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Ultimate Flashback Interface Boards Available


Byte Knight

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Hey guys,

 

I've got some Ultimate FB Interface boards in stock if anyone is interested. The cost is $60 shipped.

 

post-16548-0-04033100-1477841533_thumb.jpg post-16548-0-17728000-1477841497_thumb.jpg post-16548-0-51751300-1477841550_thumb.jpg

 

This is an almost a drop-in controller board solution for Intellivision, ColecoVision, and Atari 3-7 Flashbacks and use the FB's existing PCB mounts and screws. This board then hooks up to your Raspberry Pi via a 6" USB cable. If you're putting it in an INTV FB, you'll need to remove the tiny horizontal tab behind the player1 port. If you're installing it in a CV FB, trim the tab behind the player1 port for the board to fit. Since the board is upside down in an Atari FB, player1 and player2 ports will be reversed.

These boards work exactly the same as the Ultimate PC Interface and supported controllers / instructions on how to change controllers can be found here.
I can provide a 6" USB cable for an extra $5 or you can use your own USB A male to B male like this one.
PM me if interested.
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I have one of these that is just waiting for me to have the time to pop into a new Intv FB (I think Thanksgiving week I will have time). For the sake of clarity, can you describe how the PI is being powered? Is it using the FB power how is it connected? Is it being powered via the two GPIO connections seen in the screenshot?

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I have one of these that is just waiting for me to have the time to pop into a new Intv FB (I think Thanksgiving week I will have time). For the sake of clarity, can you describe how the PI is being powered? Is it using the FB power how is it connected? Is it being powered via the two GPIO connections seen in the screenshot?

 

Yes, it's being powered via the GPIO. To hook up the power switch to the Pi, see the picture below. Hook up the topmost wire (red) to GPIO pin 2 (5V), middle wire (brown) to GPIO pin 6 (ground) and if you wish you can solder the bottom wire (yellow) to the "RUN" port on the Pi in order to reset the Pi (and not the game). If you're running a Pi 3, you'll need at least a 2A power supply like this one.

post-16548-0-11748300-1477917055_thumb.jpg

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Yes, it's being powered via the GPIO. To hook up the power switch to the Pi, see the picture below. Hook up the topmost wire (red) to GPIO pin 2 (5V), middle wire (brown) to GPIO pin 6 (ground) and if you wish you can solder the bottom wire (yellow) to the "RUN" port on the Pi in order to reset the Pi (and not the game). If you're running a Pi 3, you'll need at least a 2A power supply like this one.

IMG_2231.JPG

Thanks for the reply. When you close up the case, how much clearance is there between the top of the case and the dupont cables on the GPIO pins? Do the top of the wires get pinched to a right angle or is there enough clearance such that the cable bends without crimping/pinching?

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Thanks for the reply. When you close up the case, how much clearance is there between the top of the case and the dupont cables on the GPIO pins? Do the top of the wires get pinched to a right angle or is there enough clearance such that the cable bends without crimping/pinching?

 

With the wires that I use, there's about a half inch clearance.

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  • 2 months later...

 

Yes, it's being powered via the GPIO. To hook up the power switch to the Pi, see the picture below. Hook up the topmost wire (red) to GPIO pin 2 (5V), middle wire (brown) to GPIO pin 6 (ground) and if you wish you can solder the bottom wire (yellow) to the "RUN" port on the Pi in order to reset the Pi (and not the game). If you're running a Pi 3, you'll need at least a 2A power supply like this one.

attachicon.gifIMG_2231.JPG

 

Finally found some time to setup my latest Ultimate FB using an RPi3 and the drop in board. Board works great and it was really easy to splice in the FB power to the RPi GPIO pins using the connectors suggested. I also grabbed and am using the power supply suggested. I installed the latest version of RetroPie for my setup. In addition to the UPCI board/intv fb controllers, I also am using a bluetooth 8Bitdo NES30 Pro (http://www.8bitdo.com/nes30pro/) which works nicely.

 

I have noticed however that an occasional 'lightning bolt' will flash in the upper left hand corner of the screen. Apparently this is an under voltage warning (not enough power) (https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroPie/wiki/faq). I am now interested to find another adaptor that will fit the FB plug, but also supply enough power to avoid the 'lightning bolt' . Any ideas?

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Finally found some time to setup my latest Ultimate FB using an RPi3 and the drop in board. Board works great and it was really easy to splice in the FB power to the RPi GPIO pins using the connectors suggested. I also grabbed and am using the power supply suggested. I installed the latest version of RetroPie for my setup. In addition to the UPCI board/intv fb controllers, I also am using a bluetooth 8Bitdo NES30 Pro (http://www.8bitdo.com/nes30pro/) which works nicely.

 

I have noticed however that an occasional 'lightning bolt' will flash in the upper left hand corner of the screen. Apparently this is an under voltage warning (not enough power) (https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroPie/wiki/faq). I am now interested to find another adaptor that will fit the FB plug, but also supply enough power to avoid the 'lightning bolt' . Any ideas?

