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UnoCart-2600 : a DIY SD multi-cart for the 2600


electrotrains

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How well does the UNO handle Supercharger .BINs on a 7800? My Harmony plays the Supercharger games fine on my 2600s but both of my 7800s are incompatible with the Harmony/Supercharger combo. I am wondering if the UNO might have any similar issues with some 7800s?

Don't we have another discussion about this exact thing? I believe I'm using two different sets of BINs between the Harmony and UNO. I would have to look at the SD card again to see exactly, but I know that the roms I'm using work fine on my 7800 and on most of the 7800s I've modded once I clip C64 out of circuit. But they do behave differently. On my Harmony the SC roms load right up to their start screens. On the UNO I actually do get the loader screen and tones just before the title screens.

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Don't we have another discussion about this exact thing? I believe I'm using two different sets of BINs between the Harmony and UNO. I would have to look at the SD card again to see exactly, but I know that the roms I'm using work fine on my 7800 and on most of the 7800s I've modded once I clip C64 out of circuit. But they do behave differently. On my Harmony the SC roms load right up to their start screens. On the UNO I actually do get the loader screen and tones just before the title screens.

We did talk on the Facebook page about the Harmony, I think. Are all of your 7800s modded though? I guess that what I am wondering about is the stock 7800 consoles. How does the UNO work with the Supercharger .BINs on an unmodded 7800?

 

I am interested in the two separate Supercharger .BIN sets that you mention too. I have only one set. Maybe they came from the Cyberpunks CD??? Would you be able to share both sets? Thanks.

Edited by SS
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They aren't all modded no. When a 7800 is sent to me to be modded, I first go through some diagnostics on it to be make sure both controller ports are good to go along with a selection of games I pop into them to test for compatibility. I would say more than half seem to play the SC roms just fine from both the Harmony and UNO. So initially I'm testing them for such compatibility issues to let the clients know as most of the time they haven't tested this for themselves. I actually had a 7800 sent to me to specifically look at why it had so many compatibility issues as this person couldn't even get their Harmony cart to work with it so they sent their Harmony and their 7800 to me. Anyway, clipping that crazy capacitor at C64 took care of it on his console and again, usually corrects the 7800s that don't initially load up the SC roms. The only downside I've seen from doing this is most of the time 2600 version of dark chambers will no longer work. But that I would call that a win since you gain compatibility back on many more and better games. Besides you could always then play the 7800 version of that game instead.

 

I will look at the roms on both of my carts to see how they are laid out. I do believe they are different and I believe I originally got them from posts here at AtariAge...

Edited by -^Cro§Bow^-
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Don't we have another discussion about this exact thing? I believe I'm using two different sets of BINs between the Harmony and UNO. I would have to look at the SD card again to see exactly, but I know that the roms I'm using work fine on my 7800 and on most of the 7800s I've modded once I clip C64 out of circuit. But they do behave differently. On my Harmony the SC roms load right up to their start screens. On the UNO I actually do get the loader screen and tones just before the title screens.

 

 

The difference between the harmony and the UNO is not the ROM set (most likely they are identical), but the BIOS stub used by the supercharger emulation. The original supercharger contains a BIOS that takes control whenever a new load is loaded from tape. The BIOS is also responsible for displaying the loading bars.

 

Emulators (both system emulators like Stella and cartridge emulators like the UNO / Harmony) use a stub bios that instructs the emulator to load the next load from the image file. My supercharger driver for the UNO uses the same BIOS stub as 6502.ts, which is derived from Stella, which in turn is based on code written by Eckard Stolberg. This stub displays the loading bars (although the bars can be disabled in Stella). I don't know which stub is used in the harmony driver but, evidently, it doesn't display the bars.

Edited by DirtyHairy
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The difference between the harmony and the UNO is not the ROM set (most likely they are identical), but the BIOS stub used by the supercharger emulation. The original supercharger contains a BIOS that takes control whenever a new load is loaded from tape. The BIOS is also responsible for displaying the loading bars.

 

Emulators (both system emulators like Stella and cartridge emulators like the UNO / Harmony) use a stub bios that instructs the emulator to load the next load from the image file. My supercharger driver for the UNO uses the same BIOS stub as 6502.ts, which is derived from Stella, which in turn is based on code written by Eckard Stolberg. This stub displays the loading bars (although the bars can be disabled in Stella). I don't know which stub is used in the harmony driver but, evidently, it doesn't display the bars.

