MiSTer FPGA Forum

Flandango wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 2:48 amNice work!

OnCor wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 2:30 am I really liked the look of the PlayStation 2's shell with the alternating bumps and recesses and decided to try a design that mimicked that.

grizzly wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 4:16 am I read it all from the start and did not look at the pics until after.
I was quite confused about the bumbs/recesses thing and could for the life of me not think about what the H you meant at all.

Then came the pics and aaaahhh you meant the ribbed design, which i would think is a way better way of describing it.

Otherwise nice work and looks damn good!

drgruney wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 4:48 pm That second box looks GREAT. I really like this.

I've been looking at the Ironclad Mini ITX board.

But now you have me wanting to dust off my hub board designs. You use far fewer capacitors than I was. Much cleaner looking design that what I've come up with.

Screen Shot 2022-01-26 at 10.53.18 AM.png

OnCor wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 6:43 pm As far as your hub goes, it does seem a bit more complicated than mine. Of course it's all dependent on the controller chip. Mine is based off the SL2.1A.

drgruney wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 9:58 pm I dove in to the SL2.1A ... and I cannot figure out why the datasheet calls for a capacitor at each USB port linking the 5v and GND busses. Electrically it's the same as just having one. Are you aware of the purpose?

LamerDeluxe wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 10:49 pm I love how nineties those designs look. Even reminds me of Silicon Graphics computers with those colors. Now we need a Silicon Graphics Core

OnCor wrote: ↑Thu Jan 27, 2022 2:11 am

LamerDeluxe wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 10:49 pm I love how nineties those designs look. Even reminds me of Silicon Graphics computers with those colors. Now we need a Silicon Graphics Core

Those SG computers were very colorful. The 90's was a magical time. The nice thing about 3D printing is that there are so many different filaments out there it can be almost overwhelming. I've mostly stuck with colors that remind me of typical consoles (Famicom red, NES gray, Supergrafx greenish-gray, etc.), but I do plan on experimenting with other colors and even maybe the transparent filaments too.

LamerDeluxe wrote: ↑Thu Jan 27, 2022 8:15 am I was lucky to have worked a bit with and around SGI computers in the nineties (Indigo, Onyx, Crimson, Indy), those colors and designs made the machines look much more interesting than the basic beige housings of most other computer brands. The Onyx had a little LCD display on which it showed the activity of its eight CPUs.

My previous MiSTer case was partly made out of transparent orange filament, it has a bit of glitter, it looks really nice. The seller on eBay (dirkthedaring) said I could select a reel of filament at an online shop for him to buy. That was really kind.

Hi all. I have some kits available for sale in the US. They are listed on eBay and you can see them here. Please PM if interested. Thanks!

OnCor wrote: ↑Thu Jan 27, 2022 2:01 am I had come across the blurb below in this document from the USB.org site. Even though it's for motherboards, I'm sure the principle is the same. I just went with what the data sheet for the SL2.1a indicated, but it seems like a single capacitor might be suitable.

Capacitor.png

drgruney wrote: ↑Thu Jan 27, 2022 2:34 pm GOOD INFO! Thanks.

I have 90% of the work done to make my own console ... but man yours is so clean and straightforward. You're trying to pry my money out of my wallet!!!

OnCor wrote: ↑Thu Jan 27, 2022 11:33 am

LamerDeluxe wrote: ↑Thu Jan 27, 2022 8:15 am I was lucky to have worked a bit with and around SGI computers in the nineties (Indigo, Onyx, Crimson, Indy), those colors and designs made the machines look much more interesting than the basic beige housings of most other computer brands. The Onyx had a little LCD display on which it showed the activity of its eight CPUs.

It's amazing how much more appealing some things are just by having different colors available. Cars are a good example of that. Apple has done really well with their computers/iPads/iPhones by offering them in different colors.

My previous MiSTer case was partly made out of transparent orange filament, it has a bit of glitter, it looks really nice. The seller on eBay (dirkthedaring) said I could select a reel of filament at an online shop for him to buy. That was really kind.

I'm hoping if there's enough interest in producing these cases to sell that I might be able to offer custom options like that. The challenging part with filament is that different brands/types print differently. I've spent a lot of time tweaking settings in my slicer program to print these cases in order to minimize stringing and any imperfections in the print. Sticking with certain reputable brands can definitely help with consistency though.

LamerDeluxe wrote: ↑Thu Jan 27, 2022 4:55 pm I agree. The most popular car colors here are grey, black and white, it is so boring.

