Thread

Recreating Voodoo Graphics and a Late-1990s Gaming PC on an FPGA

190 points · 59 comments · zdw

jumploops · 1789532201 · focus · HN ↗
In case it's helpful to anyone, MiSTer is a project[0] that recreates classic computers and video game consoles on hardware.
What do I mean by hardware?
Rather than emulating the device in software, which can cause various issues (especially related to timing), by mapping the actual device logic to a field programmable gate array (FPGA), you can achieve an "exact" replica of the hardware.
It's a super cool project, and I highly recommend checking it out if you have an interest in old machines (Apple II, Commodore 64, etc.).
[0]<a href="https://mister-devel.github.io/MkDocs_MiSTer/" rel="nofollow">https://mister-devel.github.io/MkDocs_MiSTer/
1. utopiah · 1789534302 · focus · HN ↗
  Damn there is a whole ecosystem around that, e.g. <a href="https://ultimatemister.com" rel="nofollow">https://ultimatemister.com to buy it all built, very neat.
  1. MegaDeKay · 1789566826 · focus · HN ↗
    Check out the Superstation One [0]. Outer shell modelled after the original PS1. Optional optical disk dock. Simplified UI. Lots of outputs. Well priced.
    [0] <a href="https://retroremake.co/pages/superstation%E1%B5%92%E2%81%BF%E1%B5%89" rel="nofollow">https://retroremake.co/pages/superstation%E1%B5%92%E2%81%BF%...
    (Don't mind the strange characters in the URL above. That's a superscripted "one". Use <a href="https://retroremake.co/" rel="nofollow">https://retroremake.co/ if you feel better about that).
    utopiah · 1789568180 · focus · HN ↗
    Super cool! To be honest I'm not into emulation/retrogaming so much (even though I do have a Pimoroni Picade) but the fact that this exist as a production is very inspiring, thanks for sharing.
2. unwind · 1789539980 · focus · HN ↗
  Do note that this very cool project does not run on the "default" MiSTer hardware. This board is $250 from AMD.
  1. jumploops · 1789545933 · focus · HN ↗
    It's been awhile, but I believe the "default" MiSTer board is the DE10-Nano[0], which was released ~10-15 years ago?
    Looks like Intel (prev Terasic) is still selling them but they're now around $300, they used to be under $150 if memory serves.
    If I were jumping into this today, I'd prefer the much more powerful KV260[1] from the blog post over the DE10-Nano, that board was limited!
    [0]<a href="https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/developer/topic-technology/edge-5g/hardware/fpga-de10-nano.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/developer/topic-tech...
    [1]<a href="https://www.amd.com/en/products/system-on-modules/kria/k26/kv260-vision-starter-kit.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.amd.com/en/products/system-on-modules/kria/k26/k...
    Sidenote: somewhat sad to see the consolidation into Intel and AMD, but FPGAs have always been second class citizens in the silicon space :(
    pipes · 1789549639 · focus · HN ↗
    Does mister work with kv260 boards "out of the box" or is the official mister target a de10 nano? (I love my mister, assembled oneba few years ago). I don't follow the project closely due to zero free time these days
    MegaDeKay · 1789566885 · focus · HN ↗
    The latter. Official MiSTer targets the DE10 nano.
    jakemauer · 1789577097 · focus · HN ↗
    You have to base your build around either the DE10-Nano or one of the clone boards from QMTech. If I were getting into MiSTer I would skip faffing around with dev board builds and just get a SuperStation One, and I say this as someone who has two MiSTer builds based on DE-10 boards. In my case I'm using a MiniITX motherboard that the DE-10 plugs into called the IronClad Plus. The SuperStation one is apparently awesome. Great IO options, reference quality analog video, and nice industrial design.
    robertlagrant · 1789554669 · focus · HN ↗
    > they used to be under $150 if memory serves
    True in more ways than one!
    chocochunks · 1789556212 · focus · HN ↗
    There are much cheaper clones of the DE10 available these days. For a little while fully assembled MiSTer's were available on AliExpress for around $150-$200 although it looks like maybe they dried up. There's also the SuperStation based on the MiSTer project for around $250 if you're patient.
    MegaDeKay · 1789567423 · focus · HN ↗
    If you want something more powerful than MiSTer and have a bit of patience, there is the Replay R2 being developmed around the Agilex 5.
    - Agilex 5 E-Series 043 (Replay2 phat) has 434,240 logic elements (LEs).
    - Agilex 5 E-Series 013 (Replay2 lite) has 138,060 Logic Elements (LEs).
    The website (<a href="https://www.fpgaarcade.com/news-2/" rel="nofollow">https://www.fpgaarcade.com/news-2/) hasn't been updated in some time but the dev now has prototype boards that he's in the middle of bringing up. It is purpose built for arcade emulation and has tons of I/O, lots of memory (both SRAM and HyperRAM), and (on the phat) a PCI connector. One or both (can't remember which) accepts an ARM daughterboard for hybrid emulation. There's a Discord for it you can track down to follow its progress basically in real time as mikej progresses.
3. charcircuit · 1789543280 · focus · HN ↗
  Both require having an understanding of what you are trying to emulate. There are systems which don't have an accurate specification so they are not implemented bug free.
4. mitxela · 1789552107 · focus · HN ↗
  "exact" is still in quotation marks because things like open bus behavior still have to be explicitly simulated. It's still a very accurate simulator, not an exact replica - much more accurate than most fast software simulators can be, though.
  1. ahartmetz · 1789594169 · focus · HN ↗
    Worth noting that timing-exact emulation is for, more or less, less than 32 bit consoles. The timing of newer hardware is so unpredictable that nothing can reasonably rely on details, which is just as well: it would probably not be possible to emulate it precisely at an acceptable speed.
    PCs have been "unpredictable" like that almost since the beginning due to hardware variation, so emulating timings isn't much of a problem for emulators, as is the case in the featured article.

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