The Ultimate Atari Flashback!

[Pac-Guy 26]

 

Hey guys,

In my ongoing effort to play my favorite old video games with original controllers on my modern living room TV, instead of being banished to the CRT in my cold, dark basement, I've come up with the Ultimate Atari FB! Here's the software in action:

Why trash a perfectly good Flashback?

• Crisp full-screen HDMI output.

• The ability to add any 2600 game.

• Upgraded menu selection screen with woodgrain goodness!

• The FB's make great Raspberry Pi cases!

UAFB3.png

What you'll need:

• Any Atari FB with front facing ports (FB's 3-7)

• Raspberry Pi 3

• Two 2600-daptor II's sans cases

• Upgraded FB 2A power supply

• Two USB A-B cables, on 6" and the other 12"

• Four 4-40 by 3/4" machine screws

• Wires and soldering skills

• Custom RetroPie software (see link below)

With the custom software, the console buttons all work, and holding down Select and Start (Reset) will get you back to the game menu. See the attached manual below.

IMG_1922.JPG IMG_1923.JPG

IMG_2006 2.JPG IMG_2012.JPG

IMG_2258.JPG

Console Button Wiring (Starting closest to power button):

1. 5V Power at GPIO 2

2. Ground at GPIO 6 (or any other GPIO ground)

3. GPIO 20

4. GPIO 16

5. GPIO 26

6. GPIO 21

Suggestions:

• Remove the capacitor on the console PCB and solder in a jumper wire or you won't have enough power to the Pi.

• I suggest pairing a Bluetooth keyboard with the Pi or running a USB extension cable out the back. You'll need this for adding box art, editing file names, transferring roms via USB, etc.

Software Manual (thanks to timdu!):

Ultimate Atari FB Manual.pdf

Micro-SD Card Image:

• Download it here.

• Contains several great homebrews that have been publicly released in rom form!

Credits:

Thanks to fdr4pres, Tom Hafner, pimpmaul69, timdu, and intvdave for all the help!

 

Wow...an awesome idea that could be nonexistent if you'd found your RF cables! Never before has humanity's endless ignorance led to something amazing!

[+fdr4prez]

 

 

 

Hi Byte Knight & fdr4prez,

Could you advise where I can find the scripts/code for getting the console buttons to work please?

I'm currently struggling with my own RetroPie setup and would like to incorporate this as I'm in the process of butchering a FB4 with a Pi!

 

Many thanks

 

Please send me a PM and I'll help you out.

[southpaw13]

Hello, new to this forum. It is Awesome! Currently building an Ultimate Intellivision Flashback and an Ultimate Atari Flashback. Thanks for this IMG file! I am pretty OK working with Raspbian and looking at the image. I was just wondering how to get the Retropie Menu back.

 

Thanks for your help,

Southpaw13

[Songbyte]

Thank you Byte Knight for sharing this project. The Flashback case has been ideal since it is durable enough for modding, plus spacious enough for configuration. Here are some pictures of my build:

[southpaw13]

Hello, new to this forum. It is Awesome! Currently building an Ultimate Intellivision Flashback and an Ultimate Atari Flashback. Thanks for this IMG file! I am pretty OK working with Raspbian and looking at the image. I was just wondering how to get the Retropie Menu back.

 

Thanks for your help,

Southpaw13

Any advice on returning the RetroPie Menu to the selection screen?

 

Thanks

[+fdr4prez]

Any advice on returning the RetroPie Menu to the selection screen?

 

Thanks

 

Have you tried pressing the Start and Select buttons?

 

It is mentioned in the manual on the first post.

 

"If you are done playing a specific Atari 2600 game and you want to get

back to the game list, press and hold the START and SELECT buttons

for a few seconds"

[pico33]

Hello, in the first place sorry for my English (I am French). I am in an association: museereplay and I make via the tutorial a 2600 based on a six switch. Of course we do exhibitions and the 2600 has to run ten hours in a row and over two weeks ... that's why we try to make a machine via a raspi.

I need to run a pi2scart on top of having a well-functioning console on a CRT screen. My problem is that the version of retropy does not take into account the pi2scart. There is a version of retropie taking it into account: http://strike-devices.net/index.php/download/

And you can do the same thing with this version. Your version works really well and the interface is well appropriate to the original console.

If anyone has an idea of the manipulation?

Thank you

Edited May 11, 2018 by pico33

[Tifany]

Wowsers!!

[Smokeless Joe]

Anyone update their UAF with Stella 6 yet?

[+fdr4prez]

Anyone update their UAF with Stella 6 yet?

 

While Stella 6.0 has been released, and there is a release for Linux, it is not compatible with RetroPie.

 

The great developers/coders of Stella do not write in the support for RetroPie.

 

The developers of RetroPie have been doing the needed modifications for RetroPie.

 

If you want Stella ver6.0 to be added to RetroPie, please head over to the RetroPie forums and check with them directly.

[fnkngrv]

This seems like such a cool project. I have a bunch of Raspberry Pi boards and several other SBCs. I run an international group called The Retro Arena that actually has our own independent fork of RetroPie for higher end SBCs. Anywho, I am feeling a bit dense right about now because I am lost on the actual steps to put one of these things together when it comes to the hardware part. Is there a tutorial by chance or a document like the software one?

