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MiSTer FPGA

guys, for me it seems more or less like you're starting from different points

if you take used hardware, of course it's less expensive than new one,
if put a price on your invested time gm gets way more expensive.

for me, i'm still sitting on the side, watching the mister with great interest, and waiting for the "old" pc from my wife to free up, then i'll try groovymame with it.

I know it'll take quite some time, but i don't put a price on my time because i like the tinkering - if it doesn't work out for me, i'll drop that project - it's a hobby after all :D
 
rewrite said:
@donluca you just seem incredibly intent on arguing for God knows what reason and I just don't have the energy for it.
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Because I'm sick and tired of people spreading misinformation which then end up spending money on something thinking that it will just give them the best experience possible without having any knowledge just because someone on the internet said "just buy this used PC for $100, put groovymame and off you go, no need to get a MiSTer" and then we get people on groovymame forums "plz help me, how do I do this, I don't get correct resolutions, games don't play full speed, can't install crt emudriver" and give up in a few days and wasted $100 they could have saved to get a more simple and straightforward solution.

That's why I write those long ass posts. It's not arguing: you're misrepresenting a reality by describing it in a superficial and incorrect way which might end up confusing people.

I'm just telling people to be aware that it's not as simple as you put it and making them aware that while GM is still the way to go (for now), they should get ready to learn and invest time into it and money into a PC build with a good, overclockable CPU, so they don't end up wasting their money and time.
 
On a hopefully lighter note: Got my DE10 Board in today. Won’t have time to mess with it until next week, but I’m looking forward to it.

Still waiting on RAM though, as all 128mb providers are either sold out or back ordered.
 
Lol @ you guys fighting over emulation devices. Go buy some real PCB’s you plebs and quit all the downloadin’!

I’m just kidding, I’m actually really interested in a MiSTer once there is a lot more supported arcade cores, AND if the ‘simu-emulation’ is 100% accurate to real PCB’s.

I got tired of PC emulation setups a long time ago. I’m over finding the adequate hardware, configuring OS’s to be invisible, configuring emulators and resolution settings, control settings, controller interfaces. I want simple, and I want accurate.
if the MiSTer is posed to be the jesus of emu-simulation, than I look forward to the developments.

But like others have said, for the games I truly care for, its hard to beat the real deal. Show me a device that tricks me into thinking it’s the real deal and I’d be happy to jump aboard!
 
SmokeMonster said:
a complete MiSTer costs $165 total (DE10, 32MB RAM, hub).
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I already have a DE10-nano but trying to find the rest of it where are you able to piece together a system so cheaply...
the only places I could find with parts that haven't been sold out for months is ebay and the price is well over $300:

$140 - DE10-Nano board: https://www.amazon.com/Terasic-Tech...15Q1QSMH1B3&psc=1&qid=1579322220&s=industrial
$78 - 128MB SDRAM board: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mister-FPG...448497?hash=item262827b671:g:ehMAAOSwK~tdjrPt
$50 - IO Board: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Low-Soluti...325218?hash=item56d25a5e62:g:eDsAAOSwc5JeCi3c
$69 - USB Hub: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mister-FPG...682321?hash=item263055bc11:g:Eh0AAOSwbRRct6Qo
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Total: $337
 
@twistedsymphony misteraddons.com has most of that stuff cheaper (though not necessarily in stock).

I actually got my IO board on etsy from a guy who's apparently big on atariage.

I too would like to see how anyone's building a "complete" mister for $165 (even if it is only 32mb ram). Would've saved me a boatload.
 
Anyone who is comparing mature cores on MiSTer with MAME either doesnt get what good quality is, or has not experienced MiSTer. If people havent experienced both, please hold off opinions because you might be wrong. While MAME drivers are an important source of information, when it comes to playability its not the same. I have tried groovvymame on emucrt driver, original hardware, MiSTer, Pi - I'd rank : OG Hardware > MiSTer > Crtemudriver > Pi - MiSTer is a very close second to original hardware.
 
twistedsymphony said:
SmokeMonster said:
a complete MiSTer costs $165 total (DE10, 32MB RAM, hub).
Click to expand...
I already have a DE10-nano but trying to find the rest of it where are you able to piece together a system so cheaply...the only places I could find with parts that haven't been sold out for months is ebay and the price is well over $300:

$140 - DE10-Nano board: https://www.amazon.com/Terasic-Tech...15Q1QSMH1B3&psc=1&qid=1579322220&s=industrial
$78 - 128MB SDRAM board: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mister-FPG...448497?hash=item262827b671:g:ehMAAOSwK~tdjrPt
$50 - IO Board: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Low-Soluti...325218?hash=item56d25a5e62:g:eDsAAOSwc5JeCi3c
$69 - USB Hub: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mister-FPG...682321?hash=item263055bc11:g:Eh0AAOSwbRRct6Qo
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Total: $337
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$140 DE10-Nano on Amazon/Digikey/Mouser
$24 RAM - Supports everything in MiSTer minus 16% of the Neo Geo library. Misteraddons.com has the 128 for $60 for pre-order
$3 OTG USB hub - I use this one
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Total: $167

128MB RAM, IO board, USB Hub, RTC, case, SNAC, Blister, etc, etc, etc, are not required for a complete setup that runs everything (minus a handful of Neo Geo games). You can get lag-free analog video with this dongle instead of the expensive IO board. Combine that with cheap VGA-to-X cables (SCART, BNC, VGA, Component, etc). A fan isn't required either, but a 22x22x10mm heatsink on the FPGA is good practice.
 
