toymailman Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 OK, the scans are all organized and uploaded now. I've made them archive quality--300 dpi color PNG's. There are also some photos from my digital camera for the systems themselves, and the system box that's too large to scan easily. Feel free to distribute, reformat, etc. My U.S. collection is just about complete, though I don't have a box for TV School House I. For the clone carts, some I don't have boxes and/or instructions. Some of what I do have is kind of beat up. If anyone is able to scan missing items, or scan more pristine items, that would be great. I'm also including some miscellaneous scans I got from Peter Trauner (PeT). I'm not sure how widely these have been distributed. Clone cartridges: http://www.mediafire...a6rvdkkd26zyyzc Studio II cartridges: http://www.mediafire...wudbpn9erc98pw2 Owners and Service Manuals: http://www.mediafire...7jod7m8a63za1n9 Studio II Cartridge Instructions: http://www.mediafire...khuy39x2dzimy9r Clone Cartridge Instructions: http://www.mediafire...ybzl5fm12tblbpb TV School House I Booklets: http://www.mediafire...737ozbndlar93zw System Photos and System Boxes: http://www.mediafire...5ebmvf28e73709c Cartridge Boxes: http://www.mediafire...95wih39jrj6ow49 PeT Scans: http://www.mediafire...ojxprk04sqwfihf Thanks for sharing all this! Prior to this thread I had recently scanned a bunch of my RCA Studio II manuals found here. I used the best manuals I had and scanned at 1200 dpi, then scaled down a bit, did some basic touch up and saved as jpg files. I am actually in the process of finishing up the School House I books (both versions), the owners manual and all the other US paperwork (order form, brochure, warranty, etc.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger_lennier Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Thanks for sharing all this! Prior to this thread I had recently scanned a bunch of my RCA Studio II manuals found here. I used the best manuals I had and scanned at 1200 dpi, then scaled down a bit, did some basic touch up and saved as jpg files. I am actually in the process of finishing up the School House I books (both versions), the owners manual and all the other US paperwork (order form, brochure, warranty, etc.) Nice scans. It's interesting that your English-language Star Wars manual is completely different from my French one. It's not just a simple translation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TLD1985 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 (edited) Nice scans. It's interesting that your English-language Star Wars manual is completely different from my French one. It's not just a simple translation. That Star Wars manual is for the M-1200 clones rather than the MPT-02 clones I put together a few screenshots that illustrate the quality of my capture card... One thing I noticed is that the cartridge version of Blackjack lets you bet 1-10 dollars (I presume) per turn. The built-in version in the Conic waits for two keys to be pressed, meaning you can bet 1-99 dollars per turn. thanks for those Edited March 24, 2013 by TLD1985 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari2008 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Kaboom is ready to go - okay it's a beta probably, but it is complete and works. I have tested it on my own S2 development emulator and Emma02 and it works fine. Not tried MESS. Temporary storage, no proper hosting http://www.robsons.org.uk/kaboom.zip Source, Bin and ST2 format files included. Paul, well done!!!! This game is so addicting and fun on the S2. I also feel that the simple left right movement of the game will be well suited to the S2 keypads. This is an excellent translation, none of the fun is lost and it's just as addicting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari2008 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 You, sir, are coding machine. Agreed!!! I can't wait to see Pac-Man on the S2. You're a genius Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Charlie Cat Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Hi guys, Happy that people are giving the RCA Studio II the light of day! Its been why overdue for the system! Anthony... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevtris Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Does anyone have a schematic for the Studio II? The just-posted service manual unfortunately doesn't have one, but instead has a block diagram with some notes on it. I got most an FPGA Studio II done (CPU + video) but there's some finer details like sound and exact hookups I'd like to get right and not have to guess or look at emulator sources. Exact cycle timing of the video chip is also something I wanted to suss out. I keep looking out for a unit on ebay but they seem to be hot right now. I just need a loose system that ideally works (but not required). carts and adapter/switchbox not needed. (In fact the first step's going to be AV modding it and adding a proper AC adapter input on there) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigO Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Does anyone have a schematic for the Studio II? The just-posted service manual unfortunately doesn't have one, but instead has a block diagram with some notes on it. I got most an FPGA Studio II done (CPU + video) but there's some finer details like sound and exact hookups I'd like to get right and not have to guess or look at emulator sources. Exact cycle timing of the video chip is also something I wanted to suss out. I keep looking out for a unit on ebay but they seem to be hot right now. I just need a loose system that ideally works (but not required). carts and adapter/switchbox not needed. (In fact the first step's going to be AV modding it and adding a proper AC adapter input on there) I've been searching the internet and can't find any sign of it. I know that fauxscot doesn't have a schematic. That service manual must be the block diagram that he said he has. Let's get Dan Boris. Yeah, that's the ticket, that guy can create a schematic from any piece of old hardware. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevtris Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 I've been searching the internet and can't find any sign of it. I know that fauxscot doesn't have a schematic. That service manual must be the block diagram that he said he has. Let's get Dan Boris. Yeah, that's the ticket, that guy can create a schematic from any piece of old hardware. Oh, creating the schematic from the hardware is the easy part and the time I spent searching for it, I could've traced the board out already. I eat and sleep board tracing and a board like the Studio 2 is a 2-3 hour project. I just need a board to poke with my meter :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Nightmare Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 (edited) I have successfully repaired two units in the last week. One was relatively simple and involved setting the RF modulator frequencies and the other was a great deal more involved. It had a defective display chip fauxscot: If possible, is there any chance I can get hold of that bad CDP1861 display chip? I'm interested in getting a die shot of the chip, and I'd much rather have a non-working one acid-etched open than destroying one that works properly. LN Edited March 25, 2013 by Lord Nightmare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fauxscot Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 fauxscot: If possible, is there any chance I can get hold of that bad CDP1861 display chip? I'm interested in getting a die shot of the chip, and I'd much rather have a non-working one acid-etched open than destroying one that works properly. LN Hey LN (and everyone else!) The dud chip isn't mine, but i'll ask. It is useful in troubleshooting, though. Known bad unit with minor issues. I am out on the road for the moment and won't be working on this for another week, but did not want the thread to fade. I'll get back with you once i am back at my shop. Cool that you're going to decap and pix that mother. Way cool. F Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toymailman Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 This is great that so many people have joined this thread. It looks like we may have all the clone games eventually as well as the homebrews that keep coming thanks to Paul's mad S2 skills! Here's a pic of over 30 cart shells to donate towards multi-carts (27 working and 5 non-working). 