What's new
By:

CPS2 digiAV - source of Cyclone 10 FPGA chips to make my own?

Forgot about this - have bodged together an install for testing, will go back and tidy up later

Coax cable = salvaged from old Nintendo AV cables :-)

IMG_6962.jpegIMG_6963 (1).jpegIMG_6964.jpeg
 
The dreaded “error 84”

Unknown software with an untrusted programmer on untested hardware. Yeah troubleshooting this is going to be a barrel of laughs
 
hatmoose said:
The dreaded “error 84”

Unknown software with an untrusted programmer on untested hardware. Yeah troubleshooting this is going to be a barrel of laughs
Click to expand...
Copypaste from Shmups - expected behaviour in Quartus is that the USB blaster should be visible when you load the .jic project

A lot of those super-cheap Aliexpress "USB blasters" are basically a random collection of components that were never going to work. Better options below

This is the one that I have ($5 off aliexpress, does not work) doesn't have a CPLD and so cheap it doesn't even use an FT245. It has a CH552G whose sole purpose it to report a USB ID# - this has zero chance of ever working
https://tomverbeure.github.io/assets/jt ... -clone.jpg

This is a unauthorised clone, it does use an FT245 + CPLD - this is about the cheapest clone that has a chance of working - slowly, 6mhz
https://www.amazon.com/Blaster-Download ... B0982CZFMY
https://www.aliexpress.com/i/32802526357.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002963362680.html

This is another unauthorised clone from a reputable supplier, it uses an FT2232 so in theory could work faster at up to 20mhz (JTAG only) - can return for a full refund if it doesn't work
https://www.arrow.com/en/products/fpga- ... ronic-gmbh

This is an intel authorised clone from a reputable supplier - if it doesn't work return for full refund
https://www.digikey.co.nz/en/products/d ... 02/2003484

This is the genuine article - could buy a whole bunch of pre-made tested/working/programmed digiAV's from VGP for less than the cost of this one programmer - but where would be the fun in that?
https://www.digikey.co.nz/en/products/d ... ER/5638362
 
hatmoose said:
This is the one that I have ($5 off aliexpress, does not work) doesn't have a CPLD and so cheap it doesn't even use an FT245. It has a CH552G whose sole purpose it to report a USB ID# - this has zero chance of ever working
https://tomverbeure.github.io/assets/jt ... -clone.jpg
Click to expand...

Funny, I've used one of these for years with a 100% success rate, programming:

N64RGB
NESRGB
CAVE CV-1000
Xeno Crisis

with one.

Not bad for $2.54 including shipping.
 
Coming back to this one after a bit of a break, inspired by reading this
https://www.downtowndougbrown.com/2024/06/fixing-a-knockoff-altera-usb-blaster-that-never-worked/

This blog post solves the mystery of why some $2.54 USB blasters (like Nems) work perfectly, and some (like mine) do not. At least 3 different hardware revisions and a bunch of different firmwares stuffed into the same shell. But the TL;DR is that the waveshare one of Amazon is the cheapest one that has consistent hardware, and does reliably work fine with windows.

Unfortunately the waveshare also does not work with the DigiAV that I've made - beginning to suspect a problem with my fabrication. The digiAV fabrication is exceedingly complicated and I couldn't see any obvious faults, but there must be one in there somewhere

At this point the smart thing to do would be to just buy one from VGP - but as always nothing is foolproof for a sufficiently talented fool.

If I'm going to mess around with HDMI I'm going to want to test lag anyway, so next step from here is to make a "Time Sleuth" to measure input lag, the fabrication is much easier to troubleshoot, and confirm that my FPGA JTAG chain is working as expected. SO next step on this winding road - making a Time Sleuth!
https://github.com/citrus3000psi/Time-Sleuth
 
Did you managed to program the cps2 digiav. Looking at making my own. Got the PCBs but need a working usb blaster and all the components still.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top