TI-99/22 project

[stevee671]

So, I came across this on another forum. It looks promising. Especially since the board is powered up and working

 

 

https://github.com/danwerner21/TI99_22

 

Version .96 board.

 

The working board shown on the github seems to be an early iteration of his design as the 0.96 version (above) looks significantly different.

I took a leap and ordered boards from JLCPCB and should be arriving soon. 

 

Anyone else giving this project a try?

 

[+TheBF]

32K of 16bit RAM gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling but I don't need another distraction right now. 

Looks like fun though.

[stevee671]

1 hour ago, TheBF said:

32K of 16bit RAM gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling but I don't need another distraction right now. 

Looks like fun though.

Luckily, this will number 6 of my distractions. LOL

[Gary from OPA]

We had some discussion about this during Saturday's weekly ti99 zoom meeting. I believe @arcadeshopper is going to get a test one in as well.

 

I personally like the idea as well, except I would make a few changes to what is included and not on the board.

[stevee671]

1 hour ago, Gary from OPA said:

We had some discussion about this during Saturday's weekly ti99 zoom meeting. I believe @arcadeshopper is going to get a test one in as well.

 

I personally like the idea as well, except I would make a few changes to what is included and not on the board.

Yes, he is getting one. I ordered 5 sets of boards. I'm sending a set his way.

[Gary from OPA]

12 minutes ago, stevee671 said:

Yes, he is getting one. I ordered 5 sets of boards. I'm sending a set his way.

Do you have extras.. how much would it cost to mail one to me in Canada? I love to try it out and see what can be done to improve it as well.

[nuxi]

This is really cool, and I considered putting one together, but last time I looked he said there were a couple undocumented issues with the PCB. I'm not seeing them in the open GitHub issues, so I'm guessing they're corrected?

[stevee671]

2 hours ago, Gary from OPA said:

Do you have extras.. how much would it cost to mail one to me in Canada? I love to try it out and see what can be done to improve it as well.

Check Mail.

[stevee671]

If anyone is curious, here is the case design. Very 99/8 influenced.

Edited August 25 by stevee671
Added pic

[Gary from OPA]

28 minutes ago, stevee671 said:

If anyone is curious, here is the case design. Very 99/8 influenced.

case does look nice.

 

Personally, I wish the keyboard was a bit better, it needs a num pad and cursor keys if possible.

[stevee671]

27 minutes ago, Gary from OPA said:

case does look nice.

 

Personally, I wish the keyboard was a bit better, it needs a num pad and cursor keys if possible.

I totally agree. Maybe that's something that can be "improved".

 

[+OLD CS1]

37 minutes ago, Gary from OPA said:

cursor keys if possible

Gonna need some kind of decoding or special encoding on the keyboard itself to be functional as arrow keys.

 

Otherwise, the case needs a little more Amiga-like quality

[stevee671]

17 minutes ago, OLD CS1 said:

Gonna need some kind of decoding or special encoding on the keyboard itself to be functional as arrow keys.

 

Otherwise, the case needs a little more Amiga-like quality

It need some ventalation slots in the top/bottom of the case. The size of the motherboard and the unicorn board will determine the best form factor for the case.

 

I agree, the keyboard needs some help.

Edited August 25 by stevee671

[Gary from OPA]

6 minutes ago, stevee671 said:

It need some ventalation slots in the top/bottom of the case. The size of the motherboard and the  unicorn board will determine the best form factor for the case.

the unicorn board part for me, i don't think I would be using, as I most likely would just use the grommy2 in place of the console groms part instead.

[Gary from OPA]

22 minutes ago, OLD CS1 said:

Gonna need some kind of decoding or special encoding on the keyboard itself to be functional as arrow keys.

 

Otherwise, the case needs a little more Amiga-like quality

i am more of a fan of the Atari 1040ST look in case design for some reason.

[Gary from OPA]

24 minutes ago, OLD CS1 said:

Gonna need some kind of decoding or special encoding on the keyboard itself to be functional as arrow keys.

 

Otherwise, the case needs a little more Amiga-like quality

for the arrow keys, i once did a custom keyboard, if you can get a keyswitch that does TWO signal lines at once instead of just ONE, then you can have it do the FCTN and the ARROW at the same time.

 

(darn it, 3 posts in a row), can a mod merge my posts together. -- why doesn't atariage have auto-double-post merge thingy!

Edited August 25 by Gary from OPA

[stevee671]

4 minutes ago, Gary from OPA said:

i am more of a fan of the Atari 1040ST look in case design for some reason.

Yeah, I like the ST wedge look too. I’m no pro at 3D design, but more of a dangerous muddler. Maybe all of us can brainstorm improvements. I’m no electrical engineer or designer, so the pros in this forum will have to take lead on it.

[stevee671]

Ultimately, here’s what I’d like to see:

 

A real updated 99 series computer. Something that would have been a natural progression of the design.

 

1. Nothing FPGA based. All “real” components.

2 Everthing on board, think Amiga/ST.

Serial, Parallel, external Disk Drive (external gotek?)

3. CPU? Can you even get 9995/99105 CPUs?

4. Geneve compatibility?

 

Have you all seen the Commander x16 project? Something along those lines, but TI. That machine has gained A LOT of momentum.

 

This board is a great start, but like some have mentioned, they can already see areas for improvements or things that are lacking.

 

 What do you think?

[Gary from OPA]

1 minute ago, stevee671 said:

Ultimately, here’s what I’d like to see:

 

A real updated 99 series computer. Something that would have been a natural progression of the design.

 

1. Nothing FPGA based. All “real” components.

2 Everthing on board, think Amiga/ST.

Serial, Parallel, external Disk Drive (external gotek?)

