MiSTer FPGA System

KC-Slater · Dec 13, 2021

Mantrox said:
If anybody has a JVS-PAC or a Jamma PAC, it seems like a recent update has changed how the MiSTer interacts with these.

I was having trouble getting the inputs to be saved, and then I found this thread:

JVS-PAC / JAMMA PAC & MiSTer

Now everything is back to working as it should.

Cave core rockin'

A MiSTer and a tiny JVS-PAC on top is a sweet combo.

I love this setup! I used to have something very similar until I sold my chopped, refurbed Naomi cab in the summer before I moved. Seeing this photo really makes me missed it. Great setup!

theLusitanian · Dec 13, 2021

Kinda curious what people are using for the shadow masks. I feel like the Retrotink 5x does something similar and I still don't understand it. I combined a shadow mask with a scan line filter and have a pleasantly soft image that makes the image truer to what I think my old CRTs used to look like, but I am not quite sure it will ever match. At the very least it's not naked pixels anymore. I used to find that tolerable somehow.

mindatlarge · Dec 13, 2021

So, I finally caved and bought a Mister and should receive everything in a month or so. Super pumped.

I do have a question about the GB and GBA cores. How do those cores compare to say something like the Analogue Pocket? Maybe this can't be answered at this point since that system is so new. I read that GBA on Mister is pretty awesome but from what I read, the GB still needs some work or maybe it has been improved? How does the GB core rank in accuracy with say an emulator like Sameboy?

Thanks for any input! :)

mute · Dec 14, 2021

I think from an accuracy/compatibility/responsiveness standpoint the MiSTer core and Pocket are probably pretty comparable. The DF video said as much, I think. MiSTer core has some cool features like savestates, 2P splitscreen, and rewind which I'm not sure the Pocket can do. I'd be curious if the Pocket GBA core is written in the more SW-oriented style (struggling to come up with the best term to describe it) that the MiSTer core is, but will probably never know for sure on that front.

Replicant · Dec 14, 2021

theLusitanian said:
Kinda curious what people are using for the shadow masks. I feel like the Retrotink 5x does something similar and I still don't understand it. I combined a shadow mask with a scan line filter and have a pleasantly soft image that makes the image truer to what I think my old CRTs used to look like, but I am not quite sure it will ever match. At the very least it's not naked pixels anymore. I used to find that tolerable somehow.

I use the RYCB Stripe 1x rotated and then for my filter I use high res bicubic and gamma boost

I don't use the built in scanline on the cores.

Iced_Eagle · Dec 14, 2021

Managed to snag myself a MiSTer Pro Digital Edition from UltimateMister.com. Looks like a nice bit of a kit and excited to get my hands on it! At the time of this posting, there's still a few units available if someone wants to pick one up.

The Mouser electronics back order I had wasn't estimated until end of January 2022, so I'm glad I don't have to wait so long now.

Ouroboros · Dec 14, 2021

I have a Super NT, mainly to play my old carts. How accurate are games with special chips, specifically Yoshi's Island and Mario RPG, in the mister system? Sorry if this was asked multiple times...searched and couldn't find anything unless I missed it.

Bran · Dec 14, 2021

Ouroboros said:
I have a Super NT, mainly to play my old carts. How accurate are games with special chips, specifically Yoshi's Island and Mario RPG, in the mister system? Sorry if this was asked multiple times...searched and couldn't find anything unless I missed it.

I had a SNES connected to my TV via an OSSC for the longest time because I'm very picky about certain games, but the MiSTer SNES core made me box it up. Everything I've tested plays just like real hardware, even down to the slowdown and sound bugs in Mega Man X when things get busy. Super Mario RPG and Yoshi's Island are wonderful on it.

Ouroboros · Dec 14, 2021

Bran said:
I had a SNES connected to my TV via an OSSC for the longest time because I'm very picky about certain games, but the MiSTer SNES core made me box it up. Everything I've tested plays just like real hardware, even down to the slowdown and sound bugs in Mega Man X when things get busy. Super Mario RPG and Yoshi's Island are wonderful on it.

Exactly what I wanted to hear. Thank you!

Chucker · Dec 14, 2021

I got a decent (really decent) bonus and raise at work and have been looking at these FOREVER. Where's the best place to buy one and what parts/config should I get?

Jayde Six · Dec 14, 2021

Ouroboros said:
I have a Super NT, mainly to play my old carts. How accurate are games with special chips, specifically Yoshi's Island and Mario RPG, in the mister system? Sorry if this was asked multiple times...searched and couldn't find anything unless I missed it.

