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Easier to produce if you don't want to steal the chips from gameboy color games (this is what jose did).
"Does" actually. He's still producing cartridges with the same design, (and same microcontroller firmware etc) just that he's added two LEDs to it.
This cart features fantastic dual LEDs right in the cart, which is a must for performers!
MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST
TmTgr wrote:Easier to produce if you don't want to steal the chips from gameboy color games (this is what jose did).
"Does" actually. He's still producing cartridges with the same design, (and same microcontroller firmware etc) just that he's added two LEDs to it.
Didn't know he was doing that... interesting.
I'll be up for a few boards if they're up for sale!
someone wrote:This cart features fantastic dual LEDs right in the cart, which is a must for performers!
MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST
Yes, and also, in the last design, I have connected the LED's to a spare pin on the CPLD, by default they will be turned on, but using some not used bits on MBC5 writes, you can turn them on and off, so perhaps we can ask for a LSDJ version that does blinking, it will be very easy to code.
TmTgr wrote:MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST
Yes, and also, in the last design, I have connected the LED's to a spare pin on the CPLD, by default they will be turned on, but using some not used bits on MBC5 writes, you can turn them on and off, so perhaps we can ask for a LSDJ version that does blinking, it will be very easy to code.
blinking could also mean midi sync
I am testing the LED thing. I'm using bit 7 in 3000h-3FFFh register (high rom bank, only bit 0 is used in original MBC5), to control the LED.
Program is a simple timer, that changes the LED status each second:
Ok, it's been a while... :-)
A while after my last post, I received the PCBs and tested the CPLD design, and it had some bugs that made games work badly or not work at all, and the save games were also not working, so I redid the design several times, with no luck, looking at the MBC5 as a black box is difficult, but the problem was me, I was not discovering what I was doing bad, so I got frustated and stopped for a while. I tried to make it work from time to time, but I had several other projects and started a new job, so things got stalled.
Some days ago I tried again, searching information I found some guy at the nesdev forums also trying to make the MBC5 clone and a flashcart, so we talked a bit, and I remembered that I have a working flashcart with a mbc1 clone (just the rom mapping) using standard 74xxx logic chips. So i started from that design, and today I got it to work. I tried Super Mario Bros Deluxe DX and Zelda DX and both worked perfect, with savegames and everything.
I'll update soon, I'm going to test it a bit more, but I think it is a big milestone for this humble project. I'll make the MBC5 clone opensource as promised, so keep tuned.
Now I have to fix some errors I had on the prototype PCBs, order a new batch, and test everything, but I'm really happy right now!
For the future I'll try to make a new design using 3.3v logic, that will enable us to use modern and on stock components (it's been a pain finding 5v flash chips), but for now I'll publish what I have righ now in a few days, once I'm sure the MBC5 clone implementation works perfect.
Expect a video soon!
That sounds like excellent news. The Drag'n'Derp cart uses this cool ferroelectric RAM that can supposedly retain data for 10 decades without a battery. Is this something you'd see in the future of this project?
This is a huge deal for the scene. I might have to PM you later...
Nice work! Excited to see where this goes.
nice work!
so satisfying getting that stuff working. (the drag'n'derp has a MBC5/3.3v cpld-based design also.)
