Fast Track to Good Setup for Newbie

[brento1138]

Hey all. I’m totally new here and learned of MiSTer a while back but as of yesterday actually started to research it. Just wanted to get your recommendation on getting set up fast, cuz once I finally looked into it, holy hell I want this and I want it now.

Tell me if I’m missing anything. I wanna order the following from the website MiSTer Addons:

MiSTer preconfigured bundle with standard IO (I want RGB and HDMI output)
Preconfigured SD card
PCB case

Other than going online to grab games, is there anything else I need? Here’s the site I’m planning to order from

https://misteraddons.com/collections/all

I am not worried about saving money by buying elsewhere, I’d just like to get setup as painlessly as possible and if that means a few extra bucks all good! But yeah, I have a USB keyboard... I’ve set up a RetroPie that outputs to RGB so should be fine with miSTer. Other than the software I will find online is there anything else I need?

[johhenrik]

Install this updater script and run it, and you are "all set". You still need to supply your computer and console roms of course, but besides that, this will fix everything for you regarding bios files, mame files, unofficial cores etc.

https://github.com/theypsilon/Update_All_MiSTer

[grizzly]

If your in US then misteraddons is a good choice less so in Europe.
Then.
https://misterfpga.co.uk/
https://ultimatemister.com/
https://www.antoniovillena.es/store/
Is a better choice as in faster shipping.

[aberu]

If you are in the US then yeah go with misteraddons for sure. If you just want it to be painless (and you want RGB), and are planning on ordering from misteraddons, then get the following:

https://misteraddons.com/products/mister-bundles (pick standard I/O)

https://misteraddons.com/products/pre-c ... o-sd-cards

And if you plan to use component cables:

https://misteraddons.com/products/vga-t ... pbpr-cable

If not, you'll need to find a way to hook up VGA to SCART or whatever else it is you are using.

If you need wifi:

https://misteraddons.com/products/wifi-adapter

As another person said, use theypsilon's update_all script, just plop it in the /media/fat/Scripts folder on the preconfigured sd card you get, and run it when on the network. It will take awhile.

[EeK]

Install this updater script and run it, and you are "all set". You still need to supply your computer and console roms of course, but besides that, this will fix everything for you regarding bios files, mame files, unofficial cores etc.

https://github.com/theypsilon/Update_All_MiSTer

So, we should use that instead of Mr Fusion, as mentioned in the setup guide, or on top of it?

I'm also new to MiSTer, as you can tell. Still haven't gotten my parts to actually build the device, but I'm already trying to learn how to setup it, reading the Wiki and having just registered for these forums.

[limi]

Use Mr. Fusion to set up the entire system.

You can then elect to add update_all, which is an optional update script that gets unofficial cores, unofficial bios downloads, and much more.

[aberu]

Install this updater script and run it, and you are "all set". You still need to supply your computer and console roms of course, but besides that, this will fix everything for you regarding bios files, mame files, unofficial cores etc.

https://github.com/theypsilon/Update_All_MiSTer

So, we should use that instead of Mr Fusion, as mentioned in the setup guide, or on top of it?

I'm also new to MiSTer, as you can tell. Still haven't gotten my parts to actually build the device, but I'm already trying to learn how to setup it, reading the Wiki and having just registered for these forums.

1. Make SDcard with Mr.Fusion image and something like balenaEtcher.

2. Plugin microSD into MiSTer (DE10-Nano) and boot. Let it finish.

3. Make TGFX16-CD folder in /media/fat/games/ - directory.

4. Transfer update-all script to the /media/fat/Scripts - folder on the MiSTer, and run it on the MiSTer in the scripts screen.

If you do it in that order you will get a nice clean fresh mister to just plop games into the correct folders and it should be pretty plug and play. Definitely when you hit a wall, read the wiki and look for it. I don't have a problem helping people out with stuff. Shoot me a PM if you have any questions, or keep asking here.

[EeK]

Install this updater script and run it, and you are "all set". You still need to supply your computer and console roms of course, but besides that, this will fix everything for you regarding bios files, mame files, unofficial cores etc.

https://github.com/theypsilon/Update_All_MiSTer

So, we should use that instead of Mr Fusion, as mentioned in the setup guide, or on top of it?

