GALSPanic - New X68000 RAM board

[aotta]

Thanks, that is good to know.

I am basically using
CEM1 = /A23 * /A22 * /A21 * A20
and same for /DTACK.
For testing I had all but one memory chip disabled but can't get it to work.
I did not bother with the jumper since it only controls the value of the NMSK pin.

I don't know, the equation i use has also /nas into, but i think it's not used in Golga version.
Reading his thread in the private forum he used, i don't think his version is "1mb" friendly. I suggest you  the solid stas2k's version or the one revised by me

[hiker]

/NAS should definitely be there. I believe I had that earlier but will test again.

[hiker]

Still no luck to get it to work with just 1MB base memory.
I ordered PCBs of the galspanic 1.2 board with some modifications.

With the remaining galspanic 3.1.1 PCBs (Golga version) that I had here I built 4MB boards.
So if anyone is looking for one, I have some extra, would give away 3 of them for $50 each.

Update: extra cards are gone
Update 2: have two more 4MB card, please reply in https://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=7328.0

[soviet]

Still no luck to get it to work with just 1MB base memory.
I ordered PCBs of the galspanic 1.2 board with some modifications.

With the remaining galspanic 3.1.1 PCBs (Golga version) that I had here I built 4MB boards.
So if anyone is looking for one, I have some extra, would give away 3 of them for $50 each.

Looking for one here

[16bitgium]

Still no luck to get it to work with just 1MB base memory.
I ordered PCBs of the galspanic 1.2 board with some modifications.

With the remaining galspanic 3.1.1 PCBs (Golga version) that I had here I built 4MB boards.
So if anyone is looking for one, I have some extra, would give away 3 of them for $50 each.

Hi,
Very interested in one!
Can I send you a PM ?

[HIggy]

Still no luck to get it to work with just 1MB base memory.
I ordered PCBs of the galspanic 1.2 board with some modifications.

With the remaining galspanic 3.1.1 PCBs (Golga version) that I had here I built 4MB boards.
So if anyone is looking for one, I have some extra, would give away 3 of them for $50 each.

Also interested in one please. But would need to know about UK postage first.
Thanks

[hiker]

I still have two cards. Please send me a PM if interested. Shipping outside the US is probably around $20.

[naggaroth]

I still have two cards. Please send me a PM if interested. Shipping outside the US is probably around $20.

hello.
here is someone interested, I'll send you a PM

[Golga]

Still no luck to get it to work with just 1MB base memory.
I ordered PCBs of the galspanic 1.2 board with some modifications.

With the remaining galspanic 3.1.1 PCBs (Golga version) that I had here I built 4MB boards.
So if anyone is looking for one, I have some extra, would give away 3 of them for $50 each.

Update: extra cards are gone

Very nice.

[Golga]

I got it working with older version 1.2 (with some customisation as in my post above), all ok in my 1mb machine with modified Gal logic and jumper on mb to use half of first ram ic for range 1 to 2 mb space.
Don't know about Golga's variant.

Yes the code should be able to be modified in the same manner even for my version. Only difference between the boards was the removal of the buffers.
I never got around to modifying the code as all 3 of my x68000 now have 2mb base ram so there was no need.

[armitage]

Update: extra cards are gone

Shoot, this will teach me to pay more attention to the email notifications

[hiker]

I got it working with older version 1.2 (with some customisation as in my post above), all ok in my 1mb machine with modified Gal logic and jumper on mb to use half of first ram ic for range 1 to 2 mb space.
Don't know about Golga's variant.

Yes the code should be able to be modified in the same manner even for my version. Only difference between the boards was the removal of the buffers.
I never got around to modifying the code as all 3 of my x68000 now have 2mb base ram so there was no need.

I built a card based on the 1.2 design and still can't get it to work without the 1MB expansion (CZ-6BE1).
I also found that sometimes my X68000 won't boot at the first attempt with the 1.2-based card and I'm just getting a black screen. That never happened with 3.1.1 (Golga) card. Could be caused by the modifications that I made to the design (but those are pretty minor). In https://nfggames.com/X68000/Schematics/10M%20RAM%20Board/Instructions.pdf I found that this might be caused by an issue with the DTACK signal. The 1.2-based card has no buffer on the DTACK line.
I'm also curious about why the 1.x design does not use the IDDIR signal to control the direction of the data buffers. It uses R/W instead.
Anyway, just wanted to share my findings. Not sure yet if I am going to dig deeper.

[HIggy]

Just to say thanks to @hiker , my card arrive the other day. I've already added a couple of 2mb chips so upto 8mb on the card.
And thanks to @Golga for making the revised PCB. Plus the large size certainly helped when I was running MemTest, removing the card, adding another RAM chip and then re-running MemTest

[Golga]

I got it working with older version 1.2 (with some customisation as in my post above), all ok in my 1mb machine with modified Gal logic and jumper on mb to use half of first ram ic for range 1 to 2 mb space.
Don't know about Golga's variant.

Yes the code should be able to be modified in the same manner even for my version. Only difference between the boards was the removal of the buffers.
I never got around to modifying the code as all 3 of my x68000 now have 2mb base ram so there was no need.

I built a card based on the 1.2 design and still can't get it to work without the 1MB expansion (CZ-6BE1).
I also found that sometimes my X68000 won't boot at the first attempt with the 1.2-based card and I'm just getting a black screen. That never happened with 3.1.1 (Golga) card. Could be caused by the modifications that I made to the design (but those are pretty minor). In https://nfggames.com/X68000/Schematics/10M%20RAM%20Board/Instructions.pdf I found that this might be caused by an issue with the DTACK signal. The 1.2-based card has no buffer on the DTACK line.
I'm also curious about why the 1.x design does not use the IDDIR signal to control the direction of the data buffers. It uses R/W instead.
Anyway, just wanted to share my findings. Not sure yet if I am going to dig deeper.

