36-way edge connectors and ACID-less cartridge

[Octoate]

What will be your everyday's use with it?

English keyboard layout on a french Plus ...

[MacDeath]

Dear Bryce...
You are definitly Awesome, this is the simplest solution ever yet actually the best.


Every PLUS/GX4000 user do have a least one cartridge (be it burning rubber...)

And as you told, it would be cheaper to by a 36 edge connector than an ACID (or a PAL, PIC, FPGA or whatever).

Even geting a casing for this would be cheaper (I guess)...
So games may be sold with this solution i suppose ?


Or perhaps not...
what is the actual price of such component ? (the 36way connector...)
Must we get 500 of those to get a decent unit price ?

could you tell us more about the total price of such a device you made ?

The board itself seems to be very small...
So you can cut a lot from a bigger print.

From what i see you need only :

=Printed circuit ( perhaps half the size of the one in the cartridge)small)
=the ROM (2 solutions, Flash or not..?)
=a jumper in case you want to be able use the 2 kind of "ROM"...
=the famous 36 way edge connector...

would be cheaper with only one fixed kind or "ROM"...perhaps.

[fano]

Fantastic ! great idea Arnoldemu & Brice , we need this !

[Bryce]

The PCB in the picture is 29mm x 50mm, so you could make 10 of them from a standard 100x160mm PCB (which cost about 2.10€ where I buy my stuff), so the PCB per unit is about 21 cents. If you are supplying the games on Flash only, then you don't need the jumper or the two resistors, just the 32 way socket, a 512K Flash and the 36 way connector. The IC socket cost 46 cents and the Flash can be found for around €5 (less in bulk), but I don't have a supplier for the 36 way connector.

So if you seriously wanted to mass produce a game like this and you bought the parts in bulk, then it would probably cost around 5€ (plus the price of the 36way connector) per unit.

What do I intend doing with it? Nothing. I'm going to stick it in the post to Arnoldemu tomorrow and let him develop some cartridge software with it

Bryce.

[arnoldemu]

Or perhaps not...
what is the actual price of such component ? (the 36way connector...)

The best place I found to source these was rapidonline.com
I could put in an order if there is enough interest.
They don't have stock until april.
But they are the cheapest.

The sockets work at about £1 each.

would be cheaper with only one fixed kind or "ROM"...perhaps.

Yes perhaps if games were made and distributed.


Originally I sent 3 cartridge pcbs to Bryce.
I expected one Acid was broken because I fried the ROM itself many years ago.
I thought the others were ok, but Bryce told me they were broken.
Now I didn't want to open another cartridge or buy one, so i wondered if a acid less solution was possible.

Bryce made it a reality!

So what am I going to do with it? I am going to write some cartridge games.
The first will be a cartridge version of the game I am working on now. It already runs on the plus and uses sprites and colours.
But next, I will try and fit all data into a 512k rom and add a few extras.
So the game will finally be released later this year for CPC (64k compatible), Plus (64k compatible) and Cartridge (64k compatible).

I will share any information I find out during cartridge game development.

I also have plans to modify some existing games to give them plus extras.

[norecess]

That would be awesome if that development system could become mainstream - or at least, accessible to everyone, with an easy process to update the ROM.. I would be quite interested too to use these 512Kb ..

[MacDeath]

with an easy process to update the ROM

Any EEPROM burner...
But the Flash may be even simpler with just some kind of extension port adapter ? (Flash can be written almost like a RAM ? or does it need more power ?

From what I see the PLUS need a definitive OS.

Application cartridges with :
=OS : some sort of Dos or even Symbos/FuturOS with all the "drivers" to enable the various modern stuff : mouse, analogjoy port, CDROM or HDD... even internet solution... and Discology like stuff.
=Soundtraker : definitly...with implementation of DMAs and so on...
=Graphic stuff : sprite maker, OCP art studio and so on...
=Assembler, C compiler and so on...

Concerning games, well... any thing is possible as long as it is ROM friendly.

[Bryce]

Some flashes need higher voltages, but there are 5V programmable flashes available too. But I prefer programming them with a proper EPROM burner rather than a CPC solution, the ROM image is usually on the PC anyway and it's a very quick process to remove the Flash program it and pop it back in, rather than transferring the image to the CPC first.

But, regarding the overall price. There are OTP Flashes (OTP = One Time Programmable) which as the name suggests can only be programmed once, but they only cost around €1.50 each, so if you are sure that your game is finished and won't need updates, and you solder it directly without a socket, then the entire parts for the cartridge with game could be under €3.

Bryce.

BTW, I've seen and answered your comment on the talk page.

[Gryzor]

...and the projects continue... indeed, elegant solution, and very practical, too. Congrats mate

Sorry to be busting your balls, but the MITM page is an orphan right now - could you add links wherever you think them suitable?

[Bryce]

Ha, I added it to the DIY projects list, then only did a preview without saving Have corrected the problem now.

Bryce.

[Gryzor]

Thanks mate It's just that, as long experience (not mine) shows, orphan pages are somewhat dead in the water...

[MacDeath]

You should rename the full topic, as it is no more only about the 36way connector.

Also I saw nowhere in this topic the link to the CPCwiki's page...


http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/MITM


It is now done...

[Gryzor]

What would be the new name be then?

[Bryce]

The link was posted, it is on page 2 of this thread, three or four posts after the pictures I posted. I also changed the Title (twice) to ACID-less cartridge, but it seems to go back to 36way connector when people reply.

Bryce.

[Gryzor]

Renamed it, let's see if it stays that way!

[TFM]

I will be ordering some 36-way edge connectors. The type suitable for plugging cartridges into.

Is there any interest for more? Maybe we could pool together and buy a bigger batch?

Absolutely, depending on the price I would like to take 2-5 (whenever you buy them contact me via email futuresoft at gmx . de   for everything else).

[Bryce]

Hi All,
     in case anyone actually wanted to build the Man In The Middle Cartridge, I've uploaded the layout file to the Wiki. I have so much stuff that I never uploaded, I am trying to catch up and upload everything that was missing.

Bryce.

[TFM]

Hi All,
     in case anyone actually wanted to build the Man In The Middle Cartridge, I've uploaded the layout file to the Wiki. I have so much stuff that I never uploaded, I am trying to catch up and upload everything that was missing.

Bryce.

Great and Thanks a lot! This solution is really innovative 

[Gryzor]

Maybe I should invest some time and learn how to build that stuff... thanks man!