problematic).

MiSTer + CRT shouldn't be problematic. I have tested several CRT TVs with both the IO board and using direct video (hdmi->vga->scart) and the picture is perfect. I have actually never seen such a crisp picture on a CRT before, no noise whatsoever for me.

[dreadnought]

Originally Posted by MickGyver

MiSTer + CRT shouldn't be problematic.

It's more about specific cores than the board itself. This is just what I've read in scattered posts here and there over the years, even the Wiki does not have a definitive answer, but obviously it also changes over time as cores develop. Initially it wasn't all great because HDMI was Sorgelig's main aim and he even explicitly stated it few times before that CRT compatibility is a very low priority feature. Also, people saying "it looks great!" is not always an indicator of actual quality or accuracy

Glad to hear people with real Amiga experience can confirm it's good though. Guess I should buy the bloody thing finally, been putting it off for a long time now. And displaying emulated Amiga on a CRT properly is one of my last frontiers, still can't do it on a RapsberryPi for example (nearly there, but not quite).

[MickGyver]

Originally Posted by dreadnought

It's more about specific cores than the board itself. This is just what I've read in scattered posts here and there over the years, even the Wiki does not have a definitive answer, but obviously it also changes over time as cores develop. Initially it wasn't all great because HDMI was Sorgelig's main aim and he even explicitly stated it few times before that CRT compatibility is a very low priority feature.

Quite often the problems are due to people not knowing how to configure it properly (it's easy though). Some cores where the original hardware wasn't meant to be connected to CRT TVs will have issues of course.

Also, people saying "it looks great!" is not always an indicator of actual quality or accuracy

Sure, if you don't trust others' opinions then you must try it yourself. All I can say is that I have a PERFECT picture on my CRT with the Minimig core, perfectly centered without any noise, 50Hz and 60Hz works in all cores I have tried. Some cores can show the picture a bit off center, like the Mega Drive core, but I have the same issue with my original Mega Drive, so I guess that means accuracy.

Glad to hear people with real Amiga experience can confirm it's good though. Guess I should buy the bloody thing finally, been putting it off for a long time now. And displaying emulated Amiga on a CRT properly is one of my last frontiers, still can't do it on a RapsberryPi for example (nearly there, but not quite).

With the MiSTer you will have much less lag than using a Raspberry Pi, expecially when connected to a CRT. MiSTer now supports a very fast usb polling speed for USB controllers (1ms) so there's only ~2ms added lag compared to original hardware if using a CRT TV and USB controllers that support fast polling.

[NovaCoder]

I guess if you brought yourself a new Amiga case and got one of Kippers new keyboards you could build yourself a pretty good 'new' A1200?

Probably the cheapest way to getting a 'new' A1200 these days..

[lesta_smsc]

Not completely related to this entirely but since discussion of CRT was made, most if not all the games I have ever played looked better using original consoles or emulation on a CRT in comparison to any upscaling/HDMI etc. The consoles/computers of this era were made for resolution on CRT in general (although some would support other formats at higher resolution eg Amiga in Workbench).

[dreadnought]

Originally Posted by MickGyver

With the MiSTer you will have much less lag than using a Raspberry Pi, expecially when connected to a CRT. MiSTer now supports a very fast usb polling speed for USB controllers (1ms) so there's only ~2ms added lag compared to original hardware if using a CRT TV and USB controllers that support fast polling.

Sure, but RPi's lag is actually not as bad as people paint it sometime. Well, at least connected to a CRT, I guess if you use it with some laggy modern panel it can tip it into unplayable territory.
RPi also has some advantages like save states, easy collection managament etc. Still, it's so cheap it's easy to have both of these solutions.

Originally Posted by lesta_smsc

Not completely related to this entirely but since discussion of CRT was made, most if not all the games I have ever played looked better using original consoles or emulation on a CRT in comparison to any upscaling/HDMI etc. The consoles/computers of this era were made for resolution on CRT in general (although some would support other formats at higher resolution eg Amiga in Workbench).

