Duffman wrote on 2024-06-10, 10:47:

@eivind

Does the VortexEX have a HOLD or STPCLK pin implemented?

Not that I'm aware of, no.

I looked through the documentation.

https://www.86duino.com/wp-content/uploads/20 … V14_86duino.pdf

Couldn't find anything so far but the pin might have a different name.

Eivind wrote on 2024-06-10, 07:48:

Switching between different frequencies - unfortunately you can't do that on the fly. The Vortex86EX sets the frequency as part of the bootstrap process by reading a few "magic bytes" from the ROM, same as how it configures its pinout by reading the "crossbar" data.

Earlier Vortex86s (up till maybe the DX2?) had the ability to change the clock frequency via a PCI register.

The DX3 got rid of that but it has an MSR that allows the clock speed to be changed.

I wonder if the EX has something similar.

Alright, this (changing the frequency) looks too complex then. I will aim to show the frequency for now and not bother with Turbo then.

I ran into a situation last night that's rendered my system unusable. It was working fine, but I changed the CPU speed in the BIOS from 300 MHz to 400 MHz. Now, my keyboard (attached to one of the white USB ports) is not functional. I can't hit F1 to enter the BIOS. The system hangs at this point. Is there a way to reset the BIOS back to default settings without the use of a keyboard?

exoshell wrote on 2024-06-11, 15:52:

I ran into a situation last night that's rendered my system unusable. It was working fine, but I changed the CPU speed in the BIOS from 300 MHz to 400 MHz. Now, my keyboard (attached to one of the white USB ports) is not functional. I can't hit F1 to enter the BIOS. The system hangs at this point. Is there a way to reset the BIOS back to default settings without the use of a keyboard?

I usually unplug the power supply, take the CMOS battery out and use the battery to cross the contacts, I'd be interested to hear how others do it. If you look on DM&P's website they say that 400mhz needs a heatsink and 500mhz needs a heatsink and fan.

Thanks!

Dothan Burger wrote on 2024-06-11, 16:11:

I usually unplug the power supply, take the CMOS battery out and use the battery to cross the contacts, I'd be interested to hear how others do it. If you look on DM&P's website they say that 400mhz needs a heatsink and 500mhz needs a heatsink and fan.

Sadly, this did not work. I’ve tried this multiple times without success.

exoshell wrote on 2024-06-12, 16:31:

Dothan Burger wrote on 2024-06-11, 16:11:

I usually unplug the power supply, take the CMOS battery out and use the battery to cross the contacts, I'd be interested to hear how others do it. If you look on DM&P's website they say that 400mhz needs a heatsink and 500mhz needs a heatsink and fan.

Sadly, this did not work. I’ve tried this multiple times without success.

The BIOS settings are stored in the SOM's ROM, not in battery-backed volatile memory. Removing the battery won't reset anything other than the date.
It sounds very strange to me that an overclock of 400 MHz would freeze the system. You're saying the board powers up, shows the startup screen and then stops? Maybe you could post a photo?

Eivind wrote on 2024-06-12, 17:09:

The BIOS settings are stored in the SOM's ROM, not in battery-backed volatile memory. Removing the battery won't reset anything other than the date.
It sounds very strange to me that an overclock of 400 MHz would freeze the system. You're saying the board powers up, shows the startup screen and then stops? Maybe you could post a photo?

The attached image is what I end up with. It won’t boot off any media including the virtual floppy. I also noticed the ESP module’s light only flashes briefly when the system is powered on then stays off. It was running fine until bumped the frequency to 400 MHz.

exoshell wrote on 2024-06-12, 17:41:

Eivind wrote on 2024-06-12, 17:09:

The BIOS settings are stored in the SOM's ROM, not in battery-backed volatile memory. Removing the battery won't reset anything other than the date.
It sounds very strange to me that an overclock of 400 MHz would freeze the system. You're saying the board powers up, shows the startup screen and then stops? Maybe you could post a photo?

The attached image is what I end up with. It won’t boot off any media including the virtual floppy. I also noticed the ESP module’s light only flashes briefly when the system is powered on then stays off. It was running fine until bumped the frequency to 400 MHz.

