Prop Manual or Hydra Manual

Matthew Hay

Okay I'm going to bite the bullet and order me either a Prop Manual or a Hydra Manual, which would you guys recommend?· Is it worth the extra $35 to get the Hydra Manual over the Prop Manual?

This also stems from a hate of reading things on a monitor.· I like dead trees they bring life to written material.

Thanks,
Matt
·

Mike Green

The big question is whether you have a Hydra or some other Propeller. The Hydra Manual is full of information on writing video games. Its description of some of the hardware is specific to the Hydra (like the way the keyboard and mouse are wired). It does come with a CD with lots of sample programs, but, if you want to use them on something else like a Propeller Demo Board, you'll have to modify them and many of them assume that you have a Nintendo game controller (or two) attached as with the Hydra. Another thing is that you can download the Propeller Manual for free, but you can only buy the printed Hydra manual with its companion CD.

I happen to have both. I occasionally use the Hydra Manual for information on the Hydra (which I have), but I mostly use the Propellor Manual for frequent reference (it's really a reference manual after all).

Forrest

You can download the Propeller Manual. There's a lot of good information - but it's a reference manual and it's NOT meant to be read cover to cover. The Hydra manual is written in a lighter style and it IS meant to be read cover to cover - all 800+ pages! The Hydra manual is geared to writing games - and if you plan on doing any sort of video with the Propeller I recommend it.

Matthew Hay

Well I'm looking more for a reference manual but, I'm also wanting to work with video.

I currently have a PEKit so wiring isn't a problem as far as the Hydra goes and I have no problem acquiring and cutting the end off to connect it.

Ultimately I'm wanting to work towards an interface built around some line based 3D images and simple bitmap buttons/sliders. I'm planning on some sort of touch screen but not entirely sure about how I would like to do that part yet.

So with that, should I just get the Prop Manual and work out the graphics through the demos and other information I find or should I spring for the Hydra Manual for what would seem like an indepth explanation of generating graphics with the prop?

Can't really afford to buy both at the moment or I probably would.

AndreL

The hydra book is the most complete coverage of games, graphics, audio, video, etc. on the propeller. The concepts and code are all applicable to any propeller application. The demos as are will run on any propeller with a couple constant changes. The propeller manual is a reference manual, not a development guide, so I would download the propeller manual, use it as a reference and get the hydra book if you want to learn how to use the propeller chip in detail with lots of interactive examples. But, as noted, everything is designed to run on the hydra, so when you run them on other hardware, you have to make slight changes, nothing more than 2-5 lines of code and a 5 mins each to fix.

Andre'

Mike Green

Given that you mostly would like to work with graphics, I would strongly suggest the Hydra Manual. It's just chock full of information on graphics in general and the Propeller in particular. Like Andre' suggested, do download the Propeller Manual to have on hand for specific references. Many of the demos on the Hydra CD only require small changes to run on a Demo Board. Since you have the PEKit, you could actually wire it up just like a Hydra using the schematics in the Hydra Manual and not mess with having to change things. If you don't need the Nintendo controller or the HydraNet connector and plan to use TV rather than VGA, you'd only need a couple of extra resistors and switching transistors for the keyboard (and mouse if you want it). Do (really do!) substitute a larger EEPROM for the one provided in the PEKit (a 64Kx8·/ 512Kbit one is adequate) although I think all of the Hydra software will run with the smaller EEPROM.

Matthew Hay

Does the Hydra Manual cover VGA graphics to the depth of the TV graphics? I only have one TV and it's picture is horrible, but I have 5 monitors so I've been connecting my prop to a monitor to play around (though I do have my breadboard setup for both TV and VGA at the moment with mouse, still haven't hooked up the keyboard).

Also Mike are you suggesting using a switching transistor over the demo board design(which is what I'm using for a mouse at the moment)?

Thanks,
Matt

Mike Green

Matthew,
The Hydra Manual has pretty extensive coverage of VGA graphics, maybe a bit less than TV graphics mostly because VGA is simpler than TV. Chip Gracey posted a series of tiled graphics drivers for resolutions from 1024x768 to 1600x1200 with the higher resolution driver using essentially all the cogs. These graphics drivers are mostly compatible with the TV drivers which also use the same tiling setup with the exception that the words that make up the tile pointers are rotated 6 bits in a 16 bit word from the VGA driver's tile pointers. Chip has a nice demo that displays a tiled graphics area within a larger text screen in a 1024 x 768 pixel display (64 x 24 characters).

The keyboard and mouse drivers are different for the Hydra and the Demo Board wiring. You can substitute the Demo Board keyboard and mouse drivers for the Hydra ones and everything will work fine, but you have to know to do this. The Demo Board wiring scheme is simpler and works fine. The Hydra design was frozen when it wasn't clear that the simpler hardware would work well.

Kevin Wood

There are some downloadable chapters for the Hydra on the website. They should give you a good idea of what you are getting.

Personally, I think the Hydra book is the better choice here, since it deals with the Propeller more from a system design perspective, as opposed to a technical reference. Reading it should give you a good understanding of building an electronic system that incorporates most if not all of the Propeller's functionality, and that will help put the Prop manual material in context.