Absolutely, but perhaps it's better not to open this can of worms

[MickGyver]

Originally Posted by lesta_smsc

Not completely related to this entirely but since discussion of CRT was made, most if not all the games I have ever played looked better using original consoles or emulation on a CRT in comparison to any upscaling/HDMI etc. The consoles/computers of this era were made for resolution on CRT in general (although some would support other formats at higher resolution eg Amiga in Workbench).

I agree! The MiSTer has quite a few filters etc. to tweak the scaling to your needs.

Originally Posted by dreadnought

Sure, but RPi's lag is actually not as bad as people paint it sometime. Well, at least connected to a CRT, I guess if you use it with some laggy modern panel it can tip it into unplayable territory.
RPi also has some advantages like save states, easy collection managament etc. Still, it's so cheap it's easy to have both of these solutions.

Yeah, it's not too bad, but still much more lag than a FPGA solution like the MiSTer. Might not be noticeable as lag per se, but games requiring fast reaction from the player will be harder. Save states is a plus yes, hopefully more cores on MiSTer will get save states also, for now only the GBA core has save states.

[dreadnought]

Ok, so now I've joined the club and I'm a total convert, MiSTer really has that right "feel", even if that's as subjective as you can get. But it works so who cares...

Some questions regarding Amiga:

-is it possible to get rid of the credits splash screen?
-I use the MegaAGS image. Most games I've tried (not many thou) seem to be stretched to fill the screen, which is absolutely wonderful. Does it mean this image serves up NTSC versions? Or is there some sort of scaling in Minimig?
-in MegaAGS I can quit to Workbench and then browse stuff with Opus. It shows all the MegaAGS volumes and what not. But when I change HDD images in MiSTer menu tehy don't show in Workbench. Is it possible?

[R4M]

- once you save a working default config, there will be no spash screen
- you can switch between 16:9 und 3:4 with or without blank in the OSD
- I don't know MegaAGS. But in gerneral there is no hotswitching of hdd images. You need to reboot to get the the new image working.

[dreadnought]

Thanks, R4M.

I use a CRT so probably the 16:9 switch does not apply (I can't see any such option under vid).

I tried rebooting but these other hdfs still don't show. So, there are 4 HDD slots in OSD menu, let's say I put the MegaAGS in first one (it's got WB) and some other game hdfs in other slots. After MegaAGS/WB boots the other hdfs are not visible from WB.

[R4M]

There should be an "Aspect Ratio" option in "Audio & Video" in the OSD, if you have a somewhat current version of the MiSTer software. For HDD slots 3 and 4 you probably need a driver:
http://aminet.net/package/driver/media/IDEfix97

[dreadnought]

I must admit, Minimig core is quite special. I'm kinda ashamed to say I don't even hang out with my real A500+ACA anymore...even think of maybe getting rid of the ol' girl...


Btw, has anybody tried Atari ST core on a 15khz CRT TV? For some reason it seems to be only outputting VGA frequencies (31khz or some such).

[NovaCoder]

The MiSTer is excellent!

I got one recently and was playing Wing Commander 2 last night and it felt very authentic running under DOS 6.22.

I'm going to set up my Amiga core next for some whdload fun

[ransom1122]

Originally Posted by NovaCoder

The MiSTer is excellent!

I got one recently and was playing Wing Commander 2 last night and it felt very authentic running under DOS 6.22.

I'm going to set up my Amiga core next for some whdload fun

I knew you'd like it

I haven't set up dos yet... are there any preset vhds ready for download?

[NovaCoder]

Originally Posted by ransom1122

I knew you'd like it

I haven't set up dos yet... are there any preset vhds ready for download?

Yep thanks for helping to convince me

Yes there is are a few VHD's around, try the '@MiSTer Pack 2020-06-27' on the FTP site

\@MiSTer Pack 2020-06-27\MiSTer\Games\ao486


[ Show youtube player ]

[ransom1122]

Originally Posted by NovaCoder

Yep thanks for helping to convince me

Yes there is are a few VHD's around, try the '@MiSTer Pack 2020-06-27' on the FTP site

\@MiSTer Pack 2020-06-27\MiSTer\Games\ao486


[ Show youtube player ]

Definitely helps Covid Lockdown