Like I said, I find it quite puzzling that running the CPU at 400 MHz would lock up the system like this. But in any case, you'll probably want to reflash the ROM/BIOS to get it back to 300 MHz. This is simple enough with a TL866II Plus (or similar) hardware programmer + a SOP8 clip. Photo below.
I understand this might seem like a big pain in the butt, but unfortunately due to how the SOC handles certain settings (CPU frequency, etc), there's no way to dynamically change this at runtime. The speed is set when powering on (based on data in ROM) before any BIOS code is executed.

Hi,

I recently ordered a board for the first time. They were for the fantastic AtariST FPGA recreation, MiSTeryNano, from Till Harbaum:
https://github.com/harbaum/MiSTeryNano

Now, after that experience, which came out very nicely, I was about to replicate the experience, and order an ITX-Llama board from JLCPCB, given that the design files are published in https://github.com/eivindbohler/itxllama/tree/main/kicad

So, there I went!

I zipped all files in https://github.com/eivindbohler/itxllama/tree … cad/fabrication, and uploaded that zip to https://cart.jlcpcb.com/quote using the "Add Gerber File" button.
To my surprise, it worked, but I can't complete the order because I am missing some details:

1) Does the board have components on both sides, or does it have components on the upper side?

2) Where is the parts placement file? (CPL) I can see the BOM file, which is https://github.com/eivindbohler/itxllama/blob … v1revE-BOM.xlsx, but I also seem to need a component placement .CSV file to complete the order. Maybe it's under a different name or format?

vanfanel wrote on 2024-06-25, 13:50:

Hi, […]
Show full quote

Hi,

I recently ordered a board for the first time. They were for the fantastic AtariST FPGA recreation, MiSTeryNano, from Till Harbaum:
https://github.com/harbaum/MiSTeryNano

Now, after that experience, which came out very nicely, I was about to replicate the experience, and order an ITX-Llama board from JLCPCB, given that the design files are published in https://github.com/eivindbohler/itxllama/tree/main/kicad

So, there I went!

I zipped all files in https://github.com/eivindbohler/itxllama/tree … cad/fabrication, and uploaded that zip to https://cart.jlcpcb.com/quote using the "Add Gerber File" button.
To my surprise, it worked, but I can't complete the order because I am missing some details:

1) Does the board have components on both sides, or does it have components on the upper side?

2) Where is the parts placement file? (CPL) I can see the BOM file, which is https://github.com/eivindbohler/itxllama/blob … v1revE-BOM.xlsx, but I also seem to need a component placement .CSV file to complete the order. Maybe it's under a different name or format?

I can answer some of these questions. there are only components on the top side. I think I had to generate one myself when I was toying around with ordering a board with the components placed. you should be able to do it from KiCad on the fabrication outputs option menu, but I could be wrong and it's somewhere on GitHub.

snipe3687 wrote on 2024-06-25, 15:26:

vanfanel wrote on 2024-06-25, 13:50:

Hi, […]
Show full quote

Hi,

I recently ordered a board for the first time. They were for the fantastic AtariST FPGA recreation, MiSTeryNano, from Till Harbaum:
https://github.com/harbaum/MiSTeryNano

Now, after that experience, which came out very nicely, I was about to replicate the experience, and order an ITX-Llama board from JLCPCB, given that the design files are published in https://github.com/eivindbohler/itxllama/tree/main/kicad

So, there I went!

I zipped all files in https://github.com/eivindbohler/itxllama/tree … cad/fabrication, and uploaded that zip to https://cart.jlcpcb.com/quote using the "Add Gerber File" button.
To my surprise, it worked, but I can't complete the order because I am missing some details:

1) Does the board have components on both sides, or does it have components on the upper side?

2) Where is the parts placement file? (CPL) I can see the BOM file, which is https://github.com/eivindbohler/itxllama/blob … v1revE-BOM.xlsx, but I also seem to need a CScomponent placement .V file to complete the order. Maybe it's under a different name or format?

I can answer some of these questions. there are only components on the top side. I think I had to generate one myself when I was toying around with ordering a board with the components placed. you should be able to do it from KiCad on the fabrication outputs option menu, but I could be wrong and it's somewhere on GitHub.

