PlusCart(+) + SD

[ZackAttack]

1 hour ago, Capellão said:

Hi,

how are the boot positions?

Always set to boot from flash. st-link doesn't care about the boot pins. It can initiate the flash programming at any time.

 

Once the firmware programming is done, power cycling the atari is the only step.

[+Al_Nafuur]

My ST-Link arrived yesterday evening. It connected right away with my working PlusCart prototype, but I couldn't get it to connect to one of the none USB connecting boards. Maybe I will try some more of the defective boards. Which needs some soldering, but I am afraid it is quite hopeless 😞

 

[+Al_Nafuur]

3 hours ago, ZackAttack said:

Always set to boot from flash. st-link doesn't care about the boot pins. It can initiate the flash programming at any time.

 

I tried to connect with boot0 set and only GND connected (the same GND pin like shown in your PlusCart Club thread) this time the problematic board did connect!

 

I tested 4 more boards this way and they all connected! I even tested some of the old boards/PlusCarts from my waste pile and I managed to revive 3 of 6 boards with connection issues.

 

 

[Capellão]

57 minutes ago, Al_Nafuur said:

 

I tried to connect with boot0 set and only GND connected (the same GND pin like shown in your PlusCart Club thread) this time the problematic board did connect!

 

I tested 4 more boards this way and they all connected! I even tested some of the old boards/PlusCarts from my waste pile and I managed to revive 3 of 6 boards with connection issues.

 

 

can you explain the connections better?

[+Al_Nafuur]

4 minutes ago, Capellão said:

can you explain the connections better?

boot0 -> short
boot1 -> short
3.3V  -> Not Connected

PA13  -> SWDIO
PA14  -> SWCLK
GND   -> GND

 

After connecting the ST-Link I powered the STM board with an USB charger then I pressed the reset button beside the USB connector (User LED starts to blink) and then I plugged the ST-Link into the USB port of the PC.

 

 

[Capellão]

10 minutes ago, Al_Nafuur said:

boot0 -> short
boot1 -> short
3.3V  -> Not Connected

PA13  -> SWDIO
PA14  -> SWCLK
GND   -> GND

 

After connecting the ST-Link I powered the STM board with an USB charger then I pressed the reset button beside the USB connector (User LED starts to blink) and then I plugged the ST-Link into the USB port of the PC.

 

 

 

cool, and in STM32programming how was the settings?

[+Al_Nafuur]

9 minutes ago, Capellão said:

 

cool, and in STM32programming how was the settings?

[Capellão]

3 minutes ago, Al_Nafuur said:

OK. My stlink is not showing the serial, it may be defective.

[Capellão]

34 minutes ago, Al_Nafuur said:

can you tell me the link you bought the st-link?

[+Al_Nafuur]

32 minutes ago, Capellão said:

OK. My stlink is not showing the serial, it may be defective.

can you test with a working board/PlusCart ?

 

1 minute ago, Capellão said:

can you tell me the link you bought the st-link?

It is from the German Amazon page. I am not sure if it is available in Brazil:
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07QBLNDPM?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_asin_title

 

[ZackAttack]

1 hour ago, Capellão said:

can you tell me the link you bought the st-link?

I bought a few off e-bay. Did you see my comment about using the stand alone stm32 programmer, setting Shared=Enabled, and then refreshing the Serial Number? I often get a bad serial number, but doing that seems to always fix it.

[Capellão]

1 hour ago, ZackAttack said:

I bought a few off e-bay. Did you see my comment about using the stand alone stm32 programmer, setting Shared=Enabled, and then refreshing the Serial Number? I often get a bad serial number, but doing that seems to always fix it.

when I execute this step I get the message: 14:09:43 : ST-LINK error (DEV_NO_STLINK)

 

 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2022 by Capellão

[Capellão]

4 hours ago, ZackAttack said:

I bought a few off e-bay. Did you see my comment about using the stand alone stm32 programmer, setting Shared=Enabled, and then refreshing the Serial Number? I often get a bad serial number, but doing that seems to always fix it.