[marioxb]

Hey guys. I'm OBSESSED with these tiny Classic HDMI replica consoles (S/NES Classic, Genesis Mini, PlayStation Classic and now the Atari Flashback X). It's the only Atari Flashback that's both HDMI and a tiny replica with the switches instead of buttons and in scale (probably) with the others I mentioned above. I just got it yesterday and I love it (the case anyway). I am DETERMINED to make my own Atari 2600 Classic Edition (not going to use the term "Ultimate Flashback" because mine will be in the "series" with the Nintendo/ Sony/ Sega and soon Konami/NEC consoles.

Here's the inside (shown next to NES controller for scale):

 

 

 

Now I know this thing is tiny, a LOT smaller than the other Flashbacks, and that's why I LOVE it. I will get it modded like the one in this thread. My questions are as follows:

 

1. Where can I get the script to get the switches working and connected to the GPIO? They are functionally identical to the buttons from the other Atari Flashbacks, just now proper switches, like a real 2600, and in the "correct" order. minus b/w switch (Power, Left Difficulty, Right Difficulty, Select, Reset). I may even add in a Black & White switch for more authenticity and for use in some games for reasons other than lack of color. Can someone post the scripts for all 5 (six hopefully) buttons/ switches, if not along with an image for the Pi Zero that hopefully someone has made, or the script(s) by themselves. I may do something else with the power button for a Pi shutdown instead.

 

2. Again, I know this thing is tiny, so for that and other reasons, I'm using a Pi Zero. I don't want to play anything past the 80s on this bad boy anyway. 

 

3. What are the dimensions of the "naked" "daptors"? I'm sure I can fit em in somehow, along with micro to full HDMI adapter, tiny 4 port USB hub with two ports going external and possibly micro USB extender (depending on how I fit the Pi in here) for the power, and of course the Pi Zero.

Edited May 15, 2020 by marioxb

[+fdr4prez]

 

54 minutes ago, marioxb said:

Now I know this thing is tiny, a LOT smaller than the other Flashbacks, and that's why I LOVE it. I will get it modded like the one in this thread. My questions are as follows:

 

1. Where can I get the script to get the switches working and connected to the GPIO? They are functionally identical to the buttons from the other Atari Flashbacks, just now proper switches, like a real 2600, and in the "correct" order. minus b/w switch (Power, Left Difficulty, Right Difficulty, Select, Reset). I may even add in a Black & White switch for more authenticity and for use in some games for reasons other than lack of color. Can someone post the scripts for all 5 (six hopefully) buttons/ switches, if not along with an image for the Pi Zero that hopefully someone has made, or the script(s) by themselves. I may do something else with the power button for a Pi shutdown instead.

 

2. Again, I know this thing is tiny, so for that and other reasons, I'm using a Pi Zero. I don't want to play anything past the 80s on this bad boy anyway. 

 

3. What are the dimensions of the "naked" "daptors"? I'm sure I can fit em in somehow, along with micro to full HDMI adapter, tiny 4 port USB hub with two ports going external and possibly micro USB extender (depending on how I fit the Pi in here) for the power, and of course the Pi Zero.

 

 

The Pi0 cannot using the same image that is used here that is made for the Pi2 and Pi3

 

You will need to build your own using the RetroPie version for the Pi0

 

https://retropie.org.uk/download/

 

As I mentioned in my post in the other thread, I have helped other AA members with scripts.

 

I do not want to hijack this thread.

 

Please send me a PM and we can see what I can do to help you.

[PacManPlus]

I know I'm a little late to the party, but is this image still hosted anywhere?  I'm going to try and put it all in the FBX, being that my PiZero idea didn't work too well.

 

Thank you

[WACCo]

I know this is sort of a dead post, but I'm trying this with the Pi4. I've never done a Pi emulator, and not good at programing.

 

Dose anyone know what file is watching the GPIO and decides what the switches mean? I have friends that will work with me, but there not going to read thru a whole OS to find 1or2 files.

[+fdr4prez]

2 hours ago, WACCo said:

I know this is sort of a dead post, but I'm trying this with the Pi4. I've never done a Pi emulator, and not good at programing.

 

Dose anyone know what file is watching the GPIO and decides what the switches mean? I have friends that will work with me, but there not going to read thru a whole OS to find 1or2 files.

 

The GPIO should work with the Pi4

 

If you want the GPIO to work as the console switches with with the Atari emulator, then i am fairly sure that you need to use the standalone Stella emulator and not the lr-stella

 

It would be best to send me a PM and i can help you out.

[Velvis]

On 6/11/2020 at 5:50 PM, PacManPlus said:

I know I'm a little late to the party, but is this image still hosted anywhere?  I'm going to try and put it all in the FBX, being that my PiZero idea didn't work too well.

 

Thank you

I'd like a link to it as well. Anyone still have it and can share? 

[Big_D]

Ok, I am setting up a RaspberryPi4 in a Atari Flashback case. I am using a 5v 4A power supply plugged into the flashback and have the power pins running from the flashback board to the GPIO. When I turn it on I get the lightning bolt. The instructions said to remove a capacitator and bridge the pins, but I don't see a compactor so not sure what to do now.

[nicknickuk]

A bit late adding to this thread but this is my Atari conversion

 

Link with more details below: