mirror of
https://github.com/skoelle/moonweb-site.git
synced 2026-09-17 17:00:25 +00:00
initial commit
This commit is contained in:
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Running AmigaOS in 2026: MiSTer FPGA vs Amiberry on Pi"
|
||||
section: "retro"
|
||||
description: "Two very different ways to get a fully working AmigaOS 3.2.3 desktop running today."
|
||||
layout: base.njk
|
||||
---
|
||||
<a class="back-link" href="/">← Back to retro overview</a>
|
||||
<h1>Running AmigaOS in 2026: MiSTer FPGA vs Amiberry on Pi</h1>
|
||||
<div class="detail-content">
|
||||
|
||||
<p>AmigaOS 3.2.3 runs beautifully both on FPGA and on modern ARM boards — the question is which trade-offs you're willing to accept.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<h2>Two Roads to the Same Workbench</h2>
|
||||
<ul>
|
||||
<li><strong>MiSTer with the Minimig-AGA core</strong> — the most hardware-authentic option. Native resolution tops out around 800×600, with RTG (Picasso96) support pushing that up to 1080p. Timing accuracy and near-zero input latency make it the pick for demos and cycle-sensitive software.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>Amiberry on a Raspberry Pi</strong> — the flexible option. Running headless (no X11 desktop, straight from the console/KMS framebuffer) is the single biggest performance lever — the difference between a laggy desktop and a snappy 60fps Workbench.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>The HDF minefield</strong> — hard disk image files either carry an RDB partition table or they don't, and getting the geometry parameters (surfaces/sectors/reserved blocks) wrong produces the classic "Not a DOS disk in device DH0" error. Reformatting through HDToolBox from a fresh install is often faster than debugging geometry math.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>Picking a monitor</strong> — a 4:3 panel at native 1280×1024 (like an older NEC MultiSync) gives the most period-accurate Workbench experience; anything widescreen needs scaling compromises.</li>
|
||||
</ul>
|
||||
|
||||
<p class="redacted-note">Both setups now run side by side without any real winner — MiSTer for authenticity and demos, the Pi for tinkering and RTG resolutions.</p>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Vampire V4, A600GS or MiSTer: Amiga Hardware Isn't a Simple Speed Race"
|
||||
section: "retro"
|
||||
description: "Why raw benchmark numbers are actively misleading when comparing modern Amiga hardware options."
|
||||
layout: base.njk
|
||||
---
|
||||
<a class="back-link" href="/">← Back to retro overview</a>
|
||||
<h1>Vampire V4, A600GS or MiSTer: Amiga Hardware Isn't a Simple Speed Race</h1>
|
||||
<div class="detail-content">
|
||||
|
||||
<p>Trying to compare Amiga hardware options by benchmark numbers alone is a trap. A Dhrystone score from a real FPGA CPU implementation and an ARM chip's MIPS rating measure completely different things — and neither tells you much about which system will actually run your favourite demo correctly.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<h2>The Contenders</h2>
|
||||
<ul>
|
||||
<li><strong>Vampire V4 Standalone</strong> — an FPGA-implemented 68080 CPU that's genuinely blisteringly fast (sub-second Workbench boots), but software compatibility suffers since the 68080 isn't a perfect 68060 clone. Best for games and demos, not for daily productivity.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>A600GS / A1200NG</strong> — ARM-based boards running Amiberry underneath, in either a complete mini-PC (A600GS) or a drop-in motherboard replacement with real floppy and CompactFlash support (A1200NG). Cheap, plug-and-play, but with occasional software compatibility quirks.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>MiSTer with the Minimig core</strong> — "loses" on paper to A600GS in raw MIPS numbers, but wins on emulation accuracy and software compatibility. Its D-Cache-on mode is faster still but introduces glitches, so it's best left off for stability.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>The real decision factor</strong> — not speed, but compatibility, stability, and how much you value hardware-accurate timing versus raw throughput.</li>
|
||||
</ul>
|
||||
|
||||
<p class="redacted-note">Conclusion after digging through all three: if you already own a working MiSTer, there's no compelling reason to chase the newer ARM boards for "better" performance — the practical difference is marginal, and MiSTer's broader core library wins in the long run.</p>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "The Atari Mega ST Fleet: Three Machines, Three Jobs"
|
||||
section: "retro"
|
||||
description: "How three Atari Mega ST computers ended up with completely different roles in a modern retro setup."
