MiSTer FPGA board

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ldeveraux
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by ldeveraux »

Steven wrote:My Vectrex is broken, so unfortunately I use the Vectrex core more often than I use my real Vectrex. I really should go fix my Vectrex eventually.
That sounds like a really fun project actually.
Steven
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by Steven »

ldeveraux wrote:
Steven wrote:My Vectrex is broken, so unfortunately I use the Vectrex core more often than I use my real Vectrex. I really should go fix my Vectrex eventually.
That sounds like a really fun project actually.
I actually have all of the parts and stuff already, as I bought it broken; the seller bought it broken or something and was going to repair it but decided to sell it instead and sent me the parts when I bought it. I just haven't done it yet since I don't know how to solder. I did get to use it a few times before it completely died on me, and it's actually a really cool system. I feel like I'm risking death by electrocution when I open it since there is a CRT and stuff in there...
DejahThoris
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by DejahThoris »

Steven wrote:
ldeveraux wrote:
Steven wrote:My Vectrex is broken, so unfortunately I use the Vectrex core more often than I use my real Vectrex. I really should go fix my Vectrex eventually.
That sounds like a really fun project actually.
I actually have all of the parts and stuff already, as I bought it broken; the seller bought it broken or something and was going to repair it but decided to sell it instead and sent me the parts when I bought it. I just haven't done it yet since I don't know how to solder. I did get to use it a few times before it completely died on me, and it's actually a really cool system. I feel like I'm risking death by electrocution when I open it since there is a CRT and stuff in there...
Not just any CRT, a vector monitor. Way more dangerous to work on if you don't know what you're doing.
Steven
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by Steven »

DejahThoris wrote:Not just any CRT, a vector monitor. Way more dangerous to work on if you don't know what you're doing.
Yeah, and I don't know what I'm doing, which is why I haven't really attempted to fix it yet. I do want to fix it soon, though. It's a really cool system.
ldeveraux
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by ldeveraux »

Steven wrote:
DejahThoris wrote:Not just any CRT, a vector monitor. Way more dangerous to work on if you don't know what you're doing.
Yeah, and I don't know what I'm doing, which is why I haven't really attempted to fix it yet. I do want to fix it soon, though. It's a really cool system.
I honestly don't understand how you would even consider doing this yourself as a self admitted soldering novice. I assume you aren't much of a hands on electronics guy either. This sounds like a recipe for disaster, or worse.
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by Steven »

ldeveraux wrote:
Steven wrote:
DejahThoris wrote:Not just any CRT, a vector monitor. Way more dangerous to work on if you don't know what you're doing.
Yeah, and I don't know what I'm doing, which is why I haven't really attempted to fix it yet. I do want to fix it soon, though. It's a really cool system.
I honestly don't understand how you would even consider doing this yourself as a self admitted soldering novice. I assume you aren't much of a hands on electronics guy either. This sounds like a recipe for disaster, or worse.
It's actually the sound chip that I need to work on, and it's very safe to get to. All I have to do is desolder it and put one of my extras in its place. I do have like 15 years of experience building computers, but for CRTs I have basically no idea what I am doing, so I am hoping the screen never dies.
DejahThoris
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by DejahThoris »

Steven wrote:
ldeveraux wrote: I honestly don't understand how you would even consider doing this yourself as a self admitted soldering novice. I assume you aren't much of a hands on electronics guy either. This sounds like a recipe for disaster, or worse.
It's actually the sound chip that I need to work on, and it's very safe to get to. All I have to do is desolder it and put one of my extras in its place. I do have like 15 years of experience building computers, but for CRTs I have basically no idea what I am doing, so I am hoping the screen never dies.
Computer building is not electronics. It's basically legos. Almost nothing is translatable aside from being careful to not bend pins and remembering to ground yourself.

Desoldering is definitely a skill that requires practice and finesse. You can and will burn traces, lift pads, and destroy via's when you start. Buy a few old VCR's, buy quality equipment, and get at least a few dozen hours under your belt removing and replacing random chips and IC's first.

As for the monitor, it will absolutely die. Vectrexes are great for that. They're also not hard to fix (among CRTs anyway).