 

Yeap as I just looked at the roms I have on both my Harmony and the UNO and they are the same roms. So I'm using the combined roms already and they work just fine. As an example my Frogger rom shows as 9k on the SD card for both.

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You're right, but what about customs? I know that I Can buy from US but.. if the customs charges the import taxes it's not so good..

I agree...

 

Mine was caugt by the Hungarian Customs, and despite it's duty free, I had to pay +27% VAT (4000 HUF) plus 3500 HUF (circa 12 USD) handling fee, in the end I paid 80 USD total instead of just 55...

 

Despite all it's a fantastic product, big thanks to everyone who is/was involved during the development and marketing!

 

It works perfectly with my cheap arabian clone!

 

Cheers: Gábor

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I agree...

 

Mine was caugt by the Hungarian Customs, and despite it's duty free, I had to pay +27% VAT (4000 HUF) plus 3500 HUF (circa 12 USD) handling fee, in the end I paid 80 USD total instead of just 55...

 

Despite all it's a fantastic product, big thanks to everyone who is/was involved during the development and marketing!

 

It works perfectly with my cheap arabian clone!

 

Cheers: Gábor

 

The VAT is due to the EU, right?

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In the United Kingdom the charges can be very high. In fact, I would order stuff from eg. AtariAge but the excessive extras for customs, VAT, etc. put me right off.

 

I'm all in favour of paying my due taxes, but it just makes AA and certain other, usually US-based, vendors unaffordable.

Edited by InactiveX
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The price will be £25 + P&P (£4 USA/Europe, £2 UK).

-----

As ElectroTrains has mentioned, I will be producing the 2600 UNO for the Americas (United States, Canada, Mexico, South America). I am offering them at US$35.00 plus my standard shipping rates ($10 US//$15 Canada & Rest of World)

It is actually cheaper to purchase from the UK even with the conversion rates. Any reason this could not be shipped in the USA via first class with tracking? Cost would be about $3.50 versus $10. Even a priority mail small flat rate box would only be $7.20. Just curious. Thx.

Edited by Wyluli Wolf
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It is actually cheaper to purchase from the UK even with the conversion rates. Any reason this could not be shipped in the USA via first class with tracking? Cost would be about $3.50 versus $10. Even a priority mail small flat rate box would only be $7.20. Just curious. Thx.

 

 

Well, all I can say is that shipping first class means that I have to purchase a box (even a padded envelope costs money and does not protect the cartridge), insurance is extra (it is included in the Priority mail price), and postage price varies based on weight (constant) and distance (not constant), so I would have to have a separate interaction with everyone involved. That means more interaction and delay. It also means I spend more time involved in mailing it out rather than in producing it.

 

As far as Priority mail being $7.20, that is correct, but my $10 covers up to three items in the box, again decreasing the amount of interactions and decreasing shipping costs on a per item basis. Also, this allows people to group order and decrease their costs. In addition to the $7.20 by the USPS are PayPal fees, bubble wrap, taxes, time involved, waste (destroyed mailing labels & packaging materials), lost packages, and a myriad number of other things that are beyond the price the post office charges. And, let's be clear, up to 8 ounces is ~$14 to anywhere outside of the United States which, again, does not include box costs, packaging costs, taxes, fees, etc. All of this and I would say 98% of all of my orders--no matter what it is--go out the next business day.

 

Additionally, you are not comparing apples to apples. My prices include a printed manual, high quality professional labels, a 3d printed case, as well as paying royalties to the creators. I also make sure that I always have 2600 UNO carts available for sale and am always available via email, PM, phone, text, or BBS for follow-up. Okay, the BBS replies are a bit on the slow side, but I am working on getting a paid co-SysOp. Plus, I am always available via phone//email//PM//coded flash transmission.

 

I strive to make sure that there are always 2600 UNO carts available for what I think is a pretty good price. I am also always available for comments on updating the shell, the label the firmware, etc.

 

I am not saying you are wrong, but a) I feel that you are not thinking of all of the things that are involved with actually producing a deliverable product and b) I think my prices are pretty fair, allow me to purchase things like professional labels for the cartridges (and even the original labels made by me were printed on expensive waterproof label paper), and produce high quality cases on a consistent basis.

 

tl;dr: I think it is worth the extra $2.80 (and that it is justified and not a hidden profit grab), but respect your belief that it is not. ;-)

.

