optixx

We got a new loader for the Quickdev16 firmware. The loader will replace the current dummy loader and has a few new advantages:

• Faster upload because of IRQ driven communication between SNES and AVR
• Progressbar while uploading
• Display Rom infos
• ASCII and Katakana font support
• Eyecandy: new logo design with sine wave effect and bassdrum synced background effects..

Due to these features the loader blew up to more than 55kb, too much for our limited space in the AVR progmem (64kb – 4kb bootloader). Our main firmware is between 8kb and 24kb, depends on the debug-features that you compile in. So the recent task is to either reduce the loader size by skipping eyecandy, finding a better compression routine to compress it in the progmem or build a minimal firmware and put parts of the loader into the surplus 4kb eeprom on the AVR. Probably we will have to combine the different approaches.

One reason why the firmware is that big these days is the new “minimal debug terminal”, a serial command line where you can maintain the Quickdev system status. You can dump memory regions from sram, switch between the busses, write to the shared memory section, show the status of the hardware ports and use several other usefull commands. Check the project page for more details on the commands.

Last week we shipped the first batch of Quickdevs. The Software is feature ready, but we wanted to do some eye candy on the SNES software side, which didn’t work out yet. So software updates are coming within the next weeks.

Feel free to order at david @ optixx.org.

Finally our project page for the Quickdev16 becomes available. You will find information how to download or build all needed software from scratch.

We gonna build the first batch of 10 cartridges this week. So stay tuned.

Not “out of the box” but with only slightly changes on the software part, the new quickdev16 PCBs are working. Their shape fit the SNES cartslot, the changes in hardware design and parts worked out great and we have a kind of stable firmware and upload tool.

When you turn on the SNES, the microcontroller extracts a small loader-rom into the cartridge RAM that is mapped into the SNES addressspace. This one copies itself to SNES’s WRAM and jumps into it. So the cartridge RAM is unaccessed and we can safely switch back to the AVR mode to push a real payload rom onto the cartridge. We are also working on a shared memory function so that we can use the cartridge RAM to exchange infomation between the AVR and the SNES. This will be used to display a proper Progressbar while uploading a rom.

As usal you can use our patched version of ucon64 – even under windows – to upload a game to the quickdev16. When the upload is done, the SNES reset line is pulled by quickdev16 and the game starts. When you press the reset button, you only reset the game, not the quickdev16 – it acts like a normal cart. When you press the reset button during the upload process or while watching the loaderscreen, you reset the quickdev and can abort uploads or just restart the quickdev16 – thats a really usefull feature. To initiate the upload of a new game, just start the upload process with ucon, the quickdev switches to the loader mode by itself and receives the new ROM.

So the steps are now to improve the loader code, finish the progress bar stuff, figure out how to solder the PCBs faster than now and add some minor features. Stay tuned for updates, it’s not too long to the release.

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Created a binary for windows using minGW and libusb. So i can confirm that quickdev16 will work under Windows.

I start taking inoffical pre-orders for the Quickdev16 now. Just send me an email to david at optixx.org with your name and email address. In order of arrival i will put you on the pre-order list. Right now we plan to sell around 35 cartridges.

Why inoffical pre-orders list? A fews points are unclear right now. I don’t know the final price since this will depend on the assembling costs which are not setteld yet. I can’t say if the the new PCB are working 100% since we didn’t test it yet. Also we didn’t figured out if we gonna ship the cartidge with a CIC chip or not. The client software is tested and developed under Linux and OS X. Can’t say much about windows. But if you can compile ucon64 with libusb support in windows you should be fine. I will give this a shot soon.

These points will clear up within the next 2-3 weeks. But expect an sale price around 100 USD or 80 Euros. I gonna use paypal for international shipping and direct debit in Germany and even Europe. Will provide an an IBAN and paypal account later.

I don’t take any money before everything has clear up. So the pre-order is not binding as long as you are not happy with the final outcome of the project. I just started this pre-order list, since a few people start asking for it and they don’t want to miss the opportunity to get one.

Just a quick preview of up coming features.

• up to 16Mbit Roms supported
• Ucon64 upload via USB
• Lo/Hi Rom
• Serial Debug Console
• SNES Boot Loader
• SDcard Daughter Board planed

Yesterday i got a package from china. Finally the long awaited PCBs arrived. I think the black PCB really looks good

Finally we found a better name for the snesram and renamed it to ‘QuickDev16 USB’. Final PCB layouts are ready and will be send to china soon. So in about 2 weeks we will have our first PCBs.

Confirmed Features:

• 16 MBit Sram for Rom storage
• ATmega644 MCU for housekeeping
• USB connection for ROM upload
• ucon64 software compatibel
• PAL/NTSC CICs are supported
• Lo/Hirom support
• Reset trigger from cartridge possible
• AVR USB Bootloader for quick firmware uploads
• Snes bootloader intro
• Snes powered, no power source needed

Stay tuned for more features, especially debugging helpers

Things are going well. Have added some features to the software side and also got some stuff working hardware wise.

Can confirm that US/JAP roms are working.Only tested EU roms before. Used my japanese Nintendo junior and a japanese CIC to confirm that the snesram is working with that setup too.

Max and i added an bootloader to the AVR software toolchain. Now its possible to flash the AVR firmware via the same USB cable as for the normal bulk transfer. So no extra ISP programmer is needed to change the AVR firmware. This is super fast, can flash the 16kb client side firmware in like 3 secs.

Added a reset line trigger to the snes bus. Now the client software can reset the snes after uploading the software. So its possbile to push a rom via ucon64 from the pc and then reset is done by ucon64 and the firmware. No interaction needed from there.

Max is refactoring the schematics so that we can send them over to the pcb fab soon. Stay tuned.

Max took a quick break from his vacations and was able to work on the new hardware revision of the snesram. Its mainly a bugfix to version 0.1 . We also did some cost reductions. Most obvious is to go for 2 Mbyte of sram instead of 4Mbyte. It just make the PCB smaller and less complex. I guess this should be alright with most peoples needs. We gonna print a small amount of PCB and will take pre-orders as soon as we know they will arrive. Not sure about the final price, depends on the PCB costs and if we get better prices for the sram. Stay tuned.

Changes in Detail:

* Add AVR reset button
* Fix CS bug and add additional gate
* Reduce to 2 Mbytes for 16 Mbits games
* Snes reset line trigger
* No FTDI for the serial line
* Add RX/TX to pin header
* Model Snes connector header
* 1,2 mm PCB for direct plug
* Blacksolder Mask
* White silk screen

Preview:

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