Domz
Offline
The New City of York

Success!!!

Used this tutorial for making the PCB >>> http://youtu.be/tWnfnt2rNO0 (also purchased the materials used in the vid)

Purchased this to program the atmega8515 >> http://www.atmel.com/tools/AVRISPMKII.aspx

The hardest part was flashing the firmware to the atmega8515 as I have never had any experience with in system programming. (to be honest I had no clue what ISP was until taking on this project)

Took a ton of googling, reading and scratching my head (also some cursing) but it was totally worth it!

Now I can finally flash a new version of LSDJ to my BB cart and as soon as they arrive.... my apeshit carts.

Grymmtymm
Offline
KC

could you kindly point me in the direction of taking this project on myself? what would be the first thing I need to learn/read up on?

Last edited by Grymmtymm (Jul 27, 2012 1:46 pm)

Domz
Offline
The New City of York

Here is the link to Reiner Ziegler's design >> http://www.reinerziegler.de/readplus.htm#Home made programming systems

It contains all the schematics. Picking the right components was a lil bit of a pain but I have a list of all the parts I ordered from digikey.

AVR Freaks is where I found some good reading about ISP and how to use my AVRISP mkII >> http://www.avrfreaks.net/

The youtube video in the OP is the exact tutorial I used to make the pcb. The vid also contains links to Jameco Electronics where you can purchase the materials as a bundle. I already had a Dremel so instead of purchasing the mini drill press from Jameco I purchased the drill press attachment from Dremel... worked great.

If you purchase all the materials yourself, I wouldn't mind assembling it. I'm assuming this would be acceptable being I would be doing it for free but if someone could chime in on this... it would be appreciated.

nitro2k01
Offline
Sweeeeeeden

These days, there's really no reason not to use the USB version of the schematic as described on the Reiner Ziegler page.

ashimoke
Offline
Czech republic

it's the SMT that discourage people from the USB design

Telerophon
Offline
Austin, Texas

How hard would it really be to modify your design to use through-hole components?

I haven't looked at the USB schematic, but is the whole thing SMT or something?

Domz
Offline
The New City of York

@nitro - This was my first attempt at building something like this and I don't have much surface mount experience. RS232 was the perfect place to start for its simplicity.  USB is next on the list wink

@telerophon - This is not my design, it is Reiner Ziegler's. I don't have the schematic in front of me but iirc, the only smt in the design is the USB controller.

nitro2k01
Offline
Sweeeeeeden
ashimoke wrote:

it's the SMT that discourage people from the USB design

Maybe. Shouldn't be too hard unless your iron completely sucks. However, this gave me an idea. If you're building your own unit and you're afraid of surface mount, you could use a pin header and base your design around an FTDI, like this one: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9716?

Telerophon
Offline
Austin, Texas
Domz wrote:

This is not my design, it is Reiner Ziegler's. I don't have the schematic in front of me but iirc, the only smt in the design is the USB controller.

I went and found the schematic, and yeah, you'd have to redraw a lot of it or build a dedicated breakout for the through-hole IC if you wanted to modify his design to not use the SMT component.

All this did was make we want to learn how to work with SMT parts. Just when I thought I owned enough tools. neutral

Telerophon
Offline
Austin, Texas

For real though, I think my next fabrication projects outside of Game Boy mods are going to be the pushpin interface and then an Arduinoboy.

You're on my list, GB Cart Flasher. Watch yourself. mad

thursdaycustoms
Offline
Cleveland, OH

Very nice! I plan to build one soon but with a redesigned PCB.

justinthursday wrote:

So here's the PCB I came up with:

It's just about done. Just need to double check everything.

All I'd need from the Pak is the connector. Solder it in place to the board and cut a hole for the mini USB plug.

I can get some pics of the inside of the Transfer Pak later. I've already desoldered the cart connector.

In this case:

justinthursday wrote:

So you can see this thing is perfect for a GBCflasher
It's got the connector, the case and an out line for a new PCB. It will probably be awhile until I finish this but I've ordered most of the parts.

Domz
Offline
The New City of York

Thanks Justin!

Awesome work as always dude!

What prog do you use to design your circuits?

kitsch
Offline
matt's mind

he uses Eagle CAD

thursdaycustoms
Offline
Cleveland, OH

Thanks to Matt! He got me started with Eagle. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it. My tracing for PCBs this big isn't great yet but it's just a project for myself do I'm not too worried.
But my SMT soldered has gotten really good so this will be easy for me to build.

Last edited by thursdaycustoms (Jul 27, 2012 3:39 pm)

Domz
Offline
The New City of York

What soldering station do you guys use?

I have a Weller WESD51. Its been perfect for everything so far and even some light smt work.

Going forward, I was looking at the Aoyue 968A+ hot air rework station. The price seems fair and the reviews are good.

thursdaycustoms
Offline
Cleveland, OH

I use a $10 radio shack soldering iron with a tip that I sharpened on a dremel. Works great for SMT work.