MiSTer MegaSTe vs real

[phoenixdownita]

14 minutes ago, Xebec said:

Thanks for link - was just thinking BBSing on Mister might be interesting.  

 

Here's Mega STe, 16 MHz, no cache.  

 

Thanks!

 

Wow 16mhz no cache is not that good on real hw, MiSTer cache off is quite a bit faster -> less accurate (then again for accuracy only the 8mhz mode matter).

 

I may give it a whirl with NVDI to see what I get, so told given I focus on playing games it wouldn’t really matter.

[niallquinn]

First time poster - be gentle with me,  I can't comment on real hardware, flogged it years ago, however I like my Mister, and the ST/STE/MegaSte core is still being worked on, last update was about 5 weeks ago.

 

But here's what it does, and what it can't do -

 

Features:

• Cycle accurate STe GLUE+MMU combo (re-created from the original schematics)
• Cycle accurate FX68K CPU core
• Cycle accurate Blitter offered by Jorge Cwik
• Mostly cycle accurate shifter based on schematics made from reverse engineering
• MegaSTe 16 MHz CPU mode
• RAM size up to 14MB
• Support for all TOS versions
• 2 Floppy disc drives
• ACSI hard disc support
• Viking compatible hi-res monochrome card support
• Real IKBD with HD63701 MCU
• Real MIDI input/output using MiST's UART pins
• Serial/parallel port redirect to USB
• Gauntlet type 4 joystick interface support
• STe controller port support
• Optional scandoubled/YPbPr video output

Usage:

Put the core.rbf and the TOS as tos.img to the SD-Card. TOS/hard disc/floppy images are selectable in the OSD (F12). With F11, you can toggle between normal and STe joystick ports.

Current issues/limitations:

• Some MFP imperfections
• Some bugs in ST mode
• No RAM cache for Mega STe
• Missing Ethernec support
• No RTC
• Only fake LMC1992
• PAL clock only (32.084 MHz)
• Since Jagpads have 21 buttons, not all are mapped to MiST controllers when using STe game ports
• No STe paddle handling (but it has 0 software support)

[Xebec]

1 hour ago, niallquinn said:

First time poster - be gentle with me,  I can't comment on real hardware, flogged it years ago, however I like my Mister, and the ST/STE/MegaSte core is still being worked on, last update was about 5 weeks ago.

 

But here's what it does, and what it can't do -

Welcome to the forum! 

 

I certainly appreciate all of the work going into the ST core and I think while many of us prefer real hardware, we know the FPGA solutions make it a lot more accessible, and even preferable to try some things too. 

 

The MiSTer would allow me to play a few STe games with my Jaguars controllers that I couldn't otherwise (Mega STe lacks those enhanced joystick ports).   

 

Interesting on the PAL clock - that would explain a few small differences seen here.  

 

Thanks for sharing! 

[phoenixdownita]

32 minutes ago, Xebec said:

The MiSTer would allow me to play a few STe games with my Jaguars controllers that I couldn't otherwise (Mega STe lacks those enhanced joystick ports).

Not exactly .. I am not sure there’s a SNAC solution for original jag pads on STe, so a few buttons on the “calc pad” won’t be mappable to USB controllers … not sure which games if any uses all of them (USB pads have usually 10 buttons + directions … the jag “calc pad” alone uses 12 & you need A,B, C as well so technically 15)

2 hours ago, niallquinn said:

 

Features:

…

• Serial/parallel port redirect to USB
• Gauntlet type 4 joystick interface support
• STe controller port support
• Optional scandoubled/YPbPr video output

…

Current issues/limitations:

…

• Since Jagpads have 21 buttons, not all are mapped to MiST controllers when using STe game ports
• No STe paddle handling (but it has 0 software support)

 

Edited June 2 by phoenixdownita

[phoenixdownita]

12 hours ago, Xebec said:

And here's two more runs -- 

 

First is using an external TSNEG 4000 ISA card (NOVA adapter, thanks Frank!), with NVDI installed, 16 MHz, cache ON   640x480x 2 color.

 

And second one is ST medium resolution with NVDI.   

OK here's MIST(er) 

MegaSTE core 16MHz + Cache On + NVDI

then MegaSTE core 16MHz + Cache on + Viking (1280x1024 mono)

and last "la creme de la creme" MegaSTE core 16MHz + Cache on + NVDI + Viking (1280x1024 mono)

the results are staggering imho.

 

In color med with NVDI almost 2x real HW (kind of make sense given the whole shebang runs 2x, RAM + bus + blitter) ...

NVDI Viking (mono) vs  NVDI ET4000 (mono) also 2x in the display area and at much higher res (but the test itself uses small window so, unclear).

 

Edited June 3 by phoenixdownita