I did the serial procedure using the STM32CubeIDE 1.10.1 and it worked, the serial appeared in the STM32CubeProgrammer.
With that the boards that did not connect by USB were successfully programmed!!! Thanks to friends for their help.

 

@ZackAttack  @Al_Nafuur

🍻

Edited November 11, 2022 by Capellão

[+Al_Nafuur]

Voting for the common code base project name here:

 

[+Al_Nafuur]

New firmware version v102.3.15 for the PlusCart Duo

• Support for new ACE ELF format provided by @MarcoJ
• PlusROM support for E7 bankswitching by @MarcoJ
• Fixes for E7 bankswitching
• Temporary disable "Right+Reset Exit" in Setup menu by @ZackAttack

 

PlusCart Duo user have to flash the firmware manually with the STM32CubeProgrammer via USB or ST-Link, or rename the .bin file to "firmware.bin" and put it in the root folder of your SD-Card.

PlusCart_Duo.bin

PlusCart_Duo.elf

 

[Prizrak]

Can this be flashed via SD yet or still have to use STM32Cube?

[+Al_Nafuur]

3 hours ago, Prizrak said:

Can this be flashed via SD yet or still have to use STM32Cube?

v102.3.15 can be flashed via SD, just rename the .bin file to "firmware.bin" and put it in the root folder of your SD-card.

 

[Prizrak]

Gotcha, got impatient and used the computer to flash it 😁 Good to know though

[Capellão]

On 1/18/2023 at 8:41 AM, Al_Nafuur said:

New firmware version v102.3.15 for the PlusCart Duo

• Support for new ACE ELF format provided by @MarcoJ
• PlusROM support for E7 bankswitching by @MarcoJ
• Fixes for E7 bankswitching
• Temporary disable "Right+Reset Exit" in Setup menu by @ZackAttack

 

PlusCart Duo user have to flash the firmware manually with the STM32CubeProgrammer via USB or ST-Link, or rename the .bin file to "firmware.bin" and put it in the root folder of your SD-Card.

PlusCart_Duo.bin 126.53 kB · 4 downloads

PlusCart_Duo.elf 267.33 kB · 4 downloads

 

Is there a version for the pluscart model without sd? I tried over wifi and it broke.

[+Al_Nafuur]

20 minutes ago, Capellão said:

Is there a version for the pluscart model without sd? I tried over wifi and it broke.

I had a look ino the log files. You tried to update the firmware twice but the PlusCart is still on v2.3.1. The firmware file was downloaded completely, what happend after the update? Did the PlusCart returned to the menu or was there an endless loading animation? Did the PlusCart still worked with v2.3.1 after your update attempts, or did you had to reflash it manually?

 

Can you try again, but before clicking on "** WiFi Firmware Update **" switch to the setup menu and back?

 

You can find the new firmware for manually flashing here:

https://github.com/Al-Nafuur/United-Carts-of-Atari/tree/main/firmware

 

[Capellão]

18 minutes ago, Al_Nafuur said:

I had a look ino the log files. You tried to update the firmware twice but the PlusCart is still on v2.3.1. The firmware file was downloaded completely, what happend after the update? Did the PlusCart returned to the menu or was there an endless loading animation? Did the PlusCart still worked with v2.3.1 after your update attempts, or did you had to reflash it manually?

 

Can you try again, but before clicking on "** WiFi Firmware Update **" switch to the setup menu and back?

 

You can find the new firmware for manually flashing here:

https://github.com/Al-Nafuur/United-Carts-of-Atari/tree/main/firmware

 

After updating, it got a black screen, the system no longer started. To recover I recorded v2.3.1 using stlink.

in the informed directory is still 2.3.1

Edited January 19, 2023 by Capellão

[+Al_Nafuur]

 

12 minutes ago, Capellão said:

After updating, it got a black screen, the system no longer started. To recover I recorded v2.3.1 using stlink.

 

Can you try again with switching to the setup menu before?

