CollectorVision Phoenix Release Thread

[retroillucid]

1 hour ago, timepilot said:

Is there any possibility of a third run?  I finally got mine working and it's incredible to see these games in such perfect HDMI quality, especially out of cartridges.  I would love to order another, or another two, just in case anything unfortunate happens to the one that I just received at some point in the coming years.

We're currently working on a solution to make the Phoenix readily available
 

[timepilot]

19 minutes ago, retroillucid said:

We're currently working on a solution to make the Phoenix readily available
 

Thank you!  And, while I'm in the habit of asking questions, any prospect for the ADAM core?

[retroillucid]

34 minutes ago, timepilot said:

Thank you!  And, while I'm in the habit of asking questions, any prospect for the ADAM core?

We definitely would love to have an ADAM core!

But, first thing first, we need to tweak the CV and Atari2600 cores first and foremost

[nick3092]

On 5/1/2021 at 8:11 PM, Bmack36 said:

Rev8

CORE01.PHX 460 kB · 14 downloads

As this isn't listed on the FP with a change log, what changed in 8?

[timepilot]

19 hours ago, retroillucid said:

We definitely would love to have an ADAM core!

But, first thing first, we need to tweak the CV and Atari2600 cores first and foremost

Understood. If the ADAM core came with an expansion adapter (via the Phoenix expansion port) with a port for an original ADAM keyboard and a port for an Adamnet Disk Emulator (ADE), that would be incredible!

[zaphro72]

2 hours ago, nick3092 said:

As this isn't listed on the FP with a change log, what changed in 8?

They had to implement a change to accommodate the new hardware that prevents the HDMI power back feed. Other then that I believe it is exactly identical to Rev 7 and offers no benefits to first run Phoenix owners.

[Ikrananka]

22 minutes ago, timepilot said:

Understood. If the ADAM core came with an expansion adapter (via the Phoenix expansion port) with a port for an original ADAM keyboard and a port for an Adamnet Disk Emulator (ADE), that would be incredible!

You may be interested in my solution (at least for the keyboard).  Not cheap to implement though so a (much) cheaper expansion adapter for the Phoenix would be welcome.

 

 

[timepilot]

3 minutes ago, Ikrananka said:

You may be interested in my solution (at least for the keyboard).  Not cheap to implement though so a (much) cheaper expansion adapter for the Phoenix would be welcome.

 

 

Wow! I already have the ADAM keyboard to USB interface. Do you have specific recommendations for compatible USB to PS/2 active adapters? Thank you.

[Ikrananka]

4 minutes ago, timepilot said:

Wow! I already have the ADAM keyboard to USB interface. Do you have specific recommendations for compatible USB to PS/2 active adapters? Thank you.

Yeah, I link to one in that post - "TRIPP LITE Minicom PS2 to USB Converter for KVM Switch and Extender TAA GSA (0DT60002)"

 

Far from cheap but it has to be an active adapter and I found them to be hard to find.  I can at least confirm that the one I link to above works with the ADAM keyboard to USB interface.

Edited May 6, 2021 by Ikrananka

[NIAD]

9 hours ago, timepilot said:

Understood. If the ADAM core came with an expansion adapter (via the Phoenix expansion port) with a port for an original ADAM keyboard and a port for an Adamnet Disk Emulator (ADE), that would be incredible!

If an ADAM core were to be developed and released, I’d say it would be highly unlikely that an Expansion Adapter would be developed as well seeing as the Phoenix’s PS/2 port would be the easy solution for keyboard input and the Phoenix's built-in SD Drive would be used for loading ADAM image files.

 

Being an FPGA system, it only makes sense that support of ADAM hardware be contained in the Core and use the Phoenix's built-in options seeing as the majority will not have these ADAM hardware items. So development of an ADAM Expansion Adapter doesn’t seem like an item that the Phoenix team would undertake especially considering how busy they are with the maturation of the existing Cores and possible development of other Cores that the masses would be much more interested in... Intellivision to name one. 
 

