Misc Project Did the DSi Capture Card End with Katsukity?

[KIlly728]

Preface:

This is an essay, of sorts, compiling all of the information about the Dsi Capture Card that I could find. Information may be missing or inaccurate, but what I present is my current understanding of the project.

I have an interest in reviving the concept and properly archiving every step of the process so that anyone can make a Dsi capture system. Though I didn't succeed in making the project available for people, I do hope this is a step in the right direction.

I’ll start the story and go into as much of the technical side as I can manage. If you wish to skip the story, head to the “Technical” section.

If I come across any information that may be useful, I'll be sure to make an edit on this post.

=====Story====​

Introduction:

Is there a practical reason to have a Dsi capture card when the Original DS and the New 3DS/2DS family of systems can do everything the Dsi can do and more?

No, no there isn’t.

For someone like myself who adores the Dsi platform, the idea and novelty of a Dsi capture card is very interesting to me. From what I can find, the Dsi Capture card has been lost to time. Thanks to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, what was once lost can hopefully be found.

Body:

Kastuskity was the sole provider of Dsi Capture systems and, as far as I could tell, one of the major players in the DS/3DS capture card providers and installers in the mid to late 2010s. That was up until September 13th, 2016, when the Dsi Capture systems were removed from Katsukity’s shop. I was unable to find a direct reason as to why the sale stopped, but a quote from the Nisetoro Wiki suggested difficulty as over 40 cables were needed. On the store page, you can see how a custom bottom shell was needed in order to house that capture unit.



That, and I’d assume a lack of of sales due to the prevalence of 3DS capture systems must have led to that product being phased out. This is just my best guess based on nothing

On February 2nd, 2019, Twitter (X) user u/Really_Tall reposed a u/akiba365 tweet from February 1st claiming that Katsukity went bankrupt.



Their Twitter (X) has been inactive since July 2018, their YouTube has been inactive since June 2018, and their website and blog have all been shuttered ( I won't hyperlink these two as one redirects to a scam). Their Facebook Page also seems to have the suffered the same fate, but I cannot confirm that. From my current understanding, Katsukity has disappeared from the internet and took whatever knowledge, hardware and software with them.

Katsukity’s partner in Europe, Stefan Merki, and American Inventor Neal Tew (Loopy) appear to still manufacture, install, and sell capture cards on their website, but only for the Classic DS and New 3DS/2DS. As of the writing of this post, Merki is still active on the website’s Discord Page (see their website for the invite link) and Loopy is active on their forum

It is on Merki’s Discord Server that I was able to find a lot of information regarding the Dsi Capture System and its development. The most important, being, a video posted to Nicovideo by the user ピピン (Pippin).

This video, dating back to May 21st, 2010, shows the process of making a Nisetoro Capture card for the Dsi and its success (The videos loaded better for me on Firefox).




Their blog, which can only be accessed through Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, has their project as well as a ZIP containing the pinout for the DSI to Chameleon USB connection and various pieces of software (For lack of a better term for .svf, .dpf, .pin, .pof, .qpf,.qsf and .v files)



From here, I’ll go into the technical side of this.

====Technical====​

From here, I have to stick a disclaimer. As much as it pains me to say, anything involving Circuit Boards and programming is well beyond my understanding. I will continue with any and all information that I have pointing to the components and software used for the project, but I will not pretend to understand any of it. Forgive my ignorance in advance.

In Pippin’s video, all of the test pins tapped and attached to a Chameleon USB were listed on their blog.



There, with the pinout sheet in a ZIP file containing various pieces of software (more on that later). I translated the parts into English.



Katsukity’s store page for the Dsi capture kits mentions a different capture card. I could not find anything on this capture device, but I'd assume that the creator of the Chameleon wouldn't like Katsukity trademarking the design. So they made a close approximation (pure guess).



