Thank you! I will do my best to get at least some basic driver software out there before you get it...
Shipping is trouble for me... I've been sending everything in the $5 Priority mail boxes, but that is a bit rediculous for these little things...
So, I guess I need to go to Staples and see if I can get some kind of mailers...
Long term, I should see if I can sweet talk Gadget Gangster into selling them for me...
BTW: I've just removed my statement about playing music from the top post because, while certainly possible, it would only hold ~10 seconds of high quality music... So, you definitely want to use SD for that. Also, reading music while showing large photo would be difficult. But, I think showing artwork from FlashPoint and music from SD is still a nice app...
jazzed, here is the current configuration (it may change if I made a layout error and need to get more boards because I now have puzzle as to how to make a PPlatform adapter that works for both SuperQuad and RamPage versions...)
jazzed, here is the current configuration (it may change if I made a layout error and need to get more boards because I now have puzzle as to how to make a PPlatform adapter that works for both SuperQuad and RamPage versions...)
I asked because I'm changing SpinSocket CS/CLK pins from what I mentioned before. Also I'm using a DIP32 footprint now. I thought you were using an 8 bit bus?
At the moment, I am not planning a wider board. It's easy enough to combine 4-bit modules into 8, 12, or 16 bit busses. The driver is easily changed to different buss widths.
The Prop Platform adapter will let people do that without any jumper wires.
At the moment, I am not planning a wider board. It's easy enough to combine 4-bit modules into 8, 12, or 16 bit busses. The driver is easily changed to different buss widths.
The Prop Platform adapter will let people do that without any jumper wires.
One thing I've been thinking about is a file system for Flash Point...
I really like Mike Green's Winbond driver file system.
But, storing file data in very 4k sector doesn't work for me becase I require larger, contiguous block of memory for graphics and/or audio.
Also, I like long file names...
So, I'll copy that idea, but use a larger "file control block" to include a long file name and the number of sectors that the file occupies.
That way, a sector scan can still provide a full directory...
I'm not sure if I should provide support for fragmented files or not...
I have a PTP that I bought from you a while back and was wondering how difficult it would be to interface the Flash Point with the PTP. It would be nice to have the flash memory available so that I could run either Catalina C or ZOG programs on the PTP. Would interfacing the Flash Point to the PTP be difficult?
That is very high, if not #1 on my list of priorities... In fact, the Prop Platform adapter I'm working on should allow you to do that without any jumper wires...
Ok, I think I can start selling today... I've got a basic SPIN driver ready for public consumption.
This driver is very flexible because the data pins can be in reverse order and Prop pins can be used to provide Vdd and/or Vss.
This lets you plug it into the Demo board or Prop Platform USB without any jumper wires.
It's easy to add to proto board too.
I'll work to get the assembly driver polished up. I'll also work on drivers to combine modules for wider bus widths.
Here's what I'm thinking for pricing:
$8 each with free 8-pin header and free 1st class shipping (within USA) and automatic upgrade to Priority mail when you buy 3 or more.
I also have one of your PTP (which I really like). I was just looking over the PTP schematics again and it doesn't look like there are many free pins.
I'm thinking the PTP probably couldn't use more than one of these Flash Point devices; right?
Right now I only use text on my PTP because of all the memory the graphics software (and buffers) take. It would be nice to have the option of using graphics without sacrificing the PTP's RAM.
Thanks for another great device to use with the Prop.
Duane, Well, I did just figure out that we don't need the hsync and vsync pins... I posted about that recently...
But, I think 1 FlashPoint will be plenty for 2-bit graphics. 6-bit graphics could be done with 1, but there may be some flicker.
I just took another look and to get 2 Flashpoints, you'd probably have to share pins with either SD or audio...
BTW: I'm also going to look into the option of putting it right on the LCD data pins and outputting directly from Flash Point RamPage to the LCD with updates during the blanking...
(have to think more about that one though...)
Got my Flash Point SuperQuad boards today! Now I just have to figure out how to hook one up to my PTP. The Mountain King case I bought from the PTP also arrived today so the resulting system should look really nice!
