Smaller. Bigger. Better. SX-2

interesting, but i have two questions:
1.- inherits the lack of sound-in in the slot?
2.- Is msx-audio a complete compilation? Does it include adpcm, or is it using opl3 in emulation mode, because the msx-audio specification requires adpcm.
22kle, they are enough, to see if there is luck and the v9990 enters, I doubt that the opl4 will enter

This is really interesting! I have many questions:
- Are the audio expansions implemented inside the FPGA, or with actual Yamaha IC's?
- What's the price of the optional Wi-Fi module? Is it a readily available module or specific to this computer design?
- Is the IDC-to-cartridge adapter a standard one, and what is its cost?
- Are data pins on the mini USB port connected to the FPGA to allow future connectivity? If so, can it be used for data while using the barrel connector for (separate) power?
- Does it have physical configuration DIP switches? If so, can they be adjusted without removing the case?
- What fraction of the FPGA's resources are used by the current firmware, and is the unused portion sufficient that an R800 CPU core might be feasible in future firmware, provided someone writes one?

edit: also the shop says "Out of Stock / Release: First week April 2021" - does it mean the first batch sold out already, or are we still early?

edit 2: more questions somehow omitted from my first batch:

Also, can the VGA-style connector generate 31 kHz RGBHV (e.g. 480p VGA)? Can it generate 15 kHz RGBS? Can it generate S-Video? Can it generate composite NTSC (or PAL) video? Are any of the pins of the connector available for audio output? Does the current firmware support both 50 Hz and 60 Hz refresh rates? If any of the non-VGA signals are possible, will adapters or cables be available for their connectors? Would such signal pin usage on the connector match either previous OCM or V9990 designs?

Does this hardware design have any provisions for a battery-backed real-time clock? If so, could it be added in a firmware update or would it also require a board revision?

Are there any IO pins of the FPGA still available? If so, are they exposed internally by some kind of connector, and are there enough to consider future printer port and/or dedicated MIDI ports as expansions?

Has the audio output been recorded? How's the audio and video signal quality e.g. during microSD access?

Has RFI been measured? Is this a design that could benefit from metal shielding?

Has the temperature while operating been measured? Will it be needing additional heat sink(s) or fan(s) during long-term continuous operation?

edit 3: also, what does the default slot map look like with current firmware? Does it have hot-key toggling of slot assignments (internal vs. physical/external) for the hardware slots?

Is the scanline toggle button one that could be repurposed in the future for CPU mode toggling?

Are there any status/notification LED's? If so, are they external visible through the case window or otherwise?

Is there any electrical conflict when an MSX joystick is connected to port 2 and a mouse is also connected to the PS/2 port? Or can those usages be toggled in software/by keyboard keys?

Can the PS/2 ports source sufficient power for an active conversion adapter so that more modern USB peripherals can be used with this? In the SX-1 mini+ I use this one for the keyboard and connect a Logitech unifying receiver wireless keyboard dongle to it: https://www.amazon.com/Adder-KVM-konverter-USB-KMU2P/dp/B005... (I use it with this keyboard wirelessly: https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Advanced-Wireless-Illuminate... )

edit 4: does the firmware support Kanji and kana input? If so, does it support Romaji conversion? Does it support either of the common MSX kana physical keyboard layouts? Will this work with a Japanese PS/2 keyboard?

Does the firmware support Hangul input? Does it support Hanja conversions? Will this work with a Korean PS/2 keyboard?

Does the firmware support Cyrillic input? Will this work with a Russian JCUKEN PS/2 keyboard?

Which other PS/2 keyboard layouts will work? US QWERTY? UK? French AZERTY? German QWERTZ?

Will changing keyboard layouts be possible at runtime, or will it require firmware replacement?

Are there any free I/O pins for future USB (MSX-USB?) peripheral support? What about for digital audio and/or video output? What about for analogue video input for digitization and/or overlaying? Audio line input? Light pen? If so, is there any internal connector exposing these pins, or would a board revision be needed?

Could a V9990 implementation possibly fit into this FPGA in the future, maybe with keyboard toggling of the selected video signal?

edit 5: will it work with Spanish PS/2 keyboards? What about Brazilian Portuguese ones?

Will it support Arabic input/keyboards?

edit 6 (last! I will rest): does it allow BIOS substitution from a file on the microSD (OCM SD BIOS feature) like the previous SX-1 Mini+? If so, can the same BIOS be used for both models or are they incompatible? And can the boot logo be replaced in this way too, for instance to customize the color?

Yeah, most answers seem known if it's the same feature set as previous OCM or SM-X, but I saw the word "most" and wondered if some of those were sacrificed in the new design, and also I see it is a new FPGA and wonder if it makes more capabilities possible. Also can't tell whether it's the same architecture as SM-X or just similar, and didn't want to assume all answers being identical

I think the concern about missing VGA and SCART inputs on recent monitors is a valid one, fortunately though some cheap but capable converters exist. I'm happy to pay a bit for a converter so that 8bits4ever doesn't have to purchase an HDMI license and pay a royalty for every unit even when some buyers won't use the feature. I hope this one will work with SX2: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07121Y1Z3

I suspect the scanline simulation can be toggled/is optional. In any case it's not a gimmick so much as a simulation on VGA monitors of the appearance on RGB monitors, and might be especially useful when the video mode is interlaced, for example in KID. It trades off the blocky pixel effect from scan doubling for a brightness reduction and larger visible gaps, but I suspect it will look pretty good on a VGA CRT

I like to mention that the price for the SX-M is double the price for the SX-2 and that did't include shipping and customs fees. So fair enough to buy an adapter for a HDMI monitor by yourself of course.
I don't think USB input devices can be used that quickly, but there are still many cheap PS/2 versions available.

I believe they ended up with DVI on HDMI pins. I'm still waiting for my Vampire 1200 so can't answer for sure, but the audio specifications say yes. The vampire manuals confirm mixed audio not being a part of the spec.

Hello people!

We see there is many questions... difficult to answer all. The most recurrent seems to be about USB and HDMI.

USB will likely require a separate chip implementing the USB bus interface. For example, in the case of the MiST FPGA , it uses 3 chips (one of them is an ARM micro) working alongside the FPGA to implement USB bus, on screen menu, SPI, etc.
This not only would increase the price but also would require a major firmware redesign.

About HDMI, we had it on our prototypes and the compatibility was terrible (none of the 4 screens we have in our workshop were able to catch the signal). This is again a firmware level problem that could be improved in the future, but the fact is, when you can buy a highly compatible VGA-HDMI adapter for 5 bucks it does not make sense to spend time getting the on-board HDMI output to work.

Did you think about an omega like design incorporating keyboard and some extras like ours old msx models all in one integrated the same case?

Received a mail today from 8bits4ever that the preorder is open for the first batch. So don't miss this oportunity to get your SX-2!

Uodate:
And it seems to be already finished. The first batch for 20 units is closed.
Hope to see the next batch will be produced soon!

This might be possible also. Maybe I misunderstood.

I just ordered one

Congrats! I reloaded a few times but always got "out of stock", I hope there will be another batch soon. Also impressed the batch appears to have sold out in only a few minutes

I can confirm this, 8bits4ever delivers very good quality and knows the trade of electronics. Recommended hardware seller for MSX.

Aww man, it hurts...

I know it's unrealistic but I hope the next batch can be in stock a bit longer before selling out, and ideally during the California daylight hours. In any case I'm looking forward to it and I hope to read more shared on this site in the future from those who got one from the first batch too!

My 4 slot SX-2.

The expander board was sold by 8bits4ever origin for the SX-1. It also matches to the first SX mini edition that has come only with the extensions bus, without cartridge slots.

Got one delivered today and love it so far! Having built-in Wi-Fi with automatic NTP synchronization is great for file timestamps Also the option for lots of RAM (large memory mapper) is quite handy

When I tried it with the 8bits4ever slotx4 expander directly wired to the expansion port I was surprised that multiple slots work. Does anyone know the slot map for it?

Also does it support keyboard toggling of slots like SX-1 Mini+ or only boot time DIP switch toggling?

what is the mysterious OPL/which software supports it? Is it possible somehow to use Moonsound software despite it being OPL3 rather than OPL4?

The MIDI-PAC v2 worked in the slot expander but not in either main slot. Is 12 V power missing perhaps? Or did I use an insufficient power supply?

What is each audio jack? i naively expected the green one to be the output but it seems the black one is actually? Also the PS/2 ports aren't labeled. Is there some way to toggle between PS/2 mouse and DE-9 port for a controller?

Apologies if there is documentation for this all, I did look but am not sure which documentation applies

Hi,

I bought and tried to use a FMPAC compatible cartridge ( SoundCoreSLOT EX http://niga2.sytes.net/sp/coreslot.pdf ) for my SX|2, but it didn't sound. Could you please help ?

SX|2 doesn't seem to recognize the cart at all.