Search found 68 matches

by alastair
20 Aug 2022, 02:09
Forum: Hardware and software hacking
Topic: Novatron
Replies: 36
Views: 6612

Re: Novatron

The controller works when the monitor isn't plugged in (verified by audio not video obviously!). Plugging in the monitor or even putting the oscilloscope probe on pin 11 and 12 of the 595 causes the issue with the bits being transposed. I wasn't able to "see" what was happening, but it see...
by alastair
19 Aug 2022, 03:37
Forum: Hardware and software hacking
Topic: Novatron
Replies: 36
Views: 6612

Re: Novatron

I think the controller issue may be a timing glitch. I was testing things out and see the bits getting transposed when plugged into a VGA monitor. I plugged in a VGA-to-HDMI adapter and issue goes away. The controller buttons are all mapped correctly, so the data is getting latched as expected. This...
by alastair
18 Aug 2022, 21:25
Forum: Hardware and software hacking
Topic: Novatron
Replies: 36
Views: 6612

Re: Novatron

I label "OUT6" as ~HSYNC in my schematic. This looks correct. I see pins 11 and 12 of the 595 connected to OUT6 on the Gigatron PCB.
by alastair
18 Aug 2022, 16:18
Forum: Hardware and software hacking
Topic: Novatron
Replies: 36
Views: 6612

Re: Novatron

I would expect that you're seeing:- [ start ] [right] [down] [left] [A] [right] [ up ] [ B ][select] [A] Yes, you are correct. I had the up and start mixed up. Holding the top button triggers the reset, so that would be the start button. Can you share a waveform of PULSE/LATCH/DATA at the 595 while...
by alastair
18 Aug 2022, 14:37
Forum: Hardware and software hacking
Topic: Novatron
Replies: 36
Views: 6612

Re: Novatron

I don't think I have a button that maps to "start". This is how the rest map.

Code: Select all


      [ up ]                                [right]
[down]      [left]                    [A/B?]      [right]
      [ ?? ]        [  ??  ][select]        [A/B?]
      
by alastair
18 Aug 2022, 04:07
Forum: Hardware and software hacking
Topic: Novatron
Replies: 36
Views: 6612

Re: Novatron

I haven't had a chance to work on the SD card since the last update. The Famicom controllers finally showed up, so I was testing those. I found a listing of the original controllers that were shipped with the Gigatron and ordered a few. What was shipping turned out to be different though and initial...
by alastair
16 Aug 2022, 14:24
Forum: Hardware and software hacking
Topic: Novatron
Replies: 36
Views: 6612

Re: Novatron

I see the standard start screen with/without the SD card inserted. I can swap the SPI interfaces to use the header as SPI0 and test with an SD card breakout in case that's the issue. I can also turn on more debug in CardBoot. I've run other versions of the ROM and seen it report 128k RAM. I'm not su...
by alastair
16 Aug 2022, 03:58
Forum: Hardware and software hacking
Topic: Novatron
Replies: 36
Views: 6612

Re: Novatron

Thanks @lb3351 I'll try making that change. I've been following the instructions for you dev ROM here, but no luck yet (I'm using the files from the `binaries` folder).
by alastair
14 Aug 2022, 15:24
Forum: Hardware and software hacking
Topic: Novatron
Replies: 36
Views: 6612

Re: Novatron

I spent yesterday trying to debug the expander. I think I just figured it out though. I was using the schematic from Marcel's original Hackaday.io project ... but those assignments don't match what is used in the code here: # Setup I/O and RAM expander ctrl(0b01111100) # Disable SPI slaves, enable R...
by alastair
13 Aug 2022, 15:02
Forum: Hardware and software hacking
Topic: Novatron
Replies: 36
Views: 6612

Re: Novatron

You should be able to split the PULSE and LATCH pins and use a switch to select between keyboard and controller DATA? I'm not sure if the Famicom controller output is open collector/drain. If so they I could leave both connected. Plugging in the controller would probably prevent the keyboard from b...