repetto74

March 19, 2021

1 minute ago, Al_Nafuur said:

So it looks like the STM32 can talk to the ESP8266 but the response line is broken.

You might try and solder a wire between these two pins (ESP8266 Tx -> STM32 Rx)

OK I'll try and keep you posted tomorrow ?. Not so much time tonight to do this test.

March 19, 2021

8 hours ago, Al_Nafuur said:

@repetto74

After thinking about it a bit, it only proves that the Tx to Rx line from the STM to the ESP works but not that the connection back from the ESP to the STM works.

Does the LED of the ESP8266 blinks shortly if you start a "Scan For WiFi Access Points" ?

Yes a short blink more or less 1 second but then I get the "timeout" message.

I have tried a complete reset of the module, disconnected the board and reconnected but no changes when I scan for networks.

The SSID is visible only after enabling it from the "Manager Portal" menu and my PC can connect to it but http://192.168.4.1 will just hang on, no router menu. This module looks completely silent.

I'll check with microscope of any evidence of bad solder joint of components on the module. The board is working and the continuity on the module pins are ok.

March 19, 2021

6 minutes ago, Al_Nafuur said:

@repetto74

After thinking about it a bit, it only proves that the Tx to Rx line from the STM to the ESP works but not that the connection back from the ESP to the STM works.

Does the LED of the ESP8266 blinks shortly if you start a "Scan For WiFi Access Points" ?

I recall activity of the blue led blinking a few times. I will confirm this evening once I hook-up everything and test again ?

March 19, 2021

1 hour ago, Al_Nafuur said:

If so, the STM32 and the WiFi module can talk to each other and your soldering is (most likely) correct.

It might be that the ESP8266 has the wrong firmware, is defect or misconfigured. To check if it is just misconfigured you can use the "Delete WiFi Connections" function in the WiFi menu, this function indeed initiates a factory reset to the ESP8266.

After using this function you have to reboot the PlusCart before you try to connect to a WiFi network. I recommend to remove the PlusCart from the 2600 and plugging it back to make sure the ESP8266 really powers down.

Hi Al_Nafuur,

Thanks I will test everything this late evening and get back hopefully with some good news ?

March 19, 2021

8 hours ago, Al_Nafuur said:

Is the "Pluscart+" SSID always visible even when the "Start WiFi Manager Portal" is Not active?

Have to check this. I will let you once done but I may recall that the SSID was only available after the Manager Portal was activated in the menu.

I'll confirm later.

March 18, 2021

14 minutes ago, Andrew Davie said:

... and @Al_Nafuur would surely advise you to blank/mask that unique serial number of your STM to avoid fraud/impersonation.

I cannot edit my posts but he can feel free to remove pics.

March 18, 2021

1 minute ago, Andrew Davie said:

It's a menu option on the PlusCart itself.

Setup/Display Preferences/TV Mode

Also, you might like to checkout the available fonts, also under Display Preferences

Ok thanks good to know :-). I will give a try. Need to play a little bit with the menu and options. I am focusing on this non working wifi module at the moment.

March 18, 2021

1 minute ago, Andrew Davie said:

The colours suggest you have not setup the TV mode to be correct for your region.

It is a PAL 2600 with a composite mod. How do I change the TV mode? The 2600 is connected via an HDMI upscaler to my PC LCD screen.

March 18, 2021

I checked the continuity of the module pins and all is fine. Mmmmmmmm think really something is wrong on the module itself.

March 18, 2021

Thanks Andrew that's perfect :-D. Let me grab my multimeter!

March 18, 2021

5 minutes ago, Andrew Davie said:

You do not need to flash the ESP8266. It comes pre-flashed.

It sounds highly suspect to me. I'd be checking the soldering on that module, and perhaps thinking about replacing it.

Also, as an aside, my carts work fine with v1.0.0 of the module sourced from China, but they do not firmware-update correctly.

But, seeing no version at all suggests to me that your ESP8266 is non-functional.

Let's see what @Al_Nafuur says.

I would like to check the continuity of each of the 8 pins of the module. Some are easy to spot with the visible traces on the board and some I do not really know where to check.

I will check also for any bad soldering on the module components. Luckily I have a microscope and some tooling for smd components.

