FDD+IDE controller and Universal Flash ROM cartridge projects + future Multi-soundcard cartridge

incognito ergo sum (116)

04-11-2015, 06:37

Guillian wrote:

MegaFlashROM SCC+ SD works like a slot expander with 4 different cartridges inserted

Which ones? I can figure out three of them:

- Memory mapper
- Flash ROM (is this ROM shared between the SD IF kernel and the ROMs stored in the cartridge?)
- SD interface / disk ROM

What's the fourth one?

Van anonymous

incognito ergo sum (116)

04-11-2015, 06:41

djh1697 wrote:

MG2 is a 2 megabit game which is 512k

2 Megabits equal 256 Kilobytes.

1 megabit = 1,048,576 bytes
1,048,576 bytes / (8 bits/byte) = 131,072 bytes
131,072 bytes / (1024 bytes/kilobyte) = 128 kilobytes

Van Wierzbowsky

Guardian (3608)

05-11-2015, 21:50

Now the multi flash ROM cartridge can run games with all mappers: Ascii 8 bit, Ascii 16 bit, Konami4 and Konami5. It can also be used as a separate SCC cartridge for disk games and demos. We are also planning to put MSX Audio inside.

Van giuseve

Paladin (787)

06-11-2015, 07:55

Sd+megaflash+scc already seen and still available
Sd as standalone cart still available
Msxaudio+msxmusic+moonsound+(sampleram)+(midi)+(v9990) never seen before

It would be great to avoid having so many version of the same solution while others are missing...
...especially on a homebrew world as msx
What do you think?

Van Guillian

Prophet (3517)

06-11-2015, 10:16

JaviLM wrote:

Guillian wrote:

MegaFlashROM SCC+ SD works like a slot expander with 4 different cartridