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Ive been looking into getting new 32kb master system pcbs made, im in talks with a manufacturer to make them, only thing is I need a guy to design the pcb in a "cad" file, but that would cost me a bit. Im just wondering if anyone had ever had these made or has experience making these files? Any help would be great!

little-scale, but I think in a limited quantity.
http://little-scale.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/blank-sega-master-system-reproductio...

The CAD file format for PCBs is known as Gerber
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerber_format
typically made in software such as EAGLE or if you like open source, Fritzing

db-elec is already making this and much more, check this.

Ive seen littlescale, he helped me learn to make repros, im not looking at anything too flash, just new 32kb boards I can use 27c256 eproms, in :)

I use a service called ExpressPCB. It's typically for making prototypes, but I've been using it to make small runs of 32kb boards that use the old 27C256, 28 pin DIP chips. They make you use a proprietary program that uses "*.pcb" file that really isn't a Gerber file, which is kind of a douche move, but at least the resulting circuit works.

What kind of quantities are you looking to make? 10? 100?

SegaMilestones wrote

Ive been looking into getting new 32kb master system pcbs made, im in talks with a manufacturer to make them, only thing is I need a guy to design the pcb in a "cad" file, but that would cost me a bit. Im just wondering if anyone had ever had these made or has experience making these files? Any help would be great!

Your name wouldnt happen to be Nick would it?

Yup, it is? We talking on facebook?

SegaMilestones wrote

Yup, it is? We talking on facebook?

Its a small world then. I did the quotes for you last week on the boards :)

What package rom are you wanting to use, a standard through hole one or something surface mount?

Sent you a pm, on another note, do any companies, im assuming Asian is best source, make sms reproduction cartridge shells, locally its bout $6k to get a mold done for injection molding but that aint gona happen lol

We've gone through the rounds for getting repro carts made, it's going to cost someone a lot of money to get the moulds made (even if it is right first time, which would be lucky) and nobody's taken the plunge yet.

Having them 3d printed is probably a more doable way for a small run. You would still need to a 3d model drawn up in solidworks or something similar to get a set of files for it though.

wasup wrote

Having them 3d printed is probably a more doable way for a small run. You would still need to a 3d model drawn up in solidworks or something similar to get a set of files for it though.

But quality is going to be awnful...

It's a big problem having the mold made, Doing it in steel can cost as much as half a Mortgage!

kusfo wrote

But quality is going to be awnful...

Thats fairly relative to the print technology and quality of machine though. Cheap plastic extrusion 3d printers will give you a fairly rough print. Proper commercial machines are far more accurate and give way better results. Ive seen parts made on a type of machine that uses a laser to form objects in a bath of resin and the end result was perfect.

[quote="wasup"]

kusfo wrote

But quality is going to be awnful.../quote]

Thats fairly relative to the print technology and quality of machine though. Cheap plastic extrusion 3d printers will give you a fairly rough print. Proper commercial machines are far more accurate and give way better results. Ive seen parts made on a type of machine that uses a laser to form objects in a bath of resin and the end result was perfect.

Oh, ok, but i was thinking on a consumer grade 3d printer. We tried that in 1985Alternativo before turning to molds...

I spoke to a company up the from work today about 3d printing these cart cases. Doing it on an extrusion printer with PLA was suggested but it would probably be $20-30 each, so probably not worth the hassle. Doing it on an SLA machine (using lasers and resin) would give a perfect finish but is more costly and the resin plastic is effected by UV light and moisture and tends to degrade quickly, so would need painting etc. Again, not worth the hassle.

A prototype mold for injection molding on the other hand could be done for around $3 - $5k USD and would have a usable life of around 10,000 units before getting worn and causing tolerance issues. A production mold would be 10k+ that but would have a much better life span.

