Only one SATA? That's... not much...

As for the PS/2, having two of them without any need for adapters is handy..
I'm using a PS/2 keyboard and a PS/2 mouse on my main Ryzen PC right now.

Yes that's not much.
Is the mini SD card recognized as fixed or as changeable disk?

Disruptor wrote on 2023-05-03, 21:44:

Yes that's not much.
Is the mini SD card recognized as fixed or as changeable disk?

Fixed disk, primary IDE channel.
I have yet to try it out, but according to the Vortex86EX datasheet the SATA port is presented as the secondary IDE channel.

Eivind wrote on 2023-05-04, 04:53:

Disruptor wrote on 2023-05-03, 21:44:

Yes that's not much.
Is the mini SD card recognized as fixed or as changeable disk?

Fixed disk, primary IDE channel.
I have yet to try it out, but according to the Vortex86EX datasheet the SATA port is presented as the secondary IDE channel.

Very interesting! So adding an sata optical drive to this system is very possible it sounds like. Can you include CD-Audio input header on the motherboard for games that use CD audio?

Aaron707 wrote on 2023-05-04, 14:50:

Very interesting! So adding an sata optical drive to this system is very possible it sounds like

Yes, that should be possible.

Aaron707 wrote on 2023-05-04, 14:50:

Can you include CD-Audio input header on the motherboard for games that use CD audio?

Yep, good idea!

Eivind wrote on 2023-05-04, 16:05:

Aaron707 wrote on 2023-05-04, 14:50:

Can you include CD-Audio input header on the motherboard for games that use CD audio?

Yep, good idea!

Added the standard 4-pin analog cd audio input header:

Wow great work!
So just a small catch. New SATA optical drives that I have looked at lack the analog audio out. But every IDE drive has it (and sometimes headphone jack too!). So might have to use an IDE-to-SATA adapter with an IDE optical drive so you have the analog audio connector for DOS.

Aaron707 wrote on 2023-05-04, 22:35:

Wow great work!
So just a small catch. New SATA optical drives that I have looked at lack the analog audio out. But every IDE drive has it (and sometimes headphone jack too!). So might have to use an IDE-to-SATA adapter with an IDE optical drive so you have the analog audio connector for DOS.

Haha, I didn't even consider this! But yeah, figures that SATA drives ditched the old analog audio output. We'll just have to see if an IDE-to-SATA adapter works I guess. The analog audio input is in place, at any rate.
Now if JLC could just get my parts ready for ordering a couple of boards...

@Eivind

Regarding the use of an SD card slot, if it's the same one used in the tinyllama then it's limited to 32GB maximum and won't work in windows 98.

Could you swap that for a CF card slot? or otherwise just a standard 40pin IDE connector and let people choose what to connect to it?

Duffman wrote on 2023-05-06, 03:00:

@Eivind

Regarding the use of an SD card slot, if it's the same one used in the tinyllama then it's limited to 32GB maximum and won't work in windows 98.

Could you swap that for a CF card slot? or otherwise just a standard 40pin IDE connector and let people choose what to connect to it?

I appreciate your input! 👍

The SOM here (Vortex86EX) is the same as on the TinyLlama, yes. I wish I could include an IDE/PATA or CF connector but I don't think I can, as it's not supported on the EX.
As I understand it, only SD and SATA are supported, though they're being presented to the OS as the primary and secondary IDE channel, respectively.
Not quite sure how this actually works under the hood, I'm afraid.

I think there are a couple of ways to overcome the 32 GB limit, though; first you can always use a USB stick and a USB mass storage driver in win98. Second and third (hopefully) would be an IDE-to-SATA adapter or using a PCI IDE controller.

There's obviously a good deal of testing and tinkering required here, first step is getting the board manufactured and setting up the BIOS appropriately! 😀

I'm thinking I might just order the boards any day now, the parts I'm still waiting for are the triple audio jack connector and the PCI riser/extender cable pin headers - and I could just order these from Digikey and solder them myself for the initial/prototype version... I'm starting with a HASL build to save money, if I'm happy with everything I'll probably do a nicer ENIG round later.

Finally put in an order for 5 boards yesterday. Fingers crossed that everything works! 😁

Will you be selling any of these like you did for the tinyllama?

Duffman wrote on 2023-05-15, 05:53:

Will you be selling any of these like you did for the tinyllama?

If I can get everything working and I'm happy with the results, yeah I imagine I will.
The initial prototype is currently in production, hopefully it'll be in my hands in about a week.

I think I'd be interested in purchasing one from you when it's ready.

Will this board have the option to use other System on Modules on it? or just the one module?

Duffman wrote on 2023-05-15, 08:27:

I think I'd be interested in purchasing one from you when it's ready.

Sure! 😀

Duffman wrote on 2023-05-18, 03:17:

Will this board have the option to use other System on Modules on it? or just the one module?

This iteration only supports the Vortex86EX SOM. There does exist a 168-pin Vortex86EX2 module, but it's not available as a cheap-ish consumer product ("86Duino") - and it doesn't have an open-source BIOS available.
There will be (fingers crossed) an EX3 variant sometime later this year, but for now this board is mainly an experiment to see if I can get all the peripherals I want + a proper PCI setup working with the EX.

Finally got the boards delivered! I made a mistake with the footprint of the ATX connector, so JLC couldn't assemble it. I ordered an alternative connector from Mouser, will try to fit it and play with the board later today!

Soldered on an ATX connector, standby and power leds working...

@Eivind

Interesting!

Do you think there will be any limitations on the PCI slot?
I'm curious to find out if one of these - https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/264588068457
will work in it or not.

Duffman wrote on 2023-05-25, 13:31:

@Eivind […]
Show full quote

@Eivind

Interesting!

Do you think there will be any limitations on the PCI slot?
I'm curious to find out if one of these - https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/264588068457
will work in it or not.

I don't see a reason why that card shouldn't work.

However.....I have to get this stuff up and running first.
Spent a while getting a new BIOS ready, flashed it, inserted the SOM and a PCI graphics card: boot up chime, but no video output.
Tried swapping the card for another one and when that didn't change anything I brought out the oscilloscope.

From what I can tell, the PI7C9X118SL (bridge) chip receives the PCIe signals correctly. All voltage levels seem fine and the bridge outputs a correct 33 MHz clock signal, but nothing else.
This lead me to measuring the PCI reset signal, and it seems asserted all the time. That would also explain why I'm not seeing any activity on the other PCI pins.
The PCIe reset signal coming from the SOM is first asserted and then de-asserted correctly, but the PCI reset output from the bridge is stuck. Weird. I'll continue looking at this tomorrow.

If anyone has any bright ideas, feel free to shoot them my way! 😀