|
||||
layout: base.njk
|
||||
---
|
||||
<a class="back-link" href="/">← Back to retro overview</a>
|
||||
<h1>The Atari Mega ST Fleet: Three Machines, Three Jobs</h1>
|
||||
<div class="detail-content">
|
||||
|
||||
<p>Somewhere along the way, "one Atari ST" turned into three Mega ST 4 machines plus a Mega ST 2. Rather than let them gather dust, each one got a clearly defined purpose — from untouched nostalgia piece to fully upgraded workstation.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<h2>The Lineup</h2>
|
||||
<ul>
|
||||
<li><strong>The heirloom machine</strong> — kept as close to factory-original as possible, running the stock TOS 1.04 and a classic floppy drive. Its job is to be a baseline reference: if something breaks on a modded machine, this one proves the fault isn't in the software.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>The "Low" machine</strong> — a bargain-bin Mega ST 4 rebuilt with a Cloudy/StormyCloud combo for TOS switching and extra FastRAM, a Gotek floppy emulator, an UltraSatan hard disk emulator, and a SidecarTridge multi-device for ROM, floppy, and Wi-Fi tricks. This is the demo- and game-machine, optimized for fast disk-image swapping rather than serious productivity.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>The "High" machine</strong> — the workstation build. A MonSTerBoard adds 8MB of AltRAM, IDE storage, and flashable TOS (currently TOS 2.06), running Geneva for real multitasking. A NetUSB adapter and original Atari keyboard/mouse round it out, with an ET4000 graphics card in the pipeline for higher resolutions.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>The spare Mega ST 2</strong> — a reserve and donor machine, kept in largely original condition, used to safely test upgrades before they go into the "real" machines.</li>
|
||||
</ul>
|
||||
|
||||
<p class="redacted-note">Fun fact: two of the "problem" machines turned out to have nothing wrong with the boards at all — a badly soldered CPU socket and a leftover blitter patch bridge were the actual culprits. Moral of the story: check your solder joints twice before blaming the silicon.</p>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "The 15kHz Problem: Finding a Monitor That Speaks Atari"
|
||||
section: "retro"
|
||||
description: "Why most modern monitors refuse to display Atari ST colour modes, and which ones actually work."
|
||||
layout: base.njk
|
||||
---
|
||||
<a class="back-link" href="/">← Back to retro overview</a>
|
||||
<h1>The 15kHz Problem: Finding a Monitor That Speaks Atari</h1>
|
||||
<div class="detail-content">
|
||||
|
||||
<p>Atari ST colour modes (Low-Res and Medium-Res) run at a horizontal scan frequency of 15kHz — a frequency almost no modern VGA monitor supports, since anything made in the last two decades expects at least 30kHz. High-Res monochrome runs at roughly 35kHz and gets along fine with most displays, but colour gaming is a different story entirely.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<h2>Panel Technology Matters More Than You'd Think</h2>
|
||||
<ul>
|
||||
<li><strong>MVA/PVA panels</strong> — the surprise winners. Their flexible crystal alignment tolerates unusual 15kHz signals far better than standard panels. A NEC MultiSync LCD1970NXp with an MVA panel handles Medium-Res colour reliably, once you fine-tune the H.Size setting.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>IPS panels</strong> — a mixed bag. Some work (a widescreen Lenovo ThinkVision LT1952p reportedly fills the screen beautifully via an ST2VGA adapter), others don't, and there's no way to tell without testing.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>VA panels</strong> — a dead end. Modern VA displays like the Dell SE2722HX and SE2422HX have a minimum horizontal frequency of 30kHz, ruling out native 15kHz signals entirely.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>The universal fix</strong> — an Open Source Scan Converter (OSSC) upsamples the 15kHz signal for any HDMI monitor, at the cost of extra hardware and money.</li>
|
||||
</ul>
|
||||
|
||||
<p class="redacted-note">If you're chasing 15kHz authenticity, buy the specific panel model people have already confirmed working in the forums — don't trust a spec sheet that just says "supports VGA."</p>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Getting a 40-Year-Old Computer Online: Atari ST Networking and BBS Access"
|
||||
section: "retro"
|
||||
description: "Connecting an Atari ST to the modern internet and to dial-up-era bulletin board systems, warts and all."
