dml attempts a Raven

[dml]

Thanks (!!!) to another member of this forum, I have in front of me a set of Raven PCBs and beginning to realise whats involved!

I have some parts already and some on the way. Not everything but a good start. I already had a CPU, which helps.

I'm not really expecting many problems with physically putting one of these together - assuming I'm lucky with ICs - except the obvious large time & cost involved in this and, of course, what happens next if it all looks correct but doesn't work anyway...

However I'm a complete n00b when it comes to programming FPGA/CPLD devices and I probably don't have access to the equipment needed to program the main IC (I can probably manage the other ones, I have more common programmers). So I would probably need some kind of 'help' at that stage ....otherwise I'll be looking a very expensive, 060-powered square frisbee. :) it would be sad to hit a roadblock at the flashing step.

I'm also not in a hurry to build this as the BOM is kinda expensive to fill and I have a lot of other stuff going on still - but I will be working on it as a background thing between other projects.

[Steve]

I can almost feel it now..... BadMood 060 Raven Deluxe edition :D

[dml]

I can almost feel it now..... BadMood 060 Raven Deluxe edition :D

:D

[alexh]

Rather than buy the dedicated Atmel programmer/debugger (ATDH1150-USB ~$90) you can use an FT232H ($5). A little more clunky but works for ERASE/READ/WRITE which is all you'll need. Lots of info out there about using them to program Atmel CPLDs.

However if the design is now in the late stages (e.g. no more design updates) then maybe ask one of the others to program a set of PLDs for you?

[dml]

That's great advice, thanks!

I was wondering if someone would be up for a CPLD-flash-and-swap but it's a bit much to ask at this stage given that I barely have the parts together :) and it would seem better overall to try the FT232H first.

[alexh]

To use an FT232H you use two tools.

FuseConv to convert from JED to SWF
OpenOCD to program the SWF.

The linux command line would be something like this :

Code: Select all

#!/bin/bash
openocd -f /usr/local/share/openocd/scripts/interface/ftdi/um232h.cfg -c "adapter_khz 400" -c "transport select jtag" -c "jtag newtap ATF1508AS tap -irlen 3 -expected-id 0x0150803f" -c init -c "svf file.svf" -c "sleep 200" -c shutdown

(Information from Hoglet67 aka David Banks who created RGBTOHDMI)

https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/32818558599.html

[sety]

I ran into this trap and it took hours!

If you autogenerate the cfg file, you will bet your ass there is a shutdown command in there, and that gets priority over CLI commands. Just put everything in the .cfg and not stress over the CLI and run it with -f your.cfg :)

[dml]

Thanks! I feel a bit better now about actually starting to build it. That's info I could have spent hours searching for otherwise...

[sety]

I forgot to mention! Don't forget to jumper J105 or you really will be up all night :lol:

[dml]

Still gradually piling up parts, scraped from here and there... it's mostly some connectors left now to source.

I thought I had usable GALs stored away in place of the ATFs but looks like they're the wrong type (GAL20V8).

Also, I thought I was sitting smug with some nice 040 PGA sockets tucked away for years - only to find the 68060 has a different pin pattern and wants a different socket :roll:

However the sockets are exactly the same size with a different pattern of pins - I think I can maybe pull a special move and transplant some turned pins (from another, more disposable socket type) into one of these? Looks like it might work, if I do it correctly :)

I also have a nice, black high-mass, milled heatsink from some old 040 or 060 server or maybe a NeXT, can't remember. Anyway it's going to be used too if there is enough clearance around the CPU & SIMM socket, after a bit of a clean. The underside has an 040/60 footprint milled out so it fits over the top of the IC. If it does fit there won't be much of a gap - we will see...

Screenshot 2025-05-23 at 15.12.43.png

(Yes, this is an EC060 - but it's not going in the Raven)