On the github page I was reading that no buffer on the Dtack "can" cause issues with other cards that share Dtack. I used a open collector buffer, so it shouldn't be an issue. Seeing as I want to add a midiori in there at some point, adding the buffer for extra piece of mind was a no brainer to me.
Regardless I'd recommend people upgrade their machines to the base 2mb anyway. Those cards come up on the Yahoo auction sites and can be snagged pretty cheap.

[ateam]

For those looking for a MIDI and 8 MB RAM all-in-one board, these just went up for pre-order.

https://www.arananet.net/pedidos/product/etarikashikoshi-x68000-8mb-ram-midi-board-preorder

[rezb1t]

For those looking for a MIDI and 8 MB RAM all-in-one board, these just went up for pre-order.

https://www.arananet.net/pedidos/product/etarikashikoshi-x68000-8mb-ram-midi-board-preorder

I ordered one of these and it just came in the mail today.

Unfortunately, right now I don't think I can recommend it. I tested out Akumajou Dracula with my Roland SC-55 and the music during the title video is messed up. It's playing an extra instrument that shouldn't be there, and my SC-55 keeps showing "Check Sum Error" on screen, which never happens with my other MIDI board in the exact same setup.

Hopefully it will get updates and this won't be an issue for long, I sent an email to the author so it could be fixed.

EDIT: You won't have issues if you are running in 10mhz, issues with this card only seem to pop up at higher clock speeds.

[kanjiology]

Thanks for testing, I hope mine comes in the mail soon too.

[armitage]

Also waiting on mine. The new card is FPGA-based so hopefully updates/fixes can be implemented where needed but that may require adding extra headers to the card or something like that :shrug:

[kanjiology]

I actually looked at the product page and he is actually testing Castlevania on it. Does anything seem off to you guys?

[hiker]

I actually looked at the product page and he is actually testing Castlevania on it. Does anything seem off to you guys?

The video sounds good to me.

[rezb1t]

Edu Arana replied to my message stating that they tested SC-55 and it works perfectly for them.

Maybe my board is defective, I can't seem to get it to detect the added ram either, though aje_fr's board in the same slot works perfect

[rezb1t]

I figured it out! The issue is that my system is running at 24mhz. If I run the system at 10mhz, RAM works and Castlevania MIDI audio sounds perfect.

Unfortunately, I really prefer to run at 24mhz so this card might not be for me. But at least it's not broken

[spectreman]

HI,
I'm not sure if it's right to talk about this product here, or it's better to create a new page about it.

I also received this 8MB RAM+MIDI expansion, called Etarikashikoshi.
I was able to try this product on my X68000 XVI, unfortunately it is not compatible.
By setting the CPU speed to 16 MHz, RAM is not detected.
I messaged the manufacturer and they responded that testing was only done with the ACE and PRO models.
In fact I was also able to try it on the X68000 Expert II, and it works well.
It would have been nice though if you had notified me before purchasing, I wanted to install it on my X68000 XVI.

[ateam]

I also received this 8MB RAM+MIDI expansion, called Etarikashikoshi.
I was able to try this product on my X68000 XVI, unfortunately it is not compatible.
By setting the CPU speed to 16 MHz, RAM is not detected.

What if you set the machine to 10 MHz? Does the card work as intended?

[spectreman]

I also received this 8MB RAM+MIDI expansion, called Etarikashikoshi.
I was able to try this product on my X68000 XVI, unfortunately it is not compatible.
By setting the CPU speed to 16 MHz, RAM is not detected.

What if you set the machine to 10 MHz? Does the card work as intended?

Yes, it works.

However, I bought the X68000 XVI for its remarkable speed, for example in Super Street Fighters or Tail Chaser (with polygonal graphics, but in this case it also runs with only 2MB of RAM).
The fact that it only runs at 10MHz is a problem for owners of this system or with the X68030.

[ateam]

Yes, it works.

However, I bought the X68000 XVI for its remarkable speed, for example in Super Street Fighters or Tail Chaser (with polygonal graphics, but in this case it also runs with only 2MB of RAM).
The fact that it only runs at 10MHz is a problem for owners of this system or with the X68030.

I don't disagree with you, I was only looking for clarification. Thank you.

Hopefully this is addressed somehow. It seems like a significant feature gap.

Mine arrived yesterday, but I don't plan to install it until a have MIDI devices ready.

[spectreman]

Yes, it works.

However, I bought the X68000 XVI for its remarkable speed, for example in Super Street Fighters or Tail Chaser (with polygonal graphics, but in this case it also runs with only 2MB of RAM).
The fact that it only runs at 10MHz is a problem for owners of this system or with the X68030.

I don't disagree with you, I was only looking for clarification. Thank you.

Hopefully this is addressed somehow. It seems like a significant feature gap.

Mine arrived yesterday, but I don't plan to install it until a have MIDI devices ready.

Don't worry, I know.
I only complain to the seller, who, to be fair, should have specified the compatibility of the Etarikashikoshi 8MB RAM+MIDI on the sales site.

Summarizing the tests I carried out:
It is not compatible with CPU speed above 10 MHz, if you install the card on X68000 XVI with CPU set to 16 MHz, the RAM will not be detected and the MIDI part will not work properly, even if detected by programs.
Moving the position of the jumpers will have no beneficial effect.