WhyLee commotari.club Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 Hello Guys! The new Atari 2600+ has an all-in-one processor in it: Rockchip 3128 It is a quite powerful chip with 4 ARM7MP cores and an ARM Mail400 MP2 graphic core inside. Memory for these kind of "raspberry pi" is a bit low but enough for retro applications. For the software there is an eMMC memory on the board. i guess the eMMC is some kinde of embedded memory card compatible to other MMC memory cards but suitable to solder it on the board and saving money instead of adding a card slot and a card. My question: * Is someone already trying to hack that system? - trying to make a copy to check if this is an encrypted memory card - trying to replace it with a normal MMC card holder and card - trying to find out what kind of file system is on the card - mount the system on linux - reverseengineer the files on the card. - adding bigger cards - modify the stuff with a homebrew version After that: - making a retro c/c++ library that contains graphic and audio functions for lower "restro" screen resolutions, sprites and other useful functions, classic audio chip emulation or software implementation of a "retro" audio chip - making new games Anyone already working on that??? Maybe some ideas? 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhyLee commotari.club Posted September 12, 2023 Author Share Posted September 12, 2023 (edited) Who has an Atari 2600+ and can open it up and making detailed pictures of it and post it here? Thank you! Edited September 12, 2023 by WhyLee commotari.club 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jstick Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 26 minutes ago, WhyLee commotari.club said: Who has an Atari 2600+ No one (other than Atari employees), as it won't ship for another month. 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 38 minutes ago, WhyLee commotari.club said: Who has an Atari 2600+ and can open it up and making detailed pictures of it and post it here? Thank you! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LatchKeyKid Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 Can someone post next week's winning lottery numbers too? I'd really appreciate that as well. 2 1 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 32 minutes ago, LatchKeyKid said: Can someone post next week's winning lottery numbers too? I'd really appreciate that as well. 5 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo graphics 220 Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 Its just about guaranteed that this system will be hacked and open soon after release just like the snes mini was. The fun with this is using original carts and controllers so I won't personally bother doing it. You don't really need a picture, it will be a small circuit board with 2 chips interfacing the cartridge connector and buttons. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bakasama Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 4 hours ago, Jstick said: No one (other than Atari employees), as it won't ship for another month. Albert has one. He showed off a few 2600 homebrews working on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LatchKeyKid Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 36 minutes ago, Bakasama said: Albert has one. He showed off a few 2600 homebrews working on it. Technically, he would be one of those employees now! But thanks for the link as I missed it. There are so many cross-pollinated 2600+ and AtariAge purchase threads that it's easy to miss something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 44 minutes ago, Bakasama said: Albert has one. He showed off a few 2600 homebrews working on it. The ones he showed use standard Atari bankswitching. From the compatibility list from Atari, these had to be expected to work. It will be more interesting to find out if stuff like Toyshop Trouble, Zippy the Porcupine or the coming Penult will work. I keep my fingers crossed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_q_atari Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 4 hours ago, LatchKeyKid said: Can someone post next week's winning lottery numbers too? I'd really appreciate that as well. 24 16 5 43 9 37 1 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LatchKeyKid Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 1 minute ago, john_q_atari said: 24 16 5 43 9 37 That's amazing! I've got the same combination on my luggage! 1 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jstick Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 7 hours ago, Bakasama said: Albert has one. He showed off a few 2600 homebrews working on it. As I said, no one other than Atari employees Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhyLee commotari.club Posted September 13, 2023 Author Share Posted September 13, 2023 18 hours ago, turbo graphics 220 said: it will be a small circuit board with 2 chips interfacing the cartridge connector and buttons. i agree, i found something similar here https://www.amazon.com/Geniatech-XPI-3128-Development-Card-Sized-Performance/dp/B09LV46V5Q In high volume, Geniatech sells this from about $25. And reducing it to the bare minimum without the USB and network stuff you get down to $20. This probably gets very close to the hardware that is in the Atari 2600+. Maybe exactly that Geniatech hardware could be used if having the same software like Atari. The software will leak out at some point if no encryption mambo jambo is stopping the hacking. And if it can't be hacked/copied, a reimplementation with a linux core and the stella emulator is probably not that difficult to make. I think it could be very interesting, if people would make a C-library that contains restrictive functions (low resolutions, low amount of colors, a few sprites, reimplementation of characteristic retro-audio functionality) and running it in native arm code on that system. people could make new games and put the game on a cartridge. A cartridge with a 5V MCU and an SPI Nandflash is cheap. I just looked at mouser: a 512Mbit Nand flash costs below 3€. a 5V MCU from microchip to do the interfacing is probably in the same area. That means you can make a cartridge with memory interfacing for less than 10€ / $10. That could be interesting for mass production as a universal Cartridge. In the MCU there could even be some active game code to slow down pirate copies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windless Posted September 16, 2023 Share Posted September 16, 2023 Quote I think it could be very interesting, if people would make a C-library that contains restrictive functions (low resolutions, low amount of colors, a few sprites, reimplementation of characteristic retro-audio functionality) and running it in native arm code on that system. To me, It would make more sens and beauty to code games for the $3 raspberry pico. