Jump to content
IGNORED

The Worlds Smallest Atari 8-Bit?


mytek

Recommended Posts

  • 1 month later...
On 1/28/2021 at 2:02 AM, Simply_Graham said:

Just a quick question, Q3 the NDP6020P MOSFET what SMD part did you finally go with on the updated board ?

And for a very slow answer... it's an ON Semiconductor P/N: NDT456P

 

Quote

Love the idea with the BLOG !!

You're going to love it even better. Check out the latest post.

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, ZuluGula said:

Thank you. It's a good decision. 

We'll see if it is - only time will tell ;) .

 

For those that haven't read my latest blog post, the Gerbers to produce this board will be seeing a public release sometime this year. And I may as well say it here, although it'll soon get lost, I will not respond to any unsolicited PMs from this point forward. So if you attempt to build this, you are on your own. Or at least I won't be the one providing individual tech support. If this doesn't sit well, so be it, because it is what it is.

 

The latest schematics are already released and in the public domain (download provided in blog post). The video circuit has been a very long work in progress which is very near to UAV quality (I think the UAV is still ever so slightly better in some regards). If you disregard the VGATE aspect, it certainly is considerably simpler than the UAV in execution. I know there is a 130XE Motherboard in the works, and there was talk about the video circuit it would use, so this one can get tossed into ring for evaluation as well in regards to that project. Speaking of VGATE, the 576NUC+'s version will be the best ever, having automatic PAL/NTSC detection and adjustment.

 

  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

52 minutes ago, mytek said:

For those that haven't read my latest blog post, the Gerbers to produce this board will be seeing a public release sometime this year

That is fantastic news, and really kind of you to do. Thank you for all you do for the Atari community.

I'd definitely like to have a go at building one of these 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, mytek said:

"For those that haven't read my latest blog post, the Gerbers to produce this board will be seeing a public release sometime this year. And I may as well say it here, although it'll soon get lost, I will not respond to any unsolicited PMs from this point forward. So if you attempt to build this, you are on your own. Or at least I won't be the one providing individual tech support. If this doesn't sit well, so be it, because it is what it is."

 

First, thanks Michael for the potential public release of the 576NUC+ and I fully support your decision not to provide absolutely no tech support.  I know back a few years ago when a few of us decided to get boards made for Dennis van Weeren's Minimig.  Dennis made it very clear then that he would not be assisting no one with issues from building the Minimig.  It was the community at Amiga.org that pulled their collective resources together to get boards completed and to workout issues amongst ourselves that took on the project.  That  Xilinx Spartan-3 (XC3S400-4PQ208C) FPGA  on the Minimig was the do or don't for many as the soldering of this chip was very difficult.  Any how, I'm looking forward to building the 576NUC+ one day.   

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Mytek

Just like to thank you for sharing the replacement FET you used.

At a personal level I'm glad that you intend to release the information for others to be able to build, and respect your choice on not offering tech support.

I love the challenge of building and designing hardware myself, and have tried to offer assistance to others with your previous two big projects which I've built and use

Like others have said Thank You for your hardwork and determination to get something working and working well, I just hope that others will honour your request not to bother you for support.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, orpheuswaking said:

Don't say that, we might hold you to it ;)

Don't worry I'm not into self inflicted pain, and this would definitely match that category. However I do have a lot of respect for anyone that can pull that off while achieving a production look to the finished product.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The mostly thru-hole NUC-FujiNet Prototype has gone live, and although there were a few adjustments needed and an SD card that doesn't work, it's proving out the new SIO interface design quite nicely thus far. here's the blog post that goes into more detail. To be clear, this board is simply a proof-of-concept prototype aimed at taking a new stab at SIO to ESP32 interfacing. The idea is to do a complete disconnect of all signals between those two respective I/O buses when the FujiNet power switch is put in its OFF position. At the same time I am exploring a more thru-hole approach, while not requiring a full ESP32 breakout board, or SMT components so small that they are near impossible for most people to hand solder. And by off loading the USB-to-Serial connection with a less than $4 cable, the circuitry required for programming the ESP32 has been greatly simplified.

 

576nuc-fn-proto-v1-0_orig.jpg

 

The SD problem is very baffling. I have thus far traced the connections between the socket and the ESP32, and then compared that to the schematic (mine, Mr Robot's, and mozzwalds) and all seems correct. Even went so far as replacing the socket and reflashing the ESP32 to no avail. I've tested both with a standard 2GB sandisk as well as an 8GB MicroSD in an adapter, both were formatted FAT32, and had a couple of directories filled with XEX files added. They both can be read on my PC, but I get the same response on FujiNet as I do with no card what so ever in the socket. So before I go crazy, is there anything specific that FujiNet needs to be on the SD card, such as a configuration file?

