Blargg Bootstrap USB Cartridge: Famicom prototype & beta 1 built! (Page 18 of 24)

fun fact: I am the only one with a PAL version

feel free to buy it off me for a stupid high amount

I was about to say that I was having a PAL one too but I think I said I was just gonna mod my NES...

If you do and fancy making my cartridge PAL, that's be awesome! But no worries either way, since I can pretty easily mod my NES

Two small pieces of news: (I know you all wanted to heard that we're releasing, so sorry...)

Firstly, I have finally, after months of being buried in work (mine and other people's) I'll be able to actually work on the project again.

Secondly, Blargg has told me that he has an upgrade path to 32kb SRAM more or less thought out. Which is good news for aspiring Pulsar/PR8 users.

I once again want to apologize for the lack of activity and updates on my end. The last few months have been fairly overwhelming, both financially and emotionally. You guys have to be the number 1 most patient group of supporters ever, except perhaps the guys who have been waiting for Duke Nukem Forever for, well, forever.

For Cesque, Flopps, and my other PAL customers: I have some PAL CICs here, and I *assume* they work. Of course, with no PAL NES to test them on I have no idea if they really do still work, though I have no reason to think they won't. If in doubt you can always do a lockout disable mod, you really don't loose any necessary functionality and it can be reversed if it isn't done too destructively.

In terms of PAL CICs, it would be great if I could have one - if you think it'd work I have a head full of ideas, mostly related to the fact you can transfer data to and from the NES while it's running... better learn to code heheh

Flopps: Okay, will do. I'll be doing more PCB processing today. These things are labor intensive. No mailing just yet.

One thing I think I need to bring up: The final piece of development work before finishing the beta units was to make some changes which will allow the addition of 32kb battery backed WRAM down the road without having to basically redesign the whole thing later. I was initially thinking that perhaps I'd delay beta once again for the 32kb add-on, but right now I'm thinking I can't justify that as the add-on is not yet tested and the extra labor and cost of the components would just be annoying at this stage.

So, keep in mind that the beta carts will not have 32kb WRAM installed, which means they will not run Pulsar or PR8. However, down the road I'd like to develop a cartridge which will have a 32kb WRAM and possibly make available an upgrade service.

Also worth noting for people who didn't make beta: the beta design and code will be released for non-commercial use, and you won't have to wait until after beta to try it out. In fact, the "beta" is quite stable and very usable at this point, and once I have the first batch done I am willing to consider making more of the same design if people so desire, though I will possibly have to raise the price to accommodate for the labor. More news to come on that.

Finally, a few people have asked why development kinda lagged for the past two months. In the interest of maintaining an open development attitude, I'll tell you. Blargg and I had been going at the project for nearly 2 months, and about midway through December we were both getting burned out. We decided to take a time out for the holiday season, and getting going again in February was difficult for a number of reasons. I had gotten myself involved in some other side work in addition to my day job and needed to get that wrapped up before I could get back on the cartridge project. So hopefully now that everything is in order I can regain focus and get stuff done.

Okay. Here is a short update:

After a few setbacks like tools breaking (and being broke when it happened) and stuff like that I have now got nearly all the hardware done and tested. I am waiting for one nice day to paint the last 3 cases. The software is still console only at this point, and will remain so for beta I'm thinking. Don't fret, it's easy to use even so.

Also, I am gradually moving towards the next step after shipping the beta carts as well, which is proper production. Two notable community members here are helping me with that. More info will be forthcoming on that.

Last edited by arfink (Apr 19, 2011 7:14 pm)