|
||||
layout: base.njk
|
||||
---
|
||||
<a class="back-link" href="/">← Back to retro overview</a>
|
||||
<h1>Getting a 40-Year-Old Computer Online: Atari ST Networking and BBS Access</h1>
|
||||
<div class="detail-content">
|
||||
|
||||
<p>The Atari ST predates the consumer internet entirely, yet a surprising amount of retrofitted networking hardware exists to get one talking to a modern network — or to a bulletin board system straight out of the dial-up era.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<h2>The Toolbox</h2>
|
||||
<ul>
|
||||
<li><strong>STinG</strong> — the classic TCP/IP stack for TOS, still the backbone for anything network-related on an original machine, from Telnet sessions to FTP transfers.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>ESP32-based Wi-Fi modules</strong> — small serial-attached boards that emulate a modem over Wi-Fi. Results vary wildly between firmware projects: one variant handles HTTP downloads fine but can't do Telnet, another supports full modem emulation but drops connections unpredictably during longer BBS sessions.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>Terminal software quirks</strong> — ANSI art and special characters routinely render incorrectly in period terminal clients, an ongoing annoyance when connecting to text-heavy BBS systems.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>File transfer the easy way</strong> — a plain FTP client on the Atari talking to a NAS on the local network sidesteps most of the internet-connectivity headaches entirely, especially for moving disk images and software archives back and forth.</li>
|
||||
</ul>
|
||||
|
||||
<p class="redacted-note">If you're chasing BBS nostalgia on real hardware: budget far more patience for the networking layer than for the actual computer. The 1980s hardware is the easy part; convincing 2020s Wi-Fi and modern BBS ANSI dialects to cooperate is the real challenge.</p>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Batocera in the Living Room: One Box, Every Retro System"
|
||||
section: "retro"
|
||||
description: "Why the living room emulation station takes a completely different approach than the FPGA rigs upstairs."
|
||||
layout: base.njk
|
||||
---
|
||||
<a class="back-link" href="/">← Back to retro overview</a>
|
||||
<h1>Batocera in the Living Room: One Box, Every Retro System</h1>
|
||||
<div class="detail-content">
|
||||
|
||||
<p>Not every retro session calls for hardware-accurate FPGA timing. Sometimes you just want to grab a controller on the couch and pick something from a big menu — that's exactly what the Batocera station in the living room is for.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<h2>What's Under the Hood</h2>
|
||||
<ul>
|
||||
<li><strong>Software emulation, not FPGA</strong> — Hatari for Atari ST, UAE for Amiga, DOSBox for DOS, MAME/FBA for arcade, plus the usual console emulators (NES, SNES, Mega Drive, PlayStation). It's the go-to place for Atari ST gaming in this setup, since MiSTer's own ST core is unreliable.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>ROM organisation</strong> — following the TOSEC standard and cleaning up collections with RomVault DAT files, aiming for "1G1R" (One Game One ROM) sets to keep launcher menus from turning into an unmanageable wall of duplicates.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>Curated sources</strong> — a well-known "scene DVD" collection covers Atari ST releases comprehensively; Amiga has no equally tidy equivalent, since TOSEC's Amiga archive is comprehensive but messy, mixing dozens of crack-group releases per game.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>Division of labour with MiSTer/MiST</strong> — Batocera wins on convenience and breadth, MiSTer/MiST win on accuracy and low-latency feel for serious sessions.</li>
|
||||
</ul>
|
||||
|
||||
<p class="redacted-note">If you're building a similar box: don't skip the DAT-file cleanup step. An unsorted TOSEC dump makes browsing physically painful once you cross a few thousand entries.</p>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "The 486 DX2-66 Tower: An Original PC Living Alongside Its FPGA Twin"
|
||||
section: "retro"
|
||||
description: "Keeping an original Colani-design 486 tower running while a MiSTer core covers the same era digitally."