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Spriggy Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 On 9/12/2023 at 6:02 PM, WhyLee commotari.club said: Hello Guys! The new Atari 2600+ has an all-in-one processor in it: Rockchip 3128 It is a quite powerful chip with 4 ARM7MP cores and an ARM Mail400 MP2 graphic core inside. Memory for these kind of "raspberry pi" is a bit low but enough for retro applications. For the software there is an eMMC memory on the board. i guess the eMMC is some kinde of embedded memory card compatible to other MMC memory cards but suitable to solder it on the board and saving money instead of adding a card slot and a card. My question: * Is someone already trying to hack that system? - trying to make a copy to check if this is an encrypted memory card - trying to replace it with a normal MMC card holder and card - trying to find out what kind of file system is on the card - mount the system on linux - reverseengineer the files on the card. - adding bigger cards - modify the stuff with a homebrew version After that: - making a retro c/c++ library that contains graphic and audio functions for lower "restro" screen resolutions, sprites and other useful functions, classic audio chip emulation or software implementation of a "retro" audio chip - making new games Anyone already working on that??? Maybe some ideas? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+chriswhit Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 On 9/12/2023 at 7:09 AM, WhyLee commotari.club said: Who has an Atari 2600+ and can open it up and making detailed pictures of it and post it here? Thank you! I pre ordered on day 1 and will be opening mine as that’s the only reason I bought it. Pics will be posted here. Almost guaranteed to be a dulled down raspberry pi. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zonie Posted October 22, 2023 Share Posted October 22, 2023 On 9/24/2023 at 1:32 PM, chriswhit said: I pre ordered on day 1 and will be opening mine as that’s the only reason I bought it. Pics will be posted here. Almost guaranteed to be a dulled down raspberry pi. If you plan on tossing the case. let me know. That's all I want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MittyOz Posted November 16, 2023 Share Posted November 16, 2023 Morning all. Picking mine up today in Australia. This guy has done a teardown. What appears to be the motherboard has a microUSB attached (though it might be redundant along with the USB C that is also power). It also appears to have a spot for a Micro SD card socket but there isn't one there. Read somewhere else that PAL games might not display correct which is of concern to me as my (small) collection is all PAL. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omf Posted November 17, 2023 Share Posted November 17, 2023 On 9/12/2023 at 5:39 PM, Thomas Jentzsch said: The ones he showed use standard Atari bankswitching. From the compatibility list from Atari, these had to be expected to work. It will be more interesting to find out if stuff like Toyshop Trouble, Zippy the Porcupine or the coming Penult will work. I keep my fingers crossed. Zippy the porcupine does not work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spanner Posted November 19, 2023 Share Posted November 19, 2023 (edited) Its uses the same nand from THEC64 Mini,THEA500 Mini that like 700MB made by Toshiba, it properly uses Buildroot too for its Linux. I can see where its UART on the board is, it on right connector, it says RX,TX next to the pins so all you would need is ground to connect a USB2serial to it to see what its doing when it boots up, on mine I do not use ground because mine are connected to my PC, it get ground from the HDMI connector so I only connect RX and TX to it but there is a 4 pin connector below that looks like a UART too so the RX,TX could be a red herring... PCB was made 06/07/23, I think it uses the same Rockchip at the Atari50 Flashback so do not see why the menu from it would not work on this but you would need to take it from that and put it on a USB Stick first then link all its files and libs it needs then run it from the USB Stick, but might not work, depends on what kernal this is using too, I call these upgraded versions of THEC64 Mini because they are all based on one machine, even the Capcom Home Arcade is, it uses the same PCB and GH001 ICs from THEC64, I know everything about them, I have studded them for 5 years and modified them with PCUAE. The button on the bottom left is the FEL Button you press and hold it down when you plug the power into it so it goes into FEL mode(like the Reset button), that why its says `Recovery` under it. Edited November 19, 2023 by Spanner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spanner Posted November 19, 2023 Share Posted November 19, 2023 (edited) It looks like there is a UART here too but it could be using the RX,TX for the cartridge dump like how the ARMIGA uses it to read a Floppy Disk... Edited November 19, 2023 by Spanner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+karri Posted November 19, 2023 Share Posted November 19, 2023 The TDI, TDO, TCK sounds like a serial bus connecting all kind of I/O pins. My guess is the cart connector. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhyLee commotari.club Posted November 23, 2023 Author Share Posted November 23, 2023 (edited) On 11/19/2023 at 6:37 PM, karri said: The TDI, TDO, TCK sounds like a serial bus connecting all kind of I/O pins. My guess is the cart connector. TDI, TDO, TCK, TMS are pins for a JTAG connector. a JTAG connector is used to program the flash on microcontrollers or to control/debug a CPU. it is the connector that the developers where using. ( i am for example using a Segger J-Link to program/debug STM32 microcontrollers at work which uses a JTAG connection ) however, the RX, TX pins are the most interesting. it could be a linux serial console to get access to the running linux. Edited November 23, 2023 by WhyLee commotari.club 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhyLee commotari.club Posted November 23, 2023 Author Share Posted November 23, 2023 On 11/19/2023 at 6:29 PM, Spanner said: It looks like there is a UART here too but it could be using the RX,TX for the cartridge dump like how the ARMIGA uses it to read a Floppy Disk... can you make a picture from the other side? something is already soldered on this UART pins. or is this already a cable that you soldered in? what can also be seen here is two different JTAG connectors - U1 and U2. maybe they have one JTAG connector for the ARM application MCU and a second one for an auxiliary microcontroller that does some other stuff (access to the cartridge, ports, switches, leds etc.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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