CD Stupid Card 4.0

TailChao · 05/07/2016, 11:14 AM

Hey everyone,

Sorry to bump this topic - but I've been getting PM requests to sell off the extra CD Stupid Cards I have. This is fine, but before I sell any of these I want to make sure everyone's purchased cards are still working fine (since these extras are effectively the "warranty replacements").

If anything has gone awry with your cards, get in touch with me within the next month.

Trenton_net · 05/07/2016, 01:45 PM

Sorry if it was already mentioned, but I assume this card will not support arcade card pro games? I mean, physically impossible to support?

TailChao · 05/07/2016, 01:49 PM

Quote from: Trenton_net on 05/07/2016, 01:45 PMSorry if it was already mentioned, but I assume this card will not support arcade card pro games? I mean, physically impossible to support?

No worries.
But yeah, this card can't support the mapper used in the Arcade Card (Pro). You'd need a larger CPLD (especially in terms of pin count) in order to handle the paging scheme and extra features it has.

If I design another card maybe that will go in. I'd need to actually buy an Arcade Card and confirm it does what the publicly available documentation says first.

Nio · 05/07/2016, 02:19 PM

What do you recommend to do for a full function test?

TailChao · 05/07/2016, 02:47 PM

Quote from: Nio on 05/07/2016, 02:19 PMWhat do you recommend to do for a full function test?

At minimum, the card should be able to start up and run software. The patched BIOS has to go through enough during initialization that it will hit most features.

If you'd like to be thorough (and have a chip programmer), you can reprogram the flash with the hardware test program. This is what I used to verify cards before sending them out to everyone. Note that it doesn't have the predelay for the TurboGrafx reset line issue (but the patched system card does), so it may erroneously fail on some TurboGrafx's - but not on a PCE or Duo.

Trenton_net · 05/07/2016, 03:19 PM

Quote from: TailChao on 05/07/2016, 01:49 PM
Quote from: Trenton_net on 05/07/2016, 01:45 PMSorry if it was already mentioned, but I assume this card will not support arcade card pro games? I mean, physically impossible to support?
No worries.
But yeah, this card can't support the mapper used in the Arcade Card (Pro). You'd need a larger CPLD (especially in terms of pin count) in order to handle the paging scheme and extra features it has.

If I design another card maybe that will go in. I'd need to actually buy an Arcade Card and confirm it does what the publicly available documentation says first.

Ah, thanks for the info. The reason I ask is because even if arcade card pro support costs more to implement, it would be a better alternative than buying a real one. Mostly because for the money, your card would literally be the last one you will ever need. I really don't relish the idea of paying $100 something for a card that only works for a few games (even if they are good). In addition to the fact that IFU-30 owners have no choice except to get a pro card.

TailChao · 05/09/2016, 10:16 AM

Quote from: Trenton_net on 05/07/2016, 03:19 PMAh, thanks for the info. The reason I ask is because even if arcade card pro support costs more to implement, it would be a better alternative than buying a real one. Mostly because for the money, your card would literally be the last one you will ever need. I really don't relish the idea of paying $100 something for a card that only works for a few games (even if they are good). In addition to the fact that IFU-30 owners have no choice except to get a pro card.

I totally understand.

After having some time to think about it - getting an Arcade Card compatible piece of hardware below the $100 range is absolutely feasible. It really shouldn't cost much more than the CD Stupid Card (for the components anyway). But in order to have everything fit in a HuCard sized space and get a reasonably featured CPLD, we need to drop down to 3.3V components with some level shifters. Then use BGA or other small footprints for everything else. The former (level shifters) aren't a huge issue, but I'm not experienced enough with BGA layout and assembly right now to tackle this.

Trenton_net · 05/09/2016, 10:52 AM

Quote from: TailChao on 05/09/2016, 10:16 AM
Quote from: Trenton_net on 05/07/2016, 03:19 PMAh, thanks for the info. The reason I ask is because even if arcade card pro support costs more to implement, it would be a better alternative than buying a real one. Mostly because for the money, your card would literally be the last one you will ever need. I really don't relish the idea of paying $100 something for a card that only works for a few games (even if they are good). In addition to the fact that IFU-30 owners have no choice except to get a pro card.
I totally understand.

After having some time to think about it - getting an Arcade Card compatible piece of hardware below the $100 range is absolutely feasible. It really shouldn't cost much more than the CD Stupid Card (for the components anyway). But in order to have everything fit in a HuCard sized space and get a reasonably featured CPLD, we need to drop down to 3.3V components with some level shifters. Then use BGA or other small footprints for everything else. The former (level shifters) aren't a huge issue, but I'm not experienced enough with BGA layout and assembly right now to tackle this.

Ah, a card under $100 sounds awesome. To be honest, even if it costs more than that I'd still buy one in a heartbeat. Considering how much extra stuff it can do over a real Arcade Card Pro, it's still a swell deal!

It's too bad the Everdrive wasn't designed with this kind of afterthought. If it was extended with a little more features to cover what the Stupid Card does (with support Arcade Card Pro functionality), we wouldn't really be here. Instead of buying three cards (Everdrive, Arcade Card Pro, Stupid Card), we would just need to buy one.

At least if we can get Arcade Card Pro support eventually added to the Stupid Card, it will be clear winner in terms of a cost effective purchase. I don't know about other people, but even if the card ends up being larger than normal Stupid Card version, I'd still be totally cool with getting one. There just isn't anything on the market that addresses this problem, so any solution would be awesome!

thesteve · 08/20/2016, 09:25 PM

lets consider for a sec that 3.3v inputs are never an issue and dont require more then a resistor for compatibility on most chips (worst case resistor and diode)
so for arcade pro we would need to read/decode the whole bus, and produce from it chip select lines for ram
we would also need a few registers to respond back to the system
if we use 5V ram, the registers will need level conversion
if 3.3v ram the data lines will need level conversion
a 3.3V regulator can be used, or 2 diodes will suffice to convert 5V to 3.6V
as for a pro card to test, im sure we can come up with a loaner if you are willing

blueraven · 08/22/2016, 01:10 PM

I'm definitely interested if one of these is still available.

Thanks for the extra info, steve. I would volunteer my card up for testing if it wasnt buried in storage

TailChao · 08/27/2016, 12:46 PM

Quote from: blueraven on 08/22/2016, 01:10 PMI'm definitely interested if one of these is still available.

Thanks for the extra info, steve. I would volunteer my card up for testing if it wasnt buried in storage

Unfortunately, I think all the cards are accounted for unless I can get a few of the botched ones reworked (which won't be soon).

While I'd love to get started on designing a CD-Stupid 5.0 with arcade card compatibility, the biggest obstacle isn't ordering an arcade card but rather engineering time. I've made obligations to ship a game next year and that's already tight. Although afterwards I'd like to take a break or a month or two and maybe then there will be a few opportunities for hardware mischief.

In any case, my notes are available if anyone else would like to try