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  • 3 weeks later...

What is the website link to purchase a UnoCart or UltimateCart for the Atari 2600 game system?

 

 

I currently own a Harmony Encore SD cartridge for the ATARI 2600. That product appears to be better quality with a built in USB port and the ability to use up to 32GB SDHC cards. The Harmony Encore supports cartridge rom images up to 512KB and with a possible future firmware update would allow for games up to 32GB in size by paging in 512KB at a time from the 32GB SDHC card. However its my understanding that the UnoCART 2600 supports cartridges up to 64KB in size.

 

 

With the Harmony Encore SD cartridge one just changes the firmware in the cartridge to switch between PAL and NTSC. It appears that the UnoCart one needs to open the cartridge case and change a jumper on the back of the PC board to switch between PAL and NTSC. Since the UnoCart 2600 has no USB port I am guessing that any firmware updates need to be done by SD card.

 

 

 

Since the specs are better for the Harmony Encore SD cartridge when compared to the UnoCart 2600, I plan on continuing to use the Harmony Encore SD cartridge. What are the specs for the UltimateCart which is suppose to be a better product then the UnoCart? Or is the UltimateCart a product that has no official release planned?

Edited by HDTV1080P
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What is the website link to purchase a UnoCart or UltimateCart for the Atari 2600 game system?[/size]

https://www.thebrewingacademy.com/

 

I currently own a Harmony Encore SD cartridge for the ATARI 2600. That product appears to be better quality with a built in USB port and the ability to use up to 32GB SDHC cards. The Harmony Encore supports cartridge rom images up to 512KB and with a possible future firmware update would allow for games up to 32GB in size by paging in 512KB at a time from the 32GB SDHC card. However its my understanding that the UnoCART 2600 supports cartridges up to 64KB in size. [/size]

Your understanding is incorrect. The 2600-UNO supports .3E files up to 256k in size. There is no limit to the size of the SD card that you can use on the UNO. Although, 1G is probably more than sufficient for most collections.

 

The Harmony Encore is a very excellent product. I do not see the need to force comparisons between two excellent products which have very different price points.

 

With the Harmony Encore SD cartridge one just changes the firmware in the cartridge to switch between PAL and NTSC. It appears that the UnoCart one needs to open the cartridge case and change a jumper on the back of the PC board to switch between PAL and NTSC. Since the UnoCart 2600 has no USB port I am guessing that any firmware updates need to be done by SD card. [/size]

Again, feel free to ask questions before posting incorrect statements,

 

1. Yes, updates can be done via the SD card. That is the beauty of it: You do not need any additional hardware or software to update the 2600-UNO.

2. You are correct that, unlike the Harmony Encore, the 2600-UNO cartridge does NOT require a firmware upgrade to play PAL or NTSC ROMs, all you do is change a jumper located via a very easily accessed hole in the cartridge shell.

3. No need to disassemble it at all. It is quite easy to change. In fact, it will even run PAL ROMs on an NTSC monitor (albeit in black and white).

 

 

Since the specs are better for the Harmony Encore SD cartridge when compared to the UnoCart 2600, I plan on continuing to use the Harmony Encore SD cartridge. What are the specs for the UltimateCart which is suppose to be a better product then the UnoCart? Or is the UltimateCart a product that has no official release planned?[/size]

You should enjoy using your Harmony cartridge. I have one as well. Again, why the need to cast aspersions? The UNO-2600 will run just about anything you throw at it, can be updated via the SD card and it just as robust as possible for a multi-cart. It is also $40 (plus shipping), so enjoy both.

As for the Ultimate Cartridge, that is not for the 2600. It never has been. It is for the Atari 800/XL/XE series of computers on have been produced by a number of people. I have been producing it for the creator since 2015. If you have an Atari 8-bit computer, I highly recommend one.

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2. You are correct that, unlike the Harmony Encore, the 2600-UNO cartridge does NOT require a firmware upgrade to play PAL or NTSC ROMs, all you do is change a jumper located via a very easily accessed hole in the cartridge shell.

That's not correct. The firmware only defines the display of the menu. So the jumper can only change that.

 

A PAL Encore or UnoCart can play NTSC games and vice versa. But for NTSC games displayed in correct colors you need a NTSC console, and for PAL games you a need a PAL console. The flash carts make zero difference here.

Edited by Thomas Jentzsch
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