Accelerator cards | MSX Resource Center (Pagina 2/3)

Rookie (18)

05-03-2023, 17:42

I'm really just looking to make the MSX more useful. The games are nice but I would like to connect to bbs, limited old websites, Wi-Fi, HDMI, etc. Modern improvements that would make it easier to set up and use.

The MSX at this point is just a hobby. I'm just looking to see how far you can push it.

Van BillGates

Rookie (18)

05-03-2023, 17:42

Love the Amiga bye the way. Nice new case.

Van sdsnatcher73

Enlighted (4291)

05-03-2023, 18:32

I really don’t need my MSX to be able to browse the web. Faster disk access is cool but that’s it really. Games are better on MSX already than any other platform

Van rolandve

Champion (372)

11-03-2023, 18:45

I know the person that designed the first A1200 vampire boards V2 boards and was later kicked out of team Apollo, that happened like it always goes in Amiga land. The Vampire serie completely takes over the CPU and all OS functions after loading the gfx drivers. The standard question "why would you need it, why would you do it" is a somewhat strange question because "why would you use MSX these days". The answer is because we can.

I do not know whether the cartridge poort on MSX can host another processor, otherwise you would need to put the Z80 in a socket and put the new CPU board in the Z80 socket. Ofcourse a FPGA hosts way more gates than the Z80 requires so you could implement all kind of new devices or implement old devices, like the 9938,9958, 9990 or a new one with true color. All it would take was find a register combination that hasn't been used by previous VDP's and patch the rom to use that. All in all, it can be done and I believe there is a world wide market for it, it just needs $$$ and a person willing to design it.

Van edoz

Prophet (2501)

11-03-2023, 20:00

BillGates wrote:

I'm really just looking to make the MSX more useful. The games are nice but I would like to connect to bbs, limited old websites, Wi-Fi, HDMI, etc. Modern improvements that would make it easier to set up and use.

The MSX at this point is just a hobby. I'm just looking to see how far you can push it.

I am not sure what machine you have, but most of my MSX machines are extended with a 7 Mhz kit. This makes your machine a bit faster. Not sure if you can solder yourself but i really recommend it to put it in your MSX. It is not that hard to do yourself if you can solder a little bit. RepairBas is selling those kits. I also recommend the GR8NET, not sure if it still possible to get but that piece of hardware has everything you need, like network, memory, SD card, different sound and much more. I use it lot on my MSX, especially in SymbOS. If you are nearby the Netherlands i also suggest you to visit MSX fair in Nijmegen. (It is in 2 weeks) Lot of nice MSX people there to ask!

Van BillGates

Rookie (18)

13-03-2023, 19:12

Is there a vid on the 7 Mhz kit? Some more info would be Helpful.

Van erpirao

Paragon (1334)

13-03-2023, 21:06

msx2 to msx2+, 512KB, 7mhz

Van bigral

Supporter (11)

13-03-2023, 21:24

Vampire is FPGA board that may be connected to anything including Amiga, also it's capable to deliver same result without any original Amiga hw, it's not accelerator like those boards on 68030 and 68060, I think soft emulator creates very same user experience and there is no much sence to have such "accelerator". Use mister or uae instead.

Van bigral

Supporter (11)

13-03-2023, 21:42

BillGates wrote:

I'm really just looking to make the MSX more useful. The games are nice but I would like to connect to bbs, limited old websites, Wi-Fi, HDMI, etc. Modern improvements that would make it easier to set up and use.

The MSX at this point is just a hobby. I'm just looking to see how far you can push it.

In the good old times these were accomplished with external controllers (examples: c64/atari floppy hdd options, pdp11 scsi/mfm/net adapters, serial modems...), so it's kinda wrong approach to make one msx machine run faster and break compatibility with all other not upgraded msx computers around. There are tons of 8048/8051, 8x300, gal16v8 other vintage mcus/cplds that were used in such controllers back in the times of msx, so new-old design would create real interest from community. Attaching raspberry instead absolutely wrong way, this could be used only for POC and academic projects but not for new-old retro hw.

Van rolandve

Champion (372)

14-03-2023, 08:11

bigral wrote:

Vampire is FPGA board that may be connected to anything including Amiga, also it's capable to deliver same result without any original Amiga hw, it's not accelerator like those boards on 68030 and 68060, I think soft emulator creates very same user experience and there is no much sence to have such "accelerator". Use mister or uae instead.

You're talking about the V4 which is a stand alone FPGA amiga. The first generation vampires required the amiga because they didn't include AGA support and you still needed the original machine for audio.