|
||||
layout: base.njk
|
||||
---
|
||||
<a class="back-link" href="/">← Back to retro overview</a>
|
||||
<h1>The 486 DX2-66 Tower: An Original PC Living Alongside Its FPGA Twin</h1>
|
||||
<div class="detail-content">
|
||||
|
||||
<p>Long before Atari ST and Amiga took over the retro corner, a Vobis-Highscreen 486 DX2-66 in its distinctive Colani-designed tower case was the main PC. Decades later, it's kept around as both a museum piece and a genuine gaming machine, running alongside a MiSTer FPGA equivalent.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<h2>Original Hardware vs FPGA Twin</h2>
|
||||
<ul>
|
||||
<li><strong>The original tower</strong> — an Intel 486 DX2 @ 66MHz in its iconic Colani case, the go-to machine for early-90s classics like Doom, Wing Commander, Duke Nukem 3D, and Lemmings.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>MiSTer's AO486 core</strong> — a full FPGA-based 486 emulation, configurable across variants from 386SX all the way to 486DX4, using swappable virtual hard disk (VHD) images instead of a physical drive.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>Open project</strong> — DOS-era BBS access is next on the list, likely tackled via the MiSTer core first since its networking path is simpler than wrangling period-correct ISA network cards.</li>
|
||||
</ul>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
|
||||
const path = require("path");
|
||||
|
||||
module.exports = function (eleventyConfig) {
|
||||
eleventyConfig.addPassthroughCopy({ "shared/theme-retro.css": "theme.css" });
|
||||
eleventyConfig.addPassthroughCopy({ "shared/base.css": "shared-base.css" });
|
||||
eleventyConfig.addPassthroughCopy({ "shared/favicon/retro.svg": "favicon.svg" });
|
||||
|
||||
return {
|
||||
dir: {
|
||||
input: "retro",
|
||||
includes: "../shared/_includes",
|
||||
output: "dist/retro"
|
||||
},
|
||||
serverOptions: {
|
||||
host: "0.0.0.0",
|
||||
port: 8085
|
||||
}
|
||||
};
|
||||
};
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Why an ET4000 Graphics Card and a Mega ST Don't Mix (Yet)"
|
||||
section: "retro"
|
||||
description: "A cautionary tale about pushing 1980s power supplies past their limits with a modern-ish graphics card."
|
||||
layout: base.njk
|
||||
---
|
||||
<a class="back-link" href="/">← Back to retro overview</a>
|
||||
<h1>Why an ET4000 Graphics Card and a Mega ST Don't Mix (Yet)</h1>
|
||||
<div class="detail-content">
|
||||
|
||||
<p>An ET4000 ISA graphics card, adapted to the Atari MegaBus, promises higher resolutions and more colors than the native Shifter chip can dream of. In practice, bolting one onto a heavily upgraded Mega ST turned into a lesson in power supply physics.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<h2>What Went Wrong</h2>
|
||||
<ul>
|
||||
<li><strong>Power supply overload</strong> — the stock Mega ST PSU simply wasn't designed to feed a MonSTerBoard, an ET4000, and a MegaBus adapter at the same time. The 5V and 12V rails ended up right at their instability limit.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>The missing -12V</strong> — the ET4000 needs -12V for its output drivers, usually tapped from the RS-232 port, adding yet another drain on an already stressed supply.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>Heat with nowhere to go</strong> — the card runs hot, and the Mega ST case has zero provision for active cooling.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>Signal integrity issues</strong> — the ISA-to-MegaBus adapter introduces reflections at higher frequencies, and access to ET4000 RAM is roughly 65% slower than native ST RAM, with no hardware BitBLT to make up for it.</li>
|
||||
</ul>
|
||||
|
||||
<h2>The Practical Fallback</h2>
|
||||
<p>FPGA cores on MiSTer and MiST only emulate the native ST Shifter — there's no ET4000 emulation on the horizon given the FPGA resources it would require. The real answer for higher resolutions turned out to be software: Hatari running in VDI mode on a Raspberry Pi 400, which comfortably delivers 1280×768 with far more colors and zero PSU drama.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<p class="redacted-note">Lesson learned: "just add a graphics card" on 40-year-old hardware is never "just" anything. The ET4000 project isn't dead, but it's shelved until there's a properly beefed-up power supply and cooling solution to go with it.</p>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Retro"
|
||||
section: "retro"
|
||||
description: "Physical retro hardware collection — Raspberry Pi units, Pi 400, and vintage computing setups."
|
||||
layout: base.njk
|
||||
sections:
|
||||
- heading: "Atari ST Corner"
|
||||
cards:
|
||||
- title: "🖥️ The Mega ST Fleet"
|
||||
summary: "Three Mega ST 4 machines and a Mega ST 2, each with a clearly defined role from heirloom to workstation."
|
||||
href: "/atari-mega-st-fleet/"
|
||||
- title: "⚡ ET4000 Experiment"
|
||||
summary: "Why bolting a graphics card onto a Mega ST overloads a 1980s power supply, and what actually solved the resolution problem."
|
||||
href: "/et4000-experiment/"
|
||||
- title: "📺 Monitor Compatibility"
|
||||
summary: "The 15kHz problem explained, and which modern monitor panels actually cooperate with Atari colour modes."
|
||||
href: "/atari-monitor-compatibility/"
|
||||
- title: "🔌 Networking & BBS"
|
||||
summary: "Getting an Atari ST online via STinG and Wi-Fi modem hardware, and dialing into classic bulletin board systems."
|
||||
href: "/atari-networking-bbs/"
|
||||
- heading: "Amiga Corner"
|
||||
cards:
|
||||
- title: "💾 AmigaOS on Modern Platforms"
|
||||
summary: "Running AmigaOS 3.2.3 on MiSTer FPGA versus Amiberry on a Raspberry Pi, and the HDF pitfalls to avoid."
|
||||
href: "/amiga-modern-platforms/"
|
||||
- title: "🥧 The PiMiga Journey"
|
||||
summary: "Three generations of the PiMiga distro compared, and why the newest release isn't automatically the best one."
|
||||
href: "/pimiga-journey/"
|
||||
- title: "⚔️ Vampire, A600GS or MiSTer"
|
||||
summary: "Why comparing modern Amiga hardware by benchmark numbers alone is actively misleading."
|
||||
href: "/amiga-hardware-landscape/"
|
||||
- title: "📦 The A1200"
|
||||
summary: "What's confirmed so far about Retro Games Ltd.'s upcoming Amiga 1200 console, ahead of its 2026 launch."
|
||||
href: "/the-a1200/"
|
||||
- heading: "FPGA & Emulation"
|
||||
cards:
|
||||
- title: "🧩 MiST and MiSTer"
|
||||
summary: "Two FPGA boards with two very different personalities, and why the newer one doesn't win every category."
|
||||
href: "/mist-mister-fpga/"
|
||||
- title: "🛋️ Batocera in the Living Room"
|
||||
summary: "The couch-friendly, software-emulation counterpart to the FPGA rigs, covering everything from Atari ST to arcade."
|
||||
href: "/batocera-living-room/"
|
||||
- title: "🕹️ Mini Arcades & Handhelds"
|
||||
summary: "A buyer's guide to compact retro gaming devices, and how to spot a bootleg clone before you buy one."
|
||||
href: "/mini-arcade-handheld-roundup/"
|
||||
- heading: "DOS & PC"
|
||||
cards:
|
||||
- title: "💻 The 486 DX2-66 Tower"
|
||||
summary: "An original Colani-design 486 tower kept running alongside its MiSTer AO486 FPGA equivalent."
|
||||
href: "/dos-486-tower/"
|
||||
- heading: "Overview"
|
||||
cards:
|
||||
- title: "🏠 The Retro Corner Today"
|
||||
summary: "A room-by-room snapshot of every retro system currently active across the home."
|
||||
href: "/retro-corner-snapshot/"
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
{% include "card-grid.njk" %}
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Mini Arcades and Handhelds: Sorting the Real Deal from the Bootlegs"
|
||||
section: "retro"
|
||||
description: "A buyer's guide to compact retro gaming devices, and why the cheapest option is almost never the right one."