David, wow, that was fast. I won't have the code posted until tomorrow, I think... The cases are very nice. I've got PTP Paint loaded on mine and my kids are playing with it all the time. I wanted to take it apart to try out Flashpoint on it, but decided that's too much work and I'll just take on from inventory instead...
I think a straight header might be better than the right-angle one I sent you for fitting in the case. It might still fit, but it looks close...
If you don't mind giving up audio, you could plug it straight into p4..p11....
But, I think I'd use a six pin header to connect the data pins to P4..P9 and then use wires to connect the power...
David, wow, that was fast. I won't have the code posted until tomorrow, I think... The cases are very nice. I've got PTP Paint loaded on mine and my kids are playing with it all the time. I wanted to take it apart to try out Flashpoint on it, but decided that's too much work and I'll just take on from inventory instead...
I think a straight header might be better than the right-angle one I sent you for fitting in the case. It might still fit, but it looks close...
If you don't mind giving up audio, you could plug it straight into p4..p11....
But, I think I'd use a six pin header to connect the data pins to P4..P9 and then use wires to connect the power...
I think I'll try the header approach as you suggest. Thanks!
I've been playing around with showing bitmaps and I think the best so far is to do a "fake" interlace. That is, make two sequential fields in memory and repeatedly show them one after the other synced with the TV cog. I call it "fake" because the TV driver is running in "non-interlace" mode, but I think doing what I'm doing makes it interlaced again. So, as I see it, I'm getting 2X the vertical resolution as usual.
Anyway, I think I'm getting a decent result now. This is a 152 wide by 384 (192*2) tall image:
I'm honestly sick of messing with it, so I think I'll move on to 2-bit graphics now...
I was just thinking that another cool app might be a Task Switcher...
You could store 64 different programs on FlashPoint and switch between them instantly...
Also, the RamPage version has a benefit that Mike Green alluded to that I just processed...
If you want to change a single byte in the Flash, you need to erase a whole 4KB sector.
That means you need to read 4KB into HUB RAM, change the byte, erase the sector, then write it back.
That's fine, but 4KB can be a lot to give up in big programs.
With the RamPage version, you can just copy that 4K to SRAM, change the byte, then copy back.
This could be done much faster this way too.
Here's a little video (mov video is in zip file) of a demo I'm working on:
It scrolls vertically the flags of all 50 states.
It's almost working, but there's one flaw I have to track down, a one pixel tear at about 80% horizontal...
Here's a little video (mov video is in zip file) of a demo I'm working on:
It scrolls vertically the flags of all 50 states.
It's almost working, but there's one flaw I have to track down, a one pixel tear at about 80% horizontal...
Still, this is scrolling a ~1 MB bitmap !
Cool Nice work Rayman. What is your actual data transfer rate from the flash? Is it 8 bit or 4 bit wide?
Thanks jazzed. For this graphics stuff, I'm currently using 2 assembly code cogs and a 4-bit bus. The data rate is ~30 kB at 60 Hz. I think that's around 14 Mbit/s. But, it's not really that optimized. I'm sure people can do better...
Note: I've just put Flash Point SuperQuad up for sale on my website.
There's some basic SPIN interface code there now.
PS: with 4 cogs, I think you could do 160 Mbit/s easy enough in shorts bursts. With an external clock source, you could probably get to the full 320 Mbit/s in bursts. The ~14 Mbit/s I'm getting now is sustainable indefinitely...
Comments
David, In theory I should have all the parts delivered tomorrow and can solder some of them by hand and ship Saturday.
PS: This also assumes I didn't make any layout errors, which sometimes happen when I rush things...
Great! Put me down for four.
Shipping is trouble for me... I've been sending everything in the $5 Priority mail boxes, but that is a bit rediculous for these little things...
So, I guess I need to go to Staples and see if I can get some kind of mailers...
Long term, I should see if I can sweet talk Gadget Gangster into selling them for me...