If any one was serious about doing this a crowd source funding project would be the way to go. You would only need 1000 cases sold as pre-sales to make it worth while. $5000/1000 = $5, and ~ $1 per case for actually producing them, your looking at ~$6 each. That should still be cheaper than buying used games for their cases. After that its then ~$1 per case, probably cheaper in china.

If we could find someone with experience in this area it might be worth pursuing, but as amateurs we'll screw up the moulds and multiply the costs up. 1000 cases will be hard to sell, let alone pre-sell.

Maxim wrote

If we could find someone with experience in this area it might be worth pursuing, but as amateurs we'll screw up the moulds and multiply the costs up. 1000 cases will be hard to sell, let alone pre-sell.

We already made moulds for GBA and NES, and we've SMS on our mind but it would be a greater risk because Master System is quite "niche"....

Maxim wrote

If we could find someone with experience in this area it might be worth pursuing, but as amateurs we'll screw up the moulds and multiply the costs up. 1000 cases will be hard to sell, let alone pre-sell.

I don't know if this is blasphemous or not, but why not talk to people who make new Ni*****do cases? www.infiniteneslives.com sells a variety of new cases. Maybe they have a source that we can use.

Also, the Genesis/Mega Drive cartridges have the same dimensions as a Master System cartridge, minus the curves on the front. The people who sold Bill's Tomato Game claim to have used 100% new Genesis cartridges. If you change where the holes are on the PCB board, an SMS board could be put in a Genesis cartridge, and you could still plug it into your SMS.

dragonfeet wrote

If you change where the holes are on the PCB board, an SMS board could be put in a Genesis cartridge, and you could still plug it into your SMS.

Really? This is interesting! The homebrew cart db-elec is doing might have both holes for SMS and Genesis carts... mmm.... sleek!

Mega Drive carts are wider at the back, they don't fit in the SMS. Conversely SMS carts are wider at the front and dont fit in the Mega Drive. Sega were pretty inventive with their cart shapes, all four of their SMS and Mega Drive cart types only fit in the console they were intended for.

So you could make a case to fit both, badly...

A mega master cartridge, id be keen to see a mock up

BKK wrote

Mega Drive carts are wider at the back, they don't fit in the SMS. Conversely SMS carts are wider at the front and dont fit in the Mega Drive.

Maybe it's possible to design a case that can be used as SMS shell or as MegaDrive shell if turned around? I wonder...

I just want new cartridge shells, not the smooth ones, the nice textured front ones, so much sexier

sverx wrote

BKK wrote

Mega Drive carts are wider at the back, they don't fit in the SMS. Conversely SMS carts are wider at the front and dont fit in the Mega Drive.

Maybe it's possible to design a case that can be used as SMS shell or as MegaDrive shell if turned around? I wonder...

It's simple to design one that fits in both the same way (Just a Mega Drive cart with the the back a few mm less wide), it's just that Sega probably intentionally designed them not to fit in the wrong console. Still, I don't really see the point in a duel Mega Drive - Master System cart shell, bootleg Mega Drive games are still being manufactured today, and blank Mega Drive cart shells can be bought in bulk from China.

BKK wrote

blank Mega Drive cart shells can be bought in bulk from China.

... but we need SMS shells :|

What would be the result of just buying mass-produced Sega Genesis cart shells and then cutting them into shape?

Holes in the cartridges.

A bit of a long shot, but maybe some old SMS cart manufacturers such as Codemasters, Ozisoft, HES, TecToy etc still have their moulds stored somewhere that they'd be willing to sell.

Don't mould usually only last for a certain amount of runs? before they start to wear out and need replacing, im sure the moulds are well used by now lol

Just wanted to ask if anyone has had any luck with getting a PCB manufactured that could just take a AM29F040 flash chip or even a direct fit eprom. I guess once that's done it wont be long until new cases come along.

Ive replicated a standard 32k sega board. A 27C256 works fine. Ive also tried a w27c512, just half full, and that works fine too. Without a mapper chip your limited to 32k games though.

