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Documentation about the Vampire hardware

Vamp Wiki: V4 Sa Expansion

Vojin Vidanovic
(Needs Verification)
Posts 1916/ 1
08 Nov 2019 18:54


https://wiki.apollo-accelerators.com/doku.php/vampire:vsa-v4:peripherals

IDE
Also known as PATA.
This is a 44-pin IDE Interface.
44-pin devices, such as 2.5-inch IDE hard disks and CD/DVD drives, can be connected directly using a cable.
40-pin devices, such as 3.5-inch IDE hard disks and CD/DVD drives, can be connected using an appropriate cable adapter and an additional power source.
SATA devices can be connected using a SATA-to-IDE adapter. There are adapters for various SATA connector types.
For 2.5-inch devices with a SATA connector, these adapters are known to work well. (Other purchase options: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
For devices with an M.2 SATA connector, this adapter is known to work well.
The board does not supply sufficient power to operate 3.5-inch devices. You would need to feed power into such devices from an outside power source.
CompactFlash (CF) cards can be connected using a CF-to-IDE adapter.
Supports “Fast IDE”, with PIO modes from 0 (slowest) to 6 (fastest).
Most hard disks have support for up to PIO mode 4.
Many CF cards support up to PIO modes 5 and 6. Therefore, CF cards enable the maximum possible speed on this interface.
If you attach multiple devices to a single IDE cable, the slowest device will dictate the maximum speed on this interface. For example, if you have a CF card that supports PIO mode 6, its speed would be hampered by a hard disk which only supports PIO mode 4.
Vampire-compatible CF adapters and cards
2019/11/05 02:26
SPI-capable Expansion Ports
These are the left and right Expansion Ports (IO Header #1 and IO Header #3 here).
The following devices can be connected to these ports:
Ethernet modules
I2S-capable Expansion Port
This is the middle Expansion Port (IO Header #2 here).
The following I2S devices were tested successfully with this port:

PCM5102A DAC Decoder Board
Can be used to output analog audio from the Vampire through RCA audio jacks.
Must be connected to the Expansion Port using female-to-female jumper wires like these ones.
I2C
Can be used to connect simple, low-speed devices like battery-backed real-time clocks (RTC), small LCD/OLED displays, temperature sensors, etc.
With an appropriate splitter, multiple devices can be connected to a single port.
The following I2C devices were tested successfully with this port:

