+-^CrossBow^- Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Evie has done it again! She announced this morning that her new 7800 adapter is now available for pre-order with use with the BackBit Pro multi system flash cartridge. It includes an addition CPU for pokey emulation including RNG. I will summarize what Evie told me in her forums about the specifics when I asked regarding max game rom size support and the Pokey having RNG in it. "Regarding 7800, up to 1MB with some restrictions. The main limitation is that RAM must be present in every bank due to extremely tight timing and the inability to divide up the memory map of individual banks. So if you have RAM it could reduce the total ROM size by 8x the RAM size, depending on how the RAM is laid out. There is an extra chip to support the POKEY emulation. Random number generation is included. Really the main limitation is the processing power of blitter mapped graphics from the cart." I've got my pre-order in as I'm always excited for additional options that help support the hobby! 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Muddyfunster Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Interesting. I like the idea of being able to reuse it with other systems, just by using the correct adaptor. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted January 4, 2023 Author Share Posted January 4, 2023 12 minutes ago, Muddyfunster said: Interesting. I like the idea of being able to reuse it with other systems, just by using the correct adaptor. Yeap...it is my #1 flash cart in the lab because I can use a single SD card and only need to have the main device and smaller adapters at the ready for use with console services. I'm also pretty amazed at how fast it loads up games too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Stamos Mullet Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Any links to this? I have no idea who this Evie person is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted January 4, 2023 Author Share Posted January 4, 2023 6 minutes ago, John Stamos Mullet said: Any links to this? I have no idea who this Evie person is. My apologies. You can get more info about the BackBit Pro cartridge from the Backbit.io store. Both the main BackBit Pro and the 7800 adapter are pre-order but Evie has always delivered as soon as components were available. As an example it was about a month wait from the time I pre-ordered my 5200 adapter to when it arrived in the mail. Here is the website to her store, forums, and downloads where FW updates and documention are found: https://www.backbit.io 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Very interesting - mainly for the additional source of Pokey substitutes. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted January 4, 2023 Author Share Posted January 4, 2023 8 minutes ago, Stephen said: Very interesting - mainly for the additional source of Pokey substitutes. I don't know the specifics, but she advised me that an additional CPU has been added to emulate the POKEY audio so I don't believe it is a pokey replacement chip and likely something that is only usable with the Backbit Pro cartridge in this case. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambler172 Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Well, what about the price? From where does it ship? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Muddyfunster Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 5 minutes ago, gambler172 said: Well, what about the price? From where does it ship? It ships from the US I think. Price wise, the cart with the 7800 adaptor looks to be $139 USD. You can buy additional adaptors to use the cart for other systems, they range between $10 and $29 USD. There seems to be quite a range available. If you want a simple one-stop solution for lots of systems, it looks like a good cost effective solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambler172 Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 I hate preorders. I might buy, when abailable 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Muddyfunster Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 26 minutes ago, gambler172 said: I hate preorders. I might buy, when abailable I think they are made to order, I might be wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted January 4, 2023 Author Share Posted January 4, 2023 56 minutes ago, gambler172 said: I hate preorders. I might buy, when abailable I've ordered from the site twice, both times as pre-order and received my items as soon as they were available and made. So I don't have any concerns giving Evie my money ahead of time for her products. In the case of my initial BackBit Pro order, I had to wait about 2 months to get it. But that was because I also ordered one of her Chip Tester Pros in that same order and so I had to wait until the parts for both were available before I could get my items. The adapters I preordered and received them within a month. Not saying that is how it will always be, but again I've no reason to doubt Evie to fulfill on the pre-orders. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 Interesting. I’ve never heard of her or her products before. Perusing her store I see she has a low-cost SID replacement chip that actually supports potentiometer stuff in addition to sound, unlike several other inexpensive SID replacements. I might pick one up and give it a try in my “Deadbin” C64 that I rebuilt/repaired a few years ago. Not sure I’m all that interested in another 7800 SD cart though. I’ve already got a Concerto and Dragonfly, and I expect to order SainT’s device too when he’s ready to put it on sale. I don’t have a slew of retro systems that need SD carts so the multi-use aspect doesn’t matter to me. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 I had never heard of this before. Pretty cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 34 minutes ago, DrVenkman said: Not sure I’m all that interested in another 7800 SD cart though. I’ve already got a Concerto and Dragonfly, and I expect to order SainT’s device too when he’s ready to put it on sale. I don’t have a slew of retro systems that need SD carts so the multi-use aspect doesn’t matter to me. Only using a Concerto here, but where I can see the BackBit being useful is as a jack-of-all-trades multicart for troubleshooting. Can't really see myself using one on a day-to-day basis to just run cartridge titles from, but as something that could just be pre-loaded with toolsets for each system and/or platform I'm working with, that could come in handy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted January 5, 2023 Author Share Posted January 5, 2023 5 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said: Only using a Concerto here, but where I can see the BackBit being useful is as a jack-of-all-trades multicart for troubleshooting. Can't really see myself using one on a day-to-day basis to just run cartridge titles from, but as something that could just be pre-loaded with toolsets for each system and/or platform I'm working with, that could come in handy. That is largely how I've been using it. But Evie adds features and additional compatibility all the time. Here is an example. When I posted the info and video on this yesterday. M.U.L.E. and other mega sized carts for the 5200 didn't work on the BackBit. After Evie was told of this yesterday, I get a message from her this morning telling me a new updated FW is available that now supports mega cart 5200 games up to 512k in size! That is less than 24 hours later folks!? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 14 minutes ago, -^CrossBow^- said: That is less than 24 hours later folks!? Sure, that’s great customer support and speaks well to her intentions and focus. But it’s also beside the point if you already have an AtariMax 5200 SD cart that can do everything you already need for that system, or whatever. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 2 hours ago, DrVenkman said: But it’s also beside the point if you already have an AtariMax 5200 SD cart that can do everything you already need for that system, or whatever. Well... Yes, but then why have both a Dragonfly and a Concerto, or a SIDE3 and an AVGCart? More choice (and flexibility) is a good thing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 31 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said: Well... Yes, but then why have both a Dragonfly and a Concerto, or a SIDE3 and an AVGCart? More choice (and flexibility) is a good thing. Sure, but how much “flexibility” is enough? I mean, I have lots of hobbies and interests and ways to spend money. Do I want to throw $140 at a THIRD 7800 cart, or buy a new piece of flight sim gear, or a secondary small monitor for my gaming PC? Do I want to buy another SD cart for a system I already have two SD carts for, or do I want to buy a new piece of gear for my electronics bench? Etc. Plus, does this device support POKEY, Stereo POKEY, YM, COVOX and whatever new fancy banks switching scheme of the month the homebrew guys are playing with, along with all the 7800 hardware variants and weirdness we all know and love so well from prior SD cart efforts for this platform? Until that stuff is known and understood, I think it’s reasonable for people (especially those of us with other working devices) to be less than excited about buying another widget. So more power to Evie and those who are jumping in with both feet but I’m gonna wait and see on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted January 5, 2023 Author Share Posted January 5, 2023 2 hours ago, DrVenkman said: Plus, does this device support POKEY, Stereo POKEY, YM, COVOX and whatever new fancy banks switching scheme of the month the homebrew guys are playing with, along with all the 7800 hardware variants and weirdness we all know and love so well from prior SD cart efforts for this platform? Until that stuff is known and understood, I think it’s reasonable for people (especially those of us with other working devices) to be less than excited about buying another widget. Yes it has Pokey emulation built into it. It isn't an FPGA but apparently some additional stuff might very well be possible with it. I have mentioned to Evie that she might look into dual pokey and YM at least. We do have Pac 40th an 1942 that would be good for people to be able to play with all the bells and whistles besides emulation if they don't have DF carts. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 It's an interesting concept but I see a downside in swapping the cartridge connector adapters. That's wear-and tare on that unit itself as well as plugging and unplugging from the systems which is one of the things SD Cart Adapters are meant to reduce. Excellent firmware updates. And quite a solution for the likes of the Intellivision which only had flash carts previously to my knowledge. The Vectrex could still use a solution... not to mention the Atari ST. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinks Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 Is not there another guy making a 7800 cart too? Collect all five. I am sticking with my Concerto and waiting someday for the chip that does it all and upgrade mine from prototype status. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted January 12, 2023 Author Share Posted January 12, 2023 7 hours ago, Lynxpro said: It's an interesting concept but I see a downside in swapping the cartridge connector adapters. That's wear-and tare on that unit itself as well as plugging and unplugging from the systems which is one of the things SD Cart Adapters are meant to reduce. Excellent firmware updates. And quite a solution for the likes of the Intellivision which only had flash carts previously to my knowledge. The Vectrex could still use a solution... not to mention the Atari ST. I personally NEVER leave a cart inserted fully into my consoles so it isn't any different to me than using normal cartridges would be. I've thought about the possible wear on the main device as well, but over the past few months I've had mine it hasn't been an issue. In fact you could see in the video that I did on the BBPro that the Intellivision adapter required some force to remove it so I could plug the 5200 adapter in its place. For me, the BBPro is nice because the main unit and smaller adapters take up MUCH less space than separate dedicated flash carts do on my work bench. So it will mainly be used in that manner for me. That allows me to keep my older dedicated flash carts in the game room and not have to move them back and forth. There is a Vectrex adapter that is nearing release btw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted January 12, 2023 Author Share Posted January 12, 2023 3 hours ago, Jinks said: Is not there another guy making a 7800 cart too? Collect all five. I am sticking with my Concerto and waiting someday for the chip that does it all and upgrade mine from prototype status. Yes, @SainT is developing and nearing release of his 7800GD cartridge. It has a lot of features and I'm sure I will try and pick up one when they are released in the near future. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SainT Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 18 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said: Yes, @SainT is developing and nearing release of his 7800GD cartridge. It has a lot of features and I'm sure I will try and pick up one when they are released in the near future. Yep, I'd say mine is the "does it all" cart people are waiting for. Features -- Upto 1mb cartridges All commercial (and some proto such as Fractalus) mappers supported Break into running games, save and load state or return to menu Support for megadrive pads, including all 6 buttons, via Mega7800 adapter (also new, coming soon) -- enter break mode by hitting START on the MD pad BupChip audio support for Rikki and Vikki Built in support for dual POKEY and YM2151 RGB video and stereo audio out from an AV connector (MD2) on the cartridge itself, PAL and NTSC Injection molded case Hopefully it will be available this quarter. Just getting down to final testing and also finalising and producing the shell currently. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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