1090XL remake

[DrVenkman]

7 hours ago, reifsnyderb said:

I might make up an 80 column card, like this one, for the 3rd slot in an 800. 

Yes, please and thank you!

7 hours ago, reifsnyderb said:

The biggest issue with the 800 would be getting that HDMI cable outside of the case.  But, that's for another thread.

I like Jon's solution:

5 hours ago, flashjazzcat said:

or just run a fixed cable out of the back of the case through the hole where the entirely useless RF cable currently emerges.

This. The existing opening should be wide enough for a slim HDMI cable and if not, two seconds with a properly-sized drill bit would create a very neat and minimally obtrusive modification.

[reifsnyderb]

Some good progress has been made on the 1090 card with SpartaDOS-X.  @trub and I have been working together on this and today he sent me a beta driver file.  The 1090 80 column card is looking better and better.   🙂

 

[Atari8guy]

This looks good, I'm curious what Atariwriter 80 looks like or if it will have the same shortcomings as the XEP80 PICO via the joystick port...

[reifsnyderb]

4 hours ago, Atari8guy said:

This looks good, I'm curious what Atariwriter 80 looks like or if it will have the same shortcomings as the XEP80 PICO via the joystick port...

It will be an interesting test.  I saw your post and theory about it being a timing issue.  With the 1090, most of the interfacing is 1090 related.  When it gets down to the actual I/O, only a single PLC acts as a buffer, with about a 15ns propagation time.  But I have no idea whether this will make a difference or not.

 

Edit to add:  There's some other things to try, apparently.  i.e.   https://www.mathyvannisselroy.nl/xep_2.htm

Edited July 26, 2023 by reifsnyderb

[_The Doctor__]

just be aware almost all of the improved and speeded up XEP drivers are for 50 hz causing the output to not fit NTSC screens or their timings correctly... they need to be refactored back to NTSC... ironic as usual... also no reason color couldn't be in the mix since the XEP chips were capable.

Edited July 26, 2023 by _The Doctor__

[reifsnyderb]

24 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said:

just be aware almost all of the improved and speeded up XEP drivers are for 50 hz causing the output to not fit NTSC screens or their timings correctly... they need to be refactored back to NTSC... ironic as usual... also no reason color couldn't be in the mix since the XEP chips were capable.

The Raspberry Pi Pico is both emulating the XEP-80 and handling the HDMI connection.  I don't know how it will work with 50hz.  The 1090 side is interfacing the parallel bus to the Raspberry Pi Pico and supplying the driver for the Atari.  (SDX, at this time, requires an extra driver.)  Essentially, from a communication perspective, all communication was moved from PORTA to $D1F8 with all communication going through data bit 0.  Any increase in communication speed should only affect the Atari/Raspberry Pi Pico side.....theoretically.

Edited July 26, 2023 by reifsnyderb

[_The Doctor__]

essentially you are using the pbi as a serial port? so there is definitely room to grown or/multitask if a group of serial devices are driven via pbi all at once using each data bit as their serial connection. 7 or eight devices at once provided it's not a memory expansion card etc that needs all the data lines. carazy  !!

Edited July 26, 2023 by _The Doctor__

[reifsnyderb]

14 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said:

essentially you are using the pbi as a serial port?

Yes, it greatly cut down development time, reduced the number of components on the board, and reduced the cost of the board.

 

14 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said:

so there is definitely room to grown or/multitask if a group of serial devices are driven via pbi all at once using each data bit as their serial connection. 7 or eight devices at once provided it's not a memory expansion card etc that needs all the data lines

That could be done.

 

My belief is that since POKEY isn't involved, this sort of serial connection should be capable of a fairly high speed.  Since the PBI is supposedly rated for 100k bytes per second, I'd guess that somewhere close to 10k per second is possible.  Since a screen is 80x24 or 1,920 bytes, this should work fine for displaying text.   🙂  Of course, given the actual amount of data used for most other applications, 10k per second would still be "Atari fast".

 

 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2023 by reifsnyderb

[reifsnyderb]

Monday, the new 1090 80 Column Raspberry Pi Pico boards arrived.  All the minor issues with the prototype were fixed.  So, I assembled one today.  I had to made a change to the MMU PLC as I moved a couple lines.  Here's a couple pictures of the new board:

 

 

The composite connection footprints were left on so as to, eventually, program the Raspberry Pi Pico for that output as well.  Also, Digikey was out of ATF16V8B's, so I was able to substitute ATF16V8C's. 

 

 

I put a shunt resistor on the back.  I'll need to get some smaller value resistors to try so as to take more of the current off of the voltage regulator.  On the prototype, I had two of these resistors in parallel for 110 ohms.  Atari used a lot smaller value resistors for the same purpose so I'll get a couple resistors in the 50 ohm and 75 ohm range to test with.

 

 

Now I can harvest the parts off the prototype board.   🙂

 

 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2023 by reifsnyderb

[+scorpio_ny]

Hi @reifsnyderb,

 

Great progress! I have a question: Would it be difficult configure this to use the Pico variant with built in wireless to build a variant of "Fujinet" so to speak? That way the card could have two functions 80 columns and Wifi connectivity.