05d7hBtWxdEpBskC3f_6apC1aSx_GN9SmyxJ9WDO40w=w845-h634-no.jpg (110.51 KB)

mD0tQ6f-mpnLvMjzM7lqvQEXZ2m4BazJPdhycpc1Inw=w845-h634-no.jpg (68.65 KB)

wasup wrote

Ive replicated a standard 32k sega board. A 27C256 works fine. Ive also tried a w27c512, just half full, and that works fine too. Without a mapper chip your limited to 32k games though.

Amazing work. The boards look perfect. What's your next step? Have you considered selling some to make some of your costs back?

My knowledge is very poor but wonder if you could make a v2 that had space for a mapper and maybe a battery backup?

Ive only made a few but i can make more if any one wants them.

DB electronics was working on something with mappers and battery back up ram etc.

http://www.db-elec.com/home/lab-posts/smshomebrewcpldfirmwarelookingpromising

Ive got one of these boards, off him, although mine was a sexy red colour, I highly recommend these! if only I had brand new sms shells to go with them!

wasup wrote

Ive only made a few but i can make more if any one wants them.

DB electronics was working on something with mappers and battery back up ram etc.

http://www.db-elec.com/home/lab-posts/smshomebrewcpldfirmwarelookingpromising

I wonder why barely anyone uses brand new Flash instead of NOS EPROM?

fiatbravodriver wrote

Just wanted to ask if anyone has had any luck with getting a PCB manufactured that could just take a AM29F040 flash chip or even a direct fit eprom. I guess once that's done it wont be long until new cases come along.

My cart accepts a 29Fx00, the 16bit wide flash ICs but used in byte mode. These are available brand new at Digikey. The only real last hurdle is to write to the cart through the mapper - my burner PCBs just shipped from the manufacturer today so I'm pretty excited about that.

2Mbit chip, but it comes in 2, 4 and 8Mbit.
http://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/MX29F200CBTI-70G/1092-1018-ND/2744701

What this allows essentially is that the boards can be mass-made by some contract manufacturer in China (you can get good deals even on low quantities such as 100) and then you can flash them on your own without the need for an EPROM burner and sockets. Well, you need my burner but at least it takes soldering out of the equation. Furthermore, because the cart itself is writeable it allows you to change the program in the cart at will.

http://www.db-elec.com/home/lab-posts/smsflashcarts-functionsramsavefeature

db-electronics wrote

fiatbravodriver wrote

Just wanted to ask if anyone has had any luck with getting a PCB manufactured that could just take a AM29F040 flash chip or even a direct fit eprom. I guess once that's done it wont be long until new cases come along.

My cart accepts a 29Fx00, the 16bit wide flash ICs but used in byte mode. These are available brand new at Digikey. The only real last hurdle is to write to the cart through the mapper - my burner PCBs just shipped from the manufacturer today so I'm pretty excited about that.

2Mbit chip, but it comes in 2, 4 and 8Mbit.
http://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/MX29F200CBTI-70G/1092-1018-ND/2744701

What this allows essentially is that the boards can be mass-made by some contract manufacturer in China (you can get good deals even on low quantities such as 100) and then you can flash them on your own without the need for an EPROM burner and sockets. Well, you need my burner but at least it takes soldering out of the equation. Furthermore, because the cart itself is writeable it allows you to change the program in the cart at will.

http://www.db-elec.com/home/lab-posts/smsflashcarts-functionsramsavefeature

This sounds perfect please keep me posted. Really excited.

Author	Message
SegaMilestones Joined: 17 May 2014 Posts: 21 Location: New Zealand	32KB PCB production Posted: Tue May 12, 2015 8:33 am
	Ive been looking into getting new 32kb master system pcbs made, im in talks with a manufacturer to make them, only thing is I need a guy to design the pcb in a "cad" file, but that would cost me a bit. Im just wondering if anyone had ever had these made or has experience making these files? Any help would be great!

