acadiel

The AVR will have 2K of EEPROM space which can be rewritten through the GROM interface. There will also be some volatile GRAM that can be read/written to. However, you can't run 9900 code from GRAM, but you can do other fun stuff. Tursi can elaborate more on what he's doing with the AVR.. I'm just responsible for the ROM section

You guys blew that one out of the park. Stay tuned, I do have a second one. Also have a HFDC and drive I will be putting up soon.

Figure I would fire this up again, since I've gotten multiple email requests asking for a demo. http://youtu.be/7IL5MKk7UbA The 74LS378 version works well. Thanks to Ksarul for doing the board layout and all the enhancements he has done, and to Tursi for the GROM emulation he's working on! Note that the 74LS378/379 uber-GAL is still giving me trouble; Tursi wrote an awesome bank switch tester to make sure the banks were being banked to correctly. It as well as the 512K Multicart EEPROM work well in the 74LS378 board, but the bank test throws some strange results (different, I might add) with the GAL version - even with two identically programmed GALs. Maybe Tursi or Matthew have some ideas based upon the output shown in the video. At this point, if we can get the GAL working properly, then we have two options for a 512K ROM cart. Once Tursi finishes the GROM emulation remapping (to a new chip pinout), we will then have the capability of making GROM/ROM cartridges, such as XB replacements (like RXB), Plant Genetics and other GROM cartridges can finally take physical form, and more!!! Sorry, Mr. Hull - no RAM in this one

Yes, as designed, up to 128K, but with a couple more wires. 64K stock. The new one will support 512K bank switched ROM plus the emulated GROM (not sure what capacity, but Tursi can elaborate). The new version uses a 74LS378 (6 lines) for bank switching ROM.

Yep. Letting one of my rare things go. eBay Auction -- Item Number: 200815149648 Jon

Just sort of a mini update as to where I am with this... I have the Uno hooked up to the sound chip in the following manner: Arduino Pin SN76489 Pin ----------- ----------- 0 n/c (this is an i/o pin for the usb/serial) 1 n/c (this is an i/o pin for the usb/serial) 2 10 (D0) 3 11 (D1) 4 12 (D2) 5 14 (CLOCK) - Arduino Timer0 6 n/c 7 13 (D3) 8 15 (D4) 9 1 (D5) 10 2 (D6) 11 3 (D7) 12 5 (/WE) 13 6 (/OE) GND 8 (GND) VCC +5 16 (VCC) n/c 4 (READY) Since this SN variant takes a 500kHz or less clock, I next need to figure out how to initialize Timer0 to something like 244Hz or 61hz (dividing from the 16Mhz ATMega clock): Value Divisor Frequency 0×04 256 244.140625 hz 0×05 1024 61.03515625 hz Code: TCCR0B = (TCCR0B & 0xF8) | value ; .. and then get it to run properly. The Arduino has a great way to bit bang the ports (so to speak), PORTD (pins 0-7) and PORTB (pins 8-13). I need to create an 8 bit word out of pins 2-4 and 7-11 (darn timer had to be right in the middle there!) Still need to figure out how to do that. The guy running the serial port read does it this way, but it's still a little confusing because he's only setting two bits on PORTD, but six on PORTB? Arduino Code byte data; int WE = 10; int CE = 11; void setup() { Serial.begin(57600); DDRD = DDRD | B11111100; DDRB = DDRB | B00111111; pinMode(WE, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(WE, HIGH); pinMode(CE, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(CE, HIGH); } void loop() { if(Serial.available() > 0) { data = Serial.read(); PORTD = data << 2; # 2 bits to PORTD or pins #0-7? PORTB = data >> 6; # 6 bits to PORTB or pins #8-13? digitalWrite(CE, LOW); delay(1); digitalWrite(WE, LOW); delay(1); digitalWrite(CE, HIGH); delay(1); digitalWrite(WE, HIGH); delay(1); } } Stay tuned.. still trying to figure this out

I'm playing around with a SN76494 (same as the SN76489 except it has a 500kHz maximum input clock rate), and attempting to hook it to an Arduino. I'd like to hook up a speaker to the chip (probably that small Radioshack 9V battery amp that I have), and feed it either DATA from assembly programs or CALL SOUNDS from TI BASIC programs (TI-99DIR will come in handy for exports here), and have it "play" the TI songs. Wikipedia has a great article with a pinout: http://en.wikipedia....ruments_SN76489 I've also found a guy who has a schematic here of something he did with a MIDI synthesizer: http://little-scale....ega-master.html Being that I'm still not an EE by trade, and still have to ask questions, I figured I would ask a ton of stupid ones here in hope that I can get the end result up and running like I want. First question: 1) The guy has a schematic with a 74HC14D up (which is doing clock generation, apparently). Is that still a good way to do it with the SN76494, or does someone have a better idea for a clock generator? What kind of pulse should I be doing? (Being that the 494 apparently has a 500kHz maximum input clock rate.) As soon as I can get whatever additional parts in (like the 74HC14D if that's what I go with - I have tons of caps and resistors in my kits), I'd like to fire the thing up and write an Arduino program that just feeds the sound chip the equivalent of a CALL SOUND (1000, 440, 2) or something just to verify that it's working. I'll then fire up the other sound channels and noise channel to see if I can get some decent output in them, and then finally write a shell script (or even translating Arduino code) to import the DATA or CALL SOUND statements into the program to play the sound.

