1,937 Reply by nitro2k01

(30 replies, posted in Commodore Computers)

PlainFlavored wrote:

However, hard disk failure is MUCH more based on chance than a finite amount of time, as they will fail, but it could be hours or decades.

Depends on how you look at it. As a probability function, based on the parameters build quality and load, the probability is very deterministic. So much in fact, that in a server environment where disks are put in RAID arrays, and for that reason have very similar loads, you can be almost sure that if one disk in a pair fails, the other one will fail too, within a month or two.

But seen from the perspective that you have a disk that you don't know how it's been used, if someone dropped the whole computer in the floor etc., you obviously have no clue as to the remaining lifetime.

PlainFlavored wrote:

Any flash memory you have will be discarded or lost or replaced long before it hits its write limit, and even then your data will still be readable/attainable.

Depends on what you do with it. If you for example install Windows on it, the wear will increase a whole lot. If you use it for an Amiga, you're probably safe.

Awol wrote:

Found this. I think I'll be safe with SanDisk cards.

OH! I didn't realize there's a PCMCIA slot on the Amiga. Now I see why you would want to buy that adapter. smile

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1,938 Reply by nitro2k01

(30 replies, posted in Commodore Computers)

1) Funny thing is that I bought one of those PCMCIA CF adapters the other day. (That exact model.) What it does is more less connect the card as an IDE device. CF is supposed to be compatible with IDE. And sadly, some of the cheaper cards are not fully compatible and will not work. (They will just freeze the computer for as long as you have the card inserted.) It's a bit of a hit and miss. (However, cards that are not compatible with that adapter are likely not compatible with the Amiga either.)
But there's one more consideration. Since the card appears as an IDE device, DMA transfers might or might not work depending on the controller on your motherboard. If they don't, you're in for some slow transfers.
Conclusion: Get a USB->CF adapter.

2) Yes.

3) I can't judge what speed you need, but I can inform you that the speeds listed as "x" (133x, 266x etc) are read speeds compared to CD. In other words, number * 150 kBytes/s. So a 133x card, will give you about 20 MB/s under good conditions.

4),5) I'll leave these to someone else.
General comment, though: Hard disks fail based how long time they've been on and spinning. CF cards fail based on how many times you write to them. If you keep cycling the content on them, they'll wear out eventually, but if you mostly just read from them, they'll last forever, where a spinning disk would eventually fail.

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1,939 Reply by nitro2k01

(10 replies, posted in General Discussion)

so can i close this yet?

[x] yes
[ ] no

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1,940 Reply by nitro2k01

(58 replies, posted in Collaborations)

First I was like...


... but then I

'd.

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1,941 Reply by nitro2k01

(5 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)

The also have replacament housings in different colors for DS (both phat and lite.) Nothing for DMG though.

http://www.dealextreme.com/advsearch.dx … %20housing

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1,942 Reply by nitro2k01

(1 replies, posted in Bugs and Requests)

Responded!

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1,943 Reply by nitro2k01

(23 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)

It's a known bug... Nobody knows why.

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1,944 Topic by nitro2k01

(23 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)

Inspired by monkeymook and sidslimed on 8bc, I've compiled an archive a GB sound/music software. The archive is arranged as a directory listing, and every directory can have a readme file and a couple of screen shots. The goal is to add that to as many programs as possible, but I just launched the site, so...

http://gbdev.gg8.se/files/musictools/

If your favorite program is missing or there's some weird bug, please tell me about it.

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1,945 Reply by nitro2k01

(25 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)

TmTgr wrote:

I'd guess ground->ground and left audio -> data in.

I think he meant for the cable to send data back to the GB.

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1,946 Reply by nitro2k01

(25 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)

You're not supposed to record audio from the link. Rather, there's a special mode that allows Nanoloop to output data as audio through the audio jack. I have no idea how to use that data, though.

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1,947 Reply by nitro2k01

(82 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)

I have an idea for how you might (mis)use the serial port for this. You have already have 3 functions that map well onto the ICSP header, SIN, SOUT and SCLK. A small trick using a resistor is needed for one of the signals, however. Then there's one unused pin on the link port, which you don't actually need to connect according to the DMG schematic. You can use this one for ICSP reset. You can make that a cuttable trace, since it's not needed anymore once the Arduino bootstrap is in place.

I do recommend keeping the other header, containing Gnd, Reset, and two way serial. This allows reprogramming using an external USB adapter that plugs into that header, via the Arduino software. To make this optimal, it might be a good idea to rearrange the use of some of pins on the microcontroller. This would be pretty easy in the Arduinoboy source code, but would improve some aspects of the design. Further polishing of the code to allow it to peacefully exist together with the link port might be a good idea.

I would not support a removal of the link port, though.

Will have to elaborate on my evil ideas later, though.

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1,948 Reply by nitro2k01

(82 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)

arfink wrote:

I guess my approach is more coming from the modding-a-stock-DMG standpoint, not so much from the new motherboard. As for ESD, I am mainly referring to some kinds of DIY prosound mods which basically connect right up the CPU audio output pins, which to me is just something you shouldn't do out of the principle of the thing. In actual practice it's probably be OK, but I still wouldn't do it. Same for the noise issue, you can actually add more shielding/ground plane etc. with a new board, so why not.