DMEnduro Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 420 Location: Australia	Posted: Tue May 12, 2015 11:05 am
	little-scale, but I think in a limited quantity. http://little-scale.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/blank-sega-master-system-reproductio... The CAD file format for PCBs is known as Gerber http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerber_format typically made in software such as EAGLE or if you like open source, Fritzing

sverx Joined: 05 Sep 2013 Posts: 3828 Location: Stockholm, Sweden	Posted: Tue May 12, 2015 12:26 pm
	db-elec is already making this and much more, check this.

SegaMilestones Joined: 17 May 2014 Posts: 21 Location: New Zealand	Posted: Wed May 13, 2015 9:06 am
	Ive seen littlescale, he helped me learn to make repros, im not looking at anything too flash, just new 32kb boards I can use 27c256 eproms, in :)

dragonfeet Joined: 08 Oct 2012 Posts: 108 Location: Colmar PA, United States	Posted: Thu May 14, 2015 12:26 am
	I use a service called ExpressPCB. It's typically for making prototypes, but I've been using it to make small runs of 32kb boards that use the old 27C256, 28 pin DIP chips. They make you use a proprietary program that uses "*.pcb" file that really isn't a Gerber file, which is kind of a douche move, but at least the resulting circuit works. What kind of quantities are you looking to make? 10? 100?

wasup Joined: 05 Nov 2014 Posts: 435 Location: Auckland - NZ	Posted: Thu May 14, 2015 2:08 am
	SegaMilestones wrote Ive been looking into getting new 32kb master system pcbs made, im in talks with a manufacturer to make them, only thing is I need a guy to design the pcb in a "cad" file, but that would cost me a bit. Im just wondering if anyone had ever had these made or has experience making these files? Any help would be great! Your name wouldnt happen to be Nick would it?

SegaMilestones Joined: 17 May 2014 Posts: 21 Location: New Zealand	Posted: Sun May 17, 2015 12:43 pm
	Yup, it is? We talking on facebook?

wasup Joined: 05 Nov 2014 Posts: 435 Location: Auckland - NZ	Posted: Mon May 18, 2015 8:13 am
	SegaMilestones wrote Yup, it is? We talking on facebook? Its a small world then. I did the quotes for you last week on the boards :) What package rom are you wanting to use, a standard through hole one or something surface mount?

SegaMilestones Joined: 17 May 2014 Posts: 21 Location: New Zealand	Posted: Mon May 18, 2015 9:33 am
	Sent you a pm, on another note, do any companies, im assuming Asian is best source, make sms reproduction cartridge shells, locally its bout $6k to get a mold done for injection molding but that aint gona happen lol

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Mon May 18, 2015 1:22 pm
	We've gone through the rounds for getting repro carts made, it's going to cost someone a lot of money to get the moulds made (even if it is right first time, which would be lucky) and nobody's taken the plunge yet.

wasup Joined: 05 Nov 2014 Posts: 435 Location: Auckland - NZ	Posted: Mon May 18, 2015 11:06 pm
	Having them 3d printed is probably a more doable way for a small run. You would still need to a 3d model drawn up in solidworks or something similar to get a set of files for it though.

kusfo Joined: 29 Mar 2012 Posts: 886 Location: Spain	Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 6:49 am
kusfo Joined: 29 Mar 2012 Posts: 886 Location: Spain	wasup wrote Having them 3d printed is probably a more doable way for a small run. You would still need to a 3d model drawn up in solidworks or something similar to get a set of files for it though. But quality is going to be awnful... It's a big problem having the mold made, Doing it in steel can cost as much as half a Mortgage!

wasup Joined: 05 Nov 2014 Posts: 435 Location: Auckland - NZ	Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 7:37 am
	kusfo wrote But quality is going to be awnful... Thats fairly relative to the print technology and quality of machine though. Cheap plastic extrusion 3d printers will give you a fairly rough print. Proper commercial machines are far more accurate and give way better results. Ive seen parts made on a type of machine that uses a laser to form objects in a bath of resin and the end result was perfect.

