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FPGASID Support Thread (english)

  • What does it mean when the 3 voice LEDs are just blinking, seemingly independently, slightly faster than 1Hz.

    I've got a 1MHz clock on pin 6. I've tied R/W to ground as I'm only writing to registers 0-0x18.

    Audio output sits at a steady +5VDC. EXT In and Pot-pins are floating. Cap-pins are floating.

    I'm getting /CS pulses that SEEM right (don't have a logic analyzer with a wide-enough bus to check everything at once).

    Will check /CS against address pins, but I can't find any explanation to the LED blink behavior, at least not in English ;)

  • That should be the "heartbeat" signalling. You can configure the LED behaviour in CONFIGURU,

    provided it's the latest version of the F/W as well as of the tool itself.

  • Ok so it's normal, thanks. Thought it was some error message :P

    I got it working now. Of course it was a bug in my shitty code :)

    Also, I noticed the LEDs somehow change to voice gate indication once the song starts playing.

    It's embarrassing how bad the timing is though, even if it's being triggered by an interrupt in the Arduino.

    Probably due to some other issues with my code, but at least I know the schematics and hardware is working now :)

    Thanks!

  • In the game "Montezuma's Revenge" the sound of the player's walking across the screen gets distorted after picking up the key on the first screen. Picking up the key plays a little tune, after that the walking sound is distorted. This only applies when the FPGASID is in 8580-mode. (Firmware revision 0A)
    Is this a known issue?

  • Hi everyone!


    My endgame would be to run the FPGASID on my Ultimate64 Elite, but the U64E does not recognize the chip in any way,

    not with ConfiGuru or anything. I've had the FPGASID for a while, but the pandemic has set me back quite a bit with fun things...


    To see if it works at all, I pulled out the functioning SID off my C64 (ASSY 250407) and had to use two extra sockets

    as a riser for the FPGASID to fit, as I did not want to risk breaking the components standing in the way.


    This works a bit better, in that siddetector.prg tells me I have an FPGASID 6581 on a PAL machine, although confusingly

    it does tell me I have Stereo SID with another sid at $DE60.


    I'm thinking that may be related to the Ultimate-II+ I'm using to load it, though I did disable the SID capabilities of

    the Ultimate wherever I could find them! Any hints?


    No sound, however is heard. I have the FPGASID on "Heart and Voice", so I can tell the LEDs are working, at least,

    and blink in what should be the rhythm of whatever song I'm trying to play.


    I've tried disconnecting the Ultimate and typing in a BASIC program that should go beep, but no sound was heard

    then either. The PSU is a pretty recent purchase from c64psu.com, so I should not have power issues from there

    either. And it should be hefty enough to run the Ultimate cartridge, right?


    It should also be said the original 6581 works perfectly with the riser approach and my current cable and monitor!


    Is there anything I can do to measure if there are issues with my chip or setup in general? I suppose the probability

    of it being DOA is pretty low and I'd like to avoid finding out what the warranty period is only to learn it's expired ;)


    Thanks for any and all help, and please ask me questions if I can give any more information, and thanks for

    making a really cool SID chip!

  • Thanks for any and all help, and please ask me questions if I can give any more information, and thanks for

    making a really cool SID chip!

    It might help to export your U64 Elite settings (while FPGASID is placed into one of the sockets) and post them here. There might be a chance that some configuration is wrong.

  • For some reason siddetector sometimes get a false positive when it searches for a second SID. If you run program twice it does not detect a second chip.

    The method used for detecting FPGASID in siddetector and in U64 is the same.


    You can set a magic number for D419 og D41A which basically what the configuru program does.


    C64 Customs has done a couple of video with FPGASID and even built an adaptor so you can use 4 SIDs in U64.

  • It might help to export your U64 Elite settings (while FPGASID is placed into one of the sockets) and post them here. There might be a chance that some configuration is wrong.

    I will do that when I have the U64E at hand; right now I'm bound to testing if the chip even works on the breadbox.


    I didn't know there was a place to post settings and ask, so thank you for letting me know :)

  • For some reason siddetector sometimes get a false positive when it searches for a second SID. If you run program twice it does not detect a second chip.

    The method used for detecting FPGASID in siddetector and in U64 is the same.

    Yeah, that is the reason I downloaded it, when I came across it on trying to find something about the U64E and FPGASID not working.


    If I run it multiple times, it can actually find a bunch of second SIDs; $DE40, $DEA0, $DEC0, it's random.

    You can set a magic number for D419 og D41A which basically what the configuru program does.


    C64 Customs has done a couple of video with FPGASID and even built an adaptor so you can use 4 SIDs in U64.

