Would This be possible?

If you want to use new software on your MSX machine nowadays, it almost looks like you need the following:
MSX2+
MSXDOS2
7 MHz upgrade
Memory Upgrade
FMPAC
SCC
MOONBLASTER
Music Module
IDE/SCSI interface + HDD
Preferably GFXblaster thingy
(Am I missing something?)

Looking into the future we're going to have a brand new BIOS, Ethernet adapter etc.

When looking at the current techniques for making hardware smaller, would it (1) be possible to create a new (smaller) mainboard and (2) integrate all the current exciting external Hardware onto one mainboard?

We've seen the 7 MHz upgrade, memory upgrade and the MSXDOS2 getting internal, but what about the rest?
In the past there were people modifying their MSX into a PC case and upgrading their boards by using upgrade sets.
Are these upgrade sets still available?
Has it already been tried to integrate external hardware into a new board?

What would be possible and what not?

Cheers,

Q

for mass productions?

i think than lack chips stocks. like v9990..

Anyway, for than that get customers, need be sold at a low price. So, only is possible if you integrate several chips in one.... Is very easy do a ay38910 but is very hard do a v9958 or v9990. And need a lot of develop time, so need a team of hardware gurues. And need overall all that all are screaming "MORE SPEED"!!!!!.

CIEL3++

I wish it was possible to order R800 CPU's. The thing really kicks ass and with a little cooling can be overclocked to kick even more ass. Imagine what getting it up to 10MHz instead of 7MHz would do for a 'real' MSX. Add enough heat sinks and who knows how far you'd be able to overclock that little sucker... Ofcourse you'd need a VDP to go with it. Well, and the rest of the computer... Add a V9990 and I guess you've got a nice basic setup. Ofcourse you'd need to design the whole thing from scratch... And write a BIOS, and a BASIC interpreter... I guess if you were to make a 'turbo mode' computer you could scrap some old MSX2's for parts. Well, maybe we could scrap Atari's for the PSG. Why waste an MSX if you can waste an Atari... Ah well, we can at least dream about our R800/V9990/OPL4 MSX3. Would make a nice basic setup tho... But where do you get the V9958's you'll need. Well, and the gazillion other things you need. Any hardware freak know if it's possible to 'emulate' the engine with some kind of hardware?

imho The onechip MSX come very close to the idea's, described in this topic.
All what not can be programmed in the FPGA can be implement on the PCB.
and many chips have clones or using the same instructionset.
Design the PCB with the dimensions that it can be fit in a standard pc case and we have place for the drives, cdromdrive, I like to see 2 free slots in the front of the case.

Quote:

I wish it was possible to order R800 CPU's. The thing really kicks ass and with a little cooling can be overclocked to kick even more ass. Imagine what getting it up to 10MHz instead of 7MHz would do for a 'real' MSX. Add enough heat sinks and who knows how far you'd be able to overclock that little sucker...

Imagine a R800 produced using 130nm techniques
And don't forget, R800 already has an integrated north-bridge!

Any hardware guru's still alive?
What would be possible to intergrate excisting hardware on excisting mainboards (in a sence that you don't need a external slot expansion)?
For example, the 8250 has 'plenty' of room left in the casing...
btw, I've been out of the scene for a long time, what is ment by CIEL3++?
<edit>
never mind...
I just found out, and looks impressive, but what about the ACE001
(www.carchano.com.br/portal/ace001.asp?codigo_produto=7&pagina=ace001.asp&nome=ACE001 + Placa Audio/Video&preco=R$ 543,00&texto=#placas)

My Portuguese aint that good, anyone with a English translation?

Are there also private hardware project running in Japan?
(I just wondered, since almost all the projects you see around are not from Japan?)

Perhaps a nice Idea for this site? What about a link / description of current and finished hardware projects? (Nicely translated into English )
</edit>

I have to say the mainboard does look very impressive/professional. It's just too bad they don't have a R800 version. (or do they?) Most people don't realize it, but 20MHz Z80 is still gonna be a bit slower than a standard R800. I want my R800!!! Anyone know if it's possible to overclock the VDP?

Sonic, a Z80 running at 10MHz indeed hits the maximum of the MSX-Engine (in normal MSX2/2+s, that is). But such an upgrade is already possible, right? (though not common). You can't use the Z80H ofcourse, it only reaches 8MHz, but there are newer models of the Z80 which can be faster...

~Grauw "wants 10mhz instead of 7mhz "

Quote:

Sonic, a Z80 running at 10MHz indeed hits the maximum of the MSX-Engine (in normal MSX2/2+s, that is). But such an upgrade is already possible, right? (though not common). You can't use the Z80H ofcourse, it only reaches 8MHz, but there are newer models of the Z80 which can be faster... ~Grauw "wants 10mhz instead of 7mhz "

Maybe a clock-doubler (is this english? ) so you can use the Z80 at max speed (20 Mhz).

Actually, I want my R800!!! The thing just rules, well, with all things in perspective. You think you can just order those? For me to be interrested at all in a Z80 it would have to be at least 40MHz. And in that case I guess you could just as well put a fat heatsink on your R800 and clock it up to 10MHz. But hey... I guess we won't be finding any fresh R800's for our next generation MSX mainboard

R800 wasn't only used in turboR machines, so there must be some stock somewhere..

R800 can handle 10MHz (40 MHz xtal), but will get hot, so a heatsink wouldn't be a bad idea.
The VDP can't handle that speed though, it works up to a 32 MHz xtal (8MHz R800 clock).

Ofcourse the FPGA technology has advanced far enough to be able to replace any MSX circuit with a faster one, which is what e.g. ESE Artists Factory is doing. They're going for an all-in-one solution, but there's a brazilian team doing real replacement parts in FPGA.

The whole trick in this matter is to keep compatibility high.
The turboR was designed to be able to scale up in CPU speed, with all timing done with the E6h timer in stead of timing with CPU instructions. So that's not really a problem.

What else used the R800???

IIRC, toshiba (R800 manufacturer) laser printers.
It's rumoured to have been used in Toshiba medical equipment too, but that's unconfirmed

But back to the main topic.. What would be possible to build-in internaly with the current external hardware? I mean, wouldn't it be sweat to have the IDE controller inside, just like the music module?