I can imagine that, I don't have a 3D printer myself, but I often read that a lot of tweaking is needed to get good prints.

I expect there to be a good amount of interest in your cases, they are quite elegant and clean. Do you have any plans to add the MiSTer LEDs and buttons to the case?

OnCor wrote: ↑Thu Jan 27, 2022 5:26 pmI really struggled with this early on in my design. Everything the buttons do can be handled through the menus using a keyboard or controller.

Sigismond0 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 27, 2022 8:25 pm

OnCor wrote: ↑Thu Jan 27, 2022 5:26 pmI really struggled with this early on in my design. Everything the buttons do can be handled through the menus using a keyboard or controller.

I'm a big fan of buttons--being able to call up the BT pairing script or button mapping is extremely useful when setting up a new console or controllers. Having to pull out another controller to navigate menus, then set up the one you want is a real hassle. But that's probably 95% of what I use them for.

Flus-top buttons should be pretty easy to model and print. Here's an example of how another case does them (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3647626). Just copy that concept and lengthen to match your case height.

Light pipes are also nice to have, but not a deal killer. I like the way the Multisystem just has three small holes that you feed clear filament into. Minimal design work (just 3x 1.9mm holes and some internal channels).

OnCor wrote: ↑Thu Jan 27, 2022 5:26 pm

I can imagine that, I don't have a 3D printer myself, but I often read that a lot of tweaking is needed to get good prints.

I expect there to be a good amount of interest in your cases, they are quite elegant and clean. Do you have any plans to add the MiSTer LEDs and buttons to the case?

I really struggled with this early on in my design. Everything the buttons do can be handled through the menus using a keyboard or controller. Plus adding buttons to the case increases the complexity of assembling the kit and would disrupt the flat surface of the top unless they somehow sat flush. If there was a lot of feedback that it was a "must have" I would certainly be willing to explore how they might be incorporated. As far as LEDs go, that is another thing I could explore if there was demand. I never really pay much attention to those on my MiSTer and would actually be interested in disabling them if it could be done thru the OS. On the lighter colored cases you can see them to some extent, especially the red one. When it pulses it reminds me of a heartbeat. That definitely illustrates the fact that the DE-10 Nano is the "heart and soul" of the MEGA Super System. (It's cheesy, I know. LOL! )

LamerDeluxe wrote: ↑Sun Jan 30, 2022 9:44 am Good point about the buttons, I do use them sometimes as they are within arm's reach here, but they are not absolutely needed.

I like all the little colored lights of the MiSTer though. What I think would be cool with your case is to use those flat LEDs (wide ones like on the Amiga would be cool, but I don't think you can get those) and put them into the recessed parts of the ribs, vertically or horizontally arranged.

The heartbeat effect does sound cool as well though.

OnCor wrote: ↑Sun Jan 30, 2022 9:34 pm

LamerDeluxe wrote: ↑Sun Jan 30, 2022 9:44 am Good point about the buttons, I do use them sometimes as they are within arm's reach here, but they are not absolutely needed.

I like all the little colored lights of the MiSTer though. What I think would be cool with your case is to use those flat LEDs (wide ones like on the Amiga would be cool, but I don't think you can get those) and put them into the recessed parts of the ribs, vertically or horizontally arranged.

The heartbeat effect does sound cool as well though.

I did a quick search and found some 2mmx5mm rectangular LEDs that would fit perfectly in between the "ribs" on my cases. Something like these. It would probably require a custom PCB that would mount the same way as the screen does. Definitely something worth looking into I suppose.It would require having to solder some wires to the I/O LEDs to integrate them though. Not sure how many folks would be interested in that. Perhaps light pipes would be preferable since that would require much less effort and cost.

LamerDeluxe wrote: ↑Mon Jan 31, 2022 8:19 am There is a header on the I/O board for connecting external LEDs (and one for the buttons). A custom PCB sounds like a good solution. Those are indeed the type of LEDs I was thinking of.

Sigismond0 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 31, 2022 5:19 pm I've published a case for anyone building a TTY2OLED using this adapter PCB. Nothing fancy, but does the job.

https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/12 ... r-tty2oled

OnCor wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 2:30 am Early last year I picked up a 3D printer

annette wrote: ↑Mon Jan 31, 2022 8:56 pm Your cases look amazing and it is really a high quality print, can you share what 3d printer you have?