Jump to content
IGNORED

Pokey in FPGA?


Cybernoid

Recommended Posts

Yeah, I thought about using a real pokey, but don't want rip apart another machine. It is a good idea, though.

 

I suppose it could be wired similarly to the ethercart...

 

I guess a PBI board could be used if the IRQ is needed...

 

C

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A cartridge housing should have enough room for two pokeys and audio jacks.

 

Best and B&C both sell Pokey chips, and you can get them from 7800 Ballblazer carts (practically worthless collector-wise). Since Atari used them in arcade games a bunch of other people sell them as well at pretty reasonable prices.

 

Software would have to be modified to look for Pokey at D5XX or in the cartridge address range somewhere.

 

I think the biggest issue would be the timers and interrupts, dont most music players use those?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Way back when I had my dos based Atari 8-bit emulator (called it Pokey), I made two hardware sound cards that had a Pokey chip on them that my emulator would use for 100% accurate sound output. One was interfaced to the LPT port on the computer, the other was an ISA based card that plugged into a free ISA slot.

 

For both I would pipe the output of the pokey chip into the line in on the sound card on the PC.

 

It is quite easy to interface to the Pokey chip.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The gumby mod just adds another pokey in memory right above the original pokey chip. It also ignores all the interrupt/serial lines and just uses the audio output.

 

A pokey in a cartridge would basically be the exact same upgrade as Gumby except the location of the 2nd pokey in memory would be different.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

a cart would be nice (as a non hardware guy... same goes with x-box mods... ;))

 

a lot of software exists out there regarding stereo pokey... maybe easily patchable for a "cart" version... a pokey cart + stereo chinch plugs so atari can be plugged to the stereo would be nice one... and could be done cheap?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think someone already build an Atari interface for the SID...was it Analmux?

 

Anyway, this is pretty much what I thought... I don't think the players, including RMT, use the irq...so it should be easy. I have seen the source code for the RMT player (let me know if I am wrong), so it could easily be modded to look at $d500...

 

If we put 2 pokeys into a cart and use A7 to select between the two... one at $d500 and the other at $d580, with a stereo jack...It should be easy to do for plug and play :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SID and POKEY sounds interesting - i love the raw distorted bass you can get from the pokey because it has a real kick to it (and is pretty much inline with what I like from my music in general), but with some nice filtered lead sounds...

 

mmm - anyone want to make a theoretical editor/emulator for this? :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The SID should plug in and direct connect to the CPU nicely:

 

http://stud1.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426444/index.html

 

There might be room in a cart for a SID and a Pokey. Mix them together for a nice Mono cart. Hmmm, interesting....

 

Sack-c0s, your RMT productions rock. I agree, this type of music is great. There needs to be more bands that use Pokey/8bit-ataris for music!!! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very cool Steve!  8)

 

I'll modify the RMT player code... very simple.  If you can pull a cart together, I'll put an option into the JellyBeans Option menu for "Stereo Pokey Cart Music". :)

 

I wired up a prototype, with Pokey's at D500 and D580. If you have something to test it with send me a PM. :)

 

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I modified a copy of RMT to play with dual pokeys in the cartridge and it sounds fantastic with headphones. :)

 

So, when will you have a PCB made? When will a cart be available for purchase and for how much do you think?

 

This is the fastest I have seen a question go from post to proto-type! :thumbsup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

what is POKEY and FPGA¿

 

Pokey is the sound chip (also interface chip) in old Atari 8-bit computers like the Atari 800.

 

FPGA is a chip that can be reprogramed to perform the functions of all sorts of other chips. Field Programmable Gate Array. It is a chip full of little electronic components that can be programmed and reprogrammed to connect together in different configurations to perform different electronic tasks. Often used for small production runs when it isn't feasable to make a custom chip. Also used in some graphics cards and similar devices. Good for hobby projects.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I ordered some stereo audio jacks that will probably fit, so once I get those next week and can make up a real pcb drawing. I should have a couple prototypes on finished PCBs at the beginning of the next week.

 

I dont know if there would really be enough interest to sell them? If the prototypes work good I suppose I could do pre-orders to see if there is enough interest.

 

I'm really interested in trying a SID cart as well. Is there any Atari software that can use a sid chip right now?

 

I think I have everything here I would need to prototype one, except the SID, which I can brutalize a c64 for.

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...