Compukit UK101 core

[EeDee]

Hi Daniel,
On previous releases the characters were not very sharp which I took for a problem with my monitor which is quite small but they are sharper now.
What I am getting is a slightly unstable image. A slight right/left jitter.

[pgimeno]

Thanks, I'm still experiencing problems with that version. This time it mostly works, but sometimes it changes spontaneously with no apparent reason to trigger it, and some time later it changes back to good.

I think Sorg once said or implied that it's indeed tied to the resolutions. Mine is 1920x1080 in case that helps.

[danielb]

Hi Daniel,
On previous releases the characters were not very sharp which I took for a problem with my monitor which is quite small but they are sharper now.
What I am getting is a slightly unstable image. A slight right/left jitter.

Hi, Thanks for the feedback. I can only replicate this if vsync_adjust=0 in my Mister.ini. If it is set to vsync_adjust=1 I get a very stable image.

D.

[danielb]

Thanks, I'm still experiencing problems with that version. This time it mostly works, but sometimes it changes spontaneously with no apparent reason to trigger it, and some time later it changes back to good.

I think Sorg once said or implied that it's indeed tied to the resolutions. Mine is 1920x1080 in case that helps.

Hi, thanks again for checking.

After staring at the screen for several minutes, I saw what you describe. I'll take a look at it.

D.

[EeDee]

Hi, Thanks for the feedback. I can only replicate this if vsync_adjust=0 in my Mister.ini. If it is set to vsync_adjust=1 I get a very stable image.

D.

Thanks I'll check

[NML32]

I'm not able to load minicom with MiSTer OS version 210831.
Is anyone else getting "command not found" when trying to run minicom?

[danielb]

Thanks, I'm still experiencing problems with that version. This time it mostly works, but sometimes it changes spontaneously with no apparent reason to trigger it, and some time later it changes back to good.

I think Sorg once said or implied that it's indeed tied to the resolutions. Mine is 1920x1080 in case that helps.

Hi,

I suddenly realised what my mistake was...

I have now locked the system clock, the pixel clock, and pixel drawing in perfect sync (I hope). This version reports a completely consistent resolution and refresh rate every time the core is loaded (it varied at the second digit after the decimal point before), and, as far as I can see, produces perfectly even pixels in HV-Integer mode. This is quite an adventure for a noob like me, I had to go in and rewrite a significant chunk of Grant Searle's video code

Again, I'd really appreciate it if you could verify my testing.

D.

[danielb]

I'm not able to load minicom with MiSTer OS version 210831.
Is anyone else getting "command not found" when trying to run minicom?

Hi, you're right, I can't load it either.

I also can't sync my bluetooth keyboard anymore.

D.

[Alkadian]

I'm not able to load minicom with MiSTer OS version 210831.
Is anyone else getting "command not found" when trying to run minicom?

Yes, same here.

[danielb]

Deleted.

[pgimeno]

Thanks a lot danielb! The new core works perfectly, as does the released core. It seems you hit the nail in the head!

As for the minicom issue, maybe someone with a GitHub account can report it? I guess the right repository is https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Linux_I ... Ter/issues

[EeDee]

Hi, Thanks for the feedback. I can only replicate this if vsync_adjust=0 in my Mister.ini. If it is set to vsync_adjust=1 I get a very stable image.

D.

Thanks I'll check

Your new release fixed it without adjustment from me.
Thanks for your efforts. I'm enjoying your journey
Do you have plans to reinstate 64x32 at some point?

[danielb]

Hi, Thanks for the feedback. I can only replicate this if vsync_adjust=0 in my Mister.ini. If it is set to vsync_adjust=1 I get a very stable image.

D.

Thanks I'll check

Your new release fixed it without adjustment from me.
Thanks for your efforts. I'm enjoying your journey
Do you have plans to reinstate 64x32 at some point?

Hi,

Good to hear it's working OK. Yes I will be reinstating the 64x32 mode, although I suspect it will be more involved than in the previous version...

D.

[EeDee]

Looking forward to seeing it

[NML32]

A few things I noticed about the UK101 core since I made my YT video on Aug 24, 2021.

