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Efika 5200B Project
Efika Retro Stationin category Other
proposed by Bladerunner on 28th November 2006 (accepted on 6th December 2006)
Project Summary
The Efika Retro Station Project consists of two parts:Hardware Case
Due its small form Factor, it should be possible to put the Efika Board in almost every case from the last 20 Years of Computers and Consoles.
The goal should be to integrate the system peripherals as close as possible to the original, For example put efika into an Amiga 600/1200 Computer,
it should be possible to use the original keyboard and digital Joysticks, or when put it into a Nintendo/Sega Console, it should be possible to reuse
the modul slot with a customized usb card reader and so on.
Software
The Operating System for the Retro Station should be MorphOS, as it is fast and flexible, which gives a big advantage to build a custom system for the Retro Station.
First Step is to fully strip down MorphOS (e.g. get rid of MorphOS\' Desktop Ambient) so it can instantly launch a given application.
The Next Step should be to glue existing emulators together, using the fantastic Multimedia Language Hollywood
Hollywood is allready available for all Amiga Operating Systems, thus making it easy to use it for such a project.
In the long Term, the whole project should provide a Plattform for Retro Gaming Fans, with Instructions on how to build the proper casing,
and Installing an easy to use Operating System which instantly launches the System you want it to be.
Project Blog Entries
Today is premiere day. It is the first time i received a package from the states, actually the first time i got something delivered through
FedEX. It is the first Single Board Computer I have (another one is to follow), yeah the Efika has landed :)
Unfortunately, my Harddrive and the GFX Board did not yet arrive, but this leave some time to think further about the Case for
the Retro Station. The first one will be definitively a Super Nintendo Case, but maybe I can also get my hands on that Broken Playstation 2
from a friend of mine.
BTW, if you read this and want to get rid of some of your older Console Hardware (Please only non functional Hardware,
I hate to kill working things) feel free to contact me :)
However there will be one step before, to have the gfx card properly attached, I will create a custom Backplate, this will also make it easy to
put the Efika in various Cases.
On the Software Site, work on the Frontend has also already begun. But wait, there is no MorphOS for the Efika yet, How is this supposed to work?
Well I will use Hollywood (a nice Multimedia Layer for Amiga and MorphOS) for that, and thus I am able to develop on what and where ever I want.
As I am on holiday from next week on, development will continue on my Laptop with WinUAE installed. Cool eh?
In the end today is not just premiere day, it also the day to bring back some nice memories:
The Efika is not the most powerful Computer in the World, but it is very tiny and it feels a bit like it was in the beginning of Home Computers,
You are not yet sure what to do with it, but you know there will be some surprising options :) And in the end, when this project is done,
it will also bring back some of the greatest Computers and Consoles from the past. (Well you can also just buy a Wii, but honestly where is the fun there? ;) )