On the Fake TroCaptcha website, the process for creating a capture card for the Original DS was explained further. I can only vaguely see the images of the Chameleon board that Pippin has in their blog, but as far as I can tell, it is the same board.

https://preview.redd.it/did-the-dsi...bp&s=5a3c4e557777214b30fba146ad187be597a9000b

Following the link on the board to this website with the Chameleon USB FX2 featured prominently as a “Hot” item. When searching their shop, which is local only as far as I can tell, the Chameleon USB FX2 MiniB Kit is out of stock and appears to have been discontinued in 2019 (If it means anything, that board version was V1.2 instead of V1.1, so even if it was available, I do not know if that’d cause issues). I contacted the board seller, but they were unwilling to offer kits (it's within their right, but a bit frustrating).

Assembly instructions and software for the kit were available on their website along with the list of components, the Gerber file, and the Wire Schematic file. The Gerber file was, as far as I could tell, useless as it only shows one layer (The silkscreen, I think). That may be a consequence of modern Gerber viewers trying to read the file, or intentional to keep people from printing their own boards. I tried multiple Gerber viewers, and the output was the same.

Searching Google for the Chameleon brings up an OSHPark shared file of a Chameleon USB FX2 by user splash5. Though this board appears to use the same chips, its circuit layout and components look entirely different than the one Pippin used and the one on the “How to make a Fake tro capture” page. To my untrained eyes, the traces go to different places which leads me to believe this board would never work.

https://preview.redd.it/did-the-dsi...bp&s=ea324a5a9a34e6117832df364c602bd66069bd6f
Going through splash5’s Github page, it would seem they are implementing a Chameleon for game capture on the Wonderswan.

That is the first major hurdle. Where can I get a comparable board? Does the Chameleon USB FX2 need to be recreated from the images in these forums?

For the software side, it is my understanding that Pippin already provided it within the ZIP. In the description of their video, they say that the software is the same as the Original DS. This is, of course, assuming that the software is the same as the one used back in 2010.

Opening the various files in Notepad++ reveals that Pippin used the Quartus II Design Environment from Intel/Altera for this project.

Going through each file:

The Serial Vector Formal File (.svf) is used for board testing, debugging, and production programming. It appears to be a log.

The Design Protocol File (.dpf) is a software information storage for the Quartus environment.

The Pin Assignment File (.pin) contains the I/O pin name, number location, direction, and I/O standard for all used and unused pins within the design.

The Quartus Prime Project File (.qpf) contains basic information about the version of Quartus used. It also lists the revisions for the project. In this case, the name of the project.

The Quartus Prime Setting File (.qsf) contains project and entry-level assignments and settings for the project.

The Verilog Design Fil (.v) for the project.

Lastly, the Programmer Object File (.pof) which contains the data for programming the MAX II (one main chip on the Chameleon board). I wasn't able to open this in Notepad++ as it only returned jibberish.

The capture software was properly archived by the group/person who did the "How to make a fake tro capture" guide. There isn't much that I can do with it, but it's good to know it still exists.

Recreating DSi capture system is well beyond my ability, I will be the first to say that. I do hope this information can help some who can revive this unique blip in DS console history.

====Resources and Additional Links====
Wayback machine's last image of Katsukity’s sites:

• Facebook Page - https://web.archive.org/web/20150818204457/https://www.facebook.com/GameDirectShop
• Blog - https://web.archive.org/web/20200114223750/http://videogamecapture.blogspot.com/
• Store - https://web.archive.org/web/20190119190741/https://www.3dsvideocapture.com/
• Store (with Dsi Capture Kits Available) - https://web.archive.org/web/20160416035313/http://www.3dsvideocapture.com/product-list/2

Videos and other webpages not used in this essay, but may be interesting:

