"Dragonfly" my version of the Atari 7800 SD cartridge

[+-^CrossBow^-]

@ZeroPage Homebrew I've had to solder them in each time. I'm even using proper board to board interconnect headers and it would still fail until I soldered them in place. So that is what I've been doing. I ordered a bunch of the breakaway headers just for this purpose. I break them off, plug them into the USB blaster cable so they are nice and aligned, put the headers in the vias and solder them down.

 

You can likely use the ones you have there but would need to solder them into place on the DF board first to make sure they make good contact.

 

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

2 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

@ZeroPage Homebrew I've had to solder them in each time. I'm even using proper board to board interconnect headers and it would still fail until I soldered them in place. So that is what I've been doing. I ordered a bunch of the breakaway headers just for this purpose. I break them off, plug them into the USB blaster cable so they are nice and aligned, put the headers in the vias and solder them down.

 

You can likely use the ones you have there but would need to solder them into place on the DF board first to make sure they make good contact.

 

 

Thanks @-^CrossBow^- for confirming that they will probably have to be soldered in place to work. I ordered some breakaway headers as well that are due to arrive today so I'll give that a go tonight!

 

- James

[+-^CrossBow^-]

15 minutes ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

 

Thanks @-^CrossBow^- for confirming that they will probably have to be soldered in place to work. I ordered some breakaway headers as well that are due to arrive today so I'll give that a go tonight!

 

- James

Even the breakaway headers I have (And what I use) I still have to solder them into place. I do have some of the tall and thicker headers that I think is what RJ actually uses and shows in his PDF but I only have a single row of 5 of them and not a full set for all the pins. So couldn't use them. It isn't too big a deal to solder them in although the space might be a little cramped to those who don't use an iron that often, but not too bad.

 

[BrianC]

I was able to update the CPLD without soldering using breakaway headers, but I had to really hold them down to make sure the pins were in place before the update was successful (and I also made the mistake of trying to use 13.1 at first, which of course didn't work, instead of 13.0 sp1 as recommend). I also updated the AVR before the CPLD. 

Edited May 3, 2023 by BrianC

[+DrVenkman]

Having now updated my CPLD twice, I’m glad I soldered in the pins on mine the first time I updated it. I *probably* won’t have to update it again but who knows? People are still using CuttleCart2’s after all these years so who’s to say Rafal won’t release yet another update in a few months or years …

[+MarcoJ]

On 5/2/2023 at 6:59 AM, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

The pins are quite loose in the DragonFly board and I try to hold them in several different positions but it immediately comes back with Failed each time I try

I think that style of pin header may not be making good contact with the holes in the PCB. The more garden variety square pins have an interference fit when placed on a slight angle to help the contact. I used square pins on my upgrade and it went well. 

[+darryl1970]

I soldered my pins into place. Rafal informed me that he just held the pins in place when he programmed the units initially. That's how I handled James' @ZeroPage Homebrew unit at PRGE. I didn't have any issues.

 

Since updating to the latest firmware, I've noticed that my games will sometimes crash when the unit is cold. It's rare, but it happens. It's not a normal crash, as the screen doesn't go pink or yellow. The game just freezes, and nothing will unfreeze it. After I power down and restart the system, it will run for hours.  However, this is the first time I've been able to long-play Mario Bros 7800.

 

Soldering doesn't hurt anything though for sure. It makes it upgrade-ready.

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

Thank you everyone for your advice! I got some thicker pins in the mail yesterday and was somehow able to hold them in place (after 10 tries) to upgrade the CPLD. I'll definitely be soldering them in place for next time as it was a bit of a pain to hold them perfectly steady to make the connection. Time to test the newest update with some games!

 

- James

[edweird13]

When using the quartus software it only shows ethernet as the device in the hardware setup. Will the USB Blaster only show up when it makes a connection?

[+DrVenkman]

2 minutes ago, edweird13 said:

When using the quartus software it only shows ethernet as the device in the hardware setup. Will the USB Blaster only show up when it makes a connection?

If you select "Add Hardware" and it doesn't show up, it's not being recognized by the software. The USB Blaster *should* show up in Quartus even without being connected to a device to program. Check to be sure the device is actually recognized by your computer. In my case, I simply could not get it to work under Win11 at all despite all the suggested work-arounds. I was able to install a driver on my Win10 box without issue, however. 

[edweird13]

3 minutes ago, DrVenkman said:

If you select "Add Hardware" and it doesn't show up, it's not being recognized by the software. The USB Blaster *should* show up in Quartus even without being connected to a device to program. Check to be sure the device is actually recognized by your computer. In my case, I simply could not get it to work under Win11 at all despite all the suggested work-arounds. I was able to install a driver on my Win10 box without issue, however. 

I have Win10 pro. It must not be loading the drivers. I was offline when I had the USB Blaster connected. I will try it connected to the net.

[+DrVenkman]

3 minutes ago, edweird13 said:

I have Win10 pro. It must not be loading the drivers. I was offline when I had the USB Blaster connected. I will try it connected to the net.

You may have to download and install drivers manually. Win10 didn't find the drivers for me automatically. If you do an internet search for "USB Blaster Windows drivers" you will probably end up on an Intel download support page, which is where I got the Win10 drivers myself. 

[edweird13]

Got the drivers loaded but quartus doesnt see the dragon.pof file ugg 🙃

[edweird13]

Success!! Now to try 1942 and PETSCII.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Worth mentioning that a set of the USB blaster drivers was present in the update files that RJ has provided. I know I found them in the system somewhere when I was able to force install the driver until Windows 11.

 

[+DrVenkman]

40 minutes ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

Worth mentioning that a set of the USB blaster drivers was present in the update files that RJ has provided. I know I found them in the system somewhere when I was able to force install the driver until Windows 11.