- The video looks weird on my HDMI TV.
- The video looks good on my PVM. Maybe a little too close to the left side of the screen.
- The screen rolls on Component video.
- I'm not sure if this is a bug. I noticed this after watching a YT video linked below. After you press C then A for Memory Size you should get a message that says "This is the COMPUKIT UK101" On the MiSTer "is is the COMPUKIT UK101" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD844aXw9z8 Around :35

My Sony PVM

UK101-PVM.JPEG (149.7 KiB) Viewed 6377 times

My HDMI TV

UK101-TV_HDMI.JPEG (161.66 KiB) Viewed 6377 times

[danielb]

Hi,

What resolution is your MiSTer reporting on the HDMI monitor? That is exactly what mine looks like with the scandoubler fx switched on, which is why I removed it from the menu.
I don't really have any way to test anything other than HDMI, so thanks for letting me know about the component video.
As for the ROM message.....


Rgds, D.

[NML32]

Hi,

What resolution is your MiSTer reporting on the HDMI monitor? That is exactly what mine looks like with the scandoubler fx switched on, which is why I removed it from the menu.
I don't really have any way to test anything other than HDMI, so thanks for letting me know about the composite video.
As for the ROM message.....


Rgds, D.

The MiSTer connected to my TV is reporting (Bad Text)
494x512 31.16KHz 49.6Hz
1920x1080 148.50MHz 60.0Hz

My AOC HDMI monitor is reporting (Bad Text)
494x512 31.16KHz 49.6Hz
1920x1440 185.20MHz 60.0Hz

My PVM monitor is reporting (Good looking Text)
494x256 15.58KHz 49.6Hz
1920x1440 153.12MHz 49.6Hz

[danielb]

That is double resolution. HDMI on my monitor is 494x256 at 15.58 khz. Could it be a setting in your ini file? I have yet to find out why double resolution is not working right. I was wondering whether it might be because it has rectangular pixels which take up two scanlines.

D.

[NML32]

I changed forced_scandoubler=1 to forced_scandoubler=0 now the text looks normal.
; set to 1 to run scandoubler on VGA output always (depends on core).

494x256 15.58KHz 49.6Hz
1920x1080 148.50MHz 60Hz

[danielb]

Excellent

D.

[pgimeno]

Looks like the initial "Th" is overwritten by spaces, not sure why. If you enter "A" repeatedly, they sometimes flash for a frame or so.

[danielb]

Hi all,

This is an update to show off a feature which will be appearing in the next release of the core:

https://youtu.be/95Rqv8kpQuw

The video is a short demo of loading a program from a text file, which I have now managed to get working. As of now, it is incomplete and untested, the code is a mess, and I obliterated the original UART capabilities. You may notice that the initial "1" of the first line is missing. All of this will need to be fixed before the release.

Getting it to work was excruciating, frustrating and very time-consuming, but interesting. I got very intimate with SignalTap. The code is basically a hybrid of the similar code for the Apple 1 (thanks Alanswx) and Grant Searle's original UART code.

Enjoy the video

D.

[NML32]

Nice progress.

[EeDee]

Nice!

[danielb]

Hi all,

I fixed some bugs and loading games now works, more or less, from the text files. Asteroids and the Invaders game appear to work. These are the most complex games I have, apart from SuperInvaders.

SuperInvaders loads, but does not run properly. The reason for this is probably that it can no longer detect a baud rate from the UART. Hopefully this will be fixed when I resurrect the original UART code to allow the user to switch between UART and loading from file.

I was lucky to find a comparatively simple core to work on. A more sophisticated one would have been totally out of my league

D.

[EeDee]

I was lucky to find a comparatively simple core to work on. A more sophisticated one would have been totally out of my league

D.

Good work!
You'll be moving on to something a little more sophisticated I'm hoping

[danielb]

I was lucky to find a comparatively simple core to work on. A more sophisticated one would have been totally out of my league

D.

Good work!
You'll be moving on to something a little more sophisticated I'm hoping

Let's get this one out of the way first

[danielb]

Hi again,

Here's another video, showing the current state of development. Super Invaders loads and runs after selecting UART mode. You can change its speed by changing the baud rate, and make it stop by choosing file mode.

Fun stuff...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg40ekV ... oadUser100

It will still be a few days till I release this, as there's still plenty to do and I won't have much time to work on it in the near future.

D.

[EeDee]

Thanks for all the effort you're putting into this. Looking forward to trying it

[danielb]

Thanks for all the effort you're putting into this. Looking forward to trying it

It keeps me off the streets...

D.