Sure. That's stupid, but not from an ESD standpoint. (In short, ESD hazards mainly affect digital inputs CMOS inputs, and not pure outputs.) The hazard there has more to do with accidentally grounding the outputs and frying them, which is of course bad in its own right. But I'm under the impression that this is not the most common may of doing a Prosound. Soldering to an SMD pin is more difficult than soldering to the potentiometer. And in the case of epoxy blob boys, you'd have to solder to a via on the board. I think most people do it the conventional way. And when doing it the conventional way, there's a 50 ohm resistor that adds some protection.

arfink wrote:

As for the DC:DC, that's not some scare tactic, I'm just trying to be helpful.

The scare tactic part was a response to the quoted comment by low-gain. smile

arfink wrote:

I know the DC:DC in gameboys is pretty cheaply made, and it does in fact add alot of noise. Furthermore, replacing the DC:DC would also provide the added benefit of making the gameboy more capable of handing things like EMS carts, backlights, arduinoboys, etc, which draw alot more current than the DC:DC is made to handle. Especially in the GBP this would help to reduce problems with screen dimming and catastrophic crashes due to overdrawing the converter.

Increased power consumption means increased ripple, true, but that can be solved with more decoupling caps. But the problem on the other hand is to get that -18V. My point is that a DMG with a Prosound is "good enough". Redesigning the DC/DC, which would be a hassle, is overkill if all you want is reduce the noise.

I think the main problem with GBP is the choice of battery type, (AAA instead of AA) not the DC/DC. Bibin did a modification where he used a Li-Po (IIRC) battery, which increased stability greatly. EMS carts are notorious though, because they have a design flaw which makes it eat more power than it should.

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1,949 Reply by nitro2k01

(82 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)

low-gain: OR make a really really easy modification and get rid of the noise, and be happy with it. Someone apparently can't stand losing an argument.

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1,950 Reply by nitro2k01

(82 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)

low-gain: If you want to eliminate the need for an extra jack, the idea of using a new amplifier does make sense. But the current "Prosound" modification is easy to do, especially on stock consoles, and works well enough.

As long as you use the modification for high impedance inputs only (mixers/soundcards etc) there is absolutely no problem. In fact, it's not much different from the high impedance input of the DMG's own amplifier. smile

The DC/DC converter then... It does produce some ripple, but I don't think it's the main source of noise, at least not when bypassing the DMG's own amplifier. Where this is really a problem, it can probably be solved more easily with more filtering. The main problem with replacing it, though, is that provides -18V for the LCD in a small form factor, which you'd have to make up for.

low-gain wrote:

agreed. output amp is very important. you really shouldn't just top off the main outputs of the CPU.

This is just a scare tactic without much basis in reality. How about a real argument? Unless you're looking to eliminate the need for a dual output, or you're very keen on getting noise-free headphone sound, I don't see the need for a new amplifier.



Arfink: Picking up noise from address lines: Marginal problem. Insofar that this is a problem, it can be improved by tapping ground off of a location near where you tap the signals.

The ESD argument... No, just no. If you want me to elaborate on why this isn't a problem, I could.

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1,951 Reply by nitro2k01

(82 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)

animalstyle wrote:

this is a good fucking idea all around and would pave the way for some interesting mods i bet - i would definitely buy a pcb if you made a run.  make sure to put a variable clock in there!  would there be a way to get more S-RAM in there?  then we could extend the size of songs we could have on one LSDJ rom?  like instead of 8K S-RAM put like 16K in there or something.  256k and bring every song you ever wrote?

No, the modification I'm suggesting is for the internal work RAM. Has nothing to do with the external save RAM, that lives on the cartridge. However, my LittleFM LSDj file manager, that I like to namedrop, but actually can't seem to finish, does what you want by allowing the cartridge flash to be used as a save memory.

animalstyle wrote:

or is the S-RAM just inside the ASIC CPU chip?

Actually, it's using external RAM chips.

animalstyle wrote:

it would be badass if someone reverse engineered the CPU chip and bumped the processor power up so you get crazy FM sounds like TG16 on a DMG.  Sorta like what i think Mr. Baldwin is doing with Pulsar.

Actually 1: People have already done that and made a FPGA implementation of the CPU. See: http://www.fpgb.org/
Actually 2: That should be possible to do in software with the current CPU and CPU speed, just that LSDj doesn't do it. (Although the HF vibrato is tasty!)

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1,952 Reply by nitro2k01

(82 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)

low-gain wrote:

i have a stupid question.. why would you make pads for "pro sound modding" when you're designing a pcb? just make the audio lines the way they should be with a quite buffered output...

It works well enough as it is, at least when driving a high impedance, like a mixer/soundcard input/an amp. Don't fix it if aint broke.

low-gain wrote:

that being said.. it's a DMG!!! it doesn't need to be modified.. lol.

Well... I used to believe that, until I heard the difference myself. It's true that DMG doesn't sound as horrible as GBC when unmodded, and that the modification doesn't (and doesn't really need to) improve frequency response. But what it does do is improve the signal:noise ratio, by both bypassing the amplifier, which adds noise, and providing a higher nominal voltage. This comes at the cost of higher impedance though, which does make the output unsuitable for headphones, but, again, works just fine for high-impedance inputs. If you're actually serious and want a clean recording, or less background noise when performing on a big PA, the mod is the way to go. If you're just starting out and hardly know how to use LSDj, it can wait. smile

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