• More problems with DSi video out from Katsukity:
• The End of Katsukity 3DS Capture Cards (for now?)
• “They pretty much archived Katsukity's capture card programs before Katsukity closed up shop” GBAtemp https://gbatemp.net/threads/anyone-know-where-to-find-katsukittys-keity-3ds-capture-software.578522/
• blog::non-standard.com: https://web.archive.org/web/20240328075853/http://blog-non-standard.blogspot.com/
• Reddit Post of Katsukity’s Bankruptcy
• GBAtemp Post of Katsukity's Bankruptcy.
• Loopy’s Forum https://3dscapture.com/forum/index.php
• Nisetoro Capture Forum https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/nisetorocapture/
• A Blog by the user ぶんじろう (Bunjiro) who posted info and links related to the Fake toro Captcha! project for the Original DS. http://exitbun.blog.fc2.com/
• You can make it too! Fake Toro Capture Creation Course (Preparation) - Nico Nico Douga (nicovideo.jp)

====DSI XL Capture System====​

I have this pie-in-the-sky dream of assembling and using a DSi XL with a capture card in it, but what my research dug up was a need for commissioning people much smarter than I to create the capture board and injecting the code.

That is simply something I can not do right now.

The Chameleon kits are simply impossible to find or have just been left behind for better project boards.

If I wanted to get my hands on a Chameleon board, I'd either have to get the PCB print file from the creator/license holder, or somehow recreate it myself. I can tell you right now, that is beyond my current abilities.

I am, however, somewhat confident that the software that is loaded onto the Chameleon and Capture program still exists leaving the challenge of a DSi Capture device solely on the board kit.

For anyone who reads this, I do hope that this pinout I made is helpful.

This is a pinout referencing the pinout from Pippin as well as the DSi XL test points on DSiBrew. I have to trust it is accurate as I do not know of a way to test it otherwise. Entries highlighted in Red have the same comment, but the numbering sequence suggests the order I put them is correct.

Anyway, that is enough for me.

I originally posted this on Reddit, but I was very interested in hearing what everyone here has to say.

 

[PoroCYon]

Fwiw, I've thought about this a fair bit as I also wanted a DSi capture card (because it's the only thing that can properly record the hacky stuff I do on a DSi, which a 3DS can't). (Also, FYI, I'm the one who made the DSiXL testpoint table. I'll see if I can fix the duplicates sometime soon.)

First of all, honestly, I wouldn't even bother using this ancient FPGA board. It's too hard to source, requires an outdated and shitty toolchain that's a pain to install (the "toolchain" is the program used to turn the Verilog code into a bitstream file that can be loaded on the actual FPGA). Porting the Verilog to a new FPGA board is probably a better way to go here.

There's a number of slightly different ways to go about this (e.g. using an iCE40 HX FPGA plus FX2, or an iCE40HX/MachXO+CH32V307, or an ECP5+USB3300, and so on and so on). Most off-the-shelf new FPGA boards either don't have enough IO for all the pixel data pins (most iCE40 stuff, incl. Glasgow Interface Explorer), don't have a fast enough USB connection (ULX3S, though it has HDMI out. I mean 90% of all FPGA devboards also fail here but they often also don't have enough IO), or are annoyingly large (ECP5 EVB, CH569/HydraUSB3) or too expensive (most Xilinx things) or just plain out of stock (LambdaConcept USB2 Sniffer). An off-the-shelf FTDI FT602 (special digital-video-to-USB chip) doesn't work because it can't use an external clock signal coming from the console. (The CH32V307 would've been great except its video connection doesn't have enough pins available.)

And as none of the purely off-the-shelf ways of doing this seem to be a good idea, it means a custom hardware design would be needed. Which means: someone will need to spend a faw hundred dollars/euros/pounds as well as quite an amount of time into making something that can fulfill this task, because developing hardware is costly.

Personally, I'd go with something based on the CH569 simply as a matter of cost, though it has only a small amount of RAM and doesn't have a wide enough parallell bus, so it'll need some extra convincing and mightn't work out. If it fails, probably iCE40HX/MachXO + CH32V307 would be a good alternative. Though as I don't have that much free time, I'm not particularly keen on doing all this by myself. If someone were to e.g. get this to work with a CH569 devboard (<$40 on aliexpress) I could create a custom PCB that's much less clunky to use. But writing all the code as well as designing the PCB is too much stuff I don't have time for right now.

