Kroko

Please send Albert a PM if you want one. He will set you on the waiting list. My time is a bit short at the moment, so it may take a bit before new devices are finished. If you are on the waiting list, you will get one from the next batch I currently can't give you an exact date, though

Lets look at a simple "STA WSYNC" 1. we would access a memory location between $0000 and $003F , right ? 2. the next adress on the bus is from ROM space which has to be in the $1000 -$1FFF range, because we simply fetch the next opcode. Would that mean that a STA WSYNC switches banks ? I doubt that :-) Armin

Hm.... Do you have any idea why Kaboom makes more trouble than the ordinary 2K cart ? Bad contacts ? Bad PCB or bad chip ?

And I just realized that it obviously is just my private way to count the pins at the atari connector. But with the above picture you should be able to figure it out. Don't use the pin numbers, but the meanings of the pins :-)

Just a clarification here: The meaning of the pins on the VCS connector is different from the meaning of the EEPROM pins. My picture above is only valid for the following meanings: Top Row: 1(SGND) 2(VCC) 3(A8 ) 4(A9) 5(A11) 6(A10) 7(A12) 8(D7) 9(D6) 10(D5) 11(D4) 12(D3) Bottom Row: 24(A7) 23(A6) 22(A5) 21(A4) 20(A3) 19 (A2) 18(A1) 17(A0) 16(D0) 15(D1) 14(D2) 13(GND) Sorry if I confused you ....

Don't know if you already have it, but I attached a document I found about arcadia bankswitching. sctech.zip

I attached the pinout of a 2732. I don't think there are different versions. The question is just: Is the chip you are looking at really a 2732, or is it a custom made ROM. If it is a custom ROM it may have a different pinout.

The consoles female connector looks like this, if you look at it from above: 1 ..........12 24 .........13 So I would think that if you look at the cartridge as you described, then you would see pins 1 to 12 from right to left on the top side and pins 24 to 13 from right to left on the bottom side.

How do you know ? Your device is not finished, so a comparison is difficult at this point. Maybe this device can support Supercharger mode, when it is finished. Thanks ! I could think that some people are willing to spent time to create such an interface for your device, too. Maybe you are bored some rainy day and create it yourself :-) Yes, its quick, but with USB you could (at least in theory) compensate that you have to download more code to the device. Only a question of the interface. Take a stella.pro file, and calculate the binaries MD5.There is not much more to do. Yes, but partly because I did not know a lot about programmable logic, when I started with the project. Its easier if you know how to do it :-) Armin

Hi ! Danke für die Einladung, aber ich habe den Thread erst jetzt gesehen. Knapp daneben ist auch vorbei Gibt es schon Augenzeugenberichte ?

I had a bad time with Berzerk VE until I had a closer look at the binary ... The version I have makes trouble on real hardware. Sometimes it starts and sometimes it doesn't. If you are lucky it starts in the correct bank ...well, only if you are lucky. Unfortunately lots of hackers do not take into account how real hardware behaves ...

Vern ! >Any thoughts on the copper pour? I would copper pour top and bottom layer. AFAIK the main reason for copper pouring is noise reduction. I do it in all my designs. I can not tell you what the difference is, but I am almost sure it will help. :wink:

I have thought about this a little. Unfortunately I could not test the cart on the 7800 because I don't own one. But there is one possible solution that you could try to get the multicart working. Connect the external power supply to the cart and then turn on the 7800. Can you please tell me if it works if you do that ? >What's really odd...Sir Lancelot...The game doesnt work at all on the >2600 via the Kroc cart...whether multicart of as a single game. BUT, >Sir Lancelot in the Kroc cart by itself works fine on the 7800. Some games, especially hacks that were never released in cart form, do not start up in all banks. They need to be started in a fixed bank. But the Krokodile Cart can not handle this if you only download the binary. However, I can fix such binaries if you send them to me. You will get back a binary that can be downloaded to Krokodile Cart and works in the 2600. I have to add frame code that makes the init such that it works on real hardware. Some Carts had internal circuitry to ensure a certain startup bank. This is not emulated by the Kroc Cart. Emulators clear 2600 memory before startup. The Krokodile cart does not. I am not sure what the 7800 does, but if it clears RAM and registers before startup, then a binary that requires this will run fine on the 7800 but not on the 2600 (or only if you are lucky). I can fix this with my frame code as well, so if a rom really doesn't work, send it to me and you get back a fixed rom :-) Armin

Thanks! I love positive feedback

What a nice dream ! Your dream came true :-) At least it works fine on the Krokodile Cart.

The Krokodile Commander can do this. But the constructed ROM Image will only run on the Krokodile Cartridge. It is like Thomas said, multicarts need a special bankswitching. The Krokodile Commander supports the way the Krokodile Cart is handling multicart images. But almost every multicart hardware does things a bit differently. You will not find any software that can compile multicart images without a special target hardware in mind.

Thomas converted Gyruss to F4, so there is *Gyruss F4 PAL *Gyruss F4 NTSC

There is no risk at all. You can connect and disconnect it as often as you want - computer on or off. Armin

A new version of the Krokodile Commander is now available at http://www.arminvogl.de/KrokodileCartridge/ It runs on my Windows 98 system without problems. You have to install Microsoft Jet 4.0 SP8 on your Windows 98 computer, or the Krokodile Commander will crash with an "illegal operation". The Jet 4.0 service pack 8 is also available on my site.

No secret. You can currently not order it. I will make more carts soon. All I made are already sold and I just need some time for the next batch ... Armin

I have made a new version of the Krokodile Commander. Please check my site for updates: http://www.arminvogl.de/KrokodileCartridge/ You will always find the latest version here. The Krokodile Commander on the CD only searches for the device on COM1 and COM2. Version 1.02 also searches on Com3. I will put Version 1.03 online soon, which will search for the device on Com1 - Com5 I still need some feedback about Windows 98. Even if you don't have the Cartridge but are running Windows 98, please try to install the software on your machine and give me some feedback via PM. Armin

If you need a Java Version, please wait until it is really available

It works on PAL and NTSC

Thanks, I will try that !

I did not test the software on Windows 98. I will do that as soon as possible and let you know what the problem could be. Thomas tested in on NT and it ran with some additional downloads. I am going to find out which files are needed for Win98 an NT.