cbmeeks

I've googled and searched but can't seem to find the power requirements for an Odessy 2. The version with hard wired controllers. I bought one for $10 and it's missing the power supply and the RF cable was cut. I hope to do a composite mod and maybe replace that giant 4700uF cap. Thanks for any help on finding power supply information is appreciated.

Thanks for the suggestions!

My search skills are failing me. Where is a good place to start if I want to learn how to make a game for the Coleco? I'm much more experienced with the 6502, C/C++ and Java. I've seen a C library somewhere but I'm not sure how good it would be. My ideal first game for the CV would be along the lines of Donkey Kong, Frogger, etc. Nothing super advanced. I'm willing to learn Z80 asm as well. I'm using Windows if that makes any difference. Thanks!

This is awesome. Would love a cart of this.

I have 60 retro computers and 30+ retro consoles. Plus several CRT TV's. I snatch up $5 CRT's at thrift stores all the time. Keep them in my storage building. You can have all of that when you pry them from my cold, dead hands. And yes...I'm happily married with 4 kids. Lol And BTW, criticizing the NES display (that was designed 30+ years before 4K TV's existed) is a little silly. One day when you're playing your PS4 on a 100" 64k TV you'll understand what I mean.

I guess I don't understand the nature of this mirrored address deal. What's the purpose of it? So, are you saying that a game could write $55 to $7000 (or whatever) and then later, read $7400 and expect that same $55?

That makes more sense. However, if the full 16bit address bus is available, would this stop legacy CV games from working? I mean, if I match the ports, the correct interrupt pin and offer a full 64k address, what am I missing? I just need to map the I/O ports to the TMS and SN PSG right? Please excuse my ignorance.

Awesome. But I am mostly curious about the TMS chip. Will I need to supply my own? Thanks

Any updates on this? Also, how are you generating video? Is a TMS chip or F18 solution required or have you implemented something else? Thanks

Yes, I want to run legacy and new ROMS (games) on my home brew. Concerning the ports, I can remap all I/O ports with ease as they are defined in software. The TMS emulator I am writing (using a microcontroller) can switch pins during the vblank period so I could use either INT or NMI. I plan on loading the Coleco BIOS at power on at address $0000. After that, I hoped to load an actual game ROM at address $XXXX. So, you're saying a 32k game should be inserted at $8000? So I assume that a 16k game would start at $C000? Is that what the cartridge pins EN80, ENC0, etc mean? The starting address the game ROM is mapped to? Thanks

Been a while since I've posted. :-) Let's say I have a Z80/TMS9918 homebrew computer with a full 64K of SRAM. I would like to take my ROM burner and rip any one of my many CV games. Then, I would like to copy that ROM into the SRAM of my homebrew computer. But here is where my knowledge of CV fails. How would I know where in the 64K address space to map a certain game? Do you see any other potential issues of such an approach? I've read that a real CV has only 1 (or maybe 2)K of RAM and it's repeated 8 times or something crazy like that. My homebrew computer is a generic Z80 with an emulated TMS9918 and SN PSG. Thanks for any information!

I think I have identified two bad 4116 RAM IC's that I hope to replace tomorrow. Thanks.

All the more reason to share.

Could Ed be persuaded to release what he's got to the open source community? Let others take the reign.

Oh wow. That's impresive. Imagine how far the CV would have gone if the bean counters gave it a full 8-16k or more of RAM! Also shows you how good the TMS was for 70's technology.

Would the SGM have to be there to get a better version? Could a 32k rom handle this or is the extra RAM a must? Seems like the original CV DK with the our factory and maybe a few more sprites would be a great upgrade.

So how would a 32k or 64k chip work in the cart?

Yep. Hence, the propeller. :-) My first idea was to simply create my own "multi-cart" but using the AVR to act as the ROM ( the original point of this post). But the more I get into it, the more I want my own hybrid CV. I can't ever do anything simple. lol

Can't afford an F18A. :-) But it's along those lines. The propeller (http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/138254-TEXAS-INSTRUMENTS-TMS9918-9928-VDP-Emulation-on-Propeller?highlight=tms9928) can output video using software. Plus, it can emulate the SN76489 sound chip (among others) at the same time. It's an experiment, really. What I want to do is emulate a ColecoVision using a *real* Z80 connected to the propeller. The propeller (prop) would then stand in as RAM/ROM for the Z80 and emulate the audio/video of the CV. Like a hybrid. That's the dream, anyway.

It doesn't. What I planned on doing was using the prop to copy the cart to memory and then drive the CPU from external memory.

That's a good idea but I wanted to stick with the prop because I plan on using the other cogs (cores) for other things like video and audio. Plus, I already have some level shifters.

Yeah, I will have the same issue with the propeller. It's 3.3v as well. Would be much easier for us retro nuts if everyone went back to 5V. LOL

That's pretty awesome. I was thinking of trying to clock a Z80 with a propeller along with using the prop as RAM/ROM. I believe the prop can easily handle the 3-4MHz. :-)

Bingo. It would be that exactly.

Holy crap where can I get that Intellivision version?