Looks like a good design, Pokemon games always go dead fast. My yellow version died in 2002 lol.
Iirc, some of the bootleg GBC carts I owned had similar ones, and replacing the battery was really easy.I would recommend a mod to the battery type that is being used on the PCB you have laid out. Instead of a tabbed battery requirement, a battery holder/retention clip to accommodate normal batteries would be better.
source link here
Other clips or holders if the above doesn't work for you.
This would reduce the maintenance cost for the user and a whole lot cheaper and easier to find a normal button cell. Reason being that not everyone that wants a flashcart can solder a new battery.
My Blue cart is still aliveLooks like a good design, Pokemon games always go dead fast. My yellow version died in 2002 lol.
The battery retainer picture I linked supports 2025, 2032 sized batteries.That is an excellent suggestion, and is actually what I have planned to do. I have ordered 3 different kinds and am deciding which one I like best. I am one of those people that does not enjoy firing up my soldering iron just to replace one simple battery.
Glad to hear that it is going well!I had originally wanted to use a full size 20mm battery in this cartridge, but there just isn't enough surface area to fit everything in. The real time clock cartridges use a lot more components than other cartridge types, so space is VERY limited. There also aren't any good 16mm battery retainers that I could find that meet both the height and the surface area requirements, so it will have to be bumped down to a 12mm battery for the time being. This isn't too bad because the battery is ONLY used to keep the clock ticking. When it dies, the save data will be kept intact and only the clock will need to be set again. Even with this drop in battery capacity, the battery should last for plenty of time.
However, I did find another version of the same flash chip I'm using (same chip, different package) that takes up way less surface area. For those interested, it is the version of the AM29F016 in a TSOP 40 (or 48) package. If this chip is used, it may be possible to fit a 20mm battery on this board, possibly up to a 2032, which was even larger than the original stock battery. This will take time to develop, but it's moving along at a steady pace.
Good news: my second revision came in and it is an improvement on the last one. I am wrapping up what looks to be the final revision today. If everything works (clock, saving, etc.) I should be prepared to release this project so people can start making their own.
Perfect timing. The design underwent major changes, which I actually just finished yesterday. I was able to fit a 20mm battery on there, which is a big upgrade from the 12mm I was planning to use. You may notice there is an extra chip on this board, and that is a 3-input OR gate that is needed to enable/disable RAM access correctly. All that is left now is to order the board and test it. I did extensive testing when I assembled this circuit on a breadboard, so I'm pretty hopeful.any updates? @wadeVillines
Yes, that is actually a crystal, not a capacitor. This part is used to count seconds for the real time clock.Excuse me, could you help me with the specification of capacitor Y1?
can you tell what you have done? had you made the custom PCB? or moded the original one?Looks like it works. The clock, the FRAM, everything. Those gerber files will be uploaded soon!
Yes, it is a custom pcb with an authentic mbc3 chip and an fm18w08. i have added an OR gate to the board that takes the clock signal and the RAM_CS signal and use that output as the RAM chip enable.can you tell what you have done? had you made the custom PCB? or moded the original one?
Here you go : https://www.insidegadgets.com/projects/gbxcart-rw/@wadeVillines
How did you flash the cart after putting it together? Can you recommend a compatible reader/writer?
Thank you so much for this! This project is really cool, but a bit over my head. The OP doesn't seem to be interested in selling these himself sadly (but it's cool watching his work nevertheless!) I really need one of these writers so I can play my virtual console saves on my real hardware to play Stadium. This is possible, correct? Like I can extract the save with checkpoint?
I don't know what you mean by checkpoint but yes you can extract the saves from any carts.Thank you so much for this! This project is really cool, but a bit over my head. The OP doesn't seem to be interested in selling these himself sadly (but it's cool watching his work nevertheless!) I really need one of these writers so I can play my virtual console saves on my real hardware to play Stadium. This is possible, correct? Like I can extract the save with checkpoint?
https://bennvenn.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/reader-writer-gen2?variant=51157011156Thank you so much for this! This project is really cool, but a bit over my head. The OP doesn't seem to be interested in selling these himself sadly (but it's cool watching his work nevertheless!) I really need one of these writers so I can play my virtual console saves on my real hardware to play Stadium. This is possible, correct? Like I can extract the save with checkpoint?
Thank you for the link; this website is very interesting, definitely bookmarking it.https://bennvenn.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/reader-writer-gen2?variant=51157011156
He's out of stock now, but sign up for email alerts.
I have this and it's very good.