An idea for a development pcb
An idea for a development pcb
Ive been doing a little research on "Play Tv" which is basically a genesis console on a chip containing a rom programmed with 6 games, this games can be picked up extremely cheaply
What I plan to do make a small easy to construct pcb using the minimum of cheap simple logic (no fpga's or other complex stuff) to attach to the play tv pcb containing the following
* Secure Digital card socket (SD Card) for games / applications
* pc link port
* Bios flash rom containing Initializer, full fat filing system, command shell to access filing system including commands for load/save/dir etc
* 128MByte sdram (data loaded on demand from the sd card)
* If I can find an RGB output on the Play TV then i'll also throw in a Jamma connector and Audio amplifier making this probably the tinyest jamma multigame system around ?
I planned this platform as a development system for new programs and not just to run copied games so I have not put much thought into the various backup ram schemes used by comercial games but I will look into this
A cartridge version would allow the same system for the genesis console
At the moment its just a few scribbles on paper and I would appreciate any feedback you have and suggested changes, I hope there will be some developers here interested in this gizmo
I hope to have some spare time within the next few months to make a start on this
What I plan to do make a small easy to construct pcb using the minimum of cheap simple logic (no fpga's or other complex stuff) to attach to the play tv pcb containing the following
* Secure Digital card socket (SD Card) for games / applications
* pc link port
* Bios flash rom containing Initializer, full fat filing system, command shell to access filing system including commands for load/save/dir etc
* 128MByte sdram (data loaded on demand from the sd card)
* If I can find an RGB output on the Play TV then i'll also throw in a Jamma connector and Audio amplifier making this probably the tinyest jamma multigame system around ?
I planned this platform as a development system for new programs and not just to run copied games so I have not put much thought into the various backup ram schemes used by comercial games but I will look into this
A cartridge version would allow the same system for the genesis console
At the moment its just a few scribbles on paper and I would appreciate any feedback you have and suggested changes, I hope there will be some developers here interested in this gizmo
I hope to have some spare time within the next few months to make a start on this
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it will all be a major pain in the ass, and some similiar discussion (well, about a flashcart) has already happened here. Look for Open source flashcart thing or something...
Mida sa loed ? Nagunii aru ei saa
http://www.tmeeco.eu
Files of all broken links and images of mine are found here : http://www.tmeeco.eu/FileDen
http://www.tmeeco.eu
Files of all broken links and images of mine are found here : http://www.tmeeco.eu/FileDen
How easy to buy that Play TV and how much it will cost? I think it's much harder than buy usual SMD or clone.
About conception. It's common idea overall. I had same idea some time ago (but with SRAM instead of SDRAM, and SD was only option), and HardWareMan plans to make something similar.
Btw, can you remove banner from your signature? You have link to your site in profile anyway, no need to have such big picture in each post.
About conception. It's common idea overall. I had same idea some time ago (but with SRAM instead of SDRAM, and SD was only option), and HardWareMan plans to make something similar.
Btw, can you remove banner from your signature? You have link to your site in profile anyway, no need to have such big picture in each post.
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I would rather do a sidecar board on the expansion connector. Genuine Sega units are easier to find and should be easier to work with than a geniclone. And for a dev board, I think I'd rather have an ethernet port, though SD or MMC would probably be a bit easier to program than ethernet. It's just that it's a major pain to have to physically move something every time you want to try a new code load, and you'll go nuts before you can finish anything. If it weren't for emulators, I couldn't have gotten as far as I have programming the Genesis.
Oh, and you do know that the 68000 only has a 16MByte total address space, right? And half of that really can't be used for external RAM, so the extra 120MBytes of RAM isn't going to do you much good. Also, there's no point in using SDRAM other than it's easier to find those chips new. The 68000 is way too slow to need the extra speed. A pair of 30-pin 4 megabyte SIMMs is probably a better choice if you're going to the trouble of implementing a DRAM controller.
Oh, and you do know that the 68000 only has a 16MByte total address space, right? And half of that really can't be used for external RAM, so the extra 120MBytes of RAM isn't going to do you much good. Also, there's no point in using SDRAM other than it's easier to find those chips new. The 68000 is way too slow to need the extra speed. A pair of 30-pin 4 megabyte SIMMs is probably a better choice if you're going to the trouble of implementing a DRAM controller.
