Igor Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 (edited) BennVenn is working on a new flash cart for the Lynx. It uses an SD cart, has updatable firmware, etc. I've created a database entry for it on Atari Gamer here and any new information will be added there - https://k-retro.com/21-elcheaposd-and-accessories Once the review version of it arrives, there'll be an article with more information. Edited November 6, 2022 by Igor 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laoo Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 (edited) Definitely good placement for microSD card slot. When you're developing it's a blessing if you don't need to pull out cartridge to update the image file. Edited May 5, 2020 by laoo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted May 5, 2020 Author Share Posted May 5, 2020 For a developer cart it would be even better to just have a USB (micro or C) connection direct to the computer and leave it permanently plugged in. Perhaps someone will make that! ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fadest Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 The old flashcard from Karri allowed to flash via Comlynx, so without removing the flashcard, but was a bit slower than Lynxman's flashcard on this one, Bernd told me he put the connector on one side,because it would be dangerous to have the flashcard powered by Lynx and USB at the same time. I don't like SD card solution for development, I do not have a SD Card reader yet on my development PC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 Had a chat to BV and he said that it should be possible to modify his cart to work with an FTDI to send data directly to it, so that could be a solution for developers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nop90 Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 A great solution would be to have a SD slot instead of a micro sd, so one could use a wi-fi SD card. People used them to develop on the 3ds. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battleman13 Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 Ordered 3 of the Lynx 2 screens and 3 of the flash carts from BV. Can't wait for them to come in! I also dropped the $30 on console 5 for a 5 pack of the power rebuild kits, and 5 cap kits. I have 3 Lynx 2 units that are getting a recap, power rebuild and new BV screen.... I also have two Lynx 1 units that are at least getting a power circuit rebuild and recapping. One was a dead unit from my grandfather, hope I can get it running again. Another is one I bought off ebay for like $50 not working but in great shape. Might end up dropping another $100 on two Lynx 1 screens, but missed the original pre order for those.... might have to wait a bit! Still, I can't wait for the stuff to get in! I got the repair kits from Console 5 so I should at least get one or two boards prepped and refurbished so I can fit a screen as soon as I get it in! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 On 5/5/2020 at 12:41 AM, Igor said: BennVenn is working on a new flash cart for the Lynx. It uses an SD cart, has updatable firmware, etc. I've created a database entry for it on Atari Gamer here and any new information will be added there - https://atarigamer.com/lynx/game/BennVennsElCheapoSD/199877040 Once the review version of it arrives, there'll be an article with more information. One thing I have a question on from your site regarding both SainT's/RetroHQ's and BennVenn's SD solutions. It appeared you had both listed as being without ComLynx gaming support. Is that true that neither support ComLynx with other players if you're running your copy of the game from SD? I have SainT's SD adapter but I haven't had the opportunity to ComLynx with someone else since I purchased it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+karri Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 6 minutes ago, Lynxpro said: One thing I have a question on from your site regarding both SainT's/RetroHQ's and BennVenn's SD solutions. It appeared you had both listed as being without ComLynx gaming support. Is that true that neither support ComLynx with other players if you're running your copy of the game from SD? I have SainT's SD adapter but I haven't had the opportunity to ComLynx with someone else since I purchased it... ComLynx is supported on all carts. The ComLynx circuitry is independent from the card interface. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 Just now, karri said: ComLynx is supported on all carts. The ComLynx circuitry is independent from the card interface. Good to know. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fadest Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 It is not the physical cart but the game program who support Comlynx (or not). So a SD card (Saint GD, Agacart, El cheapo) or whatever flashcard will not remove Comlynx feature. The main difference between SD card/Flashcard and real cartridges are for EEProm support (and IIRC, Saint GD v2 and El cheapo will have EEProm emulation), and big ROM (ie >512kb). Also, if some PCB have some kind of anti-piracy feature in hard, of course, it will not be replicated on SD cards. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted May 22, 2020 Author Share Posted May 22, 2020 Maybe I should say that ComLynx is supported to remove any confusion. The cart software itself doesn't support ComLynx but as others pointed out, any games launched from the carts will work fine with ComLynx as long as those games have their own ComLynx support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadiATIon Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 I've just pre ordered one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SainT Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 On 5/6/2020 at 12:28 AM, Igor said: For a developer cart it would be even better to just have a USB (micro or C) connection direct to the computer and leave it permanently plugged in. Perhaps someone will make that! ? I already have this planned for the LynxGD, oddly enough. FTDI USB comms to the cart directly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SainT Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 On 5/21/2020 at 4:20 PM, Lynxpro said: One thing I have a question on from your site regarding both SainT's/RetroHQ's and BennVenn's SD solutions. It appeared you had both listed as being without ComLynx gaming support. Is that true that neither support ComLynx with other players if you're running your copy of the game from SD? I have SainT's SD adapter but I haven't had the opportunity to ComLynx with someone else since I purchased it... The LynxGD definitely works perfectly with ComLynx. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SainT Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 On 5/21/2020 at 4:29 PM, Fadest said: It is not the physical cart but the game program who support Comlynx (or not). So a SD card (Saint GD, Agacart, El cheapo) or whatever flashcard will not remove Comlynx feature. The main difference between SD card/Flashcard and real cartridges are for EEProm support (and IIRC, Saint GD v2 and El cheapo will have EEProm emulation), and big ROM (ie >512kb). Also, if some PCB have some kind of anti-piracy feature in hard, of course, it will not be replicated on SD cards. The LynxGD has full EEPROM support for 8/16 bit EEPROMS and full sizes from 128-2048 bytes through emulation. The ElCheapo just supports 8bit 128 byte via physical chip. The original Lynx cart of mine supports 1mb, but no-one ever used it, so the new LynxGD is 512K. I could do a 1MB model again, but as I say, no-one used it, and you may as well just stream from the memory card at this point if its for new games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SainT Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 On 5/6/2020 at 5:50 PM, Nop90 said: A great solution would be to have a SD slot instead of a micro sd, so one could use a wi-fi SD card. People used them to develop on the 3ds. You can use a memory card adapter to go from micro to full size in this case to use WIFI cards if you wanted to..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fadest Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 2 minutes ago, SainT said: The original Lynx cart of mine supports 1mb, but no-one ever used it, so the new LynxGD is 512K. Interesting. Which kind of bank-switching did you support to enable 1mb ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SainT Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 Just now, Fadest said: Interesting. Which kind of bank-switching did you support to enable 1mb ? Aux line switches banks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted June 24, 2020 Author Share Posted June 24, 2020 I'll have to experiment with an FTDI and those ports then James, will be messaging you to find out details! Meanwhile here's the Lynx GD and ElCheapoSD review - https://atarigamer.com/articles/retrohq-lynx-gamedrive-and-bennvenn-s-elcheaposd-cartridge-review-for-atari-lynx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42bs Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 On 5/6/2020 at 6:50 PM, Nop90 said: A great solution would be to have a SD slot instead of a micro sd, so one could use a wi-fi SD card. People used them to develop on the 3ds. Or write an image via Lynx. Could be done in less than a minute ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newtmonkey Posted September 12, 2020 Share Posted September 12, 2020 I keep wanting to preorder this, but I'm waiting for the magical moment in time when both the SD Flash Cart and solderless drop-in LCD are both available for preorder. Every time I check the site, one or the other is SOLD OUT haha. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo graphics 220 Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 The case looks really cool, too bad I can't play it as my Lynx stopped working not that long ago, the wire trick doesn't even anymore work so I have to wait for some parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catmando Posted November 24, 2020 Share Posted November 24, 2020 Got mine, works great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Olivas Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 Any approximation when a new alphabetised menu will be released? I like the convenience of just having one cart to carry around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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