DS3231 RTC Module
Strongly recommended if you want the Vampire to keep track of the current time across reboots.
When connecting to the I2C port, the module must face towards the center of the board.
68K Bus Expansion
All 68K signals are available in this socket.
Theoretically, a Zorro II bridge could be built for this socket, which would allow connecting Zorro cards to the Vampire.
Digital Video/Audio Out
Compatible with most modern monitors and TVs.
All Amiga screen modes (OCS/ECS/AGA/RTG) are output from this interface.
The Vampire outputs the exact resolution of the screen mode, without any upscaling.
The refresh rate remains at 60Hz, up to a resolution of 1280×720. Higher resolutions will reduce the refresh rate to 24Hz. For those higher resolutions, you need a monitor or TV that can cope with low refresh rates. Alternatively, you can use an “HD Video Converter” to upscale the signal to 60Hz. (Some purchase options: 1, 2, 3, 4)
All Amiga audio is output from this interface, as digital audio.
If your monitor or TV has built-in speakers, you can play the audio from there.
Some monitors and TVs have audio output or headphone jacks, so you can pass the audio through to a different device.
Alternatively, from the Vampire's Digital Video/Audio signal, you can extract the audio to various output formats (S/PDIF, analog RCA, headphone, etc.) using an “audio extractor/splitter”. (Some purchase options: 1, 2, 3)
You can connect a DVI monitor to this interface, using an adapter that converts Digital Video to DVI.
Please note that most DVI monitors cannot handle the Digital Audio signal that is sent together with the Digital Video signal. To be able to use such monitors, you would need an “audio extractor/splitter” that moves the Digital Audio signal to a different output. (Example purchase options are mentioned above.)
2019/11/06 23:24
Note: Another alternative to output analog audio (through RCA audio jacks) is explained in I2S-capable Expansion Port above.
Micro SD-Card
Most MicroSD and MicroSDHC cards should work fine.
Supports speeds up to Speed Class 10.
If you want to use your MicroSD card on a different device which only has a standard-size SD slot, you can use a simple MicroSD-to-SD adapter. (Some purchase options: 1, 2)
If you want to use a standard-size SD card in the MicroSD slot of the Vampire, you can use an SD-to-MicroSD adapter. Some of these adapters even come with an extension cable. (Some purchase options: 1, 2, 3, 4)
You can use the Arananet SDNET Adapter in this slot to connect the Vampire to an Ethernet module. (This adapter also contains an SD-to-MicroSD adapter, so you will not lose the functionality of using SD cards in this slot.)
2019/11/05 02:27
USB-A
These two ports are reserved for USB input devices like mice and keyboards.
The port next to the DB-9 (Amiga joystick) ports is reserved for a mouse.
The port next to the Ethernet port is reserved for a keyboard.
See here for exact port locations.
USB hubs are not supported. Therefore, keyboard & mouse switches that are hub-based will not work.
At the hardware level, the USB input device signals are translated to classic Amiga input device signals. Therefore, the input devices are available to AmigaOS immediately upon booting the Kickstart, without the OS having to load a USB stack.
A USB mouse is mapped to a “virtual” Amiga mouse that is connected to a DB-9 port.
Left, right and middle mouse buttons work just like an Amiga mouse.
A USB keyboard is mapped to a “virtual” Amiga keyboard.
The Windows logo key is mapped to the left Amiga key.
The menu key (application key) is mapped to the right Amiga key.
The Page Up/Page Down keys are both mapped to the Amiga Help key.
Because the USB ports are being mapped to classic Amiga connectors at the hardware level, the operating system will not see actual “USB” ports.
Vampire-compatible USB input devices
DB-9
Also known as DE-9.
Compatible with Amiga, Atari and Commodore 64 joysticks.
Works with one-button and two-button joysticks.
CD32 joypads behave like a one-button joystick.
Sega Master System joypads behave like a two-button joystick.
Rewired Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) joypads will work with 3 fire buttons.
The rewiring technique is described most recently in the ADoom documentation (under the heading “SEGA CONTROLLER”).
The games ADoom, Hired Guns and Flashback, as well as some emulators, support all 3 fire buttons.
The two ports allow up to two players to connect.
Amiga mice do not work.
Cases
The standard one is a high-quality, professionally-made, anodized aluminum case that snugly fits the Vampire Standalone. Other alternatives are also available:

Acrylic Design Case
Checkmate A1500 Plus Case
Amiga 1200 Case


Kenji Irie

Posts 86
20 Dec 2019 19:02


I've been scouring the apollo site to find developer information for accessing the SPI and I2C ports of the Vampire V4SA(in prep for some software/hardware development when my V4 arrives). But I can't seem to find anything obvious. Is there a site/link to some documentation on how to access this type of information?

Thanks.


Michal Pietal

Posts 236
20 Dec 2019 19:05


Great stuff!  Thanks, man!


Vojin Vidanovic
(Needs Verification)
Posts 1916/ 1
20 Dec 2019 19:05


Yes, copy/paste link and see what is Vamp Wiki.
  There are pics and schematics sometimes too ;)

e.g.
Connecting Ethernet modules to Vampire Standalone (V4)
https://wiki.apollo-accelerators.com/doku.php/vampire:vsa-v4:ethernet


Red Bug

Posts 22
14 Feb 2020 11:35


EDIT 15/02/20: I actually see that I was completely wrong in my last post (confounding pinout of I2S and I2C expansion port). That's why I reformulate my question:

Does anyone have the pinout / connections between PCM5102a DAC and V4SA?
 
PCM5102a pinout is:
  1 VCC
  2 GND
  3 GND
  4 LRCK (I2S clock)
  5 DATA
  6 BCK
 
V4SA (I2S-capable Expansion Port, the middle one of the three):
Unfortunately nothing in the wiki.
 
So, which pins from the V4SA do I connect to which pins on the PCM5102a, please?
 
There is only one video online (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7D9e_P-gmQ) and I can't figure out the correct wiring. I have the impression that this board is an (early) developper board?

posts 5