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@SmokeMonster do you need to connect the external +5V power to that dongle? I have a similar one (Rankie with AG6200) and it doesn't work at least without external power... not tried that since I'm afraid of damaging my DE10-Nano.
 
Here's a video on it, I use the IO board myself in order to play on a PVM and capture HDMI.

 
SmokeMonster said:
Here's a video on it, I use the IO board myself in order to play on a PVM and capture
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That video starts off with wrong information afaik - the low lag setting is HDMI only scaler setting. On direct video / IO board VGA, the video comes out native to the core output - lagless, regardless of the vsync settings.
 
Yes, you're correct about that. I just point people to that because it gives an overview how how it's used, since I haven't used it myself.
 
My primary goal is to try hooking the MiSTer up to my candy cab, but I'm also interested in trying it out on my Sony PVM. I didn't purchase an IO Board, as I was planning to use the Direct Output with a VGA Adapter, but what would be the optimal setup for my situation? I keep reading that I need to be careful of damaging my monitors by sending the wrong signal, so I would honestly prefer whatever is the safest option, regardless of the additional cost.

Also, would just a normal VGA > 4 BNC cable work for the PVM? Something like this?
 
Cloggerdude said:
My primary goal is to try hooking the MiSTer up to my candy cab, but I'm also interested in trying it out on my Sony PVM. I didn't purchase an IO Board, as I was planning to use the Direct Output with a VGA Adapter, but what would be the optimal setup for my situation? I keep reading that I need to be careful of damaging my monitors by sending the wrong signal, so I would honestly prefer whatever is the safest option, regardless of the additional cost.

Also, would just a normal VGA > 4 BNC cable work for the PVM? Something like this?
Click to expand...
Best to get a IO board + JPAC (Candy Cab) if you are in a hurry but that would cost a bit of money. Or wait till the cores are all migrated to the new framework - which allows direct video output - HDMI to VGA converter are cheap. Yes VGA to BNC will work (I use VGA to 5 BNC though - one cable unused) you will need to set the output to composite sync.
 
If I plug my mister on a non CRT screen, what would be the best option?
I think LG B9/C9 are really good TV screens with low lag (14ms), but what about a PC gamer screens?
For example, ASUS ROG PG279Q has a 4ms lag. If size doesn't mater, would it be a better choice ?
Would it be a better choice as well for a combo jamma / supergun / ossc?
 
Best to get the lowest lag possible panel since even a 2 frame lag is noticeable. MiSTer scaler (for HDMI, not for CRT) itself is really fast with around .8 frames of lag (close to 8ms) which is really not perceivable, but that will add on to the panel lag so yeah, lowest lag as possible is good. PC gamer screens might not have the best colours so that can be consideration, but for purely retro gaming experience, lower lag is the better.
 
Grabbed a 128MB RAM module off of antoniovillena, since they had two in stock. $71 with shipping, which is a little higher than I wanted to pay, but it's not too bad overall. I was hopeful that cbmstuff.com would get them back in stock, but I spoke to the owner through e-mail and he said it would likely be March or later. Apparently there was a massive shipment of fake chips sent out, which has resulted in an overall shortage, as the manufacturer has stopped all production for now.
 
Anyone tried direct_video? I'm getting 15khz off my hdmi->vga dongle, but it's not very 'direct'. 1943 I have to 'rotate' to get it in proper orientation, and it looks like it tries to maintain aspect ratio?!?

Not super-impressed, wtf is the point of having stuff 'cycle accurate' if you're building something like mame on top of it..

Just the raw output please, or pure line doubled. I may be doing things wrong..
 
Try
VGA scaler = 0
Direct_video = 1

on the MiSTer.ini @invzim


If there is rotation that means your direct video is not working since its using scaler to rotate- rotation is not supported on native output through IO board / direct video unless the original hardware supported it.

If the above settings doesnt work, PM me your ini file and let me have a look.

Also please note - not all cores support direct video yet. This was a feature added recently by the project leader but its the respective core dev's work to update their cores to take advantage of direct video. IO board VGA on the other hand outputs native video for 99% of the cores. Check SNES core and see if the video looks good - if yes, chances are the arcade core you are trying to run isnt compatible with direct video. Also 1943 is developed by Jose (jotego), he has recently updated all his cores to the new framework - I havent tested it on direct video, I can safely say IO board analogue works perfectly.

This is how it looks on my PVM.
https://imgur.com/esWlpiA
https://imgur.com/pMqRikp
 
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