|
||||
layout: base.njk
|
||||
---
|
||||
<a class="back-link" href="/">← Back to retro overview</a>
|
||||
<h1>Mini Arcades and Handhelds: Sorting the Real Deal from the Bootlegs</h1>
|
||||
<div class="detail-content">
|
||||
|
||||
<p>The market for tiny plug-and-play arcade cabinets is full of traps. Some devices ship with genuinely licensed classics; others are dressed-up bootleg NES clones with unfamiliar Chinese ROM hacks pretending to be arcade games.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<h2>What to Watch For</h2>
|
||||
<ul>
|
||||
<li><strong>The bootleg trap</strong> — devices built around VT369-style chips (NES-compatible, not real arcade hardware) often bundle 200+ "games" that turn out to be unlicensed clones and homebrew hacks, cataloged in enthusiast bootleg-game wikis. No Pac-Man, no Donkey Kong, just look-alikes.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>Genuinely licensed compact options</strong> — devices built around real Namco or SNK licenses deliver actual classics (Pac-Man, Galaga, Dig Dug, dozens of Neo Geo titles) with premium displays, at a similar price point to the bootleg boxes.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>Expandable options</strong> — some cabinet-style devices accept extra MAME ROMs via SD card, letting you add real arcade classics after the fact — the one feature the bootleg boxes almost never offer without heavy soldering.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>The maximalist route</strong> — a Raspberry Pi running RetroPie, or a MiSTer FPGA setup, both scale to tens of thousands of games or hardware-accurate arcade cores respectively, at the cost of more setup effort.</li>
|
||||
</ul>
|
||||
|
||||
<p class="redacted-note">If a mini-arcade's game list reads like a string of titles you've genuinely never heard of, that's the tell. Real arcade classics have instantly recognisable names — bootlegs hide behind vague, generic-sounding ones.</p>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "MiST and MiSTer: Two FPGA Boxes, Two Very Different Personalities"
|
||||
section: "retro"
|
||||
description: "Why the newer, more powerful MiSTer isn't automatically the better choice for every retro system."
|
||||
layout: base.njk
|
||||
---
|
||||
<a class="back-link" href="/">← Back to retro overview</a>
|
||||
<h1>MiST and MiSTer: Two FPGA Boxes, Two Very Different Personalities</h1>
|
||||
<div class="detail-content">
|
||||
|
||||
<p>Both boards run classic computers as hardware-accurate FPGA cores rather than software emulation, but living with them side by side reveals they're not interchangeable — each one is simply better at certain jobs.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<h2>Division of Labour</h2>
|
||||
<ul>
|
||||
<li><strong>MiST for Atari ST</strong> — older and more limited in scope than MiSTer, but its ST/STE core is rock solid. It's the default choice for anything Atari, paired with a network-capable configuration for file transfers.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>MiSTer for everything else</strong> — Amiga, DOS (via the AO486 core), and a huge library of other systems. Its Atari ST core, oddly, is the less reliable one of the two boards — reason enough to keep MiST around instead of retiring it.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>Native resolution ceiling</strong> — both boards only emulate the original Shifter chip on Atari ST: Low-Res (320×200), Medium-Res (640×200), and High-Res (640×400 mono). No ET4000-style graphics card emulation is on the table; a Falcon030 core with higher native resolutions has been rumoured for years without shipping.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>Known rough edges</strong> — accessory programs loading but not appearing on the desktop, and disabled XBOOT support, are still open items to chase down on the MiST side.</li>
|
||||
</ul>
|
||||
|
||||
<p class="redacted-note">The takeaway after months of use: don't assume the shinier, newer board wins every category. Sometimes the "older" FPGA implementation is simply the more mature one for a specific chipset.</p>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "PiMiga 3 to 5: Chasing the Perfect Amiga-on-a-Pi Distro"
|
||||
section: "retro"
|
||||
description: "Three generations of PiMiga later, here's what actually changed — and why newer isn't always better."
|
||||
layout: base.njk
|
||||
---
|
||||
<a class="back-link" href="/">← Back to retro overview</a>
|
||||
<h1>PiMiga 3 to 5: Chasing the Perfect Amiga-on-a-Pi Distro</h1>
|
||||
<div class="detail-content">
|
||||
|
||||
<p>PiMiga bundles Amiberry, a full Amiga 1200 AGA emulation with Workbench 3.1, and thousands of pre-installed games into a ready-to-flash SD card image. Living through three major versions taught a few unexpected lessons.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<h2>What Changed Across Versions</h2>
|
||||
<ul>
|
||||
<li><strong>PiMiga 3.0 (2022)</strong> — the original recipe: Amiberry under DietPi with an XFCE desktop and the iGame v2 launcher. Now effectively retired, with no further updates.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>PiMiga 4.0 (2024)</strong> — brought multi-architecture support (ARM and Intel/AMD) and swapped in the MegaAGS launcher, with roughly 4,800 games pre-installed. Its biggest strength: MegaAGS ships with strong trainer/cheat support baked into its game profiles.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>PiMiga 5.0 (Dec 2025, final release)</strong> — the creator's last planned version. Switches back to the simpler iGame v2 launcher, drops in 600+ auto-switching backdrops, and adds native support for the newest Pi hardware — but loses much of the trainer-focused depth that made version 4 so useful for casual replay sessions.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>The real decision criterion</strong> — not "which is newest" but "do I care more about trainers/cheats (stick with v4's MegaAGS) or about the latest hardware support and polish (go with v5's iGame)". Running both on separate SD cards sidesteps the choice entirely.</li>
|
||||
</ul>
|
||||
|
||||
<p class="redacted-note">Also worth knowing: getting the display right on an older 4:3 monitor is almost never a Raspberry Pi config.txt problem — it's nearly always an Amiberry/X11 scaling setting. Check the emulator's Integer Scaling option before touching boot config files.</p>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "The Retro Corner Today: A Snapshot of the Whole Setup"
|
||||
section: "retro"
|
||||
description: "A tour through every retro system currently active across the home, room by room."