    Where can I set the magic number? Should it make the FPGASID actually play sound on the breadbox?


    I've seen some C64 Customs' videos, really cool stuff! I'll keep that mind in the future once I know the FPGASID isn't kaputt and

    get it going on the U64E. First things first.


    Thanks!

  • It might help to export your U64 Elite settings (while FPGASID is placed into one of the sockets) and post them here. There might be a chance that some configuration is wrong.

    I have done this now, please see the attachment.


    There are some things I now came to think of to say, as I opened the case on the U64E:

    • It's Version 1.4a, with ZIF sockets
    • Its firmware had to be upgraded way back when I first tried this, it went bonkers otherwise (But after the firmware upgrade, nothing was found, at all.)
    • My regular 6581 works like a charm in the U64E and sounds amazing!
    • Because of the size of the FPGASID and the placement of the ZIF lever and the LED socket, I might have inserted the chip originally the wrong way (edit1: and only in socket two, because I had no riser hack)

    When I was little, I was told inserting chips the wrong way will burn them, but now because the FPGASID is detected and its LEDs

    work fine, is a failure mode possible where it otherwise "works" but no sound is heard?


    I'm thinking if the weirdness I saw in the UI could have been a problem with the electronics and not necessarily the U64E's firmware, but that's a guess.


    Looking at the SID pinout, I'd think it would be a catastrophe if it was inserted the wrong way around, which I'm not willing to try with my regular 6581.

    Secondary voltage and ground would be crossed and main voltage driven into one of the address lines, right?


    Could that cause the chip to be visible but no sound coming out?


    Edit2: I just realized the LED strip is also dead when using the FPGASID. The only thing blinking is the chip itself. Disabling the socket altogether plays sound (built-in UltiSID or whatever it is) and flashes the strip. The kind of thing that stares you so hard in the face you miss it. Is this a clue?


    Thanks!

  • Vol Socket 1= 0 dB

    Vol Socket 2= 0 dB


    right.


    SID Socket 1=Enabled

    SID Detected Socket 1=FPGASID


    looks ok.


    SID Socket 1 Address=$D400

    SID Socket 2 Address=Unmapped

    UltiSID 1 Address=Unmapped

    UltiSID 2 Address=Unmapped

    UltiSID Range Split=Off

    Paddle Override=Disabled

    Auto Address Mirroring=Enabled


    should work.


    Ext DualSID Range Split=Off


    Is ok unless you need dual sid.





    SID1: Enabled Voices=All


    Fine. That's the setting usually not mentioned in check lists.



    And no, if you would have placed the FPGASID in the wrong direction into its socket, adress bus + data bus would not work. And therefore FPGASID detection would not work at all.

  • Yes, there is a possibility that some hardware is damaged. If the U64 works with some other SID (excl. the emulated ones), the U64 shoudl be ok. So the FPGASID is might be damaged... we have excluded the other possibilites.

  • Edit2: I just realized the LED strip is also dead when using the FPGASID. The only thing blinking is the chip itself. Disabling the socket altogether plays sound (built-in UltiSID or whatever it is) and flashes the strip. The kind of thing that stares you so hard in the face you miss it. Is this a clue?

    That's natutal. The Leds react to the sound. And if there is none...

  • mjtorn

    The LED-strip is bound to the internal UltiSID, it won't work with any SID in the sockets. ;)

    If you want to have the LEDs flashing, you need to enable the UltiSID and set it to mute.


    Do you have an other C64 that you could use as verification test? Insert the FPGASID into that C64 just as it is configured right now.

    It should play the SID sound right away, without the need to attach any wiring or further configuration!

    If it doesn't, I would probably guess that there is a hardware issue because of inserting it the wrong way first. :(

    In that case maybe andi6510 has a hint what could be damaged and if it is repairable at all.


    Where are you coming from? If you are round the corner DE/NL/BE area I would offer you to get your gear to my place and we sort it out together. ;)

  • C64 Customs has done a couple of video with FPGASID and even built an adaptor so you can use 4 SIDs in U64.

    You do not necessarily need the adapter from dukestah to use 2 FPGASID in an U64. With a few raiser sockets it also fits to the U64, as I already showed in the Tuneful Eight Demo. ;) But it indeed makes it a bit easier with the wiring. :D

  • Hi all and thank you for your replies!


    I think it's best I cherry-pick some in one message instead of flooding the forum, because there was so much good in here it made my morning :)

    I might have inserted the chip originally the wrong way

    Why did you wait till now to tell us?

    Because I didn't realize it until yesterday.


    The ZIF levers and all encourage inserting the FPGASID, with its slight notch, a particular way, so that's what I did. I built the U64E in something of a hurry - which I've always known to be a bad idea, but the setup all-in-all was very quick and straightforward otherwise - so I dropped the ball.