Thanks ive just read through all seven pages, its a shame that it didnt go very far (unless I missed something ?)TmEE co.(TM) wrote:it will all be a major pain in the ass, and some similiar discussion (well, about a flashcart) has already happened here. Look for Open source flashcart thing or something...
My project will take a little effort but not really a "pain in the ass" as such
Very easy to find http://www.radicagames.com/where-to-buy.php , I see them for sale in the UK everywhere for as low as £6.99Shiru wrote:How easy to buy that Play TV and how much it will cost? I think it's much harder than buy usual SMD or clone.
Seems like a popular topic here, I hope these guys get their designs up and running, I hope to get mine working tooShiru wrote:About conception. It's common idea overall. I had same idea some time ago (but with SRAM instead of SDRAM, and SD was only option), and HardWareMan plans to make something similar.
Btw, can you remove banner from your signature? You have link to your site in profile anyway, no need to have such big picture in each post.
I have reduced my signature image as requested
I will be including a pc link port (see my original post) and link routines in the bios to allow transfer from the pc to sdram for quick testing and the sdcard for more permanent storage8bitwizard wrote:I would rather do a sidecar board on the expansion connector. Genuine Sega units are easier to find and should be easier to work with than a geniclone. And for a dev board, I think I'd rather have an ethernet port, though SD or MMC would probably be a bit easier to program than ethernet. It's just that it's a major pain to have to physically move something every time you want to try a new code load, and you'll go nuts before you can finish anything. If it weren't for emulators, I couldn't have gotten as far as I have programming the Genesis.
I did say that a cartridge version would allow it to be used on the genesis and will look into this
I was going to implement banked memory as either a single 8MByte * 16 banks or split as two 4MByte * 32 banks (undecided as yet)8bitwizard wrote:Oh, and you do know that the 68000 only has a 16MByte total address space, right? And half of that really can't be used for external RAM, so the extra 120MBytes of RAM isn't going to do you much good. Also, there's no point in using SDRAM other than it's easier to find those chips new. The 68000 is way too slow to need the extra speed. A pair of 30-pin 4 megabyte SIMMs is probably a better choice if you're going to the trouble of implementing a DRAM controller.
The 68000 will access the ram at its usual slow pace so access times are not a problem and any speed sdram should work fine
Yes it doesnt have to be sram, I could use simms or other types of dram
Thank you all for your comments, much appreciated
Last edited by devzone on Thu Jun 12, 2008 2:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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DevSter has a nice page on the Radica, including a ROM pinout so you can add a cart connector.
http://devster.monkeeh.com/sega/radica/
http://devster.monkeeh.com/sega/radica/
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I don't really think there's need for HW in MD dev anymore. You can do most debugging in Kmod, close to real HW testing in Fusion and that's really all you need. I use my MD2 usually to know that my code still runs on real HW and to listen music and play games as emu is still an emu.
Mida sa loed ? Nagunii aru ei saa
http://www.tmeeco.eu
Files of all broken links and images of mine are found here : http://www.tmeeco.eu/FileDen
http://www.tmeeco.eu
Files of all broken links and images of mine are found here : http://www.tmeeco.eu/FileDen
I had not updated my emulators in a while but now have and agree with you that hardware development boards are no longer requiredTmEE co.(TM) wrote:I don't really think there's need for HW in MD dev anymore. You can do most debugging in Kmod, close to real HW testing in Fusion and that's really all you need. I use my MD2 usually to know that my code still runs on real HW and to listen music and play games as emu is still an emu.
I may still build a modded radica containing rom/ram/sdcard just for a portable fun system
There's also the point that a lot of people find the original machine to be a lot more fun than emulators.TmEE co.(TM) wrote:I don't really think there's need for HW in MD dev anymore. You can do most debugging in Kmod, close to real HW testing in Fusion and that's really all you need. I use my MD2 usually to know that my code still runs on real HW and to listen music and play games as emu is still an emu.
- Kef