Atari 2600 EPROM carts & burning

[PapaCharlie]

I remember a while ago finding some websites that had instructions to ghetto-rig your own EPROM cart using a hacked-to-pieces Parker Bros. circuit board, that you would then connect to your PC using a serial-to-alligator clip wire you could make yourself, and dump .BIN images to the chip.

 

I see that the store sells pre-assembled 4k EPROM boards for the 2600, listed at http://www.atariage.com/store/product_info...products_id=217 .

 

Ok, so dumb question that I'm sure I'll get flamed for: if I buy one of these, and the required EPROM chip, what other software/hardware will I need to just dump one .BIN image to the cart to play it?

 

I could shell out the $99 to pre-order a Krokodile cart, and I appreciate all the work that went into making it, but if all I want to do is dump a .BIN of Halloween (since I can't find an affordable, working copy of the cart - sigh), that's going to cost me as much as some sites charge for a mint condition copy of the game ... all I want is to be able to play it on my four-switch instead of my emulator

[Albert]

Ok, so dumb question that I'm sure I'll get flamed for: if I buy one of these, and the required EPROM chip, what other software/hardware will I need to just dump one .BIN image to the cart to play it?  

 

You need an EPROM programmer, which would probably cost around $100 (although you can certainly find used programmers for less). Once you have the EPROM programmer, you can burn EPROMs to your heart's content. To erase an EPROM you need an EPROM eraser, which subjects the EPROM to strong ultraviolet light.

 

I could shell out the $99 to pre-order a Krokodile cart, and I appreciate all the work that went into making it, but if all I want to do is dump a .BIN of Halloween (since I can't find an affordable, working copy of the cart - sigh), that's going to cost me as much as some sites charge for a mint condition copy of the game ... all I want is to be able to play it on my four-switch instead of my emulator  

 

If you just want to play this one game on real hardware, there are several people who can help you out by making an inexpensive cartridge for you. It's not worth purchasing expensive hardware if you only want to do this once. You can send me a private message for more information.

 

..Al

[PapaCharlie]

Actually I've been browsing around some EPROM programmers while waiting for someone to reply to this ... I've found the original instructions I found quite some time ago to build one, but don't want to get that involved. I've also found some used ones for between $20-$40.

 

My feeling is if I had a programmer, I could dick together some carts of a few other rare games I liked but never found. Part of me wishes I had just bought the EPROM chips already burnt that a guy was selling on eBay last year before he got shut down