kusfo Joined: 29 Mar 2012 Posts: 886 Location: Spain	Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 7:39 am
kusfo Joined: 29 Mar 2012 Posts: 886 Location: Spain	[quote="wasup"] kusfo wrote But quality is going to be awnful.../quote] Thats fairly relative to the print technology and quality of machine though. Cheap plastic extrusion 3d printers will give you a fairly rough print. Proper commercial machines are far more accurate and give way better results. Ive seen parts made on a type of machine that uses a laser to form objects in a bath of resin and the end result was perfect. Oh, ok, but i was thinking on a consumer grade 3d printer. We tried that in 1985Alternativo before turning to molds...

wasup Joined: 05 Nov 2014 Posts: 435 Location: Auckland - NZ	Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 7:07 am
	I spoke to a company up the from work today about 3d printing these cart cases. Doing it on an extrusion printer with PLA was suggested but it would probably be $20-30 each, so probably not worth the hassle. Doing it on an SLA machine (using lasers and resin) would give a perfect finish but is more costly and the resin plastic is effected by UV light and moisture and tends to degrade quickly, so would need painting etc. Again, not worth the hassle. A prototype mold for injection molding on the other hand could be done for around $3 - $5k USD and would have a usable life of around 10,000 units before getting worn and causing tolerance issues. A production mold would be 10k+ that but would have a much better life span. If any one was serious about doing this a crowd source funding project would be the way to go. You would only need 1000 cases sold as pre-sales to make it worth while. $5000/1000 = $5, and ~ $1 per case for actually producing them, your looking at ~$6 each. That should still be cheaper than buying used games for their cases. After that its then ~$1 per case, probably cheaper in china.

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 7:36 am
	If we could find someone with experience in this area it might be worth pursuing, but as amateurs we'll screw up the moulds and multiply the costs up. 1000 cases will be hard to sell, let alone pre-sell.

kusfo Joined: 29 Mar 2012 Posts: 886 Location: Spain	Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 8:43 am
kusfo Joined: 29 Mar 2012 Posts: 886 Location: Spain	Maxim wrote If we could find someone with experience in this area it might be worth pursuing, but as amateurs we'll screw up the moulds and multiply the costs up. 1000 cases will be hard to sell, let alone pre-sell. We already made moulds for GBA and NES, and we've SMS on our mind but it would be a greater risk because Master System is quite "niche"....

dragonfeet Joined: 08 Oct 2012 Posts: 108 Location: Colmar PA, United States	Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 10:18 pm
	Maxim wrote If we could find someone with experience in this area it might be worth pursuing, but as amateurs we'll screw up the moulds and multiply the costs up. 1000 cases will be hard to sell, let alone pre-sell. I don't know if this is blasphemous or not, but why not talk to people who make new Ni*****do cases? www.infiniteneslives.com sells a variety of new cases. Maybe they have a source that we can use. Also, the Genesis/Mega Drive cartridges have the same dimensions as a Master System cartridge, minus the curves on the front. The people who sold Bill's Tomato Game claim to have used 100% new Genesis cartridges. If you change where the holes are on the PCB board, an SMS board could be put in a Genesis cartridge, and you could still plug it into your SMS.

sverx Joined: 05 Sep 2013 Posts: 3828 Location: Stockholm, Sweden	Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 8:22 am
	dragonfeet wrote If you change where the holes are on the PCB board, an SMS board could be put in a Genesis cartridge, and you could still plug it into your SMS. Really? This is interesting! The homebrew cart db-elec is doing might have both holes for SMS and Genesis carts... mmm.... sleek!

