Cuttle Cart 2 Atari 7800 Question

[Tominator]

Can anyone tell me the largest MMC cart that Chad Schell's Cuttle Cart 2 can handle for the Atari 7800? (Is there a max?)

 

Thanks in advance, I just snagged a brand new CC2 off of ebay. Finally!

 

Tom

[Trebor]

Can anyone tell me the largest MMC cart that Chad Schell's Cuttle Cart 2 can handle for the Atari 7800? (Is there a max?)

 

Thanks in advance, I just snagged a brand new CC2 off of ebay. Finally!

 

Tom

Typically, it is 144K without POKEY sound support; 128K max with POKEY sound support.

 

You may be interested in this post.

 

Appendix I - Bankswitching Configuration Files (From the manual) are in the spoiler below.

 

 

Appendix I - Bankswitching Configuration Files

Filename: (w/o .BNK extension) Bankswitching Type:

2K 2600 2K Non-Bankswitched Cart

4K 2600 4K Non-Bankswitched Cart

3F 2600 Tigervision 3F Bankswitching

7800_4K 7800 4K Non-Bankswitched Cart

7800_8K 7800 8K Non-Bankswitched Cart

7800_16K 7800 16K Non-Bankswitched Cart

7800_32K 7800 32K Non-Bankswitched Cart

7800_48K 7800 48K Non-Bankswitched Cart

78POKEY 7800 32K Non-Bankswitched Cart w/POKEY

78SC_BIG 7800 Supercart w/144K ROM

78SC_LOW 7800 Supercart w/128K ROM and bank 6 mapped to $4000

78SC_POK 7800 Supercart w/POKEY

78SC_R16 7800 Supercart w/128K ROM and 16K RAM

78SC_R8K 7800 Supercart w/128K ROM and 8K RAM

78SC_SM 7800 Supercart w/64K ROM

78SCR8SM 7800 Supercart w/64K ROM and 8K RAM

ABS78 7800 Absolute Bankswitching

ACT78 7800 Activision Bankswitching

CV 2600 Commavid Bankswitching

E0 2600 Parkervision E0 Bankswitching

E7 2600 M-Network E7 Bankswitching w/RAM

F4 2600 F4 Bankswitching

F4SC 2600 F4 Bankswitching w/Superchip

F6 2600 F6 Bankswitching w/Superchip

F6SC 2600 F6 Bankswitching w/Superchip

F8 2600 F8 Bankswitching

F8R 2600 F8 Bankswitching w/Banks reversed

F8SC 2600 F8 Bankswitching w/Superchip

FA 2600 CBS Electronics FA Bankswitching w/RAM

FANR 2600 CBS Electronics FA Bankswitching w/o RAM

FE 2600 Activision FE Bankswitching

HSC_16K 7800 16K Game w/High Score Cart Support

HSC_32K 7800 32K Game w/High Score Cart Support

HSC_48K 7800 48K Game w/High Score Cart Support

MEGABOY 2600 Dynacom Megaboy Bankswitching

SC 2600 Self-Loading Supercharger Bankswitching

UA 2600 UA Bankswitching

 

 

New bankswitiching methods* above the aforementioned could possibly be built.

 

*3E 32K RAM and up to 480K ROM, and 3F up to 512K ROM bankswitching.

The 3F bankswitching will work for games from 2K up to 512K in size. The last 2K bank is automatically copied to the last 512K of RAM. ROMs must be a multiple of 2K in size.

The 3E is similar but supports games from 2K up to 480K in size.

[CPUWIZ]

I think he is asking about the size of the cart.

[78001987]

He's asking what the max size MMC card the CC2 can use. I believe it was 1gb.

[Tominator]

Thank you everyone! All great intel!

[Trebor]

I think he is asking about the size of the cart.

Ahhh...

 

The manual mentions the following respecting the MMC card:

 

Formatting to FAT16

 

32MB MMCs will almost certainly use the FAT16 file system, as will most 64MB cards.

Cards smaller than 32MB will very likely use FAT12, while those larger may use FAT32.

