FAQ
TL;DR: DIY-A586 packs a 100 × 100 mm Spartan-6 board that stores 30 FPGA cores in its 16 MB flash—“Up to 30 configurations in flash can be loaded” [Elektroda, piotr_go, post #18067213] Why it matters: one card swaps instantly between Amiga, PC-XT, C64 and more.
Quick Facts
• FPGA: Xilinx Spartan-6 XC6SLX9-2TQG144 [Elektroda, piotr_go, post #18067213]
• RAM: 8 MB SDR SDRAM @ ~56 MHz (Amiga) or 133 MHz CL2 (PC) [Elektroda, piotr_go, post #20583795]
• Flash: 16 MB SPI (Winbond 25Q128) — first flash needs external programmer [Elektroda, piotr_go, post #19143673]
• Power: 5 V via USB-C; legacy floppy drives need extra 12 V rail [Elektroda, EKBubba, post #19358582]
• SD: SDHC (≥4 GB) FAT32 + Amiga RDB, multi-disk driver v0.10 [Elektroda, piotr_go, post #20677771]
What components are mandatory for a working v1.6 board?
Essential parts: XC6SLX9 FPGA, AS4C4M16 SDRAM, Winbond 25Q128 flash, 16 MHz CMOS oscillator, SD socket, USB-C power jack, two SOT-223 LDOs (3.3 V & 1.2 V) and the HDMI level shifters [Elektroda, piotr_go, #18067213 #19178403].
Which SDRAM speed grade should I order?
Any 166 MHz (6 ns) IS42S16400J will run; Amiga core clocks the RAM at ~56 MHz and the PC core at up to 133 MHz CL2 [Elektroda, piotr_go, post #20583795]
How do I flash the board the first time?
- Program the 25Q128 with “main v0.4.4” BIN at address 0x000000 using a CH341A or Arduino-SPI flasher [Elektroda, piotr_go, post #19143673]
- Solder the chip, short pins 7-8 on first boot if QuadEnable is unset [Elektroda, piotr_go, post #18234470]
- Afterwards update cores from SD with the F2 key.
My SD card isn’t recognised—what’s wrong?
The driver needs SDHC cards; old 2 GB SDSC cards fail detection [Elektroda, piotr_go, post #19186591] Format the primary partition FAT32 (MBR) and place *.A586 files in the root.
Can I use PFS3 or multiple virtual hard disks?
Yes. SD.ROM v0.10 adds multi-disk and PFS3 support. Each MBR primary partition type F0 becomes an Amiga unit; FAT volumes stay readable via fat95 [Elektroda, piotr_go, post #20677771]
How fast is the new Mikan 0.1.7 Amiga core?
It delivers ~143 % of real A500 CPU speed and triples SD throughput versus Minimig; audio, bitplane and copper bugs fixed [Elektroda, piotr_go, post #20783590]
Does Gotek or dual-drive work?
With Mikan v0.1.5+ the auto-switch logic makes DF1 the boot drive when it asserts _RDY during reset. Both drives must output _RDY and DF1 should be an emulator that ignores _MTR [Elektroda, piotr_go, post #20677771]
Edge-case: Amiga mouse and PS/2 mouse together?
From Mikan 0.1.9 you may connect either two Amiga mice (joy ports) or one PS/2 mouse; mixing beyond these combos is unsupported [Elektroda, piotr_go, post #21362045]
Why does my vintage Chinon floppy spin but not read?
Early 720 kB drives and A500 units draw 12 V for the spindle, which the DIY-A586 5 V rail can’t supply. Feed 12 V externally or use a modern 5 V-only mechanism [Elektroda, EKBubba, post #19358582]
Can the board emulate 68020 or AGA?
Not on an LX9. “FPGA too small” for AGA/020 cores, states the author [Elektroda, piotr_go, post #19738941]
How do I patch Kickstart 3.2.1 for SD boot?
Run the supplied xdelta script in mikan/kick3.x patch v0.8 then rename the output to KICK32SD.ROM and list it with -fb in bin2a586; checksum must match 75c85b… [Elektroda, piotr_go, post #19898942]
What’s the licence situation—why ‘DEMO LIMIT, 4 CORES MAX’?
Unregistered MAIN limits the flash menu to four cores; request a free personal key from the author via forum PM to unlock [Elektroda, tchernychov query #21048193 and piotr_go reply context].
Does the board support CRT 15 kHz output?
Yes. Set HDMI-to-VGA-to-SCART chain; core outputs 720×576 50 Hz RGB proven on a Thomson CRT [Elektroda, piotr_go, post #19213580]
Failure fact: What bricks PS/2 on cold start?
PS/2 lines could stay low; MAIN v0.4.4 adds a reset pulse that restores keyboard/mouse enumeration [Elektroda, piotr_go, post #20783590]
Where can I source the 16 MHz oscillator?
Use any 3.3 V CMOS clock module, e.g., Microchip DSC6111 16 MHz; crystals won’t work—one caused a Vcc-GND short during assembly [Elektroda, piotr_go, post #19178936]
Comments
Nice job!! Where is the code? Regards. [Read more]
Soon. I need to update main menu first. [Read more]
Thanks so much Piotr, keep up the good work!! [Read more]
Come on. Another beautiful emulator came out of your hand. Which floppy disk drive did you use for loading, Amiga? What else can this connector be connected to? [Read more]
At the moment it is programmed for Amiga, but the PC should also work after reprogramming. LEDs, buttons, ... ================ update =============== I added a BIN file from the main menu. ... [Read more]
Hello. Shouldn't the length of SDRAM paths be kept? For SD cards and Flash memory the rule has been respected. [Read more]
Because it looks cool :) At these frequencies, such length differences are irrelevant. [Read more]
You've turned out to be quite a treat, congratulations. What is the approximate cost of implementation because maybe I would do for myself? Out of curiosity, hand or machine soldered? You could... [Read more]
A masterpiece, as usual WOOOOOOW !. [Read more]
I have no idea, I do not buy individual items. There are many boxes lying around and I take out what I need. Manually. =============== update =============== I tried the second core C64 approach... [Read more]
Design, as always noble ;) But I will ask, where did you get a working floppy disk from in 2019? [Read more]
It took care of it :) You can still buy clean, probably still being produced. [Read more]
And you don't need 8 "floppy disks :) [Read more]
If you have it, you can give it to me because I've never seen it :) ... and 5.25 with a working station would come in handy. I will also gladly take the Amiga 500 (but not qwertz) if someone has it,... [Read more]
Maybe I still have 5.25 "ignition switches, as I did not open it. Because they have cool stepper motors (such for PC as you are interested in) 8" floppy disks (as someone still remembers the name) but... [Read more]
Hello, great job, I'm finished and delighted with the relatively small amount of components. I have four questions. 1. Some resistor values are not on the list of elements, ie are they jumpers... [Read more]
Those on the underside at the station connector are not mounted. F1 and F2 - ferrite at SD, 0.5A polymer fuse at JOY1 There is a menu (penultimate video in the first post). In preparation, 100%... [Read more]
Thank you for your answer I am waiting with diligence if there is still an option from C64, I immediately start building. Thank you, great project! [Read more]
A few programming related questions. 1. Configuration is programmed by JTAG and is it used for "main (v0.4 beta2) .bin"? 2. Can it be done with the FT2232 converter? 3. The remaining files are loaded... [Read more]