 

[Jayro]

Message Katsukity, and ask for him to open-source the project, so it can live on. I don't know why people are so afraid to reach out to people, but get over your fear of rejection and ask.

 

[PoroCYon]

Message Katsukity, and ask for him to open-source the project, so it can live on. I don't know why people are so afraid to reach out to people, but get over your fear of rejection and ask.

The OP says:

Their Twitter (X) has been inactive since July 2018, their YouTube has been inactive since June 2018, and their website and blog have all been shuttered ( I won't hyperlink these two as one redirects to a scam). Their Facebook Page also seems to have the suffered the same fate, but I cannot confirm that. From my current understanding, Katsukity has disappeared from the internet and took whatever knowledge, hardware and software with them.

So there doesn't seem a good way to do this.

Furthermore, the post also states that the archived download includes Verilog sources. Problem is this was written for a piece of hardware (both the FPGA chip and the development board) that's super old and not made anymore. Additionally, the tools one would use to turn the Verilog source code into a file that can be loaded onto the FPGA (the old one used in the original design) is also so old that it's very difficult to get it to work as well.

The problem isn't not being able to contact the author or not having sources. The problem is that the solution from back then has gotten so old it's gotten impractical to use today. To compare, there's this little factoid saying the Apollo moon mission rockets couldn't be built anymore today. That's not because NASA lost their design files (that's certainly not the case), but because so many of the components simply aren't manufactured today anymore. We have a similar problem here.

 

[Jayro]

Then it just sounds like someone needs to start the project over from scratch, using the documentation readily available and going from there. FPGAs come in much smaller packages now to, like ones inside DS bootlegs. There are smart people who can tap video data into HDMI-out all over the internet, so surely someone can do it if the demand is there, but... Just use a 3DS instead, honestly. DSi has to be the deadest homebrew platform in the DS and 3DS family.

 

[PoroCYon]

Yes and that's literally what my first post in this thread is about. I guess I have some claim to be included in those "smart people", and I can tell you that such a project is a bit more involved than "just" doing a few things. Insisting that "someone" does it feels rather dismissive. Furthermore, I'd also like to kindly ask you to work on your reading comprehension.

 

[KIlly728]

First of all, honestly, I wouldn't even bother using this ancient FPGA board. It's too hard to source, requires an outdated and shitty toolchain that's a pain to install (the "toolchain" is the program used to turn the Verilog code into a bitstream file that can be loaded on the actual FPGA). Porting the Verilog to a new FPGA board is probably a better way to go here.

That was the impression I got. Gosh, ピピン (Pippin) had that video made in 2010 and 14 years is an eternity for electronics. Though I originally set out to replicate Pippin's setup, I am just not able to get my hands on that old board. The two main chips are still available for purchase through sites like Digikey, but compared to the boards you mentioned, sourcing those chips, components, AND a custom circuit board replicating the Chamelion would be far too expensive. That's also assuming all of the software, tools, and code that was left behind still works (which you claim would be more work than it is worth).

And thank you for the quick explainer on how these things work. I have a juvenile understanding on how these things work.

Message Katsukity, and ask for him to open-source the project, so it can live on. I don't know why people are so afraid to reach out to people, but get over your fear of rejection and ask.

Though I do take the appearance of an investigative journalist for this piece, I am anything but that.

No, I didn't attempt to contact Katsukity, Merki, Loopy, or Pippin. This was mainly because I, firstly, didn't want to bother them, but because I can anticipate what their answers may or may not be.

For Katsukity and Pippin, since my sources connecting to them have either shut down or been inactive for over 6 years, I don't expect any of my communication attempts to work. For Katsukity specifically, I would imagine they were swamped with messages after the Bankruptcy from people wondering about the fate of their consoles or mod requests. And, being in a Japanese-speaking area, I am not familiar with common web pages and social media that people use and how to track them down. I then circle back to me not wanting to bother them if they aren't active in their hobby.

There is also the thing about Bankruptcy and if there are legal restrictions Katsukity has. Like, if they had to sell the rights to their capture card design, they would not be able to share it nor would I be able to use it without getting into trouble. I'm not going to pretend that I know the law in that regard, or if any of that is true, but it was something I was thinking of.

For Merki and Loopy, I get the impression that they'd only spend the time and resources IF there was money to be made. This may be an incorrect read on them and I do not imply anything negative with that statement, but they have a business to run. If Katsukity's halt of DSi Capture Units is anything to go off of, I get the impression the money is just not there to justify the R&D and complicated installation. How many people would jump at the chance to buy the Capture Card for a, with respect, irrelevant consoles? Enthusiasts, like myself would be interested, but this is a niche within a niche. I also highly doubt they had anything more than a mutually beneficial business relationship, meaning, they wouldn't have access to the software or hardware used.

I can attempt to communicate with these parties, but this would all be for historical purposes and not for any real practical application. Though that was the stated intention that I had, I also wanted something people had access to today and not a decade ago.

Personally, I'd go with something based on the CH569 simply as a matter of cost, though it has only a small amount of RAM and doesn't have a wide enough parallell bus, so it'll need some extra convincing and mightn't work out. If it fails, probably iCE40HX/MachXO + CH32V307 would be a good alternative. Though as I don't have that much free time, I'm not particularly keen on doing all this by myself. If someone were to e.g. get this to work with a CH569 devboard (<$40 on aliexpress) I could create a custom PCB that's much less clunky to use. But writing all the code as well as designing the PCB is too much stuff I don't have time for right now.

I'm actively trying to suppress the little voice in my head saying "Come on, you have a board, how hard can coding be?" knowing full well my coding "experience" isn't much more than some formulas in Excel.

I have the time, enthusiasm, and a plethora of DSi and DSi XL consoles at my disposal (getting into the refurb business), but the expertise is not there.

So, for now, this Merki reply on their Discord will taunt me.

That delicous-looking pie is high in the sky.

 

[PoroCYon]

I'm actively trying to suppress the little voice in my head saying "Come on, you have a board, how hard can coding be?" knowing full well my coding "experience" isn't much more than some formulas in Excel.

Plus, it's embedded (baremetal, OS-less) programming, while also trying to make something do something it's not quite supposed to do. Mightn't got all that well as your very first venture into programming (also because C (the programming language) kinda sucks, and Rust has a steep learning curve).

Post automatically merged: May 24, 2024

Oh, and on a final note: Raspberry Pi has technically-not-announced their upcoming successor of the RP2040/Pico, the RP235x. If it has USB 2.0/"High Speed" (which isn't known atm), it's probably also a good option, while being easier to code for (due to much more learning resources available compared to the CH56x), so maybe keep an eye out on that (while you could try learning to code with other, more pedagogically-suited projects in the meantime).

 

[KIlly728]

Plus, it's embedded (baremetal, OS-less) programming, while also trying to make something do something it's not quite supposed to do. Mightn't got all that well as your very first venture into programming (also because C (the programming language) kinda sucks, and Rust has a steep learning curve).

Post automatically merged: May 24, 2024

Oh, and on a final note: Raspberry Pi has technically-not-announced their upcoming successor of the RP2040/Pico, the RP235x. If it has USB 2.0/"High Speed" (which isn't known atm), it's probably also a good option, while being easier to code for (due to much more learning resources available compared to the CH56x), so maybe keep an eye out on that (while you could try learning to code with other, more pedagogically-suited projects in the meantime).

My ignorance of the topic only hides the full complexity of the process, but it's something I can look into.

Thank you for the input.

 

[TheStonedModder]

Message Katsukity, and ask for him to open-source the project, so it can live on. I don't know why people are so afraid to reach out to people, but get over your fear of rejection and ask.

They don’t answer anything or care

I’ve worked with them in the past and it was hell