OK, this will probably help to explain what this device is like:
It's using the NES itself as the cartridge programmer, with no modifications needed to the NES in order to be able to do so. That's why it's so cool and so cheap.
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rochester, ny
neilbaldwin wrote:
Oh, and whoever writes the PC-side code to handle the communication - don't forget some of us don't use Windows PCs.
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Minneapolis
neilbaldwin wrote:
Oh, and whoever writes the PC-side code to handle the communication - don't forget some of us don't use Windows PCs.
No problem! It's just simple serial code though, so not a problem. As for letting you have the 8kb RAM to yourself, that's fine because the bootloader is in Flash, so the SRAM is yours.
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Milwaukee, WI
Also, this should be easily possible with a Famicom as well correct? The AV Famicoms do have controller ports.
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Minneapolis
Well, I suppose it should. I have never done work with modding Famicom cartridges (other than modding a Famicom Wars cartridge into a NES cartridge case) but it doesn't mean it can't be done. I'll check my sources and see what comes up for hardware matches. As for controller port pinouts and such, it might be possible that way too, but perhaps only on AV Famicom. I really am not certain though.
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Minneapolis
Looking over parts cost for these, should not be bad at all. Now to get some capitol for building prototypes.
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thieveland ohio
i am down...preorder. also mac & linux support=rule!
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Minneapolis
Don't jump the gun node, but don't worry. I'm willing to do a fairly substantial number of these and preorder time will come soon enough. Pending payment on a couple of other commission jobs I'm doing I will be able to buy components to test this new design. I just paid this month's bills, and I have $2.97 left. Woohoo!!!
EDIT: I also found a quarter on the sidewalk. Woohooo!!! ...good thing I'm living with my parents still. 
Last edited by arfink (Jul 28, 2010 11:12 pm)
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Minneapolis
On a whim, I put "bootstrapping" into Google and wound up reading about Baron Munchausen, a real man who had the misfortune of having ridiculous stories written about him. One of which included him escaping from a swamp by lifting himself out by his own bootstraps. Given that, I think it might be fitting to call the finished product (unless Blargg objects) the "Munchausen Cartridge," in homage to this great ancestor of bootstrapping.
Behold, Dore's classic depiction of the patron saint of firmware and BIOSes everywhere:
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Tucson, AZ
arfink wrote:
Of course, alternate boot code could also be loaded onto the device allowing for even more funky things, like live data transmission during code execution, or running the code directly from a PC instead of from the cartridge memory banks.
Very interested, especially for the reason highlighted above. Also Munchausen Cartridge is brilliant! Fully support this -- doubly support it if you have Enso do the label design.
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Milwaukee, WI
Thank you for giving this thing a ***COOL*** name for once.
Interested.
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Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA
Nullsleep wrote:
doubly support it if you have Enso do the label design.
his color palettes are almost always too dark for print... from what i've seen. (but they look fantastic on an LCD screen!)
but what the hell do i know... LittleBitRecords only waited 7-8 months for artwork that looked as though it was rushed like home work gets the day it's due.
I'd say... talk to a few artists and see what options you have 
plenty of them out there!
I can't recommend Ralp enough! That's for sure!
Last edited by low-gain (Jul 29, 2010 4:07 am)
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The idea is for the code to go into the 128K/256K/perhaps larger Flash chip, and leave the battery RAM open for the code to use. The older design before these Flash chips was to use battery RAM (that's how all my current carts work).
And the PC-to-NES cable is as simple as it comes. It's basically just a USB-to-serial cable connected to the controller port, with the NES doing a software-based UART running at 5.7 KB/sec. And yes, the NES can send data back to the PC. One interesting program I've made using this link is an NSF player that runs on the PC, but sends the sound chip writes to the NES for more authentic sound (and even suppots DMC samples).