Also to keep in mind MiSTer not only plays more games using special chips but there are games on the Super NT that don't use special chips that still don't work right. I submitted a bug report almost 4 years ago that still has not been fixed. I would be shocked if anything took a fraction of that time on the popular MiSTer cores at least.

theLusitanian · Dec 14, 2021

Jayde Six said:
Also to keep in mind MiSTer not only plays more games using special chips but there are games on the Super NT that don't use special chips that still don't work right. I submitted a bug report almost 4 years ago that still has not been fixed. I would be shocked if anything took a fraction of that time on the popular MiSTer cores at least.

This is what stops me from completely abandoning my NES and SNES. The mere inkling that there is some sort of compatibility issue and potential for lack of accuracy. Which I recognize as silly.

Mantrox · Dec 14, 2021

KC-Slater said:
I love this setup! I used to have something very similar until I sold my chopped, refurbed Naomi cab in the summer before I moved. Seeing this photo really makes me missed it. Great setup!

Thanks.
After dealing with superguns and arcade boards, with all their quirks, for years. This setup is the dream.

The missing piece now is Battle Garegga, but since this developer fell out of the sky and started doing God's work, i just have to wait a bit more.
It's gona be sweeeet.

Jayde Six · Dec 14, 2021

theLusitanian said:
This is what stops me from completely abandoning my NES and SNES. The mere inkling that there is some sort of compatibility issue and potential for lack of accuracy. Which I recognize as silly.

I understand completely, thankfully with those two systems at least you can get a real good write up of any known issues and broken compatibility from the github pages. You can also open up new tickets if you find an issue too. I set aside the original systems when I first got a mister and wound up never looking back.

They were packed away as a just in case but have yet to come across a problem where I felt the need to hook one back up.

mindatlarge · Dec 14, 2021

Having second thoughts that I should have ordered a RTC to go with my Mister setup.

What do you all suggest? I'm cool with connecting it to the internet for that purpose, but I also like the thought of having the RTC on board too. Are there any disadvantages in having the RTC board installed?

Beer Monkey · Dec 15, 2021

mindatlarge said:
Having second thoughts that I should have ordered a RTC to go with my Mister setup.

What do you all suggest? I'm cool with connecting it to the internet for that purpose, but I also like the thought of having the RTC on board too. Are there any disadvantages in having the RTC board installed?

Never really thought about it because mine is on the internet. Seems useless unless I move to a desert island.

mindatlarge · Dec 15, 2021

Beer Monkey said:
Never really thought about it because mine is on the internet. Seems useless unless I move to a desert island.

That was kinda my thought too. Thank you.

xyla · Dec 15, 2021

Iced_Eagle said:
Managed to snag myself a MiSTer Pro Digital Edition from UltimateMister.com. Looks like a nice bit of a kit and excited to get my hands on it! At the time of this posting, there's still a few units available if someone wants to pick one up.

The Mouser electronics back order I had wasn't estimated until end of January 2022, so I'm glad I don't have to wait so long now.

Between the Pro and the Digital Edition, why would I get the Digital Edition when the Pro is the same price? Are there any advantages to the DE only?
I kind of might dabble in connecting it to an old TV through Scart that I still have flying around but most of the time, it'd be HDMI I guess.

smuf · Dec 15, 2021

xyla said:
Between the Pro and the Digital Edition, why would I get the Digital Edition when the Pro is the same price? Are there any advantages to the DE only?
I kind of might dabble in connecting it to an old TV through Scart that I still have flying around but most of the time, it'd be HDMI I guess.

There's been talk some future cores might need an additional RAM module which can't be done with the analog IO board since it takes up the required pins.

You can still do analog on the digital one using a HDMI to VGA adapter, just not analog and HDMI output at the same time.

xyla · Dec 15, 2021

smuf said:
There's been talk some future cores might need an additional RAM module which can't be done with the analog IO board since it takes up the required pins.

You can still do analog on the digital one using a HDMI to VGA adapter, just not analog and HDMI output at the same time.

Ah, okay - what kind of cores are we talking about? N64/PS1? Last time I looked into those, they still seemed years away and might not turn out feasible at all in the end.
So for me it would be HDMI -> VGA -> Scart if I took the Digital one. Is the output still good (enough) then?

mute · Dec 15, 2021

xyla said:
Ah, okay - what kind of cores are we talking about? N64/PS1? Last time I looked into those, they still seemed years away and might not turn out feasible at all in the end.
So for me it would be HDMI -> VGA -> Scart if I took the Digital one. Is the output still good (enough) then?

PS1 and Saturn.

Though with PS1 it is looking like if there is a limit to hit and another SDRAM is needed, the majority of games should work with just one. It isn't an all or nothing situation at least.

xyla · Dec 15, 2021

mute said:
PS1 and Saturn.

