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ChipMusic.org / Forums / Posts by BennVenn
Printer finally assembled! 7hrs and literally hundreds of pieces. Printing a few test pieces as I write, I was unsure of the quality of components coming out of this thing but just from the demo files included (yet to tweak feed rates/temps etc..) the printed items are extremely sturdy (with only a 1.2mm shell thickness)
Now to take a crash course in 3d modeling and we'll have ourselves some enclosures!
If you wanted to keep the controler stock, you would need to convert the serial stream back to parallel requiring a shift register and a clock - you seem to have the 555 timer worked out so that should be easy enough for you.
Using the 8 discrete logic outputs gets a bit more creative. You could use them to charge/discharge caps on a few 555 oscillators, mixed to a single output?
What did you have in mind?
A cheap Arduino Nano (clone) has all you need to:
a)interface to the controller
b)code a simple PCM/PWM tone generator - the 328 has enough timers to generate some pretty complex waveforms
Firmware complete, PCB's in production!
I've gone with 30 'Slots' on the stick (Using a 4mbyte Flash IC - Can be upgraded to 64 slots with an additional 4mb IC) Each slot can be used to load/store an entire 128k cart save, can be renamed and duplicated via the gameboy and is accessed on the PC as a USB drive.
The most convenient backup utility yet?
Still need to work on the Gameboy side ROM, some nice GUI. I was hoping someone would offer assistance for this part of the project. Spare time is getting harder to find
Lets hope a cart reader/writer will never have to stand up to that kind of abuse :-)
RepRap i3 with updated head for flexible plastics + wood polymer, and the purpose build electronics (power supply, stepper drivers and processor). Also has the heated bed so can do both ABS and PLA, ordered 1kg of each in white (I've been told it makes the strongest prints due to some dyes weakening the plastics)
Pretty excited to get stuck into 3d printing, I've done a fair bit of CNC milling so the software shouldn't be that hard to get familiar with.
I'll go with the ABS for the enclosures, and acetone vapor polish them to give them a hard glossy outter shell. Seems like it should be more than rugged enough for its purpose. I can always resin fill like I do the Lego Linkers if strength is an issue.
Sub-$100, It's hard to say an exact amount, I am not too sure how much plastic a 3d printer would consume to make the enclosures (It cant be too much right!?) That is really the only unknown between here and shipping. (3D printer expected Wednesday next week)
I'll discuss this with my distributor today and get back to you with a solid number soon.
As for compatibility, I've generously been offered the use of a 32M EMS cart, I have a 64M EMS inbound (Thanks Kitsch!), I know a guy who lent me his MrFlash cart earlier last year so I'll send him an email to see if I can borrow it again, and of course my BennVenn carts. All commercial Nintendo carts (including GBCam) will autodetect in the 'Generic' folder and present themselves as the ROMNAME.GB/C and ROMNAME.SAV.
Other folders include EMS32, EMS64, BENNVENN, BUNG, SYSTEM.
EMS64 contains 2 subdirectoris, Page1 and Page2. BENNVENN is similar with 4 pages.
This is the simplest way I could think of to structure the support for multi carts and as a USB drive.
Replied
A few questions have been raised regarding price and features.
For those with background in programming, you can probably appreciate the complexity of coding in pure assembly on a modern 32bit MCU (2500 lines of code and more to come), add in the many layers of the USB 2.0 Protocol from the Hardware Endpoint interfacing, Descriptor generation and handling, Enumeration, Mass Storage Class layer, SCSI transparent command layer, FAT file handling layer, the GB interface controller and gluing it all together is a rather complex kernel in charge of managing the many current different cart protocols.
Then add debugging hardware and software for USB 2.0, VID and PID registration.
There is a reason this has not been done in the past, that is the many hundreds of hours of coding and debugging and the price for the development boards, USB debugging hardware etc...
That being said, My prices have always been, and will continue to be reasonable. I plan on a final price lower than that of the current high end alternative. I've also invested in a 3d printer to make some enclosures both protective and aesthetic. (I'm currently thinking of an oversize cart where you insert your standard cart into the end of it?)
Onto the features,
As I said earlier, this device allows simple drag and drop of ROM's and Save's to and from a Flash Cart. If your cart supports multiple ROM's on the one cart, you will need to generate your compilations in the same way as you have before. Be it EMS, Bung, BennVenn. It is these files you drag onto the cart, or simply drag a stand alone ROM without menu and that is fine too.
I'll be adding a simple menu generator to the firmware for my BennVenn carts, dividing the cart into 4 regions and allowing individual transfer for each region. This won't let you store hundreds of ROM's like my compiler software does but simplifies things a whole lot for those that don't want to deal with a compiler program.
My first gen Reader/Writers and Linkers (and soon the Gen2 products) will still be available through Ninstrument.Com for those after a budget cart tool - and to be honest, there are still more features built into the Flashtool program than is possible using just USB Mass Storage implementation (On the fly register modification, bank switching, selective erase and writing etc...)
If you want speed and simplicity then I'd recommend the Gen2, If you want to dump some exotic cart with a boot menu, you will need the added features of the Gen1 to manually ROM swap via software to extract the ROM's.
-Ben
If I can get hold of an older 32M EMS I can add support for it too. Would you be interested in loaning me it? We can work out some kind of arrangement, paypal deposit, discount etc...
Shouldn't be too far away. PCB's are almost done, Really just waiting on an EMS cart to ensure compatibility before I finalise the current firmware
I've been busy creating these last few weeks and would like to present the Driver-Less Linker!
My Linker now mounts itself as a USB drive on any Operating system and allows simple drag and drop of Save files from your Gameboy. No tricky drivers or custom software. Plug it in, turn it on, and transfer your save files. Simple!
Also in development and expected to be ready for shipping late next month are my Next generation Reader/Writers. These too are now fully driver-less USB and mount themselves in the same way as a USB drive. Drag and Drop ROM's and Saves at USB 2.0 speeds! no more USB-Serial FTDI bridges, drivers, Python scripts or OS specific software. Open the drive, drag the ROM into your Cartridges' folder. Simple!
These will be the FASTEST and most RELIABLE Cart interface available
All original Nintendo carts are supported as well as my BennVenn carts, EMS carts (Both pages) and more support to come!
The next gen reader/writers will be encased in a DMG inspired enclosure for that retro look
Stay tuned for more!
Almost completed the prototype!
I've gone with a 32Bit ARM processor, USB Mass storage mode on the PC side so no drivers and works on all Operating Systems.
I'm thinking of adding a Micro SD card socket for flash storage. This will make the Sav storage pretty much limitless! It does add complexity to the code as it is all pure assembly. I'll stick with an 8mb Flash IC for now.
Ahh, the linker in particular?
That linker is giving me heart palpitations... Any cart as easy to use as the derp?
That's the plan. The firmware and PCB will not be open source, but the configuration files will be. This will allow anyone to build the relatively simple config file for their cart and share them to compile a comprehensive library covering every cart.
Drag and Drop any .SAV/ROM to any cart. No FTDI driver issues, no Python, shell, scripts or OS specific software. Just plug and play
Yeah, all GB + GBA carts. It will also support Configuration files to detail the protocol to write to pretty much any existing flash cart. Very exciting stuff
ChipMusic.org / Forums / Posts by BennVenn