Atari 7800?

[NML32]

Sorgelig, do you think there is any chance you could get the Atari 7800 core running on the MiSTer? Gehstock has tried a few times to get the core to run on the MiST but so far hasn't been successful.

Github: https://github.com/Gehstock/Mist_FPGA/t ... 07800_TeST

YT video of core's current state: https://youtu.be/xzNl5wyFzXI

MiST Forum topic: http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=115&t=32589

[Sorgelig]

There are 2 different tasks:

1) write the core
2) port the core

I don't know any open source Atari 7800 core successfully running on any board. So, there is nothing for task 2. There is some project someone started long ago, but it wasn't finished. So, this task become task 1. To do the task 1, you need to be familiar with original console on hardware and software level. I know nothing about this console.

[Gehstock]

http://ece545.com/F16/reports/F15_Atari7800.pdf Link to the Sourcecode Inside

[Sorgelig]

http://ece545.com/F16/reports/F15_Atari7800.pdf Link to the Sourcecode Inside

on which board this core works?

[NML32]

http://ece545.com/F16/reports/F15_Atari7800.pdf Link to the Sourcecode Inside

on which board this core works?

Per their PDF; Our goal for this project was to implement the Atari 7800 game system on the
Zedboard FPGA platform. Specifically, we aimed to implement a fully functioning
system capable of playing any of the various game cartridges that are compatible
with the 7800 including the 2600 games for which the 7800 has backwards
compatibility.

FPGA
We used the Zedboard Zynq-7000 board. This board was selected because it had a
considerable amount of logic cells along with enough block RAM to suit the 7800’s
needs.

I could only find one YT video where they are showing Ms Pacman running on their FPGA. The video seems to stop playing midway through.
https://youtu.be/doSb5xH-Xyc

[Gehstock]

Atari 2600 Sourcecode Inside, but we have Core.
http://people.ece.cornell.edu/land/cour ... report.pdf

[Sorgelig]

All these projects are university diploma projects and more targeted to show off team ability than deliver a reliable working core.

[Gehstock]

i Know

[SmokeMonster]

Their PDF went down, so here it is attached. It's here too.

F15_Atari7800.pdf

[Gehstock]

The problem is the different versions of all files and in different languages. And I'm not sure which files belong together.

[Chol]

Atari 7800 Schematics Found in Dumpster Treasure Trove

[trashuncle]

Anybody working on this core or is there interest still? There are a few good games that are available here that are just the go to versions for me at times. (maybe nostalgia?)

Also wondering if Atari Lynx is possible on the DE10 Nano? Haven't seen much discussion on it at all.

[crocky]

From what I have read publicly, Rysha is working on it. Since it is hobby for the devs it will take as much time as it takes, good to know someone is looking at it atleast. I am looking forward to it as well

[djmartins]

From what I have read publicly, Rysha is working on it. Since it is hobby for the devs it will take as much time as it takes, good to know someone is looking at it atleast. I am looking forward to it as well

It's here:
https://github.com/Kitrinx/Atari7800_MiSTer
Core is 11 months old and doesn't run much stuff yet.
Clearly going to take a lot of time and work to get it going and we have the other Atari cores that work great right now.

There are an amazing amount of MiSTer cores out there right now when you think of it.

[redsteakraw]

It's here:
https://github.com/Kitrinx/Atari7800_MiSTer
Core is 11 months old and doesn't run much stuff yet.
Clearly going to take a lot of time and work to get it going and we have the other Atari cores that work great right now.

There are an amazing amount of MiSTer cores out there right now when you think of it.

I wouldn't say the 2600 core works great, it really is spotty for game support over HDMI at least some games just won't display anything. I am hopeful that the 7800 core / new 2600 core might fix that. I am just glad something at least is there, and that people care about the 7800. I would say it is Atari's second best console and hardly anyone knew or cared about it. It has some of the best arcade ports and is a classic arcade lovers dream of a console.

[DrOG]

...
I wouldn't say the 2600 core works great, it really is spotty for game support over HDMI at least some games just won't display anything...

In case of 2600/VCS console the properties of the video output (resolution, refresh rate) are determined by the ROM you use, so depends on the software instead of hardware. I think it's not an issue of the core if a particular game uses non-standard parameters and your display can't handle it properly. See details here:
http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.ph ... 50#p366826

[SegaSnatcher]

Thats the great thing about this potential 7800 core Rysha is working on, its also going to make the 2600 core better too since she plans on doing a total rewrite of the TIA chip. This core will be very appreciated.

[Lightwave]

...
I wouldn't say the 2600 core works great, it really is spotty for game support over HDMI at least some games just won't display anything...

In case of 2600/VCS console the properties of the video output (resolution, refresh rate) are determined by the ROM you use, so depends on the software instead of hardware. I think it's not an issue of the core if a particular game uses non-standard parameters and your display can't handle it properly. See details here:
http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.ph ... 50#p366826

When bog standard titles like Space Invaders, Asteroids, Centipede, Haunted House, etc. are not working properly, then something is wrong with the core. These titles all work perfectly on real 2600 hardware via LCD or CRT.

[crocky]

When bog standard titles like Space Invaders, Asteroids, Centipede, Haunted House, etc. are not working properly, then something is wrong with the core. These titles all work perfectly on real 2600 hardware via LCD or CRT.

These games all run on the core from what I tried just now, are you talking about anything specific?

[Lightwave]

These games all run on the core from what I tried just now, are you talking about anything specific?

Asteroids F8 Yes Flawed 5/9/2019 Start & Select fails to register. Try loading Ms. Pac-Man first then Asteroids.
Centipede F8 Yes Flawed Game works, but title screen is messed up
Haunted House 4K Yes Unplayable 5/24/2019 Character and Playfield do not line up. Character stuck on left sidee of screen.
Space Invaders F8 No Unplayable 5/30/2019 (There are 2 versions of this game, the other is playable)

These are just a small sampling from this compatibility list:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

[NML32]

I’ve had pretty good luck starting Atari 2600 games where the start and select buttons are unresponsive by rapidly button mashing the DPad, start, and select buttons.

[Lightwave]

I’ve had pretty good luck starting Atari 2600 games where the start and select buttons are unresponsive by rapidly button mashing the DPad, start, and select buttons.

Good tip, but ideally it would just work properly and we wouldn't need workarounds

Thanks for maintaining the compatibility list by the way! Nice to see the 2600 getting some love from someone, and I'm sure it will help kintrix if indeed work on an updated core is underway.