BKK Joined: 01 May 2011 Posts: 469	Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 7:11 pm
BKK Joined: 01 May 2011 Posts: 469	Mega Drive carts are wider at the back, they don't fit in the SMS. Conversely SMS carts are wider at the front and dont fit in the Mega Drive. Sega were pretty inventive with their cart shapes, all four of their SMS and Mega Drive cart types only fit in the console they were intended for.

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 8:58 pm
	So you could make a case to fit both, badly...

SegaMilestones Joined: 17 May 2014 Posts: 21 Location: New Zealand	Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 4:25 am
	A mega master cartridge, id be keen to see a mock up

sverx Joined: 05 Sep 2013 Posts: 3828 Location: Stockholm, Sweden	Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 7:53 am
	BKK wrote Mega Drive carts are wider at the back, they don't fit in the SMS. Conversely SMS carts are wider at the front and dont fit in the Mega Drive. Maybe it's possible to design a case that can be used as SMS shell or as MegaDrive shell if turned around? I wonder...

SegaMilestones Joined: 17 May 2014 Posts: 21 Location: New Zealand	Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 10:43 am
	I just want new cartridge shells, not the smooth ones, the nice textured front ones, so much sexier

BKK Joined: 01 May 2011 Posts: 469	Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 8:24 pm
BKK Joined: 01 May 2011 Posts: 469	sverx wrote BKK wrote Mega Drive carts are wider at the back, they don't fit in the SMS. Conversely SMS carts are wider at the front and dont fit in the Mega Drive. Maybe it's possible to design a case that can be used as SMS shell or as MegaDrive shell if turned around? I wonder... It's simple to design one that fits in both the same way (Just a Mega Drive cart with the the back a few mm less wide), it's just that Sega probably intentionally designed them not to fit in the wrong console. Still, I don't really see the point in a duel Mega Drive - Master System cart shell, bootleg Mega Drive games are still being manufactured today, and blank Mega Drive cart shells can be bought in bulk from China.

sverx Joined: 05 Sep 2013 Posts: 3828 Location: Stockholm, Sweden	Posted: Sat May 23, 2015 2:43 pm
	BKK wrote blank Mega Drive cart shells can be bought in bulk from China. ... but we need SMS shells :\|

haroldoop Joined: 25 Feb 2006 Posts: 874 Location: Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil	Posted: Sat May 23, 2015 8:40 pm
	What would be the result of just buying mass-produced Sega Genesis cart shells and then cutting them into shape?

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Sun May 24, 2015 10:19 am
	Holes in the cartridges.

BKK Joined: 01 May 2011 Posts: 469	Posted: Sun May 24, 2015 10:48 am
BKK Joined: 01 May 2011 Posts: 469	A bit of a long shot, but maybe some old SMS cart manufacturers such as Codemasters, Ozisoft, HES, TecToy etc still have their moulds stored somewhere that they'd be willing to sell.

SegaMilestones Joined: 17 May 2014 Posts: 21 Location: New Zealand	Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 9:20 am
	Don't mould usually only last for a certain amount of runs? before they start to wear out and need replacing, im sure the moulds are well used by now lol

fiatbravodriver Joined: 17 Aug 2014 Posts: 7 Location: Bristol UK	Pcb's Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2015 4:23 pm
	Just wanted to ask if anyone has had any luck with getting a PCB manufactured that could just take a AM29F040 flash chip or even a direct fit eprom. I guess once that's done it wont be long until new cases come along.