If you use one of these cards you will likely have to reformat the MMC to use FAT16.

This can be done under windows using the command line version of the format

command. Using the format command available through the graphical interface will not

work. Specifically the following commands will do the job:

 

Card Size: Command:

8MB format x: /fs:FAT /a:512

16MB format x: /fs:FAT /a:1024

32MB or larger format x: /fs:FAT

 

where x: is replaced with the drive letter of your MMC. Please be VERY careful that you

enter the drive letter of your MMC correctly. Formatting a disk erases all data on the

disk. If you supply the drive letter of a drive other than the MMC you will erase that

disk. If you were to specify your main drive, you could delete everything on your

computer, including the operating system itself! If you are not comfortable with the

command line and disk formatting commands, it might be helpful to enlist the aid of a

friend who is. SCHELL'S ELECTRONICS IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY

DAMAGE, LOSS OF DATA, OR OTHER CONSEQUENCES RESULTING

FROM YOUR ATTEMPTS TO REFORMAT YOUR MMC.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The former webpage mentioned this detail:

 

"Reads FAT-16 formatted MMCs. This is the standard format for 32 MB MMCs when purchased, or any 16MB or larger card can be formatted to FAT-16 under Windows."

 

Side note, Lexar or SanDisk are the recommended brands to use with the cart, per the aforementioned page.

[HammR25]

It's recommended you get a SanDisk RS-MMC card. The first one listed on that eBay link should work fine.

[Tominator]

Perfect. I will get that ordered today so they arrive around the same time! Thank you.

[HammR25]

If you don't have a card reader that supports MMC you'll need one of those too. In my experience it's best to get a card reader that supports as few card types as possible.

[DracIsBack]

Shame this product was abandoned in the afterlife. I know we've run up against the problem of not having new bankswitch files like 256K before.

[+FujiSkunk]

Shame this product was abandoned in the afterlife. I know we've run up against the problem of not having new bankswitch files like 256K before.

 

Brace yourself. Harmony Concerto is coming.

[+DrVenkman]

 

Brace yourself. Harmony Concerto is coming.

Yes but when? Fred hasn't posted about it in months.

[Tominator]

Anyone have a more complete MENU.CC2 ? I know I can make my own, 1 item at a time, just wondering if anyone has gone to the trouble of adding many of the new and PD items to the menu already? Thanks.

[desiv]

Do you have the updated firmware that supports multi-level menus?

 

desiv

[Tominator]

I bet that I do not, as I got mine off of ebay, new in the box, unused. Can you point me to where I can get that? Thank you for the reply.

[Trebor]

I bet that I do not, as I got mine off of ebay, new in the box, unused. Can you point me to where I can get that? Thank you for the reply.

 

It's contained within the archive file from the link posted earlier.

 

The archive file contains "CC2OSV201.zip". Look inside that zip.

 

Per the information from the web page (Also a part of that same archive file, see: "Cuttle Cart 2 Files.mht"):

 

"Updated version of menu mode that now allows multiple menus! Slight speed increase over OS Ver 1.01 for loading large files or scrolling large menus.

Unzip the BOOTROM.CC2 file in this zip into the root directory of your MMC and follow the instructions in the manual under "Update Boot ROM" in the "Utilities Mode" section.

 

Also included are updated SC, HSC, and 3E3F512K files that are compatible with OS Ver 2.01. These will not work with earlier OS versions, and earlier versions of these files will not work with OS version 2.01. All of these files should be placed in the STARTUP directory.

 

See the notes inside the zip file for details.

 

Note that this upgrade will reset your NVRAM, so copy any custom colors you have down before you do the upgrade, and then reset them after the upgrade. The "NVRAM CORRUPTED" error message that occurs one time after upgrading is expected. Just ignore it"

 

In that CC2OSV201.zip file, is a file named CC2OSV2.txt. The contents are in the spoiler below.

 

 

Update notes for Version 2.01 of Cuttle Cart 2 OS.

 

Minor Update:

Slight speed improvement for MMC access over version 1.01.