BTW: I've just removed my statement about playing music from the top post because, while certainly possible, it would only hold ~10 seconds of high quality music... So, you definitely want to use SD for that. Also, reading music while showing large photo would be difficult. But, I think showing artwork from FlashPoint and music from SD is still a nice app...
I asked because I'm changing SpinSocket CS/CLK pins from what I mentioned before. Also I'm using a DIP32 footprint now. I thought you were using an 8 bit bus?
The Prop Platform adapter will let people do that without any jumper wires.
I really like Mike Green's Winbond driver file system.
But, storing file data in very 4k sector doesn't work for me becase I require larger, contiguous block of memory for graphics and/or audio.
Also, I like long file names...
So, I'll copy that idea, but use a larger "file control block" to include a long file name and the number of sectors that the file occupies.
That way, a sector scan can still provide a full directory...
I'm not sure if I should provide support for fragmented files or not...
Rayman,
I love it when you obsessively-compulse! It's a force of nature! :-)
Just got home and tried out the boards... It works!
Here's a photo:
This driver is very flexible because the data pins can be in reverse order and Prop pins can be used to provide Vdd and/or Vss.
This lets you plug it into the Demo board or Prop Platform USB without any jumper wires.
It's easy to add to proto board too.
I'll work to get the assembly driver polished up. I'll also work on drivers to combine modules for wider bus widths.
Here's what I'm thinking for pricing:
$8 each with free 8-pin header and free 1st class shipping (within USA) and automatic upgrade to Priority mail when you buy 3 or more.
I also have one of your PTP (which I really like). I was just looking over the PTP schematics again and it doesn't look like there are many free pins.
I'm thinking the PTP probably couldn't use more than one of these Flash Point devices; right?
Right now I only use text on my PTP because of all the memory the graphics software (and buffers) take. It would be nice to have the option of using graphics without sacrificing the PTP's RAM.
Thanks for another great device to use with the Prop.
Duane
Duane, Well, I did just figure out that we don't need the hsync and vsync pins... I posted about that recently...
But, I think 1 FlashPoint will be plenty for 2-bit graphics. 6-bit graphics could be done with 1, but there may be some flicker.
I just took another look and to get 2 Flashpoints, you'd probably have to share pins with either SD or audio...
(have to think more about that one though...)
I think a straight header might be better than the right-angle one I sent you for fitting in the case. It might still fit, but it looks close...
If you don't mind giving up audio, you could plug it straight into p4..p11....
But, I think I'd use a six pin header to connect the data pins to P4..P9 and then use wires to connect the power...
I think I'll try the header approach as you suggest. Thanks!
Anyway, I think I'm getting a decent result now. This is a 152 wide by 384 (192*2) tall image:
I'm honestly sick of messing with it, so I think I'll move on to 2-bit graphics now...
You could store 64 different programs on FlashPoint and switch between them instantly...
Also, the RamPage version has a benefit that Mike Green alluded to that I just processed...
If you want to change a single byte in the Flash, you need to erase a whole 4KB sector.
That means you need to read 4KB into HUB RAM, change the byte, erase the sector, then write it back.
That's fine, but 4KB can be a lot to give up in big programs.
With the RamPage version, you can just copy that 4K to SRAM, change the byte, then copy back.
This could be done much faster this way too.
Well, the PCBs came yesterday. I think I have all the parts. But, it may take me a few days to figure out if it actually works or not...
No problem. Working would be good! :-)
It scrolls vertically the flags of all 50 states.
It's almost working, but there's one flaw I have to track down, a one pixel tear at about 80% horizontal...
Still, this is scrolling a ~1 MB bitmap !
Note: I've just put Flash Point SuperQuad up for sale on my website.
There's some basic SPIN interface code there now.
PS: with 4 cogs, I think you could do 160 Mbit/s easy enough in shorts bursts. With an external clock source, you could probably get to the full 320 Mbit/s in bursts. The ~14 Mbit/s I'm getting now is sustainable indefinitely...