Retrocastle released recently a new build for their Mister FPGA, with it you can have 2 sticks of RAM and still keep the IO board with the VGA port, the drawback is that you have to choose between using the HDMI out OR the VGA out for outputting video.
Because of this I came up with a kind of a makeshift solution: swapping the flat cable that came with the Mister with a longer one and using a HDMI switcher with 1 input and 2 outputs to be able to easily switch between the analog and digital video outputs, without having to keep connecting and disconnecting the video cables, as can be seen in the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV7dGnw4dWc
To achieve this, all you need is a longer flat cable and a HDMI switcher with 1 input and 2 outputs (as mentioned before). The single input port should be connected to the HDMI port on the DE10 Nano, and of the 2 output HDMI ports, in one of them you should connect the little square thing with the HDMI connector that came with the Mister (that would be normally connected to the HDMI port on the DE10 Nano), on the other output HDMI port you should connect your TV.
I also made 3D printable bases to hold all the components together and make the Mister easy to move.
https://www.printables.com/model/882636 ... e-zip-ties
https://www.printables.com/model/882827 ... e-screws-v
The components that were tested are as follow:
HDMI switcher
(note that this is only a list of tested models. Any model that is HDMI 2.0 or below and has 2 output HDMI ports might work):
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https://aliexpress.com/item/1005004941143202.html / https://aliexpress.com/item/32997268918.html - tested by me and works perfectly.
- HDMI switcher 2_0 redimensionado.png (35.16 KiB) Viewed 736 times
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https://aliexpress.com/item/32997268918.html - also tested by me and works, but will need to be connected to an external power source using an USB-C cable.
- HDMI switcher 2_1 redimensionado.png (40.05 KiB) Viewed 736 times
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https://aliexpress.com/item/1005006515752595.html - tested by Ivory from Retrocastle, works perfectly. Since I don't have it, I couldn't make a base specifically for it, but it can be used with the zip ties version of the base.
- ugreen-hdmi-splitter-redimensionado.png (21.01 KiB) Viewed 736 times
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Flat cable:
https://pt.aliexpress.com/item/1005005909139190.html - I bought the one that has 200mm lengh, 12P (12 pins on both ends) and 1.0mm pitch. It worked, although it was a little too thick and was difficult to insert into the little square thing that came with the Mister. Also, it was a little too long, maybe the 150mm model would fit better, but I'm not sure.
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Optional:
HDMI cable: https://aliexpress.com/item/1005003539810319.html - I bought it because it's a very short and thin cable, and also it's L shaped, perfect for this job, I bought the one labeled as “Left”.
USB Y cable: https://aliexpress.com/item/1005004920028590.html - a USB 3.0 Y cable, so if you buy the HDMI switcher that needs an external power source, you can connect a controller to the same USB port the switcher is connected to.