ZackAttack Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 As was recently announced on ZPH, I've developed a new cart to complement the uno/plus family. It's called the Chameleon Cart and features an STM32G0, 16MB of flash, and wifi support. It's intended to provide a path to publishing 2600 and 7800 ARM enhanced games to carts. It supports the new elf type roms so you can share games for it with uno and plus users once updated firmware is released. With all the issues of acquiring good f407 dev boards, I think this would be a good time to create a new pluscart PCB that places all the components directly on a single board. It would also be a good opportunity to combine SD, WiFi, SPI Flash, etc into a single board. I'm happy to take the initiative of designing the PCB and funding the initial run of 5-10 prototype boards. Before I begin, I'd like to know if anyone else has already started work on this and is willing to share or collaborate to save me some effort. Also, please let me know if there are any other hardware features that should be included. Thanks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capellão Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 5 hours ago, ZackAttack said: Conforme anunciado recentemente no ZPH , desenvolvi um novo carrinho para complementar a família uno/plus. Chama-se Chameleon Cart e possui um STM32G0, 16 MB de flash e suporte wi-fi. Destina-se a fornecer um caminho para a publicação de jogos aprimorados 2600 e 7800 ARM para carrinhos. Ele suporta as novas roms do tipo elf para que você possa compartilhar jogos com usuários uno e plus assim que o firmware atualizado for lançado. Com todos os problemas de aquisição de boas placas de desenvolvimento f407, acho que seria um bom momento para criar um novo PCB pluscart que coloque todos os componentes diretamente em uma única placa. Também seria uma boa oportunidade para combinar SD, WiFi, SPI Flash, etc em uma única placa. Estou feliz por tomar a iniciativa de projetar o PCB e financiar a execução inicial de 5 a 10 placas protótipo. Antes de começar, gostaria de saber se mais alguém já começou a trabalhar nisso e está disposto a compartilhar ou colaborar para me poupar algum esforço. Além disso, informe-me se houver outros recursos de hardware que devam ser incluídos. Obrigado. cool.... regarding the f407, the option to use St Link solved 90% of the problems. You can count on me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Al_Nafuur Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 I have started a smd PCB version a few month ago, but I haven't finished the BOM for production at JLCPCB or PCBWay. I'll post the KiCAD file later. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+splendidnut Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 Could a USB port be added for flashing games and upgrading firmware? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackAttack Posted November 30, 2022 Author Share Posted November 30, 2022 17 minutes ago, splendidnut said: Could a USB port be added for flashing games and upgrading firmware? When you say flashing games is that from a dev perspective? I have plans for using the USART to accomplish this. A python script could be called from the make file to upload the build and the cart can automatically switch to playing it. Unless the system gets crashed this should be possible without a power cycle or any controller input. USB would be nice for firmware recovery without an st-link. Though that situation should be rare. Firmware dev is easier with st-link. I'll try to include USB if it's not already there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 The Harmony cart allows flashing the BIOS simply by putting a special file into the root folder. I think that would work here too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+splendidnut Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 Yup, I'm mainly talking from a dev perspective. I'd be alright without it as long as there's SD card support with the ability to upgrade the firmware from there. 1 minute ago, Thomas Jentzsch said: The Harmony cart allows flashing the BIOS simply by putting a special file into the root folder. I think that would work here too. Yes, that is what I'm looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Al_Nafuur Posted November 30, 2022 Share Posted November 30, 2022 44 minutes ago, splendidnut said: Could a USB port be added for flashing games and upgrading firmware? USB is usually only needed for the initial firmware flashing (without ST-Link). 15 minutes ago, ZackAttack said: I'll try to include USB if it's not already there. It is included in my PCB design .. 6 minutes ago, Thomas Jentzsch said: The Harmony cart allows flashing the BIOS simply by putting a special file into the root folder. I think that would work here too. That needs a already working firmware on the cart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Al_Nafuur Posted December 1, 2022 Share Posted December 1, 2022 On 11/30/2022 at 12:22 PM, Al_Nafuur said: I'll post the KiCAD file later. @ZackAttack here are the KiCAD 6 files. The project is based on Randy Glenn's Unocart2600-PCB project on Github. I just migrated it from KiCAD 5 to 6 and added the ESP8266 and USB connector. unified-smd-pcb.zip Known bugs and ToDo: Cleanup and check routing. Create BOM for production. Check licence ("CERN OHL") 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackAttack Posted December 2, 2022 Author Share Posted December 2, 2022 5 hours ago, Al_Nafuur said: Known bugs and ToDo: Cleanup and check routing. Create BOM for production. Check licence ("CERN OHL") License looks straight forward. Putting everything in github should make it compliant. Some of those capacitors will need to be moved closer to their corresponding ICs. I think it would be a good idea to bring the esp-01 pins out to the pin header as well. Could make programming and debugging a lot easier. There's plenty of room to add the SPI flash. Any objection to losing the redundant D0-D7 connections? With the latest firmware that shouldn't be necessary, and I'd be concerned about it potentially interfering with bus stuffing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Al_Nafuur Posted December 2, 2022 Share Posted December 2, 2022 10 hours ago, ZackAttack said: License looks straight forward. Putting everything in github should make it compliant. I think so too. 10 hours ago, ZackAttack said: Some of those capacitors will need to be moved closer to their corresponding ICs. 👍 10 hours ago, ZackAttack said: I think it would be a good idea to bring the esp-01 pins out to the pin header as well. Could make programming and debugging a lot easier. Yes this was on my todo list too. And through holes to mount a ESP8266-01 instead of the WROOM-02, for those who like to solder it DIY or upgrade a Unocart build from this PCB. The holes can be placed under the WROOM-02 Maybe we can add through holes for a alternative SD-Card board too? 🤔 10 hours ago, ZackAttack said: There's plenty of room to add the SPI flash. 👍 10 hours ago, ZackAttack said: Any objection to losing the redundant D0-D7 connections? With the latest firmware that shouldn't be necessary, and I'd be concerned about it potentially interfering with bus stuffing. This would exclude the "old" UnoCart firmware branch from this PCB. I would be fine with this, if @DirtyHairy or @electrotrains are too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackAttack Posted December 2, 2022 Author Share Posted December 2, 2022 I think we also need to include an external oscillator for the USB to work properly. The built in RC based oscillator is not accurate. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Al_Nafuur Posted December 4, 2022 Share Posted December 4, 2022 On 12/2/2022 at 4:12 PM, ZackAttack said: I think we also need to include an external oscillator for the USB to work properly. The built in RC based oscillator is not accurate. @Capellão I wounder if the external oscillator is the reason why some boards are not connecting via USB. I think i will check with my oscilloscope when the boards are back from my soldering service. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackAttack Posted December 4, 2022 Author Share Posted December 4, 2022 19 hours ago, Al_Nafuur said: I wounder if the external oscillator is the reason why some boards are not connecting via USB. There may be other factors involved. I have not yet reviewed the entire USB application notes to validate the current design. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts