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eclaire XL P.C.B. aka "Atari on FPGA project"


santosp

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I actually like the idea of having 4 ports very much and it was not clear for me if you want to remove or add them (I don't have the developer board, but I'm interested in the final one).

 

> But it save me some pennies to not include the d-sub connectors on board!

 

Please think it over. I wouldn't like to spoil a professionally manufactered board with additional soldering. D-sub connectors on board is a good idea.

 

Or could do something similar to what was done on the 1088XEL where 10 pin dual row 0.1" headers were used that easily translate into D-Sub9 connectors using ribbon cable and crimp connectors.

 

2vhFqxk.jpg

 

 

- Michael

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FPGA is good for crazy stuff like 4096colors palette or quadpokey.So I like EclaireXL project.Can you make those extra features?On ZXUno there is 256colors mode.And there are some game conversions using extra palette.So FPGA can be "next atari that never been".XEL can be upgraded modern Atari.

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*** Panos! Great news!! ***

 

I am one of the testers for the EclaireXL project and own the latest version of the board. I feel it is truly the most amazing and incredible Atari 8-bit product ever been created. This Atari 8-bit beast is truly in a class all it's own. Unlike the (very cool) 1088XEL project which has had a very public development forum, the EclaireXL development progress has not been nearly as public so I am thinking there are probably some people out there that do not realize exactly what this is so perhaps I can offer some info. The EclaireXL is an FPGA-based hardware re-implementation of the original Atari 8-bit computers designed to fit in a Mini-ITX case using a USB keyboard. This system includes several highly desirable built-in features:

 

SIO2SD?

Yep, SD card supports is built-in. Supports four virtual disk drives with several levels of selectable disk I/O acceleration and ATR, XFD, & XEX image support.

 

SIO2USB?

Yes, it is built-in.

 

Do I need an Ultimate 1Mb cart?

Nope, the EclaireXL has up to 1MB built-in and supports these modes:

 

64K Runs computer with 64Kb of RAM
(similar to original 800XL)
128K Runs computer with 128Kb on RAM
(similar to original 130XE)
320K(Compy) Runs computer with a 320Kb
Compyshop-compatible RAM
expansion
320K(Rambo) Runs computer with a 320Kb
Rambo-compatible RAM expansion
576K(Compy) Runs computer with a 576Kb
Compyshop-compatible RAM
expansion
576K(Rambo) Runs computer with 576Kb
Rambo-compatible RAM expansion
1MB

 

and you have the option to use any ROM you like... 400/800, XL, 1200, Altirra, etc. selectable from a menu. You can also mount SpartaDOS as a cartridge but more on that in a bit.

 

Do I need something like a Rapidus if I want acceleration?

Nope, it has built-in acceleration up to 32x. Playing Star Raiders at 4x acceleration is a near-religious experience.

 

Do I need an Ultimate cartridge to load .crt images?

Nope, you can load and run .crt cartridges from the menu.

 

You also get a real Atari SIO port, cartridge slot, four Atari 8-bit joystick ports (with tablet/paddle support), crisp HDMI/VGA output as well as composite & s-video, built-in Freezer, scanline support, and a fully-functioning PBI bus. Did I mention 2x and 4x antic color clock mode? I'm not sure if I was supposed to mention that... but...

 

I am still blown away by this machine every day and consider myself extremely lucky to be part of the team. I hope that this project will become widely available one day for everybody to enjoy. Another thing I would like to mention is that this is a self-contained, instant-boot system with menus that are well integrated using Atari display modes which in my opinion make for a very fluid, natural and immersive Atari 8-bit experience.

Thank you Mark and Panos!

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*** Panos! Great news!! ***

 

I am one of the testers for the EclaireXL project and own the latest version of the board. I feel it is truly the most amazing and incredible Atari 8-bit product ever been created. This Atari 8-bit beast is truly in a class all it's own. Unlike the (very cool) 1088XEL project which has had a very public development forum, the EclaireXL development progress has not been nearly as public so I am thinking there are probably some people out there that do not realize exactly what this is so perhaps I can offer some info. The EclaireXL is an FPGA-based hardware re-implementation of the original Atari 8-bit computers designed to fit in a Mini-ITX case using a USB keyboard. This system includes several highly desirable built-in features:

 

SIO2SD?

Yep, SD card supports is built-in. Supports four virtual disk drives with several levels of selectable disk I/O acceleration and ATR, XFD, & XEX image support.

 

SIO2USB?

Yes, it is built-in.

 

Do I need an Ultimate 1Mb cart?

Nope, the EclaireXL has up to 1MB built-in and supports these modes:

 

64K Runs computer with 64Kb of RAM
(similar to original 800XL)
128K Runs computer with 128Kb on RAM
(similar to original 130XE)
320K(Compy) Runs computer with a 320Kb
Compyshop-compatible RAM
expansion
320K(Rambo) Runs computer with a 320Kb
Rambo-compatible RAM expansion
576K(Compy) Runs computer with a 576Kb
Compyshop-compatible RAM
expansion
576K(Rambo) Runs computer with 576Kb
Rambo-compatible RAM expansion
1MB

 

and you have the option to use any ROM you like... 400/800, XL, 1200, Altirra, etc. selectable from a menu. You can also mount SpartaDOS as a cartridge but more on that in a bit.

 

Do I need something like a Rapidus if I want acceleration?

Nope, it has built-in acceleration up to 32x. Playing Star Raiders at 4x acceleration is a near-religious experience.

 

Do I need an Ultimate cartridge to load .crt images?

Nope, you can load and run .crt cartridges from the menu.

 

You also get a real Atari SIO port, cartridge slot, four Atari 8-bit joystick ports (with tablet/paddle support), crisp HDMI/VGA output as well as composite & s-video, built-in Freezer, scanline support, and a fully-functioning PBI bus. Did I mention 2x and 4x antic color clock mode? I'm not sure if I was supposed to mention that... but...

 

I am still blown away by this machine every day and consider myself extremely lucky to be part of the team. I hope that this project will become widely available one day for everybody to enjoy. Another thing I would like to mention is that this is a self-contained, instant-boot system with menus that are well integrated using Atari display modes which in my opinion make for a very fluid, natural and immersive Atari 8-bit experience.

 

Thank you Mark and Panos!

 

SELL ME ONE NOW!!!

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Hi.

I am in prototyping stage for now, ready to order parts and pcb's as to check if this is possible to build by me. :)

 

So assuming that all will go well, I have started to think about a economic enclosure. Have in my mind something like lotharek Mist's Plexiglas construction, with a back light below.

I think a smoked -or something- plexi would look better than the crystal clear of Mist. I don't like to see the internal parts of board so clear in my eyes. But this is my opinion on this, and maybe is better to look exact like the Mist.

 

I think the Plexiglas option, is the only way to have something economic as for the cost.

 

http://lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=202

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Time's getting away from me. I am hoping to order even a crappy case so that I can take my prototype to VCFMW. I won't be running it or leaving it there just as a bare PCB.

Hate quoting my own posts, but I managed to get a case which should be delivered Monday or Tuesday, so there will be at least one Eclaire running at VCFMW.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Could you fix POKEY to serve _all_ SHIFT+CONTROL keystrokes combinations (%110x0xxx)? Old programs will work good, because they don't suport these combinations, but new ones could have much more functionality (especialy text editors with key mappings).

Edited by mono
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  • 3 weeks later...

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