 

9 minutes ago, Capellão said:

in the informed directory is still 2.3.1

ups I forgot to push the new binaries.

 

I have just pushed them.

[bigmessowires]

I'm curious about the current hardware status of the PlusCart Duo. If I understand correctly, the build process is:

 

1. start with the Unofied Pluscart PCB created by Andrew Davie, earlier in this thread

2. STM32F407VGT6 Discovery board

3. Micro-SD card breakout board

4. ESP8266 board (which one?)

 

Then you assemble all these into a sandwich and solder them together?

 

Has there been discussion or interest in integrating all four of these into a single PCB? I believe there's already an open source UnoCart PCB design that includes items 1-3 on that list (https://github.com/rglenn/unocart2600-pcb) so it would "only" be a matter of integrating an ESP8266. Or even if the ESP8266 remained as a separate module, it would still cut down the total number of modules to two instead of four.

 

I know that STM32 parts are in short supply right now. How closely tied is the firmware to the STM32F407 specifically? If the user were willing to give up support for very large ROMs (say 128KB or 256KB) would it be possible to directly substitute a different STM32 variant in the same 100-pin QFP package and with a compatible pin-out? This document from ST describes how the built-in hardware peripheral capabilities differ between the F0, F1, F2, F3, and L1 families. https://www.st.com/resource/en/application_note/an3364-migration-and-compatibility-guidelines-for-stm32-microcontroller-applications-stmicroelectronics.pdf F4 has tons of goodies like ethernet and multiple USB ports, but the PlusCart doesn't need any of that, so maybe it could use an STM32F3 or something else.

 

For that matter, does PlusCart really need the 100-pin package of this chip? I didn't count, but I think there are only about 30 I/Os total needed for the cartridge slot, SD card, and ESP8266. With a PCB redesign, it could maybe get away with using a 64-pin or even 48-pin package, opening up a lot more options for sourcing chips, while still remaining firmware-compatible with the existing PlusCart board.

 

Just to pick one example: STM32F405RGT6 is available in large quantities from an authorized ST distributor: https://www.newark.com/stmicroelectronics/stm32f405rgt6tr/mcu-32bit-168mhz-lqfp-64/dp/07AH7027?CMP=AFC-OP It's basically a lower pin count version of the STM32F407 with 64 pins, and it lacks the FSMC peripheral that supports external SRAM or Flash memory, which PlusCart doesn't need anyway. Other than that, I think it's functionally identical. It looks like it might work.

 

[+Andrew Davie]

10 minutes ago, bigmessowires said:

1. start with the Unofied Pluscart PCB created by Andrew Davie, earlier in this thread

2. STM32F407VGT6 Discovery board

3. Micro-SD card breakout board

4. ESP8266 board (which one?)

Steps seem OK

From memory, I use ESP-01S

 

10 minutes ago, bigmessowires said:

Then you assemble all these into a sandwich and solder them together?

Yep

 

10 minutes ago, bigmessowires said:

Has there been discussion or interest in integrating all four of these into a single PCB? I believe there's already an open source UnoCart PCB design that includes items 1-3 on that list (https://github.com/rglenn/unocart2600-pcb) so it would "only" be a matter of integrating an ESP8266. Or even if the ESP8266 remained as a separate module, it would still cut down the total number of modules to two instead of four.

The Brazil guy(s) did that. I hoped to have their "non-discovery-board" solution available to all of us.

I don't really have the knowledge/inclination/skills to design the board to house the bare ARM and whatever crystal/resistors required. Someone could/should do that and we'd have a MUCH nicer solution. But what we have right now is at least do-able for those who don't know how to do surface mount components and just want to by "off-the-shelf" modules and assemble them together.

