Bruce Tomlin Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 That's pretty expensive compared to pcbpool.com It's not, the cart uses a 0.8mm board (regular is 1.6mm) which they don't do as standard, it's an expensive 'special order'. Also, pcbpool's 4 day service is 1.5 times their normal price + courier shipping from Ireland to the UK is about $40. Oh, I didn't realize the VB used a half-thickness board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard H. Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 Oh, I didn't realize the VB used a half-thickness board. Yes, it's a bit weird like that, nothing on it is 'standard'. It would have been so much easier if it was 1.6mm with a connector edge like every other cart in the world. I measured the original at 0.6mm, but 0.8mm works better when soldering the connectors as they tend to get a bit bent outwards when removing them. The extra 0.2mm saves having to hold each pin down while I solder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsychedelicShaman Posted April 20, 2007 Share Posted April 20, 2007 Any updates on the flash cart? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard H. Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 Any updates on the flash cart? I've been on holiday, but I'm back now and still trying to track down the write anomaly. I suspect bad FLASH. I'm in the process of breadboarding the whole circuit, which means getting hold of DIP versions of all the chips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsychedelicShaman Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 Any updates on the flash cart? I've been on holiday, but I'm back now and still trying to track down the write anomaly. I suspect bad FLASH. I'm in the process of breadboarding the whole circuit, which means getting hold of DIP versions of all the chips. Cool. Thanks for the update! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard H. Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 Well, I built the breadboarded version, programmed the FLASH and it verified OK in my chip programmer, but it doesn't work on the actual VB for some weird reason. Which leads me to ask, are the VB ROM images direct dumps or have they been altered / padded in some way for emulator use ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KR155E Posted May 6, 2007 Share Posted May 6, 2007 no, afaik they aren't altered in any way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troma Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 I still check this thread almost daily! Anxious for updates! Did you hit a brick wall? Thanks for the hard work on this project... I am interested in the results! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard H. Posted May 25, 2007 Share Posted May 25, 2007 Did you hit a brick wall? Yes I've left it alone for a bit while I have a re-think. Don't worry though, I've thrown way too much cash at it to give up now ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAULER Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 THATS FUNNY, I JUST DUG OUT THE VIRTUAL BOY TODAY! there are strange forces at work here..... i called nintendo to ask why i dont get video on mine. though, i think it's the ribbon cable that is infamous for seperating from the board. they said they get calls to this day and have to shoo us away to websites. if i get it a workin (tool on the wayhere in the states, it's a 3 day weekend, and i hate those damned triwing screws) i's be interested in getting a multicart myself. If you want toproduce them, i can assist you in the graphic art stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard H. Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 there are strange forces at work here..... Too right ! The last thing I tried was programming the FLASH in my chip programmer (verifying twice) and then soldering it to a bare board without any of the other components, just the VB connector and the necessary pins hardwired - still nothing BTW the 2 types of FLASH I've been using are Intel DT28F160S5 and DA28F320J5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard H. Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 OMG IT WORKS !! After a chat with Pat from www.projectvb.vze.com, the problem turned out to be a mixture of bad ROM dumps and lack of padding. Padding is something you have to do on the VB when the ROM image doesn't fill all of the FLASH, I'd wrongly assumed I didn't need to do this That guy really know's his stuff where the VB is concerned. Anyway, I'm doing one more revision as MicroChip have released the larger USB chip, which means I can cut down the design to just 2 chips + get the downloading faster (it's way too slow at the moment) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troma Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 OMG! Yay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsychedelicShaman Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 Great news! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bones Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 Three cheers, excellent news! Looking forward to placing an order! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christianscott27 Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 I know that must feel awesome to have found a way forward, keep it going! I cant wait to see the finished product in my VB! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard H. Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 I'm sending off the layout files for the next revision board this week, takes about 5 days to get them back. All being well, I should then be able to send a few carts out for testing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nintendo Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 I'm sending off the layout files for the next revision board this week, takes about 5 days to get them back. All being well, I should then be able to send a few carts out for testing. I'll test one of those for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KR155E Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 uh nice, i'd be willing to test it too. how about a short preview on planet virtual boy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bones Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 You can sign me up for testing, happy to help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Fisher Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 I'm willing to make the sacrifice as well, and you should already have my address from when I tested your Vecflash-CV interface. Just looking to make things easier on you, you understand... I would also be willing to forward to another tester here in the States if that was your plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted July 5, 2007 Author Share Posted July 5, 2007 I can't believe this is becoming a reality. Now if only those protos would surface... Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard H. Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 I need to iron out some bugs in the firmware this week, but in the mean time here's some pics of the cart assembled. (Cutting the case to fit the USB connector was pretty tricky, I ended up ruining 4 until I got it right) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 I need to iron out some bugs in the firmware this week, but in the mean time here's some pics of the cart assembled. Awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KR155E Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 SEXY! i'd love to get my hands on a test cart. now that it's working i guess i'm gonna post a news article about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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