Menu bar now wraps from top to bottom/bottom to top when

scrolling in menus smaller than 16 entries.

 

Major Update:

Multiple Menus!

 

*******************************************************

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

OS Version 2.01 uses a different NVRAM format than

OS Version 1.01 and ealier.

 

When upgrading from OS Version 1.01 and ealier your

NVRAM settings will be reset to the default values.

 

IF YOU HAVE CUSTOM COLORS, WRITE THE VALUES DOWN

BEFORE UPGRADING THE OS. YOUR CURRENT VALUES WILL

BE OVERWRITTEN BY THE DEFAULTS.

 

You can change them back to your desired values after

you complete the upgrade.

 

IT IS NORMAL TO GET AN "NVRAM CORRUPTED" ERROR MESSAGE

AFTER UPGRADING FROM OS 1.01 OR EARLIER TO OS 2.01.

 

You should receive this message once. If you only get

it once it is ok to ignore it.

********************************************************

 

 

The CC2 Menu system now supports multiple menu files, as opposed

to the single flat menu of the previous system. Now all menus

can contain other menus.

 

Details:

All menus follow the same format as the original MENU.TXT/MENU.CC2

files.

 

They must be placed in the root directory of the MMC.

 

They must have the file extension ".CC2".

 

Otherwise they can be named whatever you want, but MENU.CC2 is

reserved as the default menu. (BOOTROM.CC2 and EMGBOOT.CC2 also

have special meanings and should not be used for menus.)

 

After creating a new "submenu", to load it create an entry in your

current menu whose BANKING file is "MENU " (four spaces at the

end.) This tells the CC2 that this entry isn't a game, but another

menu.

 

When you select the "submenu" and press the button or reset, the

"submenu" will be loaded and replace the current menu.

 

Why is "submenu" in quotes you ask? Because they aren't really

submenus, but rather alternate menus. There is no structure to

how the menus connect to one another. All menus must contain

menu entries for any menu you want to go to.

 

Confused? Here's any example:

 

You start the CC2 and it loads the default "MENU.CC2" file.

MENU.CC2 contains the entry (shown here in MENU.TXT format)

 

New Menu NEWMENU MENU IGNORE

 

Parsing that out, the entries are:

Display Name: "New Menu"

File Name: "NEWMENU"

Banking: "MENU"

Startup: Any non-blank value <= 8 characters in length

 

Just like a game entry.

 

When "New Menu" is selected, the CC2 sees that the banking entry

is "MENU ", and attempts to load the file "NEWMENU.CC2" from

the root directory of the MMC. If it finds it, the new menu

becomes the active menu, and the old menu is forgotten. If it

doesn't find it, the old menu remains in place and an error

message is printed on the screen.

 

Now if you want to be able to go back to MENU.CC2 from NEWMENU.CC2,

you have to have the following entry somewhere in NEWMENU.CC2

 

Root Menu MENU MENU IGNORE

 

Selecting this line would tell the CC2 to reload MENU.CC2 in place

of NEWMENU.CC2. (By the way, you don't have to make the display

entry Root Menu, you can call it whatever you want as long as it's

legal for a standard menu entry.)

 

If you forget to add a line like the one above, you will not be able

to get back to the original MENU.CC2 file. (At least not through

the menu system.)

 

Menus can link to as many other menus as you want. (Subject to the

limit of 512 (? or 256, I forget) files allowed in a root directory

on a FAT file system.)

 

Menus can even link to themselves. (When a new menu is loaded, it

always starts at the top of the menu. A menu entry linking a menu

to itself could be used as a shortcut to automatically jump back to

the top of menu. Cool eh?)

 

Some more Details:

 

If you have "Remember Last Menu Position" set to yes in the utilities screen,

the CC2 will attempt to load the last opened menu, and move to the last game

in that menu that was loaded or manual that was read. If nothing was

loaded from the last menu, it will go to the start of that menu.