    Yesterday I double-triple-checked for using my real 6581, went "oh...", and learned it is possible to get the FPGASID-on-risers in by having the ZIF open just enough that no force is required to insert it, but it doesn't fall in place by itself either.


    Yes, there is a possibility that some hardware is damaged. If the U64 works with some other SID (excl. the emulated ones), the U64 shoudl be ok. So the FPGASID is might be damaged... we have excluded the other possibilites.

    Yeah, ConfiGuru and the U64E config tools are straight-forward enough, so I never really suspected this to be a config error.


    Such a scenario would also imply bugs that would have been caught and fixed; supporting my new theory that the U64E behaving weird with its original firmware may have been an electronic issue.


    The LED-strip is bound to the internal UltiSID, it won't work with any SID in the sockets. ;)

    If you want to have the LEDs flashing, you need to enable the UltiSID and set it to mute.


    That's fair, a good compromise. Gotta have all the bling possible on a U64E, amirite? :D


    Do you have an other C64 that you could use as verification test? Insert the FPGASID into that C64 just as it is configured right now.

    It should play the SID sound right away, without the need to attach any wiring or further configuration!

    If it doesn't, I would probably guess that there is a hardware issue because of inserting it the wrong way first. :(

    In that case maybe andi6510 has a hint what could be damaged and if it is repairable at all.

    I did use another C64, and that's where I got worried, because the chip was found (wasn't on the U64E probably because of the many-times-mentioned mistake), but no sound was found. Took some acrobatics with the ASSY 250407 mobo layout, and needed two sockets as a riser, but it got the job done and helped out with the U64E as well.

    Where are you coming from? If you are round the corner DE/NL/BE area I would offer you to get your gear to my place and we sort it out together. ;)

    Vielen Dank / Dank u zeer! I would love to hang out in NL, especially if there's a good band at the 013 in Tilburg, but sadly I'm stuck in FI for the time being :(


    So last but not least:

    And no, if you would have placed the FPGASID in the wrong direction into its socket, adress bus + data bus would not work. And therefore FPGASID detection would not work at all.

    This is the most confusing part for me, because the detection works. It doesn't seem to be low on volume, because 0dB usually is not mute ;) But I did mess with the volume in ConfiGuru and such, so... the original question pretty much remains...


    If all the config checks out and the chip should be completely burnt, why is it detected but not outputting audio?


    Maybe andi6510 has some clues I could use with a multimeter? Or something? Though I might maybe order a new FPGASID just in case.


    (I have a busted C64C, and I'm thinking I'd use it to teach me more about this stuff, maybe get it working, install a LumaFix64 and all on it, so if I suddenly have two working FPGASIDs, I might "modernize" the sound on it and flip the 8580 or have two FPGASIDs in the U64E, or anything; there are only possibilities here! And the cost of it is like the Finnish expression of "Oppirahat on maksettava", you have to pay what it takes to learn.)


    Thanks again everyone for every reply!

  • So last but not least:

    This is the most confusing part for me, because the detection works. It doesn't seem to be low on volume, because 0dB usually is not mute ;) But I did mess with the volume in ConfiGuru and such, so... the original question pretty much remains...

    Markus is referring to the situation in which the FPGASID was inserted the wrong way. In that case the detection can't work because of the mentioned reasons. ;)

    If you put it the right way the detection off course will work. But the detection part is different to the amplifier hardware part of THE FPGASID, so it is possible the FPGASID is detected fine, but doesn't play a note.


    What I do not quite understand is: When you placed the FPGASID in your real C64, did it play any sound? If yes the FPGASID seems to be fine, if no I would say it's amplifying part might be broken.

  • Markus is referring to the situation in which the FPGASID was inserted the wrong way. In that case the detection can't work because of the mentioned reasons. ;)

    If you put it the right way the detection off course will work. But the detection part is different to the amplifier hardware part of THE FPGASID, so it is possible the FPGASID is detected fine, but doesn't play a note.

    Yes of course it cannot be detected if it's the wrong way, this is obvious ;)


    By what little I know of chips, I'd think it's completely kaputtgeworden if it goes in once the wrong way, but maybe FPGAs are a bit more resilient and don't entirely burn.

    What I do not quite understand is: When you placed the FPGASID in your real C64, did it play any sound? If yes the FPGASID seems to be fine, if no I would say it's amplifying part might be broken.

    It did not.


    I'm sorry if that didn't come through in the original post, but that's what got me scared. It makes no sound on either C64 or U64E; only the LEDs on it are flashing.


    Maybe it burnt out only the sound-generating parts of the chip? :/