Though with PS1 it is looking like if there is a limit to hit and another SDRAM is needed, the majority of games should work with just one. It isn't an all or nothing situation at least.

So a bit similar to the NeoGeo situation then with 64MB and 128MB. Interesting and maybe worth the option at least.

mindatlarge · Dec 15, 2021

Another nice thing with the Digital edition, you get an on/off switch.

SpotAnime · Dec 15, 2021

mute said:
PS1 and Saturn.

Though with PS1 it is looking like if there is a limit to hit and another SDRAM is needed, the majority of games should work with just one. It isn't an all or nothing situation at least.

That's not set in stone from what I'm remembering. The goal is that they have the PS1 core without any dependency for a second SDRAM, but they can't guarantee it at the moment.

I don't think there's been any indication that the Saturn core will need the second SDRAM from what I'm seeing.

mute · Dec 15, 2021

Done some more poking and think while I'm out for holidays I'm going to try and make a bootable SX-Window image for the x68k and install my games on it there. I've found some video evidence that it is possible just little/no instructions yet.

It is super convenient booting straight into games but it is skipping a step that I'm interested in doing things that way. Also the "blank image" that I guess update_all put there isn't a blank floppy, but a system disk. So if you mount that and restart you can actually use the commandline

SpotAnime said:
That's not set in stone from what I'm remembering. The goal is that they have the PS1 core without any dependency for a second SDRAM, but they can't guarantee it at the moment.

I don't think there's been any indication that the Saturn core will need the second SDRAM from what I'm seeing.

It's all preliminary but FPGAzumSpass has estimated that it probably won't be needed for most games.

On the other hand I haven't read Sorg mentioning it one way or another, people are just assuming.

BlockABoots · Dec 16, 2021

So i have one of these low profile cases from RetroCastle that has the Sega Saturn video connection, but as you can see from the picture the SS scart cable i have seems to be orientated around the wrong way!!!, the 3 pin holes with the space on the case connector is at the top with the flatten part yet on my cable the 3 pin holes with the space is at the bottom.

Did the Sega Saturn have different video connectors depending on the region, so was the connector different in the UK to that of the US or Japan version?

Shaneus · Dec 16, 2021

BlockABoots said:
So i have one of these low profile cases from RetroCastle that has the Sega Saturn video connection, but as you can see from the picture the SS scart cable i have seems to be orientated around the wrong way!!!, the 3 pin holes with the space on the case connector is at the top with the flatten part yet on my cable the 3 pin holes with the space is at the bottom.

Did the Sega Saturn have different video connectors depending on the region, so was the connector different in the UK to that of the US or Japan version?

I'll have a look at mine tonight. I don't think I have a Saturn cable handy, but I do (somehow) still have a Saturn, so can compare with that. Would be a shame if it was all around the wrong way.

Can you compare that photo with existing photos of the same board?

I also think that we would've seen other people complain about it by now, so maybe yours is just a one-off. At least the seller is 100% legit (Bob from RetroRGB finally mentioned them in one of his recent podcasts as being a good seller that sells on AliExpress), and should get back to you if there is something wrong.

Edit: It's quite weird, compare that port to the actual Saturn:

So the indentations are incorrect, but the pins look to be laid out properly I think?

Edit #2: In this video from RetroRGB at the very start, Bob connects (I think) a Saturn cable straight into the same I/O board we have, but the socket layout looks identical:

In conclusion: I dunno. I think I have a Saturn RF cable somewhere at home, will see if it fits or not and will keep you posted.

Fuzzy · Dec 16, 2021

That's awesome.

BlockABoots · Dec 17, 2021

Shaneus said:
I'll have a look at mine tonight. I don't think I have a Saturn cable handy, but I do (somehow) still have a Saturn, so can compare with that. Would be a shame if it was all around the wrong way.

Can you compare that photo with existing photos of the same board?

I also think that we would've seen other people complain about it by now, so maybe yours is just a one-off. At least the seller is 100% legit (Bob from RetroRGB finally mentioned them in one of his recent podcasts as being a good seller that sells on AliExpress), and should get back to you if there is something wrong.

Edit: It's quite weird, compare that port to the actual Saturn:

So the indentations are incorrect, but the pins look to be laid out properly I think?

Edit #2: In this video from RetroRGB at the very start, Bob connects (I think) a Saturn cable straight into the same I/O board we have, but the socket layout looks identical:

In conclusion: I dunno. I think I have a Saturn RF cable somewhere at home, will see if it fits or not and will keep you posted.