 

 

[reifsnyderb]

1 minute ago, scorpio_ny said:

Hi @reifsnyderb,

 

Great progress! I have a question: Would it be difficult configure this to use the Pico variant with built in wireless to build a variant of "Fujinet" so to speak? That way the card could have two functions 80 columns and Wifi connectivity.

 

 

Since this board uses serial communications on the PBI, I think it would be possible.  Personally, I'd make such a feature part of an SD card board so as to keep the video side of things separate.  I think the footprint is the same for all Picos.  So, the same board could be used.

 

Maybe a board like this would work better?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[+scorpio_ny]

That would make sense since you would have all the physical elements of a "Fujinet" device in one card. My thinking was with the the 80 column card and internet access, it would make a nice combo for connecting to a BBS in 80 columns or surfing the web.

[reifsnyderb]

13 minutes ago, scorpio_ny said:

That would make sense since you would have all the physical elements of a "Fujinet" device in one card. My thinking was with the the 80 column card and internet access, it would make a nice combo for connecting to a BBS in 80 columns or surfing the web.

It would make sense to have an all-in-one card.  My concern is if the Pico can handle the video and other options at the same time.  The Pico is dual core....so maybe it can.  I haven't looked at the source code.  With the 80 column board, I just drop the already compiled UF2 file onto the board and use it.  (Of course, the other 3 chips need programmed, too.)

 

With the board rendering I just posted, there is a connector for an SD card and a RTC.  I just realized that the PicoW board should have a cutout for the antenna on the board.  Unfortunately, the prototype board is already in production.  So, I guess I can add the cutout on the next version.

 

 

[+scorpio_ny]

29 minutes ago, reifsnyderb said:

It would make sense to have an all-in-one card.  My concern is if the Pico can handle the video and other options at the same time.  The Pico is dual core....so maybe it can.  I haven't looked at the source code.  With the 80 column board, I just drop the already compiled UF2 file onto the board and use it.  (Of course, the other 3 chips need programmed, too.)

 

With the board rendering I just posted, there is a connector for an SD card and a RTC.  I just realized that the PicoW board should have a cutout for the antenna on the board.  Unfortunately, the prototype board is already in production.  So, I guess I can add the cutout on the next version.

 

 

Oh Wow. That would be very cool! As for the power of the PI Pico, if it can  emulate the full Atari 8bit and Commodore 64 with graphics and sound, there should be enough horsepower. 

[reifsnyderb]

Ok.  Assuming the SD card board works, this should work with the WiFi version of the Pico.....

 

[reifsnyderb]

Ordered this board today.

 

4MB Axlon Compatible Memory Module for the 1090/1 XL/XE Expansion Systems.

 

🙂

 

There is an extra 64k available, for main memory, if the computer needs it.  (i.e.  16k 600XL)

 

As it needs to shadow PORTB so as to ensure that PORTB banking isn't being used, there is also a setting for whether you are using an XL or XE. 

 

This board is also designed to be used on the modernized version of the 1090 and 1091 as there is the RD jumper that if connected, will disable the 320k card if necessary.

If the RD jumper is left open, this board is designed to work in an original 1090XL.

 

 

Edited August 4, 2023 by reifsnyderb

[reifsnyderb]

Current "crop" of working 1090XL (reproduction) and 1091XL boards.

 

 

Top row (left to right):  1091XL, 1091XL w/3 cards (320k, CX-85, 80 column)

Bottom row reproductions (left to right):  1090XL (original with /HALT connected), 1090XL (modernized, 5vdc only), 1090XL (modernized, 5vdc and 12vdc)

 

 

 

 

 

[rkindig]

Awesome work, guys!  Is there anyone making these for others, or is it all open source, do-it-yourself?

 

thanks!

 

Randy

[reifsnyderb]

10 minutes ago, rkindig said:

Awesome work, guys!  Is there anyone making these for others, or is it all open source, do-it-yourself?

 

thanks!

 

Randy

In about 2 weeks, I'll start making some for others.

[+x=usr(1536)]

On 7/12/2023 at 10:06 AM, reifsnyderb said:

I might make up an 80 column card, like this one, for the 3rd slot in an 800.

Also 100% in favour of this idea 

[reifsnyderb]

4 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said:

Also 100% in favour of this idea 

I've got a prototype board sitting in front of me.  It will take some development to convert the code from the 1090 board to an 800 board.  The main issue is that instead of having 2k of ROM, I've got to bank the firmware through 256 byte banks.  8 bytes, of that 256 bytes, are used for IO and banking.

Edited August 8, 2023 by reifsnyderb

[Geister]

I really want one of all of these, but it depends on cost.  Any idea yet what you would charge for these as kits and assembled?

[+CharlieChaplin]

Do we have to pay in Euros/Dollars or are wifes/women also accepted ?  😁

(Since my wife wants a divorce anyways, maybe I can trade her for something?)

 

[reifsnyderb]

1 hour ago, Geister said:

I really want one of all of these, but it depends on cost.  Any idea yet what you would charge for these as kits and assembled?

I am not sure yet.  For assembled and tested boards I have been going by roughly 3 times the total cost of the "raw" materials.

[Geister]

 I got an Atari for my wife once.  I thought it was a good trade. Ba-dump bump, tish!