 

Today I'll get out the scope and watch the activity on the 4 signal lines.

 

Other than that SD glitch, the networking aspect works wonderfully and I'm very impressed with where FujiNet firmware development has gotten. Thank you FujiNet Team!

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, David_P said:

Am I imagining things, or does the underlying hardware not play nicely with FAT32 and work better with FAT16?

I have two FujiNet devices and both of them have microSD cards formatted FAT32 without a problem. Both are 32GB SanDisk cards.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, mytek said:

The SD problem is very baffling. I have thus far traced the connections between the socket and the ESP32, and then compared that to the schematic (mine, Mr Robot's, and mozzwalds) and all seems correct.

Try adding pull up resistors (10k) on IO19/SPI_MISO, IO23/SPI_MOSI and IO5/SPI_CS. I have added these to the next FujiNet revision after reading in some espressif docs to 'not rely on the internal pull ups for SD card'. 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, mozzwald said:

Try adding pull up resistors (10k) on IO19/SPI_MISO, IO23/SPI_MOSI and IO5/SPI_CS. I have added these to the next FujiNet revision after reading in some espressif docs to 'not rely on the internal pull ups for SD card'. 

Thanks for the idea, and I will try it tomorrow. I did scope the signals, and wasn't seeing any activity, although the CS line was high which would be the normal resting state. Maybe the pull-ups will surprise me, and wake things up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/7/2021 at 10:50 PM, mytek said:

Thanks for the idea, and I will try it tomorrow

I just read your latest blog post. Too bad it didn't work.

 

Quote

I really didn't like where the ADC VREF voltage divider was getting its positive voltage from (SIO), so I moved it over to the regulated 3.3V bus instead

The voltage divider is not the ADC VREF, it's measuring the Atari 5V and should remain on SIO5V. It's currently only used for show in the web admin. It was previously used to determine if the Atari was on or not.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, mozzwald said:

The voltage divider is not the ADC VREF, it's measuring the Atari 5V and should remain on SIO5V. It's currently only used for show in the web admin. It was previously used to determine if the Atari was on or not

Too funny here I thought it was being used as a voltage reference for the DAC output to create the SAM voice :) . Nice to really know the actual purpose. I'll put it back the way it was, and use a better  description for the wire label on my schematic such as VSENSE. Since I haven't built anything from the V1.2 schematic, I'll just change the date and repost it with the correction. Thanks for the info ?

 

EDIT: the schematic attached to that blog post has now been updated.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/28/2020 at 5:17 PM, mytek said:

I don't remember who first brought up that concern about a 24V supply being accidentally plugged into the NUC+, but this really didn't seem like a real world problem all things considered (24V???  what uses that?).

 

Well... PLC people like me use lots of 24 vdc.  I have no fewer than 10 24vdc power supplies within arms distance of my work area... however I will NEVER plug one into my Atari hardware.  I haven't in 40 years (yet).  The worst thing I have ever done to my Atari happened back in 1990 when I was running an INGOT on my machine...

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, bf2k+ said:

Well... PLC people like me use lots of 24 vdc.  I have no fewer than 10 24vdc power supplies within arms distance of my work area... however I will NEVER plug one into my Atari hardware.  I haven't in 40 years (yet).  The worst thing I have ever done to my Atari happened back in 1990 when I was running an INGOT on my machine...

It was originally meant as a joke based on aircraft (and some trucks) using 24/28V DC electrical systems and the danger of plugging the NUC into an aircraft cigarette lighter....

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

42 minutes ago, slx said:

It was originally meant as a joke based on aircraft (and some trucks) using 24/28V DC electrical systems and the danger of plugging the NUC into an aircraft cigarette lighter....

Well, there are also aerospace systems that run on 115V 400Hz AC.

 

What then!?!  

 

merciless louise belcher GIF by Bob's Burgers

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, DrVenkman said:

Well, there are also aerospace systems that run on 115V 400Hz AC.

 

What then!?!  

 

merciless louise belcher GIF by Bob's Burgers

Yeah, those are 115V but given the size of the plugs you‘d rather plug the NUC into the plug than the other way round...;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

for some aircraft...

most use three phase alternators which reduces the size of components on the AC portion of the power supply

the transformers and such need to store less energy for conversion

this means smaller transformers also means less weight

less filtering, less components for making dc

so size, weight, and simplification.

this is generally true... though some can and probably will nit pick what I've said.

Edited by _The Doctor__
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...