A new MSX

Par Randam

Paragon (1431)

17-08-2018, 22:31

If a new one comes out: take my money...

Par RetroTechie

Paragon (1563)

18-08-2018, 03:28

Depends on what use it's aimed at:

- Device to run existing MSX software on: take my money IF not too much money, and hobbyist friendly. Diy firmware updates possible, (reasonably) open design, etc.
- An MSX compatible IoT thingie: dead in the market, I'll take a much cheaper, faster & simpler Arduino / PIC / AVR etc instead.
- A much, much, souped up MSX: dead in the market since no software to take advantage of the extras - I'll take a Raspberry Pi v4 instead.

That said, Nishi is a smart guy so it'll be interesting to see what they come up with. I'd prefer a RISC-V upgrade over ARM though. Open platform yada yada...

Par edoz

Prophet (2501)

18-08-2018, 09:27

MSX with Wifi for sure now we need a working browser in SymbOS

Par Popolon_fr

Expert (85)

18-08-2018, 10:01

Whatever the final form, this project is welcome. Let's hope he succeeds, Christmas is slowly approaching

Par Edevaldo

Master (156)

19-08-2018, 01:08

DarkSchneider wrote:

Seems an bigger OCM, using a larger FPGA for a new architecture based on ARM, and implementing the R800.

The truth is that if MSX had been continued, it is clear that it would use ARM.

I do not think MSX would have gone the ARM direction by mid 90's. There were many other architectures more successful at the computer & video game markets at the time. Intel, PPC and MIPS were far more likely as a R800 successor. Arm was in some mobile phones by 1998, some PDAs as well. And took a few more years to became the clear winner in mobile.

Today, of course, ARM and Intel are almost the only choices if you are serious about building a computer. But if you can invest Risc-V may get there.

Par ren

Paragon (1947)

19-08-2018, 12:28

Hmm.. I am excited about this. (Though that's a rather modest blog post for what's potentially big news? ) I like it's designed to be the same size as a Pi.

Would be awesome if this could and/or would catch on with a greater audience(!)

I'm far from being a hw tech buff, but so it seems this is going to be an ARM CPU + FPGA.
Since the MSX CPU, and the other hw, has to be implemented in FPGA, can anyone explain how this stuff would work together? 1chipMSX only has the FPGA.

No mention of Z80. I believe R800 is not 100% bw compatible with it (missing some undocumented features/opcodes).
If they implement those, they basically have a 'fixed', fully Z80 compatible R800?
(And otherwise, there's simply broken Z80 support?)

Par nikodr

Paladin (750)

19-08-2018, 14:45

Interesting that the creator of our msx standar is again creating something.
Would love to see what he wants to do.Maybe an msx machine that is more geared towards newer generation of people,like creating a system that would help people to just load msx roms or disks and play the games at once.(no need to go through basic or dos,a simple graphic interface or button with an sd slot to have games to run at once?)

The thing here is that it has to be compatible somehow to the msx system,the msx system has lots of things,cards peripherals.

Would it have a cartridge connector ?or maybe usb serial if it is like a new arduino?
I would love it if it would be possible to use arduino ide to program it,( i use arduino for many projects,and along with raspebbery pi it is the thing of our times).

But then again comes the problems,with fpga you can ofcourse create a compatible msx system that has r800,v9938,v9958 msx basic dos/2 support etc but what about new features?

how to combine both of them?a new system that can load galaga 32kbyte rom but who could also run a jpeg viewer or movie player?or have a new operating system that could do magic?I mean in pc you cant do that,16bit software does not work on 32bit windows anymore.You cant load old software unless you use an emulator.
What i am saying is that it seems impossible to have msx basic to load binary files,and to have the new arm processor doing math decoding or playing mp4 files on hdmi resolution on the same os.

what about copyright?Would microsoft and others give free access to roms or software that is needed?

Is there a web site explaining more stuff about that new msx?

Par ListoMefisto

Champion (435)

30-08-2018, 15:10

Nishi posted on his personal website (post #144) a new update about the Next Generation MSX and IoT MSX :

# 144 Next Generation MSX and IoT MSX Part 2

2018-08-28
"As I wrote about the next generation MSX, it was quite an echo so I would like to write a bit more. It is the size of Raspberry Pi, power supply is AC 48V. It is equipped with an AC - DC converter on the board and also covers the power supply of USB 3.0. Equipped with Xilinx PGA. Ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth and USB 3.0.100 pin multipurpose bus connector. Stacking 64 boards makes it multiprocessor. OS is Windows 10, Linux, MSX OS (MSX DOS evolution form). Open source code of FPGA. Linux and MSX OS also make the source code open. Provide online groupware. Make it a platform for information exchange and information disclosure. We plan to sponsor D4E company and offer game software cheaply. Adjusting C compiler. MSX BASIC license schedule. The CPU is ARM and R800."

Par fr3nd

Expert (112)

30-08-2018, 16:32

Now I'm starting to be really excited. "MSX OS" sounds like a really good idea! An open source MSX operating system based on MSX-DOS is something the standard needed for a very long time. I guess it will be evolved from Nextor?

Having Ethernet and WiFi already included sounds really great too. MsxHub is starting to make more and more sense now.

I can't wait to have one

Par Pac

Scribe (7117)

02-09-2018, 00:11

Waiting for the important specs (MSX related ones)... I wonder if the MSX version of the board will feature something special or it will be just a single board able to run MSX software like Raspberry Pi. I think we need something else to feel we are in front of a new MSX, I mean not only about its internals but also physically (MSX look). On the other hand, what about the slots? Will all the official MSX hardware (MSX-AUDIO included) be supported? Also SCC?

PS: I think it would be good to see more opinions, impressions from the community. It wouldn't surprise me if Nishi was keeping an eye, directly or indirectly, here.