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SE/30 Xceed greyscale adapter cloning thread

Posted by: maceffects on 2019-12-18 18:17:01

One reason I was wondering about mb modified with an onboard grayscale fpga is the Carrera040 Info /Hacking Thread:

I wonder @Bolle are these problems with xceed not being compatible with an 040 related to the Carrera not compatible with the VRAM?

If these are related, then it seems like it would require modifications to the mb anyway to get an 040 and grayscale to both work?

That is a very interesting thought. The SE/30 is a very unique animal and we are still learning about it every day.

Posted by: Trash80toHP_Mini on 2019-12-18 19:47:54

I fail to see the need for doing reconstruction of the original boards at all. Once the internal GS only 306-48 clone is done, we should take another route.

Once cloning the Xceed 306-48 is done, reworking it for internal only GS output using current tech, low power components we can look into a next step, if and when.

I still think cloning the original either/or-internal/external Xceed card setup is a fool's errand, far too much work for far too little in return. We should set out sights higher, but first things first! :approve:

Posted by: Bolle on 2019-12-20 03:35:41

Here we go...

View attachment Micron Xceed SE306:48 schematics.pdf

Posted by: Trash80toHP_Mini on 2019-12-20 08:26:21

Fabulous in the original sense, a thing of fables. How many hours have you logged in pulling off this amazing feat?

Posted by: Bolle on 2019-12-20 13:15:51

No idea, have been a few days working on it on and off.

The Docs we have made it pretty easy to figure out the GAL connections. The buffers, muxes, memory and data/address layout were pretty obvious.

Posted by: maceffects on 2019-12-20 17:49:48

Oh wow! This looks very exciting. It is all Greek to me, but looks very promising!

Posted by: Lenonator on 2020-06-02 05:24:54

Hi folks - I've always wanted to put an Xceed greyscale unit in my SE/30 - I haven't read this entire thread, but is there still an effort to construct the greyscale adapter used with the Micron card? I would very much be interested in buying one if anyone has one or is building them. Thanks.

Posted by: Jinnai on 2022-10-15 16:07:26

I was avidly following this thread hoping for a way to get grayscale into my SE/30, but a different project has succeeded before this one:

Building an internal grayscale card for the SE/30

I think it's time for a little "worklog" kind of thread about this... For the past year I've been working on and off with @cheesestraws and @GeekDot to dissect this SE/30 PDS videocard: It's made by Formac and was bundled with one of their ProNitron monitors back then driving it at 1024*768...

68kmla.org

It turns out the solution to the Xceed using a custom, unobtainable IC was to not clone an Xceed at all. For me personally at least, it wasn't the Micron Xceed I wanted, it was grayscale, so I think this solution will work for a lot of people.

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