Yeah thats super odd then, im surprised no one else has posted a similar issue.

Im going to post a message to the seller on aliexpress

alr1ght · Dec 17, 2021

I know that seller posts on the Mister discord channel. You might be able to find him there.

Join the MiSTer FPGA Discord Server!

The official Discord for users and developers of the MiSTer project, recreating classic computers, consoles and arcades. | 13245 members

discord.gg

mute · Dec 17, 2021

It took a lot less time than I expected thanks to a helpful youtuber but I got my bootable x68k image and have some games installed already so I don't have to worry about mounting floppies. Nice!

Jayde Six · Dec 17, 2021

mute said:
It took a lot less time than I expected thanks to a helpful youtuber but I got my bootable x68k image and have some games installed already so I don't have to worry about mounting floppies. Nice!

Mind posting a link to that youtube video? I had no idea there was an windows-esque os for the x68000.

mute · Dec 17, 2021

Jayde Six said:
Mind posting a link to that youtube video? I had no idea there was an windows-esque os for the x68000.

Sure, I'd start with this one and then look at the other x68k videos on the channel.

When I started looking I found some other videos but they were purely focused on how to get games running and that is relatively straightforward/less interesting :P

I found this really old video of someone using SX-Window and thought it was rad, which made me want to look into it more.

Jayde Six · Dec 17, 2021

mute said:
Sure, I'd start with this one and then look at the other x68k videos on the channel.

Awesome, thanks!

theLusitanian · Dec 17, 2021

Replicant said:
I use the RYCB Stripe 1x rotated and then for my filter I use high res bicubic and gamma boost

I don't use the built in scanline on the cores.

I finally tried this, I like the look a lot!

mute · Dec 17, 2021

Jayde Six said:
Awesome, thanks!

Still have a bunch of stuff to figure out. You can find lots of interesting stuff out there but unless it is already in a floppy format I'm not sure how to transfer files. Still though, lots of fun to be had.

Probably at some point this will be rectified but you have decent versions of Space Harrier, After Burner 2, Gradius, Parodius on the x68k that work today on MiSTer. Super Hang On is there too but I read there are problems getting it running.

BlockABoots · Dec 18, 2021

Shaneus said:
I'll have a look at mine tonight. I don't think I have a Saturn cable handy, but I do (somehow) still have a Saturn, so can compare with that. Would be a shame if it was all around the wrong way.

Can you compare that photo with existing photos of the same board?

I also think that we would've seen other people complain about it by now, so maybe yours is just a one-off. At least the seller is 100% legit (Bob from RetroRGB finally mentioned them in one of his recent podcasts as being a good seller that sells on AliExpress), and should get back to you if there is something wrong.

Edit: It's quite weird, compare that port to the actual Saturn:

So the indentations are incorrect, but the pins look to be laid out properly I think?

Edit #2: In this video from RetroRGB at the very start, Bob connects (I think) a Saturn cable straight into the same I/O board we have, but the socket layout looks identical:

In conclusion: I dunno. I think I have a Saturn RF cable somewhere at home, will see if it fits or not and will keep you posted.

So I got a reply back from the seller....

Shaneus said:
I'll have a look at mine tonight. I don't think I have a Saturn cable handy, but I do (somehow) still have a Saturn, so can compare with that. Would be a shame if it was all around the wrong way.

Can you compare that photo with existing photos of the same board?

I also think that we would've seen other people complain about it by now, so maybe yours is just a one-off. At least the seller is 100% legit (Bob from RetroRGB finally mentioned them in one of his recent podcasts as being a good seller that sells on AliExpress), and should get back to you if there is something wrong.

Edit: It's quite weird, compare that port to the actual Saturn:

So the indentations are incorrect, but the pins look to be laid out properly I think?

Edit #2: In this video from RetroRGB at the very start, Bob connects (I think) a Saturn cable straight into the same I/O board we have, but the socket layout looks identical:

In conclusion: I dunno. I think I have a Saturn RF cable somewhere at home, will see if it fits or not and will keep you posted.

So I got a reply back from the seller....

I'm not even going to attempt to force the cable into the port, as it will either damage the cable or port and probably both. Its like trying to put a square shape into a round hole surely!?

I have 2 official Sega scart cables here and a 3rd party S-Video cable and they all have the flat indentation part at the bottom of the connector. I have looked on RetroGamingCables and there Saturn Scart cables do appear to have completely circular connectors though!!.

But surely if your selling a product that says uses a Sega Saturn connector then at least make sure you have the shape of the port orientated the correct way around

BlockABoots · Dec 18, 2021

Oh his replayed again...