I can't use KiCad, so I'd prefer a proper CScomponent placement .CSV file, I wouldn't trust one generated by me 😜

vanfanel wrote on 2024-06-26, 14:32:

snipe3687 wrote on 2024-06-25, 15:26:

vanfanel wrote on 2024-06-25, 13:50:

Hi, […]
Show full quote

Hi,

I recently ordered a board for the first time. They were for the fantastic AtariST FPGA recreation, MiSTeryNano, from Till Harbaum:
https://github.com/harbaum/MiSTeryNano

Now, after that experience, which came out very nicely, I was about to replicate the experience, and order an ITX-Llama board from JLCPCB, given that the design files are published in https://github.com/eivindbohler/itxllama/tree/main/kicad

So, there I went!

I zipped all files in https://github.com/eivindbohler/itxllama/tree … cad/fabrication, and uploaded that zip to https://cart.jlcpcb.com/quote using the "Add Gerber File" button.
To my surprise, it worked, but I can't complete the order because I am missing some details:

1) Does the board have components on both sides, or does it have components on the upper side?

2) Where is the parts placement file? (CPL) I can see the BOM file, which is https://github.com/eivindbohler/itxllama/blob … v1revE-BOM.xlsx, but I also seem to need a CScomponent placement .V file to complete the order. Maybe it's under a different name or format?

I can answer some of these questions. there are only components on the top side. I think I had to generate one myself when I was toying around with ordering a board with the components placed. you should be able to do it from KiCad on the fabrication outputs option menu, but I could be wrong and it's somewhere on GitHub.

I can't use KiCad, so I'd prefer a proper CScomponent placement .CSV file, I wouldn't trust one generated by me 😜

Let me see if I have one still 😀

Is there anyway maybe room for a parallel port or even a S3 video chip that you can disable by jumper? S3 seems to be basic video adapter that are highly compatrible.

I was stull not able to order on, however the dubble ps/2 and sound chip is for me clear that you need to order somewehere else.

I did find pcbway that willing to do it,however there ask which gbr there need to use, there are 2. Do someone know which there need to be using?

So maybe handy to include a file list with information what file be used for.

centurion2024 wrote on 2024-07-16, 07:33:

I was stull not able to order on, however the dubble ps/2 and sound chip is for me clear that you need to order somewehere else.

Like Ahmad said a few posts ago, you need to order the CS4237B chip yourself, there are several places to get it, I recommend this seller on ebay.

centurion2024 wrote on 2024-07-16, 07:33:

I did find pcbway that willing to do it,however there ask which gbr there need to use, there are 2. Do someone know which there need to be using?

So maybe handy to include a file list with information what file be used for.

The .gbr files are, as the file names suggest, drill maps ("drl_map"). These aren't even really needed for a PCB manufacturer, but can be a friendly addition to provide, as they list all the different drill bit diameters needed to drill the holes in the PCB. There are two such files as you rightly mention - PTH (plated through hole) and NPTH (non-plated through hole). I find it extremely unlikely that a PCB manufacturer would be confused by this. I've certainly never been asked questions about these in any of my (many) orders over the last 6 years since I started ordering PCBs.

Finally - I'm still a bit baffled by the requests for the pick and place file, it's literally one google search away. But in any case, I've uploaded the file I used for my last batch order to Github. Note that there might be differences in the formatting a particular PCB manufacturer wants (I used JLCPCB), and that some of the components will be rotated the wrong way. This can either be remedied yourself (in the case of JLC, in their web app component configurator when ordering), or manually - either by yourself or by an engineer at the PCB manufacturer.

I'm sorry if any of this might come across as a bit harsh. I'm happy to answer any questions about this project, and I know there are other very knowledgable people in this thread ready to help out as well - but I think it'll be in everyone's interest if a bare minimum of research and general knowledge is aquired before asking questions. Ordering a pre-assembled PCB is not a trivial task by any means, but will be all the more rewarding the more you learn and might even lure you onto the path of making your own designs in the future! 😀

Thanks for you reply, you you mean even if i order it, the assembly could be wrong and can short out the components?