10 minutes ago, bigmessowires said:

I know that STM32 parts are in short supply right now. How closely tied is the firmware to the STM32F407 specifically? If the user were willing to give up support for very large ROMs (say 128KB or 256KB) would it be possible to directly substitute a different STM32 variant in the same 100-pin QFP package and with a compatible pin-out? This document from ST describes how the built-in hardware peripheral capabilities differ between the F0, F1, F2, F3, and L1 families. https://www.st.com/resource/en/application_note/an3364-migration-and-compatibility-guidelines-for-stm32-microcontroller-applications-stmicroelectronics.pdf F4 has tons of goodies like ethernet and multiple USB ports, but the PlusCart doesn't need any of that, so maybe it could use an STM32F3 or something else.

I don't know. But I'd say the important bits are the speed and the pinouts being sufficient to service the address and data BUS on the cartridge itself, talk to the ESP-01S and of course the SD device if present. I can't recall the UI software doing much of anything esoteric regarding the CPU or registers. 

 

10 minutes ago, bigmessowires said:

For that matter, does PlusCart really need the 100-pin package of this chip? I didn't count, but I think there are only about 30 I/Os total needed for the cartridge slot, SD card, and ESP8266. With a PCB redesign, it could maybe get away with using a 64-pin or even 48-pin package, opening up a lot more options for sourcing chips, while still remaining firmware-compatible with the existing PlusCart board.

I think this is likely. I'd like to see us going this way

10 minutes ago, bigmessowires said:

Just to pick one example: STM32F405RGT6 is available in large quantities from an authorized ST distributor: https://www.newark.com/stmicroelectronics/stm32f405rgt6tr/mcu-32bit-168mhz-lqfp-64/dp/07AH7027?CMP=AFC-OP It's basically a lower pin count version of the STM32F407 with 64 pins, and it lacks the FSMC peripheral that supports external SRAM or Flash memory, which PlusCart doesn't need anyway. Other than that, I think it's functionally identical. It looks like it might work.

 

 

That's still an enormous price (say, $11 in quantity) compared to the discovery board prices I was paying when PlusCart first came out. I think I was paying in the order of just over $7/unit. Yep...  see image.  I would have hoped we could find something down in the range of $3-$4/unit that was suitable.

 

 

 

[bigmessowires]

Yeah, it's shocking how long the shortage of STM32 parts has persisted. I guess whatever ST can manufacture is mostly going straight into cars and other high volume products, with nothing left over for the likes of DigiKey or Farnell. So the prices go bonkers. These parts should realistically be selling for only a few dollars.

 

7 minutes ago, Andrew Davie said:

The Brazil guy(s) did that. I hoped to have their "non-discovery-board" solution available to all of us.

I don't really have the knowledge/inclination/skills to design the board to house the bare ARM and whatever crystal/resistors required.

Ah, I saw you mention something about that Brazilian board in another thread. Aren't they required to share it under GPL? I have some experience designing boards similar to this, and might be able to help. I think the PCB layouts and schematics of all the STM32 Discovery Boards are made public by ST, which would make a good starting point. Although it might be an Altium file or something and would need to be converted to Eagle or KiCad. But then you could just start with a known-working layout for all the most complicated bits involving the STM32, and just delete whatever you don't need, and add the other stuff.

 

Do you happen to know how The Brewing Academy is able to continue manufacturing Uno 2600 carts right now? That uses an all-in-one PCB which requires a bare STM32F407, which doesn't seem to be available for sale anywhere at the moment.

 

There's also a question of economics here. While an all-in-one PlusCart would be aesthetically appealing, and it might be nice to switch to a lower pin count STM32 package at the same time, it might not actually be cheaper. If the sales numbers of PlusCarts are pretty low, then the cost to buy a bare STM32 and assemble it onto a PlusCart PCB could actually be more than the cost of an STM32 Discovery Board (or a clone of one). Because those things can be sold in huge volumes, while I assume PlusCarts would sell more like hundreds or thousands at most?

 

These are the musings of someone who only showed up in the Atari scene last week, and has never even laid eyes on a PlusCart, so I might be way off base. But it's what jumped to mind after reading some of the hardware-related threads here. I design and sell a conceptually similar gadget for Apple II computers (an SD card floppy disk emulator), so this is sort of in the same headspace.