Hornpipe2

On the plus side, a Wii in Gamecube-mode can run existing GC homebrew. Maybe there is hope that it will jump-start development on the new system (and some of that will make it back to the GC)

Totally awesome. I had been looking for an Apple II recently. (And yes, I know at least about the C-One / C64 DTV - is there another C64-on-a-chip that is open source?)

http://retromicro.com/downloads.html I've started a thread recently with some links to other FPGA reimplementations of classic hardware, maybe you would all be interested: http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=115062

In my sporadic Google-research about the various system-on-a-chip I ran across the following site: http://zxgate.sourceforge.net/ Pretty cool stuff there. Those of you with a Xilinx FPGA setup can build a brand-new ZX81, ZX-Spectrum, Jupiter ACE or TRS-80 with an FPGA and maybe an external RAM chip. It's all open-source VHDL code. I would LOVE to build all four of the machines there but I have no way to program an FPGA. Drat. There is also the Minimig, an Amiga chipset in an FPGA (you supply the RAM and the 68000): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimig but this probably deserves its own thread : ) FPGA Arcade also has some really cool recreations of other arcade parts in FPGAs, including a full Odyssey2, a Vic-20, and a Colecovision on a chip! Take a look at http://home.freeuk.net/fpgaarcade/index.htm retromicro.com is looking at ways to do some classic Atari computers-on-a-chip but it doesn't look like anything has surfaced there.

The various ways to run custom code on the GC: * PSOLoad, the oldest method, exploits a hole in Phantasy Star Online to run binaries supplied by a PC over the broadband adapter. Pretty slow and tedious and requires some now-costly equipment. * SDLoad. Use any Action Replay combined with a hacked GC memcard (adds an SD card slot) to boot code. This is a pretty good method and doesn't require modding your cube. * Modchip. Some have a full BIOS and let you run code remotely (costly), others just patch the DVD drive to block protection schemes (so you could burn a DVD with your code on it and boot it directly) and are much cheaper. There may be a couple other less common ways, see http://www.gc-linux.org/wiki/How_to_develo..._GameCube_Linux under the section Running "Executables on the GameCube". In particular the Max Drive Pro looks like a commercial product similar to the SDLoad described above. There are several emulators written for Gamecube, spanning NES, SNES, Gameboy, etc. http://www.gcdev.com used to be a good site but it seems they reorganized some time ago and never bothered to fix all the links. Try Zophar's Domain or even Google.

New question. I thought the 2600 cart and connector was 24 pins. This is 34. What gives? When you try plugging a 2600 cart into a floppy connector, does it really fit, and which pins on the connector are _actually_ used?

I don't have one so I can't help you, but do you think you can follow the traces from the NES-on-a-Chip by using this document: http://www.tripoint.org/kevtris/Projects/p...nesonachip.html and then you'd need a pinout for the NES cart connector so you'll know which trace corresponds to which signal (pin): http://benheck.com/Downloads/NES_Famicom_Pinouts.pdf (WARNING PDF) The last step, I suppose, is disabling the on-board ROM chip so your cart will be used instead. Without having a board myself to look at I wouldn't even begin to be able to help you there.

DURR, I should've thought of that, since I've been working on a keyboard hack for my arcade cabinet for... way too long. But if you're going to go that far, why not take it one step further and build yourself a brand new control panel from an XBox gamepad hack using the fine resources at www.arcadecontrols.com? You can build a really heavy duty board using nice arcade sticks and buttons. No need to lose your Gamecube fight stick in the process.

*psst*... http://www.ubuntu.net EDIT: WOO 7.10 in 4 days. With Compiz Fusion. <3

Right, I'm thinking one for A and one for B. EDIT: After thinking about this I came to exactly the same idea as you did for the schematic. Resistor value is 150 ohms. switch rest of circuit +5---o/ o--------------------o | | |---------------->|-----WMW------GND LED resistor ground Thanks, I think I can get it from here! EDIT2: And here's a handy calculator. http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz

I feel stupid for asking this, since I know it's a relatively simple procedure, but who can tell me the *proper* way to add LEDs to my FB2 for power, Difficulty A, and Difficulty B switches? If I am thinking about this right, I'll want to cut one of the switch connections and insert my LED there (facing proper direction of course). But how do I choose a proper value for LED voltage, and do I need to worry about possibility of drawing too much current?

My bad. I somehow thought that either XBox controllers were generic USB gamepads, or that the XBox had drivers for generic gamepads.

This is great! I was afraid I'd have to buy a real 2600 cart slot to do my Flashback mod. Lo and behold, an ancient 486 I was giving away had a super-long cable with three of these connectors on it! If anyone wants one, I'll swap it for a 2600 cart of any game not already on the FB2. I don't actually own any 2600 carts so the cart mod is useless without a game : ) You could even send me E.T. if you like.

Wikipedia agrees with your explanation. However it looks like an NES Zapper should still function on an LCD as it doesn't use the method you described.

They're not both USB - Gamecube uses Nintendo's proprietary JOYBUS protocol to communicate with things plugged into the controller ports. However, here is a handy list of Gamecube to USB adapters: http://www.stepmania.com/wiki/GameCube_to_USB_Adapters You could even build your own if you've got the time and skills: http://www.raphnet.net/electronique/gc_n64_usb/index_en.php Then, simply put an XBox plug on the end of one of these in place of the USB plug (as the XBox DOES use USB for its game controllers). You should be all set!

I got all the components traced out, but now the text is taking forever. Not to mention I already did a significant portion of text without antialiasing, so the font is large and blocky : ( Hope that's okay. Also, the scan destroyed some of the component labels. Do you have the original sheets? I may need to ask for a couple numbers later when I get to those parts.

And thank YOU for buying them! I'm sure that makes the homebrewers happy.

Wow, that's quite a cool gift.

Thanks for your input guys, this has been really helpful. So to put together a list of 'things to do to ensure compatability' we have: -disable the TIA (by enabling VBLANK) before the vertical sync -don't access $FFF8-9 for SC compatibility (see above for the complex version of this ) -avoid RESP multiple-player tricks and some illegal opcodes (e.g. SBX) for FB2 compatibility -Set the NMI vector to point to the same location as the Reset vector (though this may be pure superstition) -Be cautious in your use of the TIA during Vertical Sync period -FE bankswitching may cause problems on an FB2 or 7800 Two questions: 1) Single-byte instruction at $xFF7 could trigger an F8 bankswitch should that read $FFF7 instead of $xFF7? 2) avoid RESP multiple-player tricks and some illegal opcodes (e.g. SBX) for FB2 compatibility can someone elaborate on this? What in particular doesn't work? EDIT: http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...75267&st=25 Avoid SBX and ARR, at least.

These would be a fun multicart : )

I had no idea Colecovision was capable of such impressive stuff. I played a system years ago at a friend's house (after the NES had come out) and was not too impressed. Maybe it's time for me to revisit it...

Really? I'll do it.

Is it possible that your LCD 'lags' a little in displaying the image, so by the the time the check pattern is on the screen the gun has already stopped looking for it? AFAIK LCD screens shine light through the semi-transparent medium so you can't really reflect more light off it.

Thanks, that's actually more what I was looking for : )

This has been super useful to me when figuring out how to waste N cycles: http://www.qotile.net/minidig/docs/2600_ad..._prog_guide.txt Just read the section on 'Wasting Cycles'. Beats the heck out of e.g. 17 NOP instructions just to burn 34 cycles.