TechTools Archives: Re: [techtoolslist] Work in progress, opinio

From: John Robertson <jrr_at_flippers.com>
Date: Tue Sep 16 2003 - 00:02:26 EDT

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David, I am about to run off some test PCBs (double sided) within the
next couple of weeks, and if your schematic is simple enough and the PCB
area is small I could probably make a number of them as part of the run.
The board area I have is in multiples of 4" x 5" and I can
squeeze as many circuits as I like on the space. I get three of my Z80 or
68XX CPU get-wells and about ten 1" x  1.5" boards per
sheet. 
John :-#)# 
At 07:28 PM 15/09/2003 -0700, David Shoemaker wrote: 
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>I like
it, (though I will want the same utility function for the 9100
:) 
  
  
And yes the 9100 keyboard wedge is getting
close.  I spent a wasted week trying to get a software uart to work
so I could use the small sexy 8 pin parts for this.  Yes I know
EVERYONE told me to just use the 20 pin part with the uart built
in.  But I am stubborn, plus I didn't have the 20 pin parts on
hand. 
  
I have parts on order for the 20 pin. 
Once I get them (later this week I expect) it's some code tweaking and
bread boarding to finish it up. 
  
Then I will probably just release the works to
the list, while I would really like to get a pcb made for it I haven't
got the first idea how to start that process.  And this thing is
going to be dead simple to build on protoboard I think. 
  
David

<dl>
<dd>----- Original Message -----

<dd>From: <a href="mailto:james@quarterarcade.com">James Bright</a>

<dd>To: <a href="mailto:techtoolslist@flippers.com">techtoolslist@flippers.com</a>

<dd>Sent: Monday, September 15, 2003 6:33 PM

<dd>Subject: [techtoolslist] Work in progress, opinions...

<dd>

<dd>Well, I’m not really working on boards or 9010A scripts right now because I know the 9100A keyboard converter is near complete (or at least I hope! :)  So I’ve been playing around with something that kev and John were talking about a while ago.

<dd>

<dd>I’ve been hacking around the MAME code, and I’ve got it to the point where I can walk through the data structures and pull out information like ROM files and addresses, and read & write addresses. What I am thinking of building is a simple “pre-code” generator that will help you build a 9010A script based on this simple memory map. It would build the map for any of the supported MAME games (even if the game isn’t working; that is not what is important). It could also link you directly to the MAME source code for quick reference. Just wondering if people would find this helpful or useful. Although it would be a first pass, here are possible pitfalls:

<dd>

<dd>* ROM banking is frequently “hacked” in MAME (see Qix.c)

<dd>* read/write addresses in software are not always read/write in hardware

<dd>* I have no good way to insert the actual 9010A signatures right now because I would need to have all of the MAME ROMs (I don’t) and my programs don’t yet unzip the ROMs

<dd>* I don’t know exactly how precise or accurate the memory map is in MAME

<dd>* I almost guarantee mismatches between reality and the MAME driver :) Not that the programmers didn’t do a good job, but just that the software emulation might not match the actual hardware

<dd>

<dd>But… the good would be that you have something to start with given a game that you’ve never worked on (the memory map is usually where I start). I would also be able to add in other hardware information to my database (CPU, # CPUs, type, etc.) and provide a cross reference to other games.

<dd>

<dd>Does this reference material sound helpful? John, is this sort of what you’d had envisioned?

<dd>--James Bright

<dd>www.QuarterArcade.com

<dd>Restored Arcade Games for your Home

<dd>

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Received on Mon Sep 15 21:43:08 2003

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Re: [techtoolslist] Work in progress, opinions...