 

So I did some checking and learned that the RPi3 should have a power supply of 5.1v/2.5A. The RPi kit I bought came with a 5v/2.5A supply so I replaced the usb connector on 5v/2.5A adapter with the barrel connector that was on the 5v/2A. Checked voltage with multimeter and it was actually a little above 5v. However, that didnt help. I turned off WiFi on the Pi and that appears to helped some (but not completely, like during boot up) and it doesnt appear to be happening when playing games now.

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The low voltage indicator is probably because of the power going through the GPIO port and not the power port. There doesn't seem to be any ill-effects of doing it this way however as everything runs fine. You can at least get rid of the low power indicator on the screen by editing /boot/config.txt and adding the line "avoid_warnings=1" without the quotes.

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The low voltage indicator is probably because of the power going through the GPIO port and not the power port. There doesn't seem to be any ill-effects of doing it this way however as everything runs fine. You can at least get rid of the low power indicator on the screen by editing /boot/config.txt and adding the line "avoid_warnings=1" without the quotes.

Thanks for the feedback. Did more research and this 'low voltage' seems to be pretty common, especially on the RPi3. As best as I can tell and measure directly from the end connectors which plug into the GPIO pins (tricky getting the probes into those buggers), it looks like I am getting ~5.2 volts to the pins, unless my multimeter is a little off.

 

Unless it gets really really annoying, I guess I will just have to live with it. I know I could disable the warning but I'd hate to miss a legitimate (one to be really concerned with) warning.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I did another run of these boards so let me know if you're interested.

 

BTW, this (and the UPCI) is a another great way to play 4-way direction Intellivision games, by using an Atari 2600 joystick. Since the ports are sensed independently, you can use a 2600 joystick in port1 and an Intellivision controller in port2 for the keypad functions. This will work very nicely for playing Sacred Tribe once the rom is released!

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  • 1 year later...
  • 2 months later...

I just found out about this. Awesome! I plan on using a Pi Zero. Should be enough for just playing the "golden age" games and using the original Flashback power supply. I don't have any Flashback units yet, but seeing this project made me wanna get one. Never even played Intellivison before. I used to have a Colecovison ADAM computer, but from what I read, the INTV FB comes with better controllers than the Coleco FB. Does the power button do the full Pi shutdown procedure and is the controller board still available?

Edited by marioxb
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I just found out about this. Awesome! I plan on using a Pi Zero. Should be enough for just playing the "golden age" games and using the original Flashback power supply. I don't have any Flashback units yet, but seeing this project made me wanna get one. Never even played Intellivison before. I used to have a Colecovison ADAM computer, but from what I read, the INTV FB comes with better controllers than the Coleco FB. Does the power button do the full Pi shutdown procedure and is the controller board still available?

 

The power button does not do a full Pi shutdown. That can be accomplished from within EmulationStation by going to Quit -> Shutdown System.

 

And yes, the boards are still available and in fact have been revised. There's now a button on the board to change controllers "on the fly" (previously you had to reboot) and Atari 2600 paddles are now supported along with some more controllers. The cost is now $65 shipped. Additional controllers that are supported:

 

Atari 2600 Joystick/Driving

Atari 2600 Paddles, both paddles (paddle #1 button)
Atari 2600 Keypads
Atari 2800/Sears Video Arcade II (either side button, knob towards center)
Atari 7800 Pro-line/CX78 gamepad
Atari CX22 & CX80 Trak-balls, native mode (jack B, switches DN DN)
Atari Flashback 1, AtGames
Atari ST mouse (jack B, switches UP DN)
Amiga mouse (jack B, switches DN UP)
Bally Astrocade
CBS Booster Grip (grip switch)
ColecoVision original, SA including spinner, Driving, Roller
ColecoVision Flashback, AtGames
Fairchild Channel F (push down)
Famiclone - NES, SNES & Famicom with adapter cables
FM Towns Marty
Intellivision original
Intellivision ECS Keyboard (only on power up, "0" key)
Intellivision ECS Piano (only on power up, left or right end key)
Intellivision Flashback, AtGames
Magnavox Odyssey 2
MSX, x68000
Sega Genesis: 3 & 6 button, d-pad & arcade stick (button "A", but can use "START" for backwards compatibility)
Sega Master System
3DO
TI-99/4A, both joysticks (jack A, joystick #1 button)
PM me if interested!
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I'm definitely interested, but can't get one right now. The upgrades sound great! I'd wire my unit up to do a full shutdown (and add the code for that) as well as make sure the LED works. I also want to add a USB port without a cable hanging out. Hmm, since you have a way to power it from the GPIO, I can use both Pi Zero micro USB ports for data. The "data" one for the Ultimate FB and the "power" one as an external USB port for adding roms, using a keyboard, etc. Think that should work.

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