A Lisa Inside An FPGA

[slewis1962]

On another note, does anyone have any plans on a case or backing board for this device? I haven't really given it much thought.

[coffeemuse]

On another note, does anyone have any plans on a case or backing board for this device? I haven't really given it much thought.

I've designed a 3D printable case based on the board's 3D model, but I haven't yet had the opportunity to test it with a real board. I'm tracking my board's delivery and expect it tomorrow. Once I have a chance to test fit and make any necessary adjustments, I'll share my case design with others.

Below are some photos of the prototype case.

[AlexTheCat123]

It works! I tried with my DVI monitor with HDMI to DVI but it wouldn't work. I hooked it up to my boys HDMI gaming monitor long enough to verify functionality and it functions perfectly! Alex, this is the greatest piece of electronics gear since I purchased my Lisa 1 in 2002. This is awesome! I booted LOS 2.0 then MacWorks. Can't try my Twiggy drives as they somehow left out my Twiggy adapter board. I've already contacted them and hopefully will hear back next week.

I'm so glad it's working for you! Sorry about the Twiggy adapter board; it looks like they accidentally oversold by one and you're the person who bought the extra one that didn't exist. Mark will give you a refund, but Joe still has 3 in stock if you want to grab one from him: https://jcm-1.com/product/twiggy-breakout-for-lisafpga/

On another note, does anyone have any plans on a case or backing board for this device? I haven't really given it much thought.

In addition to @coffemuse's case, some people on TinkerDifferent appear to be working on one too. I'm not great at CAD modeling, so I'm not even bothering to try myself and I'm leaving it up to the pros.

[slewis1962]

I may just wait on the adapter board until others have tested it out.
I ordered an HDMI monitor from Amazon which will be here Tuesday so I don't have to steal my boys gaming monitor. I'm looking forward to getting more time with the FPGA Lisa.

[coffeemuse]

In addition to @coffemuse's case, some people on TinkerDifferent appear to be working on one too. I'm not great at CAD modeling, so I'm not even bothering to try myself and I'm leaving it up to the pros.

I'm not a CAD professional either, but I have enough knowledge to create boxes with holes and rounded corners (and some additional embellishments). However, after reviewing some of the design concepts they showcased on ThinkDifferent, I would consider my design to be quite "novice-level."

[coffeemuse]

I may just wait on the adapter board until others have tested it out.
I ordered an HDMI monitor from Amazon which will be here Tuesday so I don't have to steal my boys gaming monitor. I'm looking forward to getting more time with the FPGA Lisa.

Hopefully he won't mind being without the gaming display until Tuesday. Lisa takes priory, right?

[slewis1962]

I may just wait on the adapter board until others have tested it out.
I ordered an HDMI monitor from Amazon which will be here Tuesday so I don't have to steal my boys gaming monitor. I'm looking forward to getting more time with the FPGA Lisa.

Hopefully he won't mind being without the gaming display until Tuesday. Lisa takes priory, right?

Exactly! Well done on the case design!

[slewis1962]

I was thinking with this new way of using the Lisa I might try programming. I've wanted to do something for years and never got around to it as I always thought my 40 year old computer was too fragile for extensive use. I used to write programs in Pascal on the Macintosh as a hobby and have programmed the 68000 in assembler so Lisa Pascal shouldn't be too hard. I just need to figure out something worth programming.

[coffeemuse]

Exactly! Well done on the case design!

Thanks, but it is not much more than box with a lift off lid and holes for the various ports. 

[slewis1962]

Exactly! Well done on the case design!

Thanks, but it is not much more than box with a lift off lid and holes for the various ports. 

The important thing is it protects the board.

[coffeemuse]

My LisaFPGA is finally here, and it's truly a work of art.

However, I seem to have made a mistake in my calculations, or the physical boards are larger than the 3D model. The ports align perfectly, but the shell is slightly too small to accommodate the board. I'll need to spend some more time in Fusion360 to refine the design and make it usable.

[karmann68]

Hey Alex,

Got my board yesterday in Australia, which is a lot quicker than I expected. Well done to MacEffects.


Can you please let me know the specs of the analogue video header (frequency, etc). Hoping to use a mono CRT and have a VGA one and many others.

[sigma7]

Can you please let me know the specs of the analogue video header (frequency, etc). Hoping to use a mono CRT and have a VGA one and many others.

For video signal timing, try here: Lisa Composite Video Characteristics

Although note the LisaFPGA header provides digital signal voltages, not analog/composite as described by the linked post.

Great to see the positive reception of the first units - well done Alex!

edit: clarified per Alex's comment that the header is digital.

[AlexTheCat123]

My LisaFPGA is finally here, and it's truly a work of art.

However, I seem to have made a mistake in my calculations, or the physical boards are larger than the 3D model. The ports align perfectly, but the shell is slightly too small to accommodate the board. I'll need to spend some more time in Fusion360 to refine the design and make it usable.

Glad you like it so far!

Perhaps you specced the outer dimensions of the case to be the same as the board, so then when you expanded the walls inward, it ended up being too small? Just a total guess though.

Can you please let me know the specs of the analogue video header (frequency, etc). Hoping to use a mono CRT and have a VGA one and many others.

It's the exact same timings that @sigma7 just linked to, except not composite; I expose VSYNC, HSYNC, and VID separately to allow for easy connection to an original Lisa video board (or other non-composite monitor).

Great to see the positive reception of the first units - well done Alex!

Thank you!

[sigma7]

I was thinking with this new way of using the Lisa I might try programming.
...
need to figure out something worth programming.

I think LOS needs:

• an xmodem file transfer program (that does binary files); this could be a command line program, but probably/eventually needs some assembly programming to achieve good throughput... the library serial routines have a lot of overhead.
• a GUI hex file/disk editor
• a peek/poke utility for use by EXEC scripts