 

If it can't find the last menu loaded, it will fall back to loading the

default MENU.CC2 file. This is one way to get back to it if you forget

to make an entry. (The other way is to edit the active menu to include

the link, you can add entries to any menu just like adding them to

MENU.CC2.)

 

If you have "Remember Last Menu Position" set to no, the CC2 will always

start at the top of MENU.CC2 regardless of what other menu was last active.

 

The new multiple menus option has no effect on anything else. All games are

still stored in the GAMES directory, and all manuals in the MANUALS directory.

You can have as many entries point to a game as you want. You still need

only one copy of that game and manual.

 

[Tominator]

Thank you. You all have been extremely helpful.

[jfcarbel]

I have a Cuttle Cart 2 that I am willing to sell for the right offer. If no PMs will be putting on eBay next month. I paid dearly ($250) to get one and they are very rare so not will to sell it for anything under $300 and will take best offer I get.

 

As a bonus, I will sell it along with a 7800 console (console only).

 

I will do the transaction via Paypal and will list on ebay if you are more comfortable that route as well.

 

You may view my perfect eBay rating (member there since 1999, 326 perfect feedback):

https://www.ebay.com/usr/jfcarbel

Edited October 14, 2018 by jfcarbel

[SS]

I have a Cuttle Cart 2 that I am willing to sell for the right offer.

 

I am interested to know what your final selling price ends up being.

[doug0909]

I have a Cuttle Cart 2 question... Will Sirius and Plutos work on the Cuttle Cart 2? I heard they have special hardware in the cart, so I suspect not... But i noticed they do work in emulation. If they do work with Cuttle Cart 2, what are the settings? Thanks... 

[Trebor]

Sirius and Plutos use 78SC_R16 78BIOS

[Atariboy]

Since this is the most recent Cuttle Cart 2 thread we have going, I wondered if anyone had a reasonably up to date MMC card image they'd be willing to share?

 

I hate adding games to mine and have put it off for so many years that it's almost a lost cause now. Especially the 2600 homebrew side, where I'm probably over 10 years out of date now since I last added games.

 

Come to think of it, do modern SD drives even support the MMC standard? 

[doug0909]

I hate adding games too... Unless it's a hack, I always get the settings wrong, and now I'm not even sure if I remember how to do the hacks. I'm glad my Cuttle Cart 2 still works like new, but my brain isn't aging quite as well... 

[+-^CrossBow^-]

On 5/27/2020 at 7:50 PM, Atariboy said:

Since this is the most recent Cuttle Cart 2 thread we have going, I wondered if anyone had a reasonably up to date MMC card image they'd be willing to share?

 

I hate adding games to mine and have put it off for so many years that it's almost a lost cause now. Especially the 2600 homebrew side, where I'm probably over 10 years out of date now since I last added games.

 

Come to think of it, do modern SD drives even support the MMC standard? 

Yes a standard SD card reader slot can actually be soldered in place of the original MMC and an older SD card can be used instead. PMP did that with his CC2 that I repaired for him due to the original MMC slot being cracked and not reading the original cards reliably and I did another AA member's CC2 replacing out the MMC reader on it with an SD slot. MMC and SD essentially share the same pinouts and information with the extra pins on the SD being use for encryption and stuff that isn't needed for the CC2.

 

[phattyboombatty]

On 5/27/2020 at 5:50 PM, Atariboy said:

Since this is the most recent Cuttle Cart 2 thread we have going, I wondered if anyone had a reasonably up to date MMC card image they'd be willing to share?

I was one of the very lucky people to acquire a Cuttle Cart 2 last year. I was a little confused at first, but I read all the documentation and took the time to (re) discover the technology.

 

Please enjoy what I have assembled here. Simply clone the directories to the root of your MMC card.

• You'll have to download the ROMs separately
• I'd say 97% of those indexed are freely downloadable here (thanks to @Trebor)
• In place of the actual ROMs (.bins), I have included a TXT file (in the GAMES folder) with my mostly up-to-date list.

 

Thanks to @Mitch and this thread for the most up-to-date support in years. Those banking files are included in this download.

CC2_06_2020.zip