As you know, I am a huge “champion” of the ADAM, but I am also realistic about the possibilities unless more people joined the Phoenix team to spread the workload.

 

The “Adamnet Keyboard to USB Adapter” is a great option, but unfortunately there were only a small number made over two production runs. So only a small number of us have one.

Edited May 7, 2021 by NIAD

[timepilot]

19 hours ago, Ikrananka said:

Yeah, I link to one in that post - "TRIPP LITE Minicom PS2 to USB Converter for KVM Switch and Extender TAA GSA (0DT60002)"

 

Far from cheap but it has to be an active adapter and I found them to be hard to find.  I can at least confirm that the one I link to above works with the ADAM keyboard to USB interface.

Thank you very much.

[timepilot]

10 hours ago, NIAD said:

If an ADAM core were to be developed and released, I’d say it would be highly unlikely that an Expansion Adapter would be developed as well seeing as the Phoenix’s PS/2 port would be the easy solution for keyboard input and the Phoenix's built-in SD Drive would be used for loading ADAM image files.

 

Being an FPGA system, it only makes sense that support of ADAM hardware be contained in the Core and use the Phoenix's built-in options seeing as the majority will not have these ADAM hardware items. So development of an ADAM Expansion Adapter doesn’t seem like an item that the Phoenix team would undertake especially considering how busy they are with the maturation of the existing Cores and possible development of other Cores that the masses would be much more interested in... Intellivision to name one. 
 

As you know, I am a huge “champion” of the ADAM, but I am also realistic about the possibilities unless more people joined the Phoenix team to spread the workload.

 

The “Adamnet Keyboard to USB Adapter” is a great option, but unfortunately there were only a small number made over two production runs. So only a small number of us have one.

Agreed and understood.  That said, I will hold out a distant and perhaps unrealistic hope, if only because--correct me if I am wrong--the Phoenix is open-source, and perhaps someone will take the initiative to create an adapter for the ADE and/or for the ADAM keyboard.  Perhaps.  With the understanding that I may be waiting for decades yet. ?

[Swami]

These FPGA clones have no problem using the SD card drive as a disk drive, so not sure I see the point. I could understand wanting ports for original disk drives or DDP units for nostalgia purposes, but why a disk drive emulator? Getting DDP and some cart based files running from the SD slot may be another issue, for whatever reason. Could be they are more programming or power intensive.

[timepilot]

1 hour ago, Swami said:

These FPGA clones have no problem using the SD card drive as a disk drive, so not sure I see the point. I could understand wanting ports for original disk drives or DDP units for nostalgia purposes, but why a disk drive emulator? Getting DDP and some cart based files running from the SD slot may be another issue, for whatever reason. Could be they are more programming or power intensive.

You know, that's a very good point.  Why not trade one SD disk/DDP emulator (the ADE as an external box) for another SD disk/DDP emulator (the SD slot in the Phoenix itself).  I stand corrected.

[CaptainBreakout]

I just want to say I'm enjoying the hell out of this thing.

 

The image is just plain flawless.  Flawless!  On this modern flat screen.  I tried out the 2600 core tonight and damn it plays like a dream. 

 

Just want to say thanks to the devs. It's a privilege to own.

[goldenegg]

I received my Phoenix a month or two ago and finally found time to try it out. Whenever I turn it on, I just get a frozen half-screen of what I was previously doing on the system. To get the system to do anything, I need to remove and reinsert the SD card while the system is on. That seems to get it out of whatever weird state it's in. The same behaviour occurs when I start the system with a cart in to the slot. I have to remove and re-insert the SD card for it to load the cart.

 

I've randomly seen the Phoenix logo screen only a couple of times and have no idea what was done differently to get to it. The second time I got the Phoenix logo, I was able to enter the configuration screen and tried reinstalling a cores that were on the provided SD card. That didn't change this behaviour at all.

 

Not sure if it matters, but when the screen is frozen it says F18A V1.9 at the top left of the screen. Also, pressing RESET in this state does nothing.

