This sale includes the NEO POCKET Flasmasta & USB Flashlinker.
NGPC Flash Cartridge Kits Now Available!!
This sale includes the NEO POCKET Flasmasta & USB Flashlinker.
FLAVOR has just recently figured out the VHDL code for our NGPC "Memory Bank controller" chip. So now we are able to load our own NGPC Game images or custom code on the real hardware!
-=Durring the Development Process=-
Back in January I was asked to work on a project by a talented Programming expert A.K.A. "FLAVOR" to help build a flash cartridge for the NEO GEO Pocket Color.
Now this is not as simple as the former carts I have worked on for the Nintendo GameBoy or the SEGA Game Gear. There is actually some programming required to get this to work properly. The individual I have teamed up with, A.K.A. "FLAVOR", has done some very intense research on the subject of "Flash carts for the NGPC". He also has a vast understanding of the internal functions of the NGPC platform and has done some amazing game programming for the NGPC...in many flavors!! HEHE!
Esentially the NGPC performs a verification protocol which sends out a signal to the attached cartridge and verifies whether the memory chips that are present on the cartridge, are in fact legit SNK NGPC issued chips. It does this by checking the chips Manufacturer ID code.
An NGPC cartridge with an official SNK memory chip shown in the image below.
This was SNK's way of preventing D.I.Y. Flash carts from surfacing onto the market by third party developers. Such a Flash cart would of course lower their game sales. Well, they were quite successful. There has only been one or two Flash cart models ever built for the NGP or NGPC,
like the BUNG 32Mbit Flash Linker and cartridge as seen below.
My College studies brought this project to a complete halt until just recently. I just completed my College winter semester and so I'm now ready to dive in head first. My part in this project is to build the hardware. "FLAVOR" has continued to work on the programming side of things durring my time out. He Designed a Prototype Schematic and PCB for the Flash cart with the help of the Eagle software MasterMind "Snow_Cat" http://meow-snow.blogspot.com/.
Flavor shipped off a few Prototype PCB's for me to populate and test. He has also been programming a VHDL algorythm for the Flash cart's on-board "Altera EPM3032ALC-44" CPLD. This chip will allow alternate Flash memory chips to be interfaced to the NGPC platform, and be programmed with our own custom game code or game images.
I rigged up a PLCC socket to the prototype Cartridge PCB for testing various CPLDs.
After working on this for a few Months we began to make some great advances. Flavor would email me some code to test on the hardware. After running the tests, I would email him back with the results. Flavor was then able to tweek the code as required based on the feedback I would send him. After doing this a few dozen times, Flavor made some significant advances with the VHDL code to the point that it should have worked. However it didn't seem to load on our Prototype PCB. Flavor believed it was the Flash chips we were currently using.
It was aparent that this first set of prototype PCB's mainly served as the platform required for us to test the Flash memory interface. It allowed us to configure the CPLD with the proper code for controlling the Flash memory "Manufacturer ID" values. Once Flavor had the proper code figured out, he then ordered new Flash Memory chips that allowed the system to boot up properly on the NGPC. We later tested our CPLD on an Official BUNG flash cart and it loaded up just fine. So this indicated that Flavor was correct, and the first set of FLash chips we used on our Prototype, were not 100% compatible with the NGPC. Flavor has just recently tested the CPLD with the new flash memory chips and it works perfectly as seen in the video at the top of the page.
Anyhow, You can check out the latest details for this project on FLAVORS website BLOG, he has also built the USB linker for reading and programming our Flash chartridge; as well as existing NGPC & BUNG cartridges. Awesome Stuff!!
See the Latest details on FLAVORS website & BLOG shown Below:
