fieroluke Posted February 25, 2022 Author Share Posted February 25, 2022 Parts came in, so I could finally add port protection and more importantly: finish my speech add-on! It will be an interesting weekend with much-needed diversion… 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Yurkie Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 3 hours ago, fieroluke said: Parts came in, so I could finally add port protection and more importantly: finish my speech add-on! It will be an interesting weekend with much-needed diversion… Oh My! Please post a video of this! Would be awesome. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chart45 Posted February 26, 2022 Share Posted February 26, 2022 8 hours ago, fieroluke said: Parts came in, so I could finally add port protection and more importantly: finish my speech add-on! It will be an interesting weekend with much-needed diversion… this chip his so hard to get but it would be a freaking nice add on for the arcade port like bezerk 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieroluke Posted February 26, 2022 Author Share Posted February 26, 2022 (edited) 7 hours ago, chart45 said: this chip his so hard to get but it would be a freaking nice add on for the arcade port like bezerk True, but it can be found. Every Radio Shack used to carry that IC, I wonder where all those ended up? Edited February 26, 2022 by fieroluke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy's Games Posted April 14, 2022 Share Posted April 14, 2022 Hi guys, plaza do we have any update, I really would like to buy one board of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieroluke Posted April 14, 2022 Author Share Posted April 14, 2022 23 minutes ago, Andy's Games said: Hi guys, plaza do we have any update, I really would like to buy one board of that. I’m making slow progress, life getting in the way. I’m in the process of writing a USB bootloader that emulates a 256K tape drive. Not quite there yet. My EPROM burner is at work, so I have one attempt a week to burn a PROM and ultimately try out the next version of the modified BIOS… 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tron96 Posted June 4, 2022 Share Posted June 4, 2022 How's the board coming? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieroluke Posted July 29, 2022 Author Share Posted July 29, 2022 (edited) Finally got time to work on this project again. 1.) I ordered an Eprom burner so I can make BIOS mods at home. This should allow me to debug the USB support and develop the PC SuperDrive host, and eventually get the speech add on working. 2.) I hooked up my PAL Expansion module and I got audio and weak b/w video. Checking with a scope shows a really weak video signal, but directly at the TIA clone video seems ok. I’ll check out the buffer, possibly my eBay “unknown condition” purchase is shot but repairable. I found no documentation for the Expansion Module #1 PAL, so here are some findings for posterity: The expansion port goes to a small 16 pin flat flex cable. Busreq is pulled low to halt the Z80, Audio clock is pulled low to disable sound and VDP-reset is pulled low to disable video. The pinout of the FFC (useful for debug!) is: 1 /Reset (funny, because the EM1 has its own reset button!) 2 -5V 3 -5V 4 GND 5 +5V 6 +5V 7 +12V 8 EX-VID-EN (is pulled to ground in Expansion Module) 9 3.57 MHz Video Clock (not used in PAL Expansion Module!) 10 EX Video 11 EX Audio 12 not used/not connected 13 GND 14 GND 15 Expansion Port Pin 42 (NC) 16 Expansion Port Pin 41 (NC) So, the PAL expansion module needs even less than the NTSC EM1 for standalone operation. Edited July 29, 2022 by fieroluke 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPR Posted July 29, 2022 Share Posted July 29, 2022 Happy to hear about the update! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 @fieroluke is it possible to get the schematic for this system? Just asking BTW your board looks very cool, especially with the purple solder mask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieroluke Posted September 20, 2022 Author Share Posted September 20, 2022 2 hours ago, mytek said: @fieroluke is it possible to get the schematic for this system? Just asking BTW your board looks very cool, especially with the purple solder mask. It's still not finalized. I'm working on what will hopefully be the "final" revision. That one features a VGA jack (in case an F18A is used) and I'm working on the USB-Based 256K "Superdrive". When it's all done, I'll publish the schematics and circuit board file so anyone who wants to can build one. To be honest, currently many electronic parts are not available and have lead times of 6 months or more. That doesn't help. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 13 minutes ago, fieroluke said: It's still not finalized. I'm working on what will hopefully be the "final" revision. I'm also working on a 'mini' CV board (4.5" Square) and am particularly interested in how the 32K RAM is implemented, as well as how the AY sound chip is interfaced. I've been looking for a while now, and it seems that no one likes to share their schematics on this stuff. For the system RAM I can see how the 24K can be directly mapped to $2000-$7FFF by ANDing the individual select lines coming out of the 74LS138 decoder, but I'm not sure how the first 8K gets swapped in for the BIOS. I did take a look at the Adam schematics to see how it was done in that machine, but the scanned images were so bad it was difficult to make out what was going on. I would imagine that you are doing the glue logic in a PLD to cut