|
||||
layout: base.njk
|
||||
---
|
||||
<a class="back-link" href="/">← Back to retro overview</a>
|
||||
<h1>The Retro Corner Today: A Snapshot of the Whole Setup</h1>
|
||||
<div class="detail-content">
|
||||
|
||||
<p>What started with childhood memories of an Atari ST and an Amiga 500 turned into a full-blown home retro-computing corner after 2020. Here's what's actually running right now, spread across two rooms plus a handful of portable devices.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<h2>Room by Room</h2>
|
||||
<ul>
|
||||
<li><strong>The office</strong> — home base for the serious gear: three Atari Mega ST 4 machines plus a Mega ST 2, a MiSTer FPGA covering Amiga/DOS/arcade cores, and a MiST FPGA dedicated to Atari ST. A Raspberry Pi 400 running Hatari and PiMiga rounds things out as the flexible, high-resolution alternative to hardware that can't quite keep up on screen quality.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>The living room</strong> — a Batocera box for casual, couch-friendly sessions across dozens of systems, from Atari ST to arcade to consoles, no FPGA timing precision required.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>On the move</strong> — a small collection of handheld emulation devices for retro gaming away from a screen.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>The focus, unmistakably</strong> — Amiga and Atari ST are the heart of the collection; everything else (DOS, arcade, handhelds) exists to fill in the gaps around those two platforms.</li>
|
||||
</ul>
|
||||
|
||||
<p class="redacted-note">The honest status update: several open items remain — documenting the exact handheld models, and waiting on the A1200 Mini pre-order. Retro computing, it turns out, is never really "done."</p>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "The A1200: What We Know Before It Ships"
|
||||
section: "retro"
|
||||
description: "A close look at Retro Games Ltd.'s upcoming Amiga 1200 console, based on everything public so far."
|
||||
layout: base.njk
|
||||
---
|
||||
<a class="back-link" href="/">← Back to retro overview</a>
|
||||
<h1>The A1200: What We Know Before It Ships</h1>
|
||||
<div class="detail-content">
|
||||
|
||||
<p>Retro Games Ltd. opened pre-orders for The A1200 in November 2025, with delivery slated for June 2026 at a suggested price of 189.99 Euro. As with their previous mini-consoles, official details have trickled out slowly — deliberately, it seems.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<h2>What's Confirmed So Far</h2>
|
||||
<ul>
|
||||
<li><strong>Games</strong> — 25 titles pre-installed in total, with only 9 officially confirmed at time of writing: the Turrican trilogy, Defender of the Crown I & II, Beneath a Steel Sky, Lure of the Temptress, Ruff 'n' Tumble, and The Settlers II. The rest are being held back, likely on purpose, as a marketing drip-feed.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>Hardware essentials</strong> — a fully functional keyboard in the original design, a CD32-style gamepad, a tank-mouse replica, HDMI output, USB-A ports, and USB sideloading support for ADF/HDF game files.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>The mystery SD slot</strong> — a slot spotted at Gamescom 2025 in the position of the original floppy drive, widely speculated to be for SD-card-based game loading, but not officially confirmed.</li>
|
||||
<li><strong>Expected internals</strong> — likely an Allwinner ARM SoC running Amiberry underneath (following the pattern of the earlier A500 Mini), rather than genuine 68EC020 silicon.</li>
|
||||
</ul>
|
||||
|
||||
<p class="redacted-note">Worth a heads-up if you're pre-ordering: not every regional shop went live on launch day, and lesser-known international retailers sometimes get product photos and details before the official site does. With a seven-month wait to delivery, there's no rush to jump on the very first listing you find.</p>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Reference in New Issue
Block a user