Not sure how the metal connector of a scart cable is elastic

Fair Witness · Dec 18, 2021

The Saturn used a 10-pin non standard connector (look up mini-DIN on wikipedia it mentions the Saturn as non-standard). It looks like that seller just put a standard 10-pin mini-DIN connector on the device, which is definitely not the Saturn design. I have no doubt you can bend and shove a Saturn cable into it, but jeeze that's pretty lame to advertise it as a Saturn port when it's clearly not.

Hero_of_the_Day · Dec 18, 2021

Decided to tinker with the PlayStation core just to see it. This is insane how far along this is already. I didn't expect shit to work this well.

nogoodnamesleft · Dec 18, 2021

Hero_of_the_Day said:
Decided to tinker with the PlayStation core just to see it. This is insane how far along this is already. I didn't expect shit to work this well.

Impressions man you can't just say that

Hero_of_the_Day · Dec 18, 2021

nogoodnamesleft said:
Impressions man you can't just say that

I only tried a few things. Resident Evil Directors Cut wouldn't boot for me. Metal Gear Solid and Mega Man X4 seemed totally playable, outside of the fact there is no sound yet.

I expected everything to be mostly busted as fuck. But, yeah, shit looks great already, just no sound.

Anyone can check it out now here: https://github.com/MiSTer-unstable-nightlies/PlayStation_MiSTer/releases/tag/unstable-builds

Outside of the core itself, just have to put the bios in the playstation folder with your games and name it boot.rom.

nogoodnamesleft · Dec 18, 2021

Hero_of_the_Day said:
I only tried a few things. Resident Evil Directors Cut wouldn't boot for me. Metal Gear Solid and Mega Man X4 seemed totally playable, outside of the fact there is no sound yet.

I expected everything to be mostly busted as fuck. But, yeah, shit looks great already, just no sound.

Anyone can check it out now here: https://github.com/MiSTer-unstable-nightlies/PlayStation_MiSTer/releases/tag/unstable-builds

Outside of the core itself, just have to put the bios in the playstation folder with your games and name it boot.rom.

Awesome thanks for that. I wonder when they will start working on sound. They can take as long as they want tbh, doing gods work

Hero_of_the_Day · Dec 18, 2021

nogoodnamesleft said:
Awesome thanks for that. I wonder when they will start working on sound. They can take as long as they want tbh, doing gods work

They've said sound is the first thing they were going to work on next year. Who knows how long that will take, and I believe they have said that will require the second ram stick at first.

They originally hoped to have the first test games loading by the end of the year. Then quickly got that done, so I feel like they are way ahead of where even they expected with being able to load disc images, save states, and now 2-players and memory cards. It is some wild shit.

nogoodnamesleft · Dec 18, 2021

Hero_of_the_Day said:
They've said sound is the first thing they were going to work on next year. Who knows how long that will take, and I believe they have said that will require the second ram stick at first.

They originally hoped to have the first test games loading by the end of the year. Then quickly got that done, so I feel like they are way ahead of where even they expected with being able to load disc images, save states, and now 2-players and memory cards. It is some wild shit.

I will buy as many ram sticks as are required for this sexiness

Einhandr · Dec 18, 2021

After much debate, I ordered my second de10-nano (back order) from Mouser. I feel like having one just isn't enough. The first one is sitting inside a custom arcade cab so now I need another for my couch/tv setup.

RobotVM · Dec 19, 2021

What is the best way for me to get composite through my Mister?

alr1ght · Dec 19, 2021

RobotVM said:
What is the best way for me to get composite through my Mister?

Probably the only option now

VGA->Composite/S-Video adapter - Antonio Villena

Connect your FPGA-based system to an analogue TV! This adapter […]

www.antoniovillena.es

MisterAddons might be working on a solution, but nothing officially announced yet.

arit · Dec 19, 2021

Hero_of_the_Day said:
I only tried a few things. Resident Evil Directors Cut wouldn't boot for me. Metal Gear Solid and Mega Man X4 seemed totally playable, outside of the fact there is no sound yet.

I expected everything to be mostly busted as fuck. But, yeah, shit looks great already, just no sound.

Anyone can check it out now here: https://github.com/MiSTer-unstable-nightlies/PlayStation_MiSTer/releases/tag/unstable-builds

Outside of the core itself, just have to put the bios in the playstation folder with your games and name it boot.rom.

Please not that it has been moved to https://github.com/MiSTer-unstable-nightlies/PSX_MiSTer/releases/tag/unstable-builds and is now part of the MiSTer repository.

RobotVM · Dec 19, 2021

Does the Mister Multisystem work with a 2nd Ram slot? I preordered one but want to make sure it will work with the PSX cores

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