down on the number of individual chips involved for the decoding. Anyway I'm glad that you weren't offended by my request, and did respond very quickly -- thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieroluke Posted September 20, 2022 Author Share Posted September 20, 2022 10 hours ago, mytek said: I'm also working on a 'mini' CV board (4.5" Square) and am particularly interested in how the 32K RAM is implemented, as well as how the AY sound chip is interfaced. I've been looking for a while now, and it seems that no one likes to share their schematics on this stuff. For the system RAM I can see how the 24K can be directly mapped to $2000-$7FFF by ANDing the individual select lines coming out of the 74LS138 decoder, but I'm not sure how the first 8K gets swapped in for the BIOS. I did take a look at the Adam schematics to see how it was done in that machine, but the scanned images were so bad it was difficult to make out what was going on. I would imagine that you are doing the glue logic in a PLD to cut down on the number of individual chips involved for the decoding. Anyway I'm glad that you weren't offended by my request, and did respond very quickly -- thank you I’m not using any PLD or GAL or anything. The whole point was to use use only TTLs and components that are readily available and don‘t require special programmers. i use an LS138 (like Coleco) to decode 8 8K chunks, the upper 4 are the 4 cartridge slot chip selects, the lowest one is the BIOS eprom chip select. This leaves 3 chip selects which you can combine using AND gates. If either input goes low, RAM CS goes low. That‘s 24K of ADAM RAM.I use an LS74 latch to disable the bios eprom if the FF is written and at the same time route the fourth CS to the RAM as well. So you have 24 RAM + 8K ROM or 32K RAM and no BIOS. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 1 hour ago, fieroluke said: I’m not using any PLD or GAL or anything. The whole point was to use use only TTLs and components that are readily available and don‘t require special programmers. Yeah I totally understand the direction you took, which is also how I normally like to go as well, but it never fails that I end up with a programmable device or two (usually PICs in my case). Unfortunately in my CV project which is to be greatly sized reduced, I will probably need to resort to at least one PLD (GAL). I've been dragging my feet on learning how to program one of these, so this project will be the push I need. 1 hour ago, fieroluke said: i use an LS138 (like Coleco) to decode 8 8K chunks, the upper 4 are the 4 cartridge slot chip selects, the lowest one is the BIOS eprom chip select. This leaves 3 chip selects which you can combine using AND gates. If either input goes low, RAM CS goes low. That‘s 24K of ADAM RAM.I use an LS74 latch to disable the bios eprom if the FF is written and at the same time route the fourth CS to the RAM as well. So you have 24 RAM + 8K ROM or 32K RAM and no BIOS. Got it -- thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leaded solder Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 4 minutes ago, mytek said: Yeah I totally understand the direction you took, which is also how I normally like to go as well, but it never fails that I end up with a programmable device or two (usually PICs in my case). Unfortunately in my CV project which is to be greatly sized reduced, I will probably need to resort to at least one PLD (GAL). I've been dragging my feet on learning how to program one of these, so this project will be the push I need. Are you going to retain the quadrature controller (Super Action Controller, steering wheel, etc) decode logic? That took up a ton of room on my board – I maybe could have been at 100x100mm without it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 2 minutes ago, leaded solder said: Are you going to retain the quadrature controller (Super Action Controller, steering wheel, etc) decode logic? That took up a ton of room on my board – I maybe could have been at 100x100mm without it. No that was the first thing to go. I really didn't see the need to retain it, since it's my understanding that very few games even used it. BTW, I discovered your blog posts on the DIY Colecovision first thing when I decided to roll my own. It was a great help 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiLic0ne t0aD Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 That's a bummer that the quadrature circuitry takes up extra room and that some games will be incompatible with this board. It would be nice to have 100% compatibility though.. Many of us have been wishing for a drop-in replacement mobo for years! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 On 10/4/2022 at 9:46 AM, SiLic0ne t0aD said: That's a bummer that the quadrature circuitry takes up extra room and that some games will be incompatible with this board. It would be nice to have 100% compatibility though.. Many of us have been wishing for a drop-in replacement mobo for years! I'm kinda new in to these parts, but besides these games listed below, what else has used the roller controllers that is specific to the ColecoVision? Because if that's it, I don't see that as such a big deal to be without I would presume that these are all still playable with the stick controller as well, and only offer the roller controller aspect as an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 Operation Wolf and Kaboom! (both Team Pixelboy releases) are compatible with the Roller Controller in "Roller" mode. Is CollectorVision's Arkanoid compatible with the Roller Controller? I'm not sure... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikrananka Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 The following CollectorVision games are compatible with the Roller Controller in "Roller" mode. Arkanoid Armageddon MindWalls Plus there's also Cote Gamers Rollerpede and NewColeco's Deflektor Kollection/Double Breakout. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieroluke Posted October 5, 2022 Author Share Posted October 5, 2022 On 10/4/2022 at 6:46 PM, SiLic0ne t0aD said: That's a bummer that the quadrature circuitry takes up extra room and that some games will be incompatible with this board. It would be nice to have 100% compatibility though.. Many of us have been wishing for a drop-in replacement mobo for years! I think the thread is on the verge of being hijacked My full size drop-in replacement mainboard does retain the Quadrature controller, and has a ton of extra features. I’m working on Revision C, which will hopefully be the last one! mytek was talking about his miniature CV board… 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 24 minutes ago, fieroluke said: mytek was talking about his miniature CV board… Exactly correct. And I was just trying to ascertain if the sadness about not supporting this feature was really an issue or not. Sorry for the hijack Heading back to my little corner before I get in trouble 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlepaddle Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 I'm not sure there is really any fear of terrorist activity with this thread, however it's been clear to me that there is lots of excitement that modern alternatives to the aging original hardware are being explored and worked on. I think there are people here who are not experts (or even novices) at hardware development who see this work and look forward to eventual off-the-shelf (or orderable) results we may someday benefit from. If I could buy reliable replacement insides for my Colecovision and perform the surgery myself with a screwdriver in an hour or so with no soldering or other electrical engineering magic, that would be really great. As soon as you start talking about populating chips, parts lists, and soldering, it becomes one of those "forever" projects that tends to stay on the back of the kitchen table. By the way, if I remember correctly, Slither and Victory cartridges require the roller controller and do not work with the joystick, although hacks may be available for use with an atarimax cart if you have one. It's not a great loss anyway, in my opinion, as swapping in the roller controller is kludgy and cumbersome, what with the power cord requirement. Then, there is the fact that they are not very reliable...the buttons wear quickly and the spinners die. On the other hand, a trackball is a great controller with certain games when it works right, so that's one good reason to support it. Also, if someone ever produces a good 3rd party trackball for the Colecovision, more games that use it might be created in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieroluke Posted October 6, 2022 Author Share Posted October 6, 2022 9 hours ago, mytek said: Exactly correct. And I was just trying to ascertain if the sadness about not supporting this feature was really an issue or not. Sorry for the hijack Heading back to my little corner before I get in trouble 🤣 no worries 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieroluke Posted October 6, 2022 Author Share Posted October 6, 2022 7 hours ago, fiddlepaddle said: I'm not sure there is really any fear of terrorist activity with this thread, however it's been clear to me that there is lots of excitement that modern alternatives to the aging original hardware are being explored and worked on. I think there are people here who are not experts (or even novices) at hardware development who see this work and look forward to eventual off-the-shelf (or orderable) results we may someday benefit from. If I could buy reliable replacement insides for my Colecovision and perform the surgery myself with a screwdriver in an hour or so with no soldering or other electrical engineering magic, that would be really great. As soon as you start talking about populating chips, parts lists, and soldering, it becomes one of those "forever" projects that tends to stay on the back of the kitchen table. By the way, if I remember correctly, Slither and Victory cartridges require the roller controller and do not work with the joystick, although hacks may be available for use with an atarimax cart if you have one. It's not a great loss anyway, in my opinion, as swapping in the roller controller is kludgy and cumbersome, what with the power cord requirement. Then, there is the fact that they are not very reliable...the buttons wear quickly and the spinners die. On the other hand, a trackball is a great controller with certain games when it works right, so that's one good reason to support it. Also, if someone ever produces a good 3rd party trackball for the Colecovision, more games that use it might be created in the future. Absolutely. right now I have two problems: finishing the BIOS for the USB SuperDrive and parts being unobtainable. That’s a problem with all electronics right now. Be it cartridge slots or simple things like capacitors. Sometimes there are inferior quality alternatives, sometimes there aren’t (for example with reset switches)… As for the BIOS: winter is coming (sigh) and with it more time… 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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