Worst comes to worse they sell entire replacement PCBs now. But then you'd need to do 50x the soldering.
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evil_ash_xero
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by evil_ash_xero »

Mine is on it's way. Not sure how long it will take, since it's coming from Portugal.

So, is a SNAC the best way to have latency free gaming? I know that it doesn't work in the MiSTer menus (and I know it only works on the cores that it's for). So, am I supposed to go through the menus with another pad, unplug it, and then
plug in a SNAC+controller? Or can I just have two controllers connected at once, and use the other for menus?
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Kez
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by Kez »

SNAC is the most authentic to the original console - but honestly any good low latency controller is totally fine. SNAC only works on some cores, so you will need another controller anyway. It is worth getting a wireless USB keyboard like a K400R, which you can use to control the menus and stuff, as well as for the computer cores.

SNAC plugs into a different port from other USB devices. Although it's a USB connector, it is not actually a true USB device. It only works in the USB connector on the MiSTer IO board, which no actual USB devices will work in.
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evil_ash_xero
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by evil_ash_xero »

Does the MiSTer have the same issues with PCE CD games that have over 27 tracks, like the Analogue Pocket does? You have to combine those.
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Unseen
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by Unseen »

evil_ash_xero wrote:Does the MiSTer have the same issues with PCE CD games that have over 27 tracks, like the Analogue Pocket does? You have to combine those.
As far as I know it does not, but to save space I have converted all my CD images to CHD anyway.
fernan1234
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by fernan1234 »

Unseen wrote:As far as I know it does not, but to save space I have converted all my CD images to CHD anyway.
Oh this reminds me I should do this as well. When CHD support was added it was kind of a pain to convert them. Maybe now a kind and talented soul has shared a tool to just drop folders with bin/cues into it for auto conversion.
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evil_ash_xero
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by evil_ash_xero »

What's best to run games off of? USB or SD?
I'm a maniac, so I'm wanting to get EVERYTHING possible. But that would require a USB.
Is it slower? Can I use both?

NeoGeo games load slow as molasses on my Pocket. So, I'd like to avoid that. The MiSTer probably has more horsepower anyway, though.
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cave hermit
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by cave hermit »

Personally I just use a large SD for everything, but I don't think loading over USB really improves loading speeds that much. I think Neo Geo loading speeds have something to do with these FPGA neo geo cores requiring decrypted ROM files. I haven't tried the neo geo cores on my pocket, but it's possible that the MiSTer neo geo core loads faster (my understanding is that the ARM part of the FPGA SoC handles file IO)

I'm pretty sure you could use both USB and SD at the same time, but I think it requires some fiddling with directories/config files, and I haven't personally done it.
fernan1234
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by fernan1234 »

cave hermit wrote:I'm pretty sure you could use both USB and SD at the same time, but I think it requires some fiddling with directories/config files, and I haven't personally done it.
This is only if you want to load everything including the system stuff from USB. You can configure everything for SD use but have any specific core game folders you want in the games folder of a removable drive. If you have games for the same core in the corresponding folder in both SD and USB I think SD takes priority.

And everything will load the same regardless. Neo Geo games do the initial loading pretty fast, it varies by the size of the game but they're all fast.
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evil_ash_xero
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by evil_ash_xero »

fernan1234 wrote:
cave hermit wrote:I'm pretty sure you could use both USB and SD at the same time, but I think it requires some fiddling with directories/config files, and I haven't personally done it.
This is only if you want to load everything including the system stuff from USB. You can configure everything for SD use but have any specific core game folders you want in the games folder of a removable drive. If you have games for the same core in the corresponding folder in both SD and USB I think SD takes priority.

And everything will load the same regardless. Neo Geo games do the initial loading pretty fast, it varies by the size of the game but they're all fast.
Glad to hear that about the NeoGeo games. Loading Metal Slug 3 on the Pocket is a lengthy process.
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evil_ash_xero
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by evil_ash_xero »

Well, this is a bit of a headache. Right out of the gate, the Mister was set up for VGA, so I got no picture on my TV. Took me a bit of digging to find which settings to change for it to work on component.

Now, I can get the controller to work on the main menu, and on the NES Core (and on the arcade core I tried), but it will not work on the PC Engine, SNES, or Mega Drive cores. I define the buttons and save, but it doesn't do anything. So, I haven't been able to play anything yet.
Not to mention, the SNAC adapters I have gotten seem to have HDMI plugs. Do I need some kind of adapter to hook them into the I/O?