 

Any suggestions on what to try to get the system to act more reliably?

Edited June 1, 2021 by goldenegg

[Tursi]

Try disconnecting your HDMI while it's turned off? It sounds like something is feeding residual voltage. That is a known issue on the first generation hardware but was expected to be fixed on gen 2, so we should know which machine you have too. (You'd only have got a gen 1 a month ago if it was used.)

 

 

[goldenegg]

I tried disconnecting HDMI, after reading about the power issue here, but that doesn't seem to help. The unit was purchased directly from CollectorVision and should be a gen 2.

[goldenegg]

So the issue is even weirder than I thought. I had the SD card screen up when I turned off the system. I unplugged the power and HDMI cables for 10min, then plugged everything back and turned on the system with Sydney Hunter in the cart slot. On screen was a frozen version of the top half of the SD card menu that I was on when I powered off the system, but the audio made it clear that it was actually playing the cart in the background as the music for Sydney Hunter was playing. Pressing buttons on the controller did absolutely nothing to get me out of the stuck screen. As I had done in the past, I removed then re-inserted the SD card, which unlocked the screen and went straight to the game. 

 

I didn't notice this earlier, as I was testing the system without audio.

 

Got a few videos to show the issue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT:

 

Just wanted to add that I tried to use the contact form on the CollectorVision website to report this issue, but I keep getting the error "Database error occurred. Please try again.".

Edited June 2, 2021 by goldenegg

[goldenegg]

Does anyone have an e-mail address for CollectorVision support? The contact page on their webpage doesn't work for me and I'm not getting replies here or on Facebook. My Phoenix is pretty much broken as I can rarely get the system in a state where it's showing me the game on screen.

[+evg2000]

i had the same issue, but then i logged in and it seemed to work

[retroillucid]

On 6/10/2021 at 3:06 PM, goldenegg said:

Does anyone have an e-mail address for CollectorVision support? The contact page on their webpage doesn't work for me and I'm not getting replies here or on Facebook. My Phoenix is pretty much broken as I can rarely get the system in a state where it's showing me the game on screen.

PM sent

[digress]

On 6/1/2021 at 6:20 PM, goldenegg said:

I received my Phoenix a month or two ago and finally found time to try it out. Whenever I turn it on, I just get a frozen half-screen of what I was previously doing on the system. To get the system to do anything, I need to remove and reinsert the SD card while the system is on. That seems to get it out of whatever weird state it's in. The same behaviour occurs when I start the system with a cart in to the slot. I have to remove and re-insert the SD card for it to load the cart.

 

I've randomly seen the Phoenix logo screen only a couple of times and have no idea what was done differently to get to it. The second time I got the Phoenix logo, I was able to enter the configuration screen and tried reinstalling a cores that were on the provided SD card. That didn't change this behaviour at all.

 

Not sure if it matters, but when the screen is frozen it says F18A V1.9 at the top left of the screen. Also, pressing RESET in this state does nothing.

 

Any suggestions on what to try to get the system to act more reliably?

sounds like the sd card might not be inserted correctly or corrupted. I would dump it onto a pc. reformat it and put the files back onto it or use another sd card. Seems it might be an access problem.

[Swami]

I just determined that trying to use the OG Sega Genesis 3-button controller causes automatic firing of one of the fire buttons, likely the right. This has been confirmed by two of us on facebook phoenix group, even though it appears some other 3rd party ones work. Not sure why it happens, but I thought an issue request should be entered into Github, but I don't have an account and have way too many accounts I only log into once. @Ikrananka? I'm going to see if I can figure out a way to test disconnecting pin connections like pin 5 without destroying things.

 

Additional info: What I’ve seen is it gets stuck on the core/setup selection screen with gen controller. If gen is plugged in after Phoenix splash screen to sd card menu, sd card menu flickers as if fire button is being repeatedly pressed. If plugged in at beginning of game, again, behaves like just said. 

[Tursi]

Why do we expect Genesis controllers to work on the Phoenix? I don't remember that ever being promised...