gregallenwarner Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Ok, I'm about to place my order, and I just want to make absolutely sure I'm correct about a few things before I go ahead. Is it correct that for the Geneve, I need to decode the AMA, AMB, and AMC signals as 1/1/1? And those values should also still be present on a TI, since the Flex Cable Interface card pulls all these lines up? Is there anything else at all that's tricky about using cards with the Geneve that I need to know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 As long as you expect them to be 1/1/1, you should have no problems. I can test it with a Geneve as well as with a /4A (and I might even try and test it with one of my /8s). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregallenwarner Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Great! It will be great to get that valuable feedback, Ksarul, on all your different systems. Just re-ran the VHDL compilation with those new signals. The great thing about using programmable logic is that it can always be changed after the fact! The parts for the 3 initial prototypes should be on order here shortly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mizapf Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 While the normal TI does not bother about AMA/AMB/AMC, the Geneve has a mapper that expands the address space up to 19 bit. Accordingly, if you do not test against 1/1/1, the synthesizer will be mirrored in other memory locations. The Flex Cable Interface of the TI sets AMA/AMB/AMC to 1 (hardcoded). So you can safely test against 1/1/1 without considering whether this is a TI or Geneve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregallenwarner Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 (edited) So I take it then that the Geneve is internally set up to assert 1/1/1 on these extra lines when it means to address the speech synth, is that correct? Edited September 26, 2014 by gregallenwarner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregallenwarner Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 (edited) Ok, the parts for the first three prototypes are on order. You guys can officially start getting excited about this! Edit: I literally JUST got this email: Hi! We had some free room on one of our Super Swift Service panels,so we took the opportunity to give you an upgrade.Your affected orders are: * bft95Ifz - TI Speech Synth Adapter ProtoThe Super Swift Service drops your expected fabrication time from 12calendar days to just 5 business days. Seems the wind is definitely in our sails on this one! Free upgrade! Woo hoo! Edited September 26, 2014 by gregallenwarner 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mizapf Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Yes, have a look here: http://www.ninerpedia.org/index.php/Geneve_paged_memory_organization 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregallenwarner Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Thanks, misapf, that's a handy resource for me to have for my future projects. Anybody out there using the 21-bit GenMod? Any reason I should be concerned about AMD and AME? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 There are definitely still some GENMOD machines out there, but not that many. One of these years I may even get a chance to do the GENMOD modification to ane of the two Geneves I have. . .I've had it now since the card first came out (I have one of the first for or five of them Bud finished, bought from Beery Miller when he brought three of them to the TI Treff in Wiesbaden in 1990). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregallenwarner Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 (edited) Oh well, I guess we'll have to do the GenMod-compatible speech adapter later. Either that or manually tack on 2 extra wires and reprogram the CPLD. Actually, what pins correspond with AMD and AME, and what are their values expected to be? I can go ahead and begin thinking about how to work those into the next design before we do the big run. Edit: Nevermind, found this information in the resource mizapf game me. Edited September 26, 2014 by gregallenwarner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwantgames:) Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 Free upgrade? Looks like this was meant to be 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted September 28, 2014 Author Share Posted September 28, 2014 Greg, I have a question, are you going to make the template for the backer in PDF format? If so, anyone should be able to print it out the correct size. Then it'll just a matter of taping the template to the material, cutting around it and drilling in the marked space for the holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregallenwarner Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 That was my plan. I've got to get the boards in first before I can lay it against a full size card and take measurements for the drawing, but yes, these will be available for everyone to download. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 I'd like 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregallenwarner Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 I've gotcha down! Wow! I gotta say, I'm overwhelmed at the response to this! Thanks to everyone for your interest! I only wish I could get the parts here sooner so I can get started on assembly! (Although we already did get an upgrade in the PCB fabrication, which is awesome!) 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregallenwarner Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Just an update: Yesterday I received the components from Mouser for the first 3 prototypes, and this morning I got an email saying the solder paste stencil has shipped. Now all I'm waiting on is the PCB's, which normally does take quite a while. But we're making progress! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 Just an update: Yesterday I received the components from Mouser for the first 3 prototypes, and this morning I got an email saying the solder paste stencil has shipped. Now all I'm waiting on is the PCB's, which normally does take quite a while. But we're making progress! Oh, I'm starting to get that feeling, you know the one....ANTICIPATION! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregallenwarner Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Check out what arrived today! I'll be working on assembling these first 3 prototypes soon! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 So which part of the picture was the totally new arrival? The furball looks very interested in that board. . .was it the courier? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregallenwarner Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Ha ha! No, he's my quality assurance tester. He sniff's each board to make sure it passes his inspection. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwantgames:) Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Lol sweet with that QA tester these boards should be ready in no time. Then you can get to the really important ones, Mine!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Ooooh, very nice!! Late to the party, but I would certainly go for one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregallenwarner Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 I'll add your name to the list, remowilliams! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregallenwarner Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Just wanted to give you all a brief update: I'm still working on assembling the prototypes. I should be able to finish these up an test them all this weekend. Meanwhile, I've been doing some re-engineering of the design before I do the full run. Mostly just revamping the power regulation circuitry to make things a little more reliable and fault-tolerant. Speficially, I'm opting to get rid of the tantalum capacitors in favor of more reliable solid polymer aluminum ones. I'm also going to throw a couple of surface mount fuses on the power traces, just to make sure that any (unlikely) failure on this board won't short out your PEB's power supply or damage other components. The fuses are a couple of cents each, and certainly seem worth it when you consider the value of your TI system! I've got to hook up my multimeter to my test rig tonight and see how much current it draws during speech activity, so I can select the proper fuses. Don't know if I'm over-engineering here, but I tend to prefer to overdo things rather than underdo them. At the very least, my conscience will rest easy that I've built the best boards that I possibly can for you all! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwantgames:) Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 sounds good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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