Also, legit, you can't rotate the screen in analog mode? So, I can't play all those TATE shooters? Why did no one mention this?

Anyway, any help on the controller situation would be great. I've tried 4 different controllers.
THIS is why I avoided this. :lol: That damn Pocket made it seem so easy.

Are there any kind of auto updaters, like there are for the Pocket cores? That makes things so easy.
SavagePencil
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by SavagePencil »

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evil_ash_xero
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by evil_ash_xero »

SavagePencil wrote:I run this regularly: https://github.com/theypsilon/Update_All_MiSTer
Not to sound like an idiot, but what is an .sh file?

The Pocket has an exe file you can run, and it updates your card.

The major problem of the moment is not being able to get controllers to work in the cores. They work fine in menu, and I can set them in the cores, but then it doesn't do anything when I exit the core menu.
Except for NES and an arcade core I tried. This is really annoying.
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Kez
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by Kez »

.sh is a linux shell script. You put it in the scripts directory on the MiSTer SD card and then run it from the MiSTer menu - it will take some time on the first run but subsequent ones will be much faster.
evil_ash_xero wrote:Also, legit, you can't rotate the screen in analog mode? So, I can't play all those TATE shooters? Why did no one mention this?
I did say this, but yeah didn't specifically mention TATE:
Kez wrote:The direct/analog output will generally be arcade accurate to a fault - this means if the original core produced a weird resolution or refresh rate to work on arcade monitors, it may not necessarily work on a regular 15khz CRT TV.
If you have a 480p or above CRT you can always use the vga_scaler mode to display your games in TATE. But fundamentally you can't reproduce a rotated 240p TATE image faithfully on a 15khz CRT. The game would need to be downscaled and would look terrible.

Not sure about your controller issue, haven't experienced that myself. What controller are you using?
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evil_ash_xero
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by evil_ash_xero »

I'm using a Retro-Bit 8 button Genesis Controller.
I also tried a PS4 controller.
A Hori PS4 controller (mini).
And a Logitech Rumble pad.

Also, the way the seller has it set up, is that when I click on a system core, it immediately starts a game. So, every time I start PC Engine, I just get Bonk, right out of the gate.
What's going on with that? Something he just did?

The issue with TATE arcade games is a tragedy.
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evil_ash_xero
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by evil_ash_xero »

I got the controllers to work. I had to set the Turbo controller to two button. The Genesis was set to SNAC, and had to be set to something else (not off).
The Super NES was too.

Now, as for the SNAC adapters, I got a few. But they have HDMI plugs. Do I need something else for that? The I/O port is USB.
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Kez
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by Kez »

evil_ash_xero wrote:I got the controllers to work. I had to set the Turbo controller to two button. The Genesis was set to SNAC, and had to be set to something else (not off).
The Super NES was too.

Now, as for the SNAC adapters, I got a few. But they have HDMI plugs. Do I need something else for that? The I/O port is USB.
Can you link to the SNAC adapters you got?
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orange808
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by orange808 »

You'll pay out the ass for anything but the games.
We apologise for the inconvenience
Deubeul
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by Deubeul »

Don't know about the snac plug because I choose the raphnet adapter way (playing snes and MD shmups with an avenue pad6 is awesome), but when I got my MiSTer I was as baffled as you, so I encourage you to visit the MiSTer FPGA Forum, it's a great ressource for help. That and the githib, you should find answers to all your troubles there.

The tate thing is not an issue, a DDP board needed a vertically oriented monitor, same for MiSTer, Kez explained perfectly why. MiSTer is not a RPi. Add an old CRT TV to your GR, put it on its side, enjoy!
My MiSTer is hooked to 2 PDP-v402, 1 yoko 1 tate, and it's freaking great.
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cave hermit
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by cave hermit »

Regarding your SNAC adapters, it sounds like you only bought the controller to SNAC adapters (which have an end to plug a console controller into and an hdmi plug). You also need a primary SNAC unit that actually plugs into your MiSTer.