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassGuitari Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 and the moment a lot of people have been waiting for... at least the European version.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TLD1985 Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 What I didn't realise about the game "Grand Pack" is that it's all the BIOS games. I thought that it was just Bowling and Blackjack... but it also includes doodle/patterns as well... very odd. There must be MPT-02s out there with no built in games. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mckafka99 Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 fauxscot: If possible, is there any chance I can get hold of that bad CDP1861 display chip? I'm interested in getting a die shot of the chip, and I'd much rather have a non-working one acid-etched open than destroying one that works properly. LN Fauxscot - if that bad display chip is the one from my console that you got working feel free to donate/use as you see fit for any projects you have in mind or for someone else to utilize. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulrobson Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Does anyone have a schematic for the Studio II? The just-posted service manual unfortunately doesn't have one, but instead has a block diagram with some notes on it. I got most an FPGA Studio II done (CPU + video) but there's some finer details like sound and exact hookups I'd like to get right and not have to guess or look at emulator sources. Exact cycle timing of the video chip is also something I wanted to suss out. I keep looking out for a unit on ebay but they seem to be hot right now. I just need a loose system that ideally works (but not required). carts and adapter/switchbox not needed. (In fact the first step's going to be AV modding it and adding a proper AC adapter input on there) You can have mine if you want. I don't collect RCA systems, I just develop stuff, and it doesn't work on PAL, but I think it does work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulrobson Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 (edited) Pacman for the Studio 2 is now downloadable from http://www.robsons.org.uk/pacman.zip Tested on EMMA02 but not MESS (don't have the right BIOS ROM images I think). Looking at the MESS source it should work This is a 1.5k Cartridge Edited March 26, 2013 by paulrobson 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari2008 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Wow, you are amazing Paul. Thank you! I'm so looking forward to playing this when I get home. This is one of my video game dreams come true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TLD1985 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 On my version of MESS it wont boot up sadly. On Emma02 it does run fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulrobson Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 SDLMess has always been messy Looking at the source they have allocated $000-$7FF as ROM, and $800-$9FF as RAM, which is technically correct but an S2 allows ROM anywhere in the memory map. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari2008 Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 SDLMess has always been messy Looking at the source they have allocated $000-$7FF as ROM, and $800-$9FF as RAM, which is technically correct but an S2 allows ROM anywhere in the memory map. I just played Pac-Man - wow amazing port, Paul! I find it incredible how you were able to maintain most of the basic elements of the game. Despite the stripped down graphics, the game is just as fun to play as any other version of Pac-Man. This is a great addition to the S2 library. Thank you for this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigO Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Pacman for the Studio 2 is now downloadable from http://www.robsons.org.uk/pacman.zip Tested on EMMA02 but not MESS (don't have the right BIOS ROM images I think). Looking at the MESS source it should work This is a 1.5k Cartridge Heh. Nice. I suck at pacman, but this is still cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LS_Dracon Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Pacman for the Studio 2 is now downloadable from http://www.robsons.org.uk/pacman.zip Tested on EMMA02 but not MESS (don't have the right BIOS ROM images I think). Looking at the MESS source it should work This is a 1.5k Cartridge Very good! I knew this could be done! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TLD1985 Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 (edited) This is what I just won on ebay: Yep Academy Apollo 80 games... I'm happy to sell them on again to any RCA collectors on here (at some point)... altough I can imagine there being a bit of a fight for them. I'll post better pics/scans once I get my hands on the things... Edited March 27, 2013 by TLD1985 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevtris Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 (edited) Did anyone order an FPGA Studio 2? All this Studio 2 talk got me fired up to make an FPGA Studio 2. I started last friday and here it's friday morning and it's done. I tested all games and they work properly including those recent homebrews that were just posted. I guess that means I don't need to get a system in here to test and reverse engineer- I poked at the 1861 video chip datasheet and COSMAC ELF stuff to figure out the remaining bits. Almost forgot the specs. The CDP1802 CPU core was written from scratch in this time, along with the "pixie" videochip, too. Thanks to Paul Robson for documenting the BIOS code. I used this extensively along with Signaltap (in Quartus II) to debug the 1802 core and the 1861 video- it's pretty tricky timing getting the two to properly synch up. There were plenty of "funny" screens when the synchronization was bad. I have some new respect for the COSMAC ELF after seeing exactly how it works inside. So after saying that, here's some pictures. "Pattern" from the built in set of games "Bowling" again from the built in games "Pac-Man" homebrew Edited March 29, 2013 by kevtris 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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