Newbie questions on burning... Coleco 2600 "Looping" Cartridge

[tjrtech]

So, I want to have a complete 2600 Coleco cartridge collection. There is a never released "Looping" for the 2600, by Coleco, and there is an 8K rambin file. The game looks pretty good. It would look better as a cartridge on my shelf...

 

Here is what I'd like to do, and I was wondering if there is a snowball's chance in hell this will work (please confirm, I am a newbie):

1. I will be cleaning the sticker off a Coleco 2600 Donkey Kong cart and cracking it open for a surrogate cart.

 

2. I will use the RAMbin file for "Looping" that exists here on AtariAge.

3. I don't yet have an EPROM burner, but I plan to buy this one, or one like it:

KEE Willem EPROM Programmer PCB version PCB5.0

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-KEE-Willem-EPROM-programmer-BIOS-Designed-in-the-USA-ShipfromUSA/291531758605

 

4. I plan to use 2732 EPROMs (4k x for the 8K cartridge.

 

5. I am going to use the PCB from OSH Park based on Joe Grand's design: 8k/16k/32k Bankswitch Cartridge

(note: I have both the Activision PCB and the one not claimed to be Activision....I assume I will use the non-Activision one?)

 

6. I have 3 each of the cartridge PCB boards, so I will put a ZIF socket in one of each (Activision and non-Activision) for testing burned EPROMs.

 

7. When I get a burned "Looping" EPROM that works, I will solder it into a cartridge PCB and put it in the white Coleco cartridge case, then print up a custom "Looping" label.

 

So, with the above work? What would you tweak? What advise would you give to a newbie?

 

P.S. If this all works, I will do the same with Atari 2600 Turbo by Coleco.

 

Thanks!

[CPUWIZ]

Both of them were released in one form or another.

 

 

https://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=960

[tjrtech]

I understand that Looping was released, may have even been sold on AtariAge for a time, but it was essentially a very limited run hobbyist release. I'd like to give my "skills" or lack thereof a try....and have some fun.

 

Will what I am suggesting work? Or just go for it?

[Arenafoot]

I understand that Looping was released, may have even been sold on AtariAge for a time, but it was essentially a very limited run hobbyist release. I'd like to give my "skills" or lack thereof a try....and have some fun.

 

Will what I am suggesting work? Or just go for it?

I say go for it! The more programmers in the homebrew scene, the more ideas and the more creative games that come out of it!

 

BTW - the ROM for Looping can be found on the AA site: https://atariage.com/software_page.html?SoftwareLabelID=2389

 

Good Luck! I'll be watching for it.

[+5-11under]

If you're going to use a board meant for the Atari shell in a Coleco shell, there may be some physical adjustments that may need to be made, to make the board fit well.

[tjrtech]

If you're going to use a board meant for the Atari shell in a Coleco shell, there may be some physical adjustments that may need to be made, to make the board fit well.

 

Yeah, I want it to be in a white Coleco 2600 cart case. My shelf seems to be missing a white 2600 Coleco "Looping" cart ever since I found the ROM existed...

[tjrtech]

Well, I ordered all my supplies and today attempted to build and burn. I am pretty sure I did an okay soldering, and the burning seemed to go well, but the cartridge doesn't work. I also tried an 8k Pacman homebrew (along with the 8k Looping.bin) and that didn't work either. I tried the cart in a CV with expansion unit and in a 7800...neither worked...got a screen on the TV that looks like a bad cart (multiple colors, vertical bands, etc).

 

I am pretty sure I followed everything from PixelsPast website on building the 8k/16k/32k bankswitch to the letter. I have checked all my solder joints, and I use solder sockets (not putting the ICs in directly to the board).

 

So where to begin to troubleshoot?

 

Maybe I should have started simpler, with 2k and 4k ROMs?

 

 

[alex_79]

In your first post you mention that you wanted to use a 2732: that's a 4k eprom, while you need a 2764 (8k) or bigger eprom for a 8k bankswitched game.

Also, there are three different PLD codes on the Pixels Past page, one for each bankswitching scheme (F8,F6,F4). Did you program the PLD with the correct one ("F8" in this case)?

[tjrtech]

BTW, sorry I never followed up on this, but I absolutely DID get my cart to work and even put a label on it.

TJR