The primary unit should have HDMI inputs to plug your controller adapters into, and then a USB style plug that goes into the blue USB port on your MiSTer's IO board (technically a serial port and not actually USB protocol).
----
Regarding cores autostarting a certain game, either the config file has a default game specified, or the seller used a game ROM as a boot.rom for the core (generally boot.rom is supposed to be a BIOs file for the core)
----
In analog mode you can't rotate the screen since the MiSTer is outputting a raw analog signal without any internal scaling/processing. If you had an actual Dodonpachi PCB, you wouldn't be able to rotate the video output on that either without using a scalar (OSSC, retrotink, etc.) to first convert it to a digital signal (and even then most retro game console scalars don't have rotation functionality).
----
To run that update all .sh script, you'll need to put it in your MiSTer's scripts directory.

For you, most straightforward way would probably be to take your MiSTer's micro SD, put it in a computer, then open whichever mounted drive opens normally (the card will probably mount as 2 different letter drives, one of which will refuse to open. If you try to open it and it prompts you to "fix" or format it, DON'T. That's the system partition for your MiSTer, and your PC won't open it since it isn't meant to be opened normally in a file manager.)

Once you open the accessible drive on your sd card, there will probably be a bunch of folders. Ignore most of them, just open the one labeled "media". inside that folder, look for another folder labeled "fat".

At this point you're essentially at the user-configurable part of the MiSTer's file system. There should be a Scripts folder. Drop the update all .sh file in there.
(As an aside, inside the fat folder there should be a "MiSTer.ini" file. That's your config file if you want to make any system/core specific changes (for instance, switching video output modes).

Put the SD card back in your MiSTer, turn it on, then from the core menu, press your home button to get to the menu with the scripts option. Select it, acknowledge the warning, then you should see some script options, including your new update all script.

Select it, and it should automatically grab any available MiSTer updates (cores, system files, etc.), and additionally get any missing arcade core ROMs/BIOs (you may need to set a menu option for that though).

Of course your MiSTer will need to be connected to the internet, so make sure you have wifi setup (which requires a wifi usb dongle and a script setup), or have the MiSTer connected via its Ethernet port on the front.
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evil_ash_xero
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by evil_ash_xero »

orange808 wrote:You'll pay out the ass for anything but the games.
What the fuck? Have you seen what I own? Link below.
cave hermit wrote:Regarding your SNAC adapters, it sounds like you only bought the controller to SNAC adapters (which have an end to plug a console controller into and an hdmi plug). You also need a primary SNAC unit that actually plugs into your MiSTer.

The primary unit should have HDMI inputs to plug your controller adapters into, and then a USB style plug that goes into the blue USB port on your MiSTer's IO board (technically a serial port and not actually USB protocol).
----
Regarding cores autostarting a certain game, either the config file has a default game specified, or the seller used a game ROM as a boot.rom for the core (generally boot.rom is supposed to be a BIOs file for the core)
----
Thanks for that. I'll go to Mister Addons and see if I can find that SNAC unit.
Also, thanks for the other info. That'll help a lot.
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evil_ash_xero
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by evil_ash_xero »

Is the MiSTer known to have a noisy analog signal? I know it's audio can be.
I keep getting interference waves on my picture. Vertical, horizontal... just all the time. It can be so subtle you can't see it, but any time you get picture
with a solid color, it's noticeable.
I have used Mister Addons VGA to Component cable. I also used Ultimate Mister's component out, with Retro HD Vision cables.
I have a StarTech VGA to Component cable coming in today or tomorrow, so I'll try that out. I keep looking for a cable that specifically says that it's shielded, but have failed.

Are there any settings that can cause this?

Works great on the panel, but that's not exactly what I bought it for.
fernan1234
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by fernan1234 »

Analogue RGB is known to be pristine. YPbPr is known to be wonky but many people do make it work without problems. Wait for that VGA to Component converter or you may also want to try an HDMI to Component DAC using the MiSTer's direct video setting.
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evil_ash_xero
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Re: MiSTer FPGA board

Post by evil_ash_xero »

fernan1234 wrote:Analogue RGB is known to be pristine. YPbPr is known to be wonky but many people do make it work without problems. Wait for that VGA to Component converter or you may also want to try an HDMI to Component DAC using the MiSTer's direct video setting.
So SCART works better? I could try that, but I'm not sure what I have to change in the settings. I have a VGA to SCART cable.
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