wasup Joined: 05 Nov 2014 Posts: 435 Location: Auckland - NZ	Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2015 11:05 pm
	Ive replicated a standard 32k sega board. A 27C256 works fine. Ive also tried a w27c512, just half full, and that works fine too. Without a mapper chip your limited to 32k games though. 05d7hBtWxdEpBskC3f_6apC1aSx_GN9SmyxJ9WDO40w=w845-h634-no.jpg (110.51 KB) mD0tQ6f-mpnLvMjzM7lqvQEXZ2m4BazJPdhycpc1Inw=w845-h634-no.jpg (68.65 KB)

fiatbravodriver Joined: 17 Aug 2014 Posts: 7 Location: Bristol UK	Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2015 11:54 pm
	wasup wrote Ive replicated a standard 32k sega board. A 27C256 works fine. Ive also tried a w27c512, just half full, and that works fine too. Without a mapper chip your limited to 32k games though. Amazing work. The boards look perfect. What's your next step? Have you considered selling some to make some of your costs back? My knowledge is very poor but wonder if you could make a v2 that had space for a mapper and maybe a battery backup?

wasup Joined: 05 Nov 2014 Posts: 435 Location: Auckland - NZ	Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 12:50 am
	Ive only made a few but i can make more if any one wants them. DB electronics was working on something with mappers and battery back up ram etc. http://www.db-elec.com/home/lab-posts/smshomebrewcpldfirmwarelookingpromising

SegaMilestones Joined: 17 May 2014 Posts: 21 Location: New Zealand	Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 6:44 am
	Ive got one of these boards, off him, although mine was a sexy red colour, I highly recommend these! if only I had brand new sms shells to go with them!

db-electronics Joined: 06 Dec 2013 Posts: 335 Location: Canada	Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 3:35 pm
	wasup wrote Ive only made a few but i can make more if any one wants them. DB electronics was working on something with mappers and battery back up ram etc. http://www.db-elec.com/home/lab-posts/smshomebrewcpldfirmwarelookingpromising I wonder why barely anyone uses brand new Flash instead of NOS EPROM?

db-electronics Joined: 06 Dec 2013 Posts: 335 Location: Canada	Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 3:39 pm
	fiatbravodriver wrote Just wanted to ask if anyone has had any luck with getting a PCB manufactured that could just take a AM29F040 flash chip or even a direct fit eprom. I guess once that's done it wont be long until new cases come along. My cart accepts a 29Fx00, the 16bit wide flash ICs but used in byte mode. These are available brand new at Digikey. The only real last hurdle is to write to the cart through the mapper - my burner PCBs just shipped from the manufacturer today so I'm pretty excited about that. 2Mbit chip, but it comes in 2, 4 and 8Mbit. http://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/MX29F200CBTI-70G/1092-1018-ND/2744701 What this allows essentially is that the boards can be mass-made by some contract manufacturer in China (you can get good deals even on low quantities such as 100) and then you can flash them on your own without the need for an EPROM burner and sockets. Well, you need my burner but at least it takes soldering out of the equation. Furthermore, because the cart itself is writeable it allows you to change the program in the cart at will. http://www.db-elec.com/home/lab-posts/smsflashcarts-functionsramsavefeature

fiatbravodriver Joined: 17 Aug 2014 Posts: 7 Location: Bristol UK	Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 4:27 pm
	db-electronics wrote fiatbravodriver wrote Just wanted to ask if anyone has had any luck with getting a PCB manufactured that could just take a AM29F040 flash chip or even a direct fit eprom. I guess once that's done it wont be long until new cases come along. My cart accepts a 29Fx00, the 16bit wide flash ICs but used in byte mode. These are available brand new at Digikey. The only real last hurdle is to write to the cart through the mapper - my burner PCBs just shipped from the manufacturer today so I'm pretty excited about that. 2Mbit chip, but it comes in 2, 4 and 8Mbit. http://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/MX29F200CBTI-70G/1092-1018-ND/2744701 What this allows essentially is that the boards can be mass-made by some contract manufacturer in China (you can get good deals even on low quantities such as 100) and then you can flash them on your own without the need for an EPROM burner and sockets. Well, you need my burner but at least it takes soldering out of the equation. Furthermore, because the cart itself is writeable it allows you to change the program in the cart at will. http://www.db-elec.com/home/lab-posts/smsflashcarts-functionsramsavefeature This sounds perfect please keep me posted. Really excited.

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