A Lisa Inside An FPGA

[slewis1962]

I've seen the same issue with my HP keyboard. Typing slower seems to help I think but will do further testing.

Interesting. I use an early-2010s HP keyboard with mine and I can type as fast as I want without problems. Might your issue (and yours, @slewis1962) be related to the key repeat rate in LOS? You have to turn it down in Preferences when overclocking or else just tapping a key once will make it repeat several times.

One of mine was doing that but my other would keep repeating after removing my hands from the keyboard. Anybody know if key repeat rate can be adjusted in workshop? This is my first time trying it.

[slewis1962]

Today I've been tinkering in the workshop. As my original Lisa keyboards need rebuilt I've been using several USB keyboards. Both my USB keyboards repeat keys randomly and even repeat after my fingers are completely off the keyboard. Anyone else have this problem? I'm wondering if I just happen to have two flaky keyboards (both brand new) or if this is some kind of problem with my board?

Can't say that I've seen that exact symptom or heard or heard it from anyone yet. Clearly the keyboard interface is proving to be the weak point of this whole project...

Is it safe to assume that if I rebuild my Lisa keyboard I won't have these issues? I'm assuming it's just the USB implementation. I need to order new foam pads from TexElec unless someone has a better source. I've been meaning to do this for years but now with this new board I have a good reason. No more procrastination!

[slewis1962]

You know, I could try out my USB keyboards with my real Lisa with my USB to Lisa keyboard adapter. That would answer my question. I have a 2/10 with what used to be a working Widget, at least it worked several years ago. My basement is dry and climate controlled so hopefully it still works. I probably need to install the workshop to get an apples to apples comparison. It currently has just LOS 3.1.

[karmann68]

I've seen the same issue with my HP keyboard. Typing slower seems to help I think but will do further testing.

Interesting. I use an early-2010s HP keyboard with mine and I can type as fast as I want without problems. Might your issue (and yours, @slewis1962) be related to the key repeat rate in LOS? You have to turn it down in Preferences when overclocking or else just tapping a key once will make it repeat several times.

Will give that a try in both standard and overclock speed when I get a chance. Thanks.

[ried]

One more quick question: When I connect the modem emulator to Serial B, LisaTerminal does not see it connected. I've tried flipping the Serial B switch on the LisaFPGA board to from RS-232 to USB and vice versa, but that didn't make a difference. LOS preferences are set correctly. However, when I switched to use Serial A, everything works just fine.

Is this a known limitation with Serial B? Or am I not configuring something correctly?

[slewis1962]

Bad news, my 2/10 is buried in my storage room. At least two hours or more to dig it out. My shop has two Lisa 2/5's accessible. I need to either hook up my X/Profile or try out my ESProfile that I got last year. Any tips on using the ESProfile or is everything in the GitHub?

[AlexTheCat123]

One more quick question: When I connect the modem emulator to Serial B, LisaTerminal does not see it connected. I've tried flipping the Serial B switch on the LisaFPGA board to from RS-232 to USB and vice versa, but that didn't make a difference. LOS preferences are set correctly. However, when I switched to use Serial A, everything works just fine.

Is this a known limitation with Serial B? Or am I not configuring something correctly?

Does the modem adapter use RS-422? Because if so, then it's a limitation of the board. I couldn't find any 26LS30s (or modern equivalents) in stock anywhere, so the board isn't capable of RS-422 differential transmission, only single-ended transmision. I was able to find a 26C32 though, so it can at least receive RS-422. I figured that this wouldn't really affect anyone at all since most people just use the ports as standard RS-232 ports, but maybe that was a bad assumption on my part.

Any tips on using the ESProfile or is everything in the GitHub?

No tips that I can really think of. It should all be right there in the readme!

[ried]

Does the modem adapter use RS-422?

We'll have to page jamesdenton to confirm that one. It's no biggie, really. Serial A is working fine. I'm just used to using Serial B since it supports higher throughput on a real Lisa.

[Lisa1]

Can LOS 1.0 used without a Twiggy Drive and just with a floppy emulator or physical Sony drive? And where do I find the twiggies.image file? Thanks

I am able to run my Lisa 1 with LOS 1.0 WITHOUT the twiggy drives attached, but the LisaFPGA hangs with the hourglass once LOS 1.0 loads.

The BMOW FEMU cannot emulate Twiggy drives. There was a proposed project with Steve Chamberlain a couple years ago to add Twiggy emulation to the FEMU. It could be done, but there was very little interest and the time and cost required was not considered justifiable.

Perhaps Alex can include Twiggy emulation in the ESFloppy?

[ried]

Can LOS 1.0 used without a Twiggy Drive and just with a floppy emulator or physical Sony drive? And where do I find the twiggies.image file? Thanks

I am able to run my Lisa 1 with LOS 1.0 WITHOUT the twiggy drives attached, but the LisaFPGA hangs with the hourglass once LOS 1.0 loads.

It's hanging after the desktop icons appear and before the window menus are drawn, correct? If so, that is the same experience I have. It's trying to reset and mount the Twiggies and hanging because they're not attached.

[coffeemuse]

My case design has been updated and now fits the board perfectly. However, my printing experience took a turn for the worse. I ran out of the beige filament halfway through printing the new, resized lid, which is why half of the lid is white. I still need to polish the design a bit, but I'll publish it this weekend for anyone interested in printing their own case.   

[joeventura]

yes please