 

I just went through the files I download just a few days ago and don't see a driver included. Maybe it was a prior version of the zip? 

[ricky]

Hello everyone!

 

The update seems very complicated to me because of the CPLD, so I wonder if I could, rj1307, send you my Dragonfly so that you can do the update yourself?

As I have a 7800 NTSC, I have a lot of graphic problems with certain games, such as 'Choplifter' which does not want to work.

 

In pm for the terms if ok..

 

thanks very much

Edited May 24, 2023 by ricky

[SledgeHammerD]

What usb blaster do I need to buy to update the CPLD? I've seen a variety of price points but want to make sure I buy the cheapest one that will do the job.

 

Thanks!!

[Trebor]

10 minutes ago, SledgeHammerD said:

What usb blaster do I need to buy to update the CPLD? I've seen a variety of price points but want to make sure I buy the cheapest one that will do the job.

An Altera compatible USB Blaster (CPLD/FPGA Programmer).

 

This below linked one from Amazon has been leveraged successfully and costs $8.99:

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F5H5LPZ?psc=1

[SledgeHammerD]

9 minutes ago, Trebor said:

An Altera compatible USB Blaster (CPLD/FPGA Programmer).

 

This below linked one from Amazon has been leveraged successfully and costs $8.99:

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F5H5LPZ?psc=1

I didn't go back far enough in the thread.  Thank you for the response!!! Got it on order.

[+darryl1970]

18 hours ago, SledgeHammerD said:

I didn't go back far enough in the thread.  Thank you for the response!!! Got it on order.

Somebody may have some input on this. I believe you'll still need something like this if you don't have it already.

This is what I bought. I soldered mine to my Dragonfly, but it's not necessary to solder it. However, there needs to be a bridge between the USB Blaster's female connector and the DF circuit board.

 

I updated James @ ZPH unit without soldering anything to the board. RJ told me that he didn't solder any when he programmed the Dragonfly. Just need to hold it in place firmly while programming.

 

 

 

The link above and below is what I bought.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/304536571725

 

[SledgeHammerD]

5 hours ago, darryl1970 said:

Somebody may have some input on this. I believe you'll still need something like this if you don't have it already.

This is what I bought. I soldered mine to my Dragonfly, but it's not necessary to solder it. However, there needs to be a bridge between the USB Blaster's female connector and the DF circuit board.

 

I updated James @ ZPH unit without soldering anything to the board. RJ told me that he didn't solder any when he programmed the Dragonfly. Just need to hold it in place firmly while programming.

 

 

 

The link above and below is what I bought.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/304536571725

 

I did buy a box of various headers, assuming I needed something to connect to the board. I like the look of that part better, so I went ahead and ordered it. Thanks for the suggestion!!

 

BTW, I just bought a modded 7800 with composite out. It also had the power supply modded to take a 5.5 x 2.1 barrel neg polarity. Since the dragonfly requires a positive polarity plug, I assume that the power output is positive polarity as well. Did RJ reverse the polarity on his 5.5 x 2.1 to 5.5 x 2.1 jumper he sold separately? I assume I’m going to need to build a cable with reverse polarity to make it work with the modded 7800. 

[+-^CrossBow^-]

16 hours ago, SledgeHammerD said:

I did buy a box of various headers, assuming I needed something to connect to the board. I like the look of that part better, so I went ahead and ordered it. Thanks for the suggestion!!

 

BTW, I just bought a modded 7800 with composite out. It also had the power supply modded to take a 5.5 x 2.1 barrel neg polarity. Since the dragonfly requires a positive polarity plug, I assume that the power output is positive polarity as well. Did RJ reverse the polarity on his 5.5 x 2.1 to 5.5 x 2.1 jumper he sold separately? I assume I’m going to need to build a cable with reverse polarity to make it work with the modded 7800. 

Actually the one I have with mine...is NOT reversed. So he actually made my barrel adapter with center tip positive polarity. Hence, I never use it and just stick with the default or power the 7800 separately from the DF cart. Just means the DF no longer controls the power state of the console at that point but no big deal.

 

I actually just single inline headers on the DF carts I updated, but soldered them in and I'm glad I did as I've updated my personal one 3 times already so it is nice to just plug the cable harness on and program it. On mine in fact, I even used a red colored base for the header pin to match the red stripe on the cable.

[SledgeHammerD]

3 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

Actually the one I have with mine...is NOT reversed. So he actually made my barrel adapter with center tip negative polarity. Hence, I never use it and just stick with the default or power the 7800 separately from the DF cart. Just means the DF no longer controls the power state of the console at that point but no big deal.

 

I actually just single inline headers on the DF carts I updated, but soldered them in and I'm glad I did as I've updated my personal one 3 times already so it is nice to just plug the cable harness on and program it. On mine in fact, I even used a red colored base for the header pin to match the red stripe on the cable.

I did find a reverse polarity connector cable on Amazon (link below). I’ll test the polarity once I get the positive polarity power supply tomorrow and see if it’s needed.
 

 https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07PMHMPMP/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[+-^CrossBow^-]

9 minutes ago, SledgeHammerD said:

I did find a reverse polarity connector cable on Amazon (link below). I’ll test the polarity once I get the positive polarity power supply tomorrow and see if it’s needed.
 

 https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07PMHMPMP/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Well the thing is, RJ wouldn't have any way to know specifically how folks might have their consoles power modified. I've serviced at least one 7800 that had a barrel jack installed, but did in fact use center tip positive vs the negative I expected. So I ended up connecting my bench supply to the console directly to power and work on it since I don't normally have an adapter spare with that polarity in place.

 

And I misspoke... I meant that the barrel adapter cable that came with my DF cart is center tip POSITITVE...not negative. Center tip - is what I would have normally needed. I'm going to update my original response to clarify that...