I'm also new to MiSTer, as you can tell. Still haven't gotten my parts to actually build the device, but I'm already trying to learn how to setup it, reading the Wiki and having just registered for these forums.

1. Make SDcard with Mr.Fusion image and something like balenaEtcher.

2. Plugin microSD into MiSTer (DE10-Nano) and boot. Let it finish.

3. Make TGFX16-CD folder in /media/fat/games/ - directory.

4. Transfer update-all script to the /media/fat/Scripts - folder on the MiSTer, and run it on the MiSTer in the scripts screen.

If you do it in that order you will get a nice clean fresh mister to just plop games into the correct folders and it should be pretty plug and play. Definitely when you hit a wall, read the wiki and look for it. I don't have a problem helping people out with stuff. Shoot me a PM if you have any questions, or keep asking here.

Thank you! And I may just take you up on that offer, as I received all of my MiSTer items yesterday!

I bought the digital IO board (version 1.2), which came with an external switch attached to the power cord (one end in one side, which connects to the power adapter; and two ends on the other, which connect to the MiSTer).

To which ports should I connect the power cables? There are power ports on all three boards: the USB hub, digital IO board and the DE10-nano itself.

[aberu]

https://misteraddons.com/pages/contact

I would contact misteraddons about it, just to be sure. I can't quite remember which port does which on the digital i/o board, I don't have one myself. I had an analog i/o board which doesn't have the power jumper feature or the power switch on itself.

[grizzly]

About 1-3 months before i bought my mister/digital ioboard/BliSSter in july 2020 i did read that the power switch on the io board had a low Amp rating and therefore not really suited for the mister.
If that is true or not i do not know!

Anyway i do have power into the BliSSter then out from the BliSSter to DE-10, and i use a cabled switch from misterfpga.co.uk if i did not i would rater use the power switch on the BliSSter since that is supposed to be ok and is much bigger (potential to handle more power is there) then the ioboards switch.
Then i use the io boards power port to power a HDMI extender otherwise my manual non powered HDMI switch could not be in the picture (which i need to switch between mister/ps4 since i play on a monitor with only 1 hdmi in).
It does not matter if you take power (probably very low) from the io board since it is connected to the mister power port.

The ONE thing is that you have to change one or more dip switch on the mister, and at first i did not switch that since i had gotten in my head that was only for the power and everything else would work.
https://misterfpga.co.uk/mister-fpga-ho ... -io-board/
And regretfully bugged misterfpga.co.uk about the toslink not working and he asked about the switch and still did not think it would do anything but whoops toslink started working after i flipped it.
So i guess the switch is what gives the io board power from the mister.

In your case you should plug the cable from the switch to the mister and usbhub.
And the io board switch can be on or off if you feed power trough the mister since the only thing it does then is switch off/on power to the io board power jack.

[Codiene]

Unless I'm missing something none of the UK/EU suppliers seem to just sell the DE10-Nano on it's own. They are all selling the FPGA board as part of a kit?

I don't have a problem in people selling kits there is obviously a market for it but as I'll probably want to fabricate my own case and add the extras over time would rather just get some of the essential parts first. From what I have read with the DE10, I/O board, extra ram and a spare USB hub it should be able to run most anything that you could want. It just might not look all that pretty (to some) and is quite a bit cheaper than a full kit with all the extras.

I may be missing something though?

[Xbytez]

Unless I'm missing something none of the UK/EU suppliers seem to just sell the DE10-Nano on it's own.

If you are looking to buy just the DE10-Nano you can source from either DigiKey or Mouser, both are Terasic Technologies distributors and ship to the UK/EU within about 2 working days and all import duty is paid.

DigiKey is here:
https://www.digikey.co.uk/product-detai ... ND/6817231

Mouser is here:
https://www.mouser.co.uk/ProductDetail/ ... dJ5w%3D%3D

[allyourbasekris]

I ordered from Mouser and it arrived within 2 days from the US. It was really painless. No hassles with customs.