3. CPU? Can you even get 9995/99105 CPUs?

4. Geneve compatibility?

 

Have you all seen the Commander x16 project? Something along those lines, but TI. That machine has gained A LOT of momentum.

 

This board is a great start, but like some have mentioned, they can already see areas for improvements or things that are lacking.

 

 What do you think?

Yes, it is something I been slowly working on, and we had alot of chit-chat regarding this during last Sat's ti99 zoom call.

 

I personally, want to design a whole new motherboard, using all DIP technology, with what is currently still available, with items like 99105 (put mounted on 64pin 9900 board, so it could be user-selectable), etc, but I want it to be able to handle different things, on-board added items should be optional, or user-selectable so they can use previous external hardware. as well, this design is a good start, as with items like f18a or pico9918 that fit in the existing 9918 socket, and the grommy2 that fits in console grom socket, items like that can be one by one done, like since the 9901 is in hard to get working supply, we need a pico 40 pin replacement for it, and like i mentioned before i want to do 99105 into 9900 socket, so it can also be used on existing /4A boards, i built one before back in the 90s, now it is easier with smt and today's pcboard design.

 

as for serial, parallel, and those items that could be optional socket for a pi pico for those that want that on their board, if they not using exisiting hardware, and memory should be sams at least not just 32k, but on 16bit bus of course, but still optional if people want to use memory in their existing PEB, etc.

 

overall the market is of course small, but if done right it can be expanded, the keyboard and case in the end is what is really needed to make it nice overall design, along with a small power supply as well, possible USB-C.

 

Not sure if I seen the Commander x16 project, but I seen similar projects like the C64 EVO design I like that, and the MSX world has done similar projects as well.

[stevee671]

Essentially, the Commander x16 is a modern iteration of the Commodore 64. It really impressive. What's even more impressive is a complete board is $345.00!

 

Granted that's just the board, it goes up if you want the official case, keyboard and mouse.

 

Honestly, with the talent in this community, I think it can be done. Yes it's niche, but so is the x16.

 

[+FarmerPotato]

1 hour ago, stevee671 said:

Ultimately, here’s what I’d like to see:

 

A real updated 99 series computer. Something that would have been a natural progression of the design.

 

1. Nothing FPGA based. All “real” components.

2 Everthing on board, think Amiga/ST.

Serial, Parallel, external Disk Drive (external gotek?)

3. CPU? Can you even get 9995/99105 CPUs?

4. Geneve compatibility?

 

Have you all seen the Commander x16 project? Something along those lines, but TI. That machine has gained A LOT of momentum.

 

This board is a great start, but like some have mentioned, they can already see areas for improvements or things that are lacking.

 

 What do you think?

 

This was about my starting point for Geneve 2020 -- see thread.  All real chips where possible. 99105 with a hardware abstraction layer.  It can be a Geneve, or a 4A.  Aims for 99.5% compatibility with 4A and Geneve and under $500 complete.   I have stockpiled 99105, 9901, 5220C etc. 

 

Needed just one FPGA on the video card, ICE40HX1K, next to a real V9958 and socket for F18A.  

 

The latest PCB on my bench is still progressing. Constructing what I designed, is harder than I knew.  I had a friend over here today reworking SMT.

 

[stevee671]

6 minutes ago, FarmerPotato said:

 

This was about my starting point for Geneve 2020 -- see thread.  All real chips where possible. 99105 with a hardware abstraction layer.  It can be a Geneve, or a 4A.  Aims for 99.5% compatibility with 4A and Geneve and under $500 complete.   I have stockpiled 99105, 9901, 5220C etc. 

 

Needed just one FPGA on the video card, ICE40HX1K, next to a real V9958 and socket for F18A.  

 

The latest PCB on my bench is still progressing. Constructing what I designed, is harder than I knew.  I had a friend over here today reworking SMT.

 

SMTs, if you have nothing to practice on can be rough. I tried it, basically gave up and decided that I suck at it. LOL

 

Is the Geneve 2020 a system made of expansion cards like the original Geneve 9640 or is it going to evolve into a single motherboard like what's shown above in this thread? Even when I was a Geneve owner in 1987, I never liked the PEB card. I wanted a stand alone console system updated. I wanted what Myarc showed off at the TI Faire.

 

[+dhe]

@stevee671  very very good spot!

 

I was keenly interested in  rkreniccki's efforts to recreate the 99/4a motherboard, until it just stopped.

   Before efforts stopped he did find a number of errors in TI's schematics - that didn't match the actual board.

 

 Maybe if Mr. Werner knew of the interest here, he might pick it back up?

[RickyDean]

5 minutes ago, stevee671 said:

SMTs, if you have nothing to practice on can be rough. I tried it, basically gave up and decided that I suck at it. LOL

 

Is the Geneve 2020 a system made of expansion cards like the original Geneve 9640 or is it going to evolve into a single motherboard like what's shown above in this thread? Even when I was a Geneve owner in 1987, I never liked the PEB card. I wanted a stand alone console system updated. I wanted what Myarc showed off at the TI Faire.

 

It's been brought up here on Atariage before, we have the schematics for the Geneve, and most of the hardware is still obtainable, the only thing being that the gate array for the Geneve is not obtainable anymore, but we do have a good emulation of the Geneve on Mame, which probably means that the gate array is emulated good enough to reproduce a functional equivilant with that emulation information. I've always though it would be cool to reproduce the Geneve in a console package, with the abilty to plug into the PEB and use all the cards that a Geneve can use today. Would be cool and it would still have TI compatibility just like the Geneve with the GPL emulation.

[+dhe]

>the only thing being that the gate array for the Geneve is not obtainable anymore

I think there is a geneve proto-type floating around out there - pre-fpga.  With that as a base, one could probably be recreated.