@TheDaddy

Great review and pics!

The software compatibility is actually surprisingly good for such an early revision.

The main problem, for me anyway, is the case. I'd like to see this in a half- or third- micro ATX size board -- something that spanned the full 9.6" across the back of the case, and ran forward as much as necessary. This would involve drilling the case for custom standoff locations at the front of the board, but that shouldn't be too much trouble.

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For those who don't want to bother clicking through the first part of the review again:
Minimig Review Part Two

edit: BTW, the assertion that "It looks like any SD-Card size will work with the Minimig" is likely wrong, because SD cards large than 2GB use SDHC which is not backwards compatible (and I doubt that Minimig is designed to handle SDHC). Still 1-2GB is more than you will ever need!

edit 2 & 3: I am also rather concerned that Minimig requires FAT16, limited to 8.3 filenames, with everything stored in the root directory (no folders). FAT has well-known limitations on the number of files that you can store in the root directory (typically 512 files, although up to 32767 may be possible with correct formatting), so it is doubtful that you can ever fill a 1GB card. Someone REALLY needs to add folder support, and long filenames.

edit 4: A short-cut to the list of which games do & do not work:
What works and what does not

Last edited by ChrisH on 29-Feb-2008 at 05:57 PM.
Last edited by ChrisH on 29-Feb-2008 at 05:54 PM.
Last edited by ChrisH on 29-Feb-2008 at 05:53 PM.
Last edited by ChrisH on 29-Feb-2008 at 05:48 PM.

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@bison

>>Great review and pics!

Thanks, I managed to do this review in 4 days, I worked hard so it's nice people appreciate it!

>>The software compatibility is actually surprisingly good for such an early revision.

I believe that by the week end I will have another 30-40 titles tested and compatibiliy might be even greater!

>>The main problem, for me anyway, is the case.

I have designed the case already, I am just waiting to put the parts together then I'll post those on my website too, keep an eye on it.

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@ChrisH
>>For those who don't want to bother clicking through the first part of the review again:
Minimig Review Part Two

Thanks Chris for that.

>>edit: BTW, the assertion that "It looks like any SD-Card size will work with the Minimig" is likely wrong,

That is way I have used "should", I haven't been informed by ACube about SDHC support so for now I will leave it like that.


>>because SD cards large than 2GB use SDHC which is not backwards compatible (and I doubt that Minimig is designed to handle SDHC). Still 1-2GB is more than you will ever need!

That's true, even the 1GB should be enough, I have 2x1GB and I haven't filled one of them yet.


>>edit 2 & 3: I am also rather concerned that Minimig requires FAT16, limited to 8.3 filenames, with everything stored in the root directory (no folders). FAT has well-known limitations on the number of files that you can store in the root directory

Very true. This is one of the reason you might get the "This file or folder could not be created" error but I have managed to find a way around it.

>>(typically 512 files, although up to 32767 may be possible with correct formatting), so it is doubtful that you can ever fill a 1GB card. Someone REALLY needs to add folder support, and long filenames.

I am pretty sure that even if you wanted to put all of your software on 1 maybe 2GB SD-Card that would be enough.

>>edit 4: A short-cut to the list of which games do & do not work:
What works and what does not

Cheers!

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@TheDaddy

How much were the shipping costs if you dont mind me asking ?

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@JurassicC

I think 24.92 Euros (excl. VAT)...

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@bison

>>Great review and pics!

Thanks, the aim was to zoom in as much as possible to give everyone an idea of the product. Shame Itook the photos at night time but hey that's when I have a bit of spare time!

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@TheDaddy

Quote:

TheDaddy wrote: @JurassicC I think 24.92 Euros (excl. VAT)...

Just for shipping inside Italy?

Personally, I am a bit disappointed with compatibility. I knew there were some blitter bugs, but the number of "non working games" on your list is quite high.

Luckily, this might be fixed in software in the future...

@hatschi

I sent an email to order one so i will tell you port fee for Belgium. I hope it will not be too much.

I looked at the minimig1.bin file (the firmware) the file seems to be crypted.

@hatschi

>>Just for shipping inside Italy?

Personally, I am a bit disappointed with compatibility. I knew there were some blitter bugs, but the number of "non working games" on your list is quite high.

Luckily, this might be fixed in software in the future...

Hi,

The shipping was from Italy to U.K.
The list is not a definite list as different images will be tested so games that won't work for some reason might work later.

That is why I am offering to put other Minimig owners results on the site once they have emailed them to me.

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@TheDaddy

Nice review. The nice thing about FPGAs is that the hardware can be updated without requiring soldering. I'm sure that compatibility will improve over time.

BTW, how many floppy drives does this thing emulate? Someone (I forget who) mentioned the constant disk-swapping as being annoying, particularly as you know that all disks reside on the one SD-card. Assuming that games allow multiple disks to be placed in different drives, having multiple emulated floppies would make things more fun.

I'd definitely like to get one, but it's still to pricey for me, and I'd like the hardware to be prepped for AGA extensions (i.e., a 24-bit triple DAC for the video output). Maybe with revision 2.0.

Hans

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@Hans

>>Nice review.

Thank you.

The nice thing about FPGAs is that the hardware can be updated without requiring soldering. I'm sure that compatibility will improve over time.

This is good news!

>>BTW, how many floppy drives does this thing emulate? Someone (I forget who) mentioned the constant disk-swapping as being annoying, particularly as you know that all disks reside on the one SD-card. Assuming that games allow multiple disks to be placed in different drives, having multiple emulated floppies would make things more fun.

From what I can tell, I haven't been able to experiment much (I have only had it for four days), you just give the file requested by the system so for example a game like Crazy Cars III is two disks (two ADFs) so you just feed whatever the system asks for, like a real Amiga 500.

This might sound like a pain but consider that loading times are faster than the floppy "clickity-clack" disk drive so it isn't much of a problem.

The pain does arrive though when you have games like Mortal Kombat which used to drive me insane with its continuos disk swapping and spanning over a "million" disks.

I was reading somewhere, I don't remember where, that you could use whload but I have my reservations on this, even though it would make the Minimig almost perfect!

Last edited by TheDaddy on 29-Feb-2008 at 09:32 PM.

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We now have Minimig in stock now:

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=777

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@amigakit

Heya - the listing is a bit sparce - what do we get for our £115? Is it just the bare board or are you including the 1GB SD and/or a suitable PSU? I need to try and find the money so I can get this bad boy reviewed!

Thanks :)

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@TheDaddy

Quote:

TheDaddy wrote: From what I can tell, I haven't been able to experiment much (I have only had it for four days), you just give the file requested by the system so for example a game like Crazy Cars III is two disks (two ADFs) so you just feed whatever the system asks for, like a real Amiga 500.

But if it can emulate multiple floppy drives then you could put each disk into a different drive, you won't need to "swap disks." All floppy drives are connected to a single interface, so it should be possible.

Hans

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@Hans

Only DF0: is available with the minimig. Anyway it's coded like that. Perhaps is it possible to add more drive with the firmware upgrade.

The firmware seems to be crypted or scrambled (or the two) if anyone have information about it plz pm me.

@TheDaddy

I see much games in your testlist that doesnt work on the minimig. Its because of the Kickstart 1.3, 2MB Chipram or just some small incompatibility of the implementation?

We all know there are many ocs games out there who only works on certain Amiga configurations.

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@SvenHarvey

We are adding to product description.

Do you want to borrow a Minimig for a review in MicroMart?

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Why is the firmware crypted?

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@DualCrew

Encrypted? MiniMig is open-source. Just go to the project page and download the sources.

Hans

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https://keasigmadelta.com/ - More of my work.