The 6809, eh? Suppose they didn't want to open a can of worms and use the 6502. :-) A while back, I posted the actual MBX carts in dumped form that I got from SNUG. I think there was only one missing from the entire collection. But they had to be manually dumped, according to them, as nothing we had could technically copy them due to the RAM/ROM bank switching in place. Not sure about the actual architecture of the cart, but it was pretty non standard.

I have used Winbond W27C512 chips from ebay successfully with the cart board; they are the same pinout as UV chips. They also make smaller capacities. They should be what you are looking for!!

Here it is in EA5 format. If you really want in in cart format, it'll take some time as I'll have to fire up the SNUG system and transfer it there to make the cart.etonland.zip You rock! We tried to get this working years ago, and it wouldn't even work in PC99 properly. Thanks!!

I love the Black and Decker reflow oven. You'll have to post how you put it together, control the reflow profile, etc.

The jack on mine was having issues... had to replace the jack on the main board; here's a thread with the part number from Mouser in case it's one of your issues... http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/175879-mbx-questions/

Not from the ROM side; I haven't had a chance to try and reprogram the GALs yet. We have two options for ROM right now - the GALs (currently not working) and a 74LS378 chip (verified working with a mega 8K multicart thanks to Tursi.) I'll let Tursi chime in on the AVR - I believe he was just re-pinning the outputs to go with the new outputs on the board. All of us have been working on documentation... gotta have something written down. <grin>

I just bought a replacement power supply for my CC9900.... https://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&productId=190960&catalogId=10001&krypto=9x3mj8umRTpSwfCPY7y2j3beMm8lL4yIn5sKXyWLyFVzXWJYCg8gLg%3D%3D&ddkey=https:StoreCatalogDrillDownView Works great. The old WM113 Elpac unit let the magic smoke out a few weeks back...

I probably need to update mine, as I've been lax in updating it.. http://www.hexbus.com/inventory.pdf I also created a nice spreadsheet with what ROM and GROMs the cartridges have (i.e. GROM bases) a while back. I'd love for someone to take this and correct, expand it, etc. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmwB5QkfV7DbdEE5SmdDV09tdG1FNzJnUGNSOTdtbHc

Mine are public. 2011: https://www.facebook...=3&l=37685531cb 2010: https://www.facebook...71432449&type=3 2009: https://www.facebook...=3&l=2de7e1692c 2008: https://www.facebook...71432449&type=3

I got the PLCC 20 pin to DIP adapter in yesterday. Now, I actually have two "nice" adapters.. PLCC32 and 20 pin ones! (Wish I could find a nice set of the whole range of sizes). Anyway, as soon as I get some time this week, I'll start reprogramming the GALs with Matthew's code and try them out with Tursi's Bank Test EPROM to see where we get...

Matthew, you should try one in this homebuilt system...

I spammed slashdot for you. :-) :-) http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/02/11/2035226/tms9918a-retro-video-chip-reimplemented-in-fpga-with-vga-out

Preordered mine!

My only recommendation so far is to see if we can get a higher grade PLCC socket if we produce these. I've had nothing but headaches with getting the F040 to sit correctly (all pins contacting) in the cart board. It might be worth getting one of those sockets like I posted above (that don't have the DIP) that we could solder to one of these proto boards for testing. That way, you can push down (I think) on the socket, and the F040 pops out. Also, it might either be my crappy eBay adapter, or something I did, but I have three F040's that my programmer complains about 3-4 bad pins. I've tried two adapters with the same result. I'll try them again in the ZIF pop-out adapter I just bought on eBay when it comes in to see if they're salvageable. Nice work on the board, Ksarul! You really outdid yourself here. This is one amazing piece of work. The same with Tursi's GROM chip. So, what's the pinout difference between the 1284 between the '379 version I had and the one you just produced? Is it in line with the GAL board now?

Well, I had a chance to play around... the stupid eBay PLCC-DIP adapter is very flakey in my programmer; I had to buy a new one today, because I'm tired of messing with this $2 piece of crap that I have.. Here's the new one.. eBay Auction -- Item Number: 270894619549 Anyway, I finally got Tursi's Banktest program working, and attached is a picture of the cartridge board and a picture of the Bank Test. I've burned a MultiCart with the new code posted in this thread and will try it as soon as my kids finish playing Story Machine. The power up bank on the TI 74LS378's is pretty consistent; it's the very top 8K bank, just like it was on the 74LS379's.

I think CRU bits 22 and 23 are the cassette motor, correct? Can those be read back in for status? If people aren't using those (I don't know that many that still use cassettes), those might be pretty easy ones to set. Worst case scenario is someone's casette motor will turn on and off if the unit is set to play and the remote plug is plugged into the deck... :-)

Wow... can't wait to put together the new toy and do some testing. Hope to have some time this weekend to solder the new '378 one (and burn the 512K Multicart) and also try Tursi's new "bank switch test" program on both the '378 and GAL boards. I'm really looking forward to this weekend!! Ksarul and Tursi.. you guys rock! BTW, I was thinking about the 4K fixed/4K variable TI XB Banking scheme. What if we still banked on 8K, but just kept the first 4K consistent at the beginning of each bank for XB? Yeah, it's wasting 4K on the chip by duplicating the "fixed 4K", but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work... thoughts?

Source emailed to Mark