March 18, 2021

Ok back with some more infos.

The offline roms works perfectly so the board is ok.

Firmware version of the wifi does not show a version number.

Last try will be to connect via WPS but I am really wondering if this module is working at this stage.

Any guide on how to check compatibility of this module with my wifi network?

PS : starting maybe to understand. Do I need to flash the ESP8266 with a firmware or is it already programmed?

March 18, 2021

Ok back with some more infos.

The offline roms works perfectly so the board is ok.

Firmware version of the wifi does not show a version number.

Last try will be to connect via WPS but I am really wondering if this module is working at this stage.

Any guide on how to check compatibility of this module with my wifi network?

March 18, 2021

50 minutes ago, Al_Nafuur said:

You can check the firmware version of the WiFi module at the "Setup" -> "System Info" menu.

If the PlusCart boots with your Atari and you can see and navigate the menus, then the soldering for the STM board should be fine.

That's not a good sign if a WiFi scan has no result. Have you connected a ESP8266 with the AT-Command firmware to your network before?

This should work, because it does not include the WiFi module.

To flash the tar archive with the STM32CubeProgrammer you have to change the extension to ".bin". After manually flashing the TAR archive you have to use the "Setup" -> "Search for Offline ROMs" function.

I have never used those ESP8266 Wifi modules before. I do not know what is their range but normally in the room where I am the Wifi network range should be sufficient. Let me check for the firmware version and let you know. What I can try is to hook up a Wifi booster I have and increase the Wifi signal which may helps. What is weird is that the module is showing the SSID but no access to the router from any device connected to it.

I will also build a TAR archive with some games binaries and check but I am pretty confident that will work.

March 18, 2021

7 hours ago, Al_Nafuur said:

Do you have a PlusCart (or DIY Kit) from the PlusCart webshop? Or did you get the parts yourself?

If the second is true, are you sure that the firmware version is v.1.6.2 or newer on the ESP8266?

I got the DIY kit from the Webshop. I will recheck the firmware version from the menu for the Wifi module. It should be at least 1.6.2 right?

I cannot even say it is a bad soldering as I checked all my solder joints under microscope and looks fine. Anyway the cart seems to work fine and gives access to menu functions. I have tried to scan for "wifi in range" and no results are showing. Also weird as there are at least two good wifi signal in range here and used by the PC.

I will try to flash a TAR archive to memory and check if the board is working.

March 17, 2021

Hi Al_Nafuur. Yes, I have tried

http://192.168.4.1

from the top address bar of the browser. Tried with Opera, Edge and Chrome both Windows and MacOSX but no luck. I just get a "this site is unavailable" page. It is weird because the SSID Plucart+ is visible and I am connected to it.

March 17, 2021

Hi guys. I have my Pluscart mounted and ready for first set-up. I want to connect with my PC to the router menu of the Pluscart as per the instructions. From the Wifi Menu I select "Configure Wifi Portal" then I can see the pluscart wifi SSID showing on my PC. Connect to it but then when I want to open the 192.168.4.1 nothing happens and cannot get to the router menu. Have tried multiple different browser and tried both from Windows 10 and Mac OSX but nothing the menu won't open.

What should I do?

December 29, 2019

On 4/1/2018 at 12:14 PM, electrotrains said:

It's been a while so time for an update on this project!

There is now a new firmware version available on the github page, which adds Atari 7800 compatibility and Arcadia/Starpath Supercharger support. With these changes, the cartridge will now play all the classic 2600 games.

The 7800 fixes are thanks to InactiveX, who lent me a PAL 7800 for the last few days, and MacRorie, who tested it on an NTSC 7800.

DirtyHairy has added the Arcadia/Starpath Supercharger support with up to 256 loads (2MB ROM files!).

The source code and new manual are both also on the github page.

I also built 10 cartridges using ENIG (gold) pcbs a couple of weeks ago, but hadn't announced it yet since I was waiting to be able to program them with the new version of the firmware. Most of them are already spoken for, but there's a couple left if anybody wants one.

The price will be £25 + P&P (£4 USA/Europe, £2 UK).

If you'd like one of the spare carts, let me know here. First come first served. (Though if enough people are interested, I will probably make another batch).

