I/O Board

[Sorgelig]

Is there any possible harm in installing all pins for P7, since pins 3,9,10 are not connected according to schematics I'm assuming there is no harm.
Idea is just to have more pins on P7 and better guidance when inserting board to DE10-nano.

No harm, you can install all pins. Rest pins aren't connected.

Second question is related to P2, what would happen if pin is installed without HW modification, feature simply would'n work or there are possible complications.

Nothing will happen, corresponding pin on de10-nano isn't connected.

[gljubojevic]

Sorgelig thank you for answer, also thank you for great work you did and still doing on mister

[peepsalot]

I'd like to connect my Nintendo Zapper to my MiSTer. I've got all the necessary components to make it work; level shifters, usb3-cable and a nes-connector and the Zapper.

I found the pinout of the nes-connector:

On the I/O-board user port there are the following signals present:
RX
TX
RTS
CTS
DTR
DSR

Does anybody know what signals to connect to the nes-connector, via level-shifters, for the zapper to work?

I have essentially the same question, although I mostly just want to know the pins used for standard NES controller. I'm interested in "mistreating" this native interface because I would like test if TAS input recordings can be played back successfully on MiSTer (much like TASBot for example). This means in place of controller I will have a microcontroller sending pre-recorded inputs in-sync with the latch/clock signals.

I'm doing this mostly for fun, but I think it could be interesting and useful as testing/proof of whether MiSTer cores are perfectly cycle accurate etc. Is this likely to work and exhibit the same controller timing signals as an original NES? I plan to test my "replay device" on the original hardware too. And if things work out I can try implementing replay devices for any other SNAC-compatible cores.

I have looked at the schematics for I/O board, but are schematics for the SNAC adapter board open source/available anywhere? It would be great help to have some more documentation on this specific feature.

[peepsalot]

Just to clarify my above post, I don't have an I/O board, but this thread seemed like the appropriate place to look/ask about the "User port"/SNAC.
For the I/O board part of it, I have no problem looking at the available schematic and bread-boarding the needed resistors, caps etc which are part of that.

But I also don't have the SNAC interface board+HDMI adapter cable, so I can't trace which pins go where on those without a schematic.

I'm just trying to create a standalone minimal circuit to interface a NES controller directly with the DE10-nano.

[paulbnl]

I traced these with a multimeter:
RX: Latch
TX: Clock
RTS: Zapper light sensor
DTR Zapper trigger
DSR: Serial

[peepsalot]

Very helpful paulbnl! Thank you for tracing those out.

[basti81]

Hi there,

last week i finally decided to order my De-10-nano and am currently waiting for the SDRAM expansion to arrive. The Mister project ist truly amazing (huge thanks to all the people who made this possible). Although i won't get an i/o board, i still want to use three external buttons and a power LED (planning on using an old NES case i have lying around). I'm not very deep into electronics but from what i understand there was a pull-up resistor to pin 17 on revision 5.6 of the i/o board (reset switch). Can someone explain to me, why the other two switches (OSD and user) didn't need a pull-up resistor and why revision 6.0 of the i/o board can completely do without any pull-up resistor at all?
My second question is about the power LED on the i/o board: what is the reason behind connecting the power LED to Pin 5 and not to pin 29 (3.3V) and 30 (GND)? Is the power LED controlled by the various cores and is only lit when a core is active?

Thanks in advance

[KillaMaaki]

So I recently got my hands on a DE10-Nano to try my hand at custom core dev for MiSTer, but now I've got the idea in my head that I'd love to make a case mod for this thing. The idea would be to make a case resembling a more traditional console, but to do that I think I may want to break out some of the IO connections for my own purposes (for example: custom case LEDs that don't necessarily align directly with the IO daughter board's LEDs for example). But I seem to be having a tough time figuring out what GPIO pins are for what.

Is there any documentation on how MiSTer assigns the GPIO & Arduino headers on this board I can skim through?

[BigMac740p]

So I recently got my hands on a DE10-Nano to try my hand at custom core dev for MiSTer, but now I've got the idea in my head that I'd love to make a case mod for this thing. The idea would be to make a case resembling a more traditional console, but to do that I think I may want to break out some of the IO connections for my own purposes (for example: custom case LEDs that don't necessarily align directly with the IO daughter board's LEDs for example). But I seem to be having a tough time figuring out what GPIO pins are for what.

Is there any documentation on how MiSTer assigns the GPIO & Arduino headers on this board I can skim through?

The easiest way is to use the IO Board where they already have power, leds and boutons connectors for what you need. If you want to bypass the IO Board, you can always reverse engineered the schematics:

https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Hardwar ... rd_6.0.pdf

[BigMac740p]

Hi there,

last week i finally decided to order my De-10-nano and am currently waiting for the SDRAM expansion to arrive. The Mister project ist truly amazing (huge thanks to all the people who made this possible). Although i won't get an i/o board, i still want to use three external buttons and a power LED (planning on using an old NES case i have lying around). I'm not very deep into electronics but from what i understand there was a pull-up resistor to pin 17 on revision 5.6 of the i/o board (reset switch). Can someone explain to me, why the other two switches (OSD and user) didn't need a pull-up resistor and why revision 6.0 of the i/o board can completely do without any pull-up resistor at all?
My second question is about the power LED on the i/o board: what is the reason behind connecting the power LED to Pin 5 and not to pin 29 (3.3V) and 30 (GND)? Is the power LED controlled by the various cores and is only lit when a core is active?

Thanks in advance

According to Rev 6 of the schematics, all 3 buttons are connected directly from Pin 13, 15 and 17 and short the ground when pressed, there is no needs for pull-up resistor here. For the leds, you always needs a resistor to limit the current, pin 1, 3 and 5 are powering the leds but I don't know if anything is controlling the power LED beside being always on.

[KillaMaaki]

The easiest way is to use the IO Board where they already have power, leds and boutons connectors for what you need. If you want to bypass the IO Board, you can always reverse engineered the schematics:

https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Hardwar ... rd_6.0.pdf

One idea I had that I would love to attempt would be to mount a vertical SD card pcb to the case made to look like a "cartridge slot" of sorts. I can probably just use an SD extension ribbon cable for that, and I guess everything else can just use those connectors on the IO board. Alright, time to get designing I guess...

[BigMac740p]

The easiest way is to use the IO Board where they already have power, leds and boutons connectors for what you need. If you want to bypass the IO Board, you can always reverse engineered the schematics:

https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Hardwar ... rd_6.0.pdf

One idea I had that I would love to attempt would be to mount a vertical SD card pcb to the case made to look like a "cartridge slot" of sorts. I can probably just use an SD extension ribbon cable for that, and I guess everything else can just use those connectors on the IO board. Alright, time to get designing I guess...

If Playstation core ever comes to be, I was thinking of something like that:

[KillaMaaki]

If Playstation core ever comes to be, I was thinking of something like that:

Hard drive as a big ol' cartridge eh? Hahaha. I love it.

[Lodovic]

I’ve just replaced my combo io board for a v6.0 version because I also updated to 128MB SDRAM. I’m not totally sure about it but it seems that my Noctua fan is running quieter than before. I also noticed a jumper next to the fan power connector: is it a fan voltage selector? I haven’t found any description of the board functionality anywhere. The Wiki doesn’t have much info on this. Is there a chart describing the v6 io board functionality?

[solderchicken]

Hi all!

I'm compiling my BOM for the v6 IO board but am struggling to find the 3 pim right angle fan connector in stock in the uk.

Can I solder the fan directly to the board?

Or maybe use these right angle header pins instead?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-to-40-Way- ... eDl7ErIjFg

Thank you gsargent70 for your BOM.

Cheers

[kublai]

I’ve just replaced my combo io board for a v6.0 version because I also updated to 128MB SDRAM. I’m not totally sure about it but it seems that my Noctua fan is running quieter than before. I also noticed a jumper next to the fan power connector: is it a fan voltage selector? I haven’t found any description of the board functionality anywhere. The Wiki doesn’t have much info on this. Is there a chart describing the v6 io board functionality?

I believe from reading is that there are 12V and 5V fans available so I believe you can use a 12V or 5V fan on this version with the jumper.

[Nat]

I’ve just replaced my combo io board for a v6.0 version because I also updated to 128MB SDRAM. I’m not totally sure about it but it seems that my Noctua fan is running quieter than before. I also noticed a jumper next to the fan power connector: is it a fan voltage selector? I haven’t found any description of the board functionality anywhere. The Wiki doesn’t have much info on this. Is there a chart describing the v6 io board functionality?

See the full schematics here for the IO v6.0 board:

https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Hardwar ... rd_6.0.pdf

It's a 3.3 volt or 5 volt fan power jumper selector.

[Lodovic]

https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Hardwar ... rd_6.0.pdf

It's a 3.3 volt or 5 volt fan power jumper selector.

Thanks. I've now set it back to 5V and it's back to normal.

[Peredonov]

Just noticed the details on the digital I/O board posted in the update topic. Very interesting.

Sounds like the future will be to have all analogue output via HDMI, which is smart. Only problem is that some core devs that are not actively working on cores anymore may need to be contacted since there seem to be some cores that don't actually output analogue the same way via HDMI as they do via VGA.

I thought a revision of the I/O board could be used as an opportunity to integrate an RTC, but since it's better to keep the MiSTer online always due to frequent updates anyway I guess it's not important enough.

This is mostly cosmetic, but I think it would be great if the standard for new I/O boards were to use the same type of small LED indicators used on the DE-10 Nano board, rather than those little bulbs currently used. The LEDs used on the Nano look more professional, and it's also nice when they all match.

[Sorgelig]

I thought a revision of the I/O board could be used as an opportunity to integrate an RTC, but since it's better to keep the MiSTer online always due to frequent updates anyway I guess it's not important enough.

i don't see a reason why it should be integrated. Modular structure is more universal, so you can combine the boards you need. And since it's primarily DIY project, it's supposed that people make the boards one by one depending on needs. Connector for RTC is on different height, there is no connector you can use on I/O board which will be high enough to be inserted. So you have to make some ugly conversion connector like some "professional" board used

This is mostly cosmetic, but I think it would be great if the standard for new I/O boards were to use the same type of small LED indicators used on the DE-10 Nano board, rather than those little bulbs currently used. The LEDs used on the Nano look more professional, and it's also nice when they all match.

You can solder 0805 LEDs to the same places if you want. They perfectly fit there. Just don't complain you don't see them behind the buttons or FAN.
Different LEDs for different purposes.

[Peredonov]

Connector for RTC is on different height, there is no connector you can use on I/O board which will be high enough to be inserted. So you have to make some ugly conversion connector like some "professional" board used

I know the board you're talking about and while it doesn't seem like an issue to me I agree that the modular structure is overall better.

You can solder 0805 LEDs to the same places if you want. They perfectly fit there. Just don't complain you don't see them behind the buttons or FAN.
Different LEDs for different purposes.

True. I guess the board could have been redesigned to use a smaller fan and smaller buttons, but those would be bigger changes that would be incompatible with current cases or 3D printed material people have. Those 0805 LEDs do produce a lot of light though so they may not get blocked as much even with the current buttons and 40mm fans. But you're right that the purpose is different, and the bigger ones may be better to pass light up when using cases. Would have to try to see for sure.

[glaucon1984]

Will the 6.1 I/O board be compatible with current cases?
(I know the files are in Github but I don't even know what software is supposed to open them)

[Sorgelig]

Will the 6.1 I/O board be compatible with current cases?
(I know the files are in Github but I don't even know what software is supposed to open them)

Yes. There are no changes in mechanics.

[SegaSnatcher]

I was hoping you would consider a board without the VGA port and such to open up more GPIO pins, especially with analog out from HDMI port has been added. The fact it also has a power switch makes it even better. I am definitely upgrading from my I/O 5.6 board to this new digital board.

Sorg, I was just curious to know the story about this new digital I/O board. What convinced you to make this version of the I/O board? What cool possibilities can you see with those extra 40 pins available?

My only worry is the power switch choice. I almost feel a power switch that is going to be used a lot should be a bit more heavy duty. Someone said that kind of switch supports up to 100Ma only.

Thank You

[sajattack]

It appears the switch is only rated for 100mA? https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/ ... ND/1981434