Robin

Hi Robin,

Any chance to order one of these babies? ?

December 29, 2019

29 minutes ago, MacRorie said:

Hello!

It is available for sale here:

https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/atari-2600/products/uno-2600-cartridge

Hi,

I am located in Europe so wondering if there is any chance to buy it here :-). Thanks for the link anyway.

December 29, 2019

Hi,

What is the status of this UnoCart project? Is the pcb still available assembled or in a kit?

November 25, 2019

That did the trick ? I have finally the package.hex built

Packaging Bootloader and cart firmware: package.hex

head -n -1 ../finalgrom.hex | cat - bootload.hex > package.hex

head: illegal line count -- -1

bootload.elf :

section size addr

.data 12 8388864

.text 4136 28672

.bss 173 8388876

.comment 17 0

.note.gnu.avr.deviceinfo 64 0

.debug_aranges 296 0

.debug_info 8549 0

.debug_abbrev 3421 0

.debug_line 10417 0

.debug_frame 892 0

.debug_str 1757 0

.debug_loc 5864 0

.debug_ranges 456 0

Total 36054

Mac-mini-de-RICCARDO-4:boot riccardorepetto$

Thanks a lot for your help InfiniteTape much appreciated ! :-D

November 25, 2019

Nope I tried to follow this the above installation guide but keep gettings errors.... ? I cannot install the avr-libc.

Mac-mini-de-RICCARDO-4:~ riccardorepetto$ brew tap osx-cross/avr

Updating Homebrew...

==> Auto-updated Homebrew!

Updated 1 tap (homebrew/core).

==> Updated Formulae

eslint jenkins librsvg node

==> Tapping osx-cross/avr

Cloning into '/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Taps/osx-cross/homebrew-avr'...

remote: Enumerating objects: 36, done.

remote: Counting objects: 100% (36/36), done.

remote: Compressing objects: 100% (34/34), done.

remote: Total 36 (delta 7), reused 12 (delta 0), pack-reused 0

Unpacking objects: 100% (36/36), done.

Tapped 10 formulae (85 files, 134.4KB).

Mac-mini-de-RICCARDO-4:~ riccardorepetto$ brew install avr-libc

Error: No available formula with the name "avr-libc"

==> Searching for a previously deleted formula (in the last month)...

Error: No previously deleted formula found.

==> Searching for similarly named formulae...

Error: No similarly named formulae found.

==> Searching taps...

==> Searching taps on GitHub...

Error: No formulae found in taps.

Mac-mini-de-RICCARDO-4:~ riccardorepetto$

UPDATE: the command to run has changed, I need to run brew tap osx-cross/avr && brew install avr-gcc

That installed the avr-gcc succesfully apparently. Will test the compile now ?

November 25, 2019

I have found this installation guide

http://maxembedded.com/2015/06/setting-up-avr-gcc-toolchain-on-linux-and-mac-os-x/

I will give it a try.

November 25, 2019

Well... Homebrew install went well but this is the result when I try to install avr-gcc ?. Could be the name of the avr package has changed?

Mac-mini-de-RICCARDO-4:~ riccardorepetto$ brew install avr-gcc

Error: No available formula with the name "avr-gcc"

==> Searching for a previously deleted formula (in the last month)...

Warning: homebrew/core is shallow clone. To get complete history run:

git -C "$(brew --repo homebrew/core)" fetch --unshallow

Error: No previously deleted formula found.

==> Searching for similarly named formulae...

Error: No similarly named formulae found.

==> Searching taps...

==> Searching taps on GitHub...

Error: No formulae found in taps.

Mac-mini-de-RICCARDO-4:~ riccardorepetto$

November 25, 2019

8 hours ago, InfiniteTape said:
You'll need the AVR toolchain installed. You can get it through Homebrew.
brew install avr-gcc
But if you look a little further down in the FinalGROM, you'll need Windows or Linux to program the CPLD. Hopefully you have one available.

Thanks InfiniteTape :-). Yes I do have a WIndows 10 running through bootcamp on the Mac so it should be ok.

I will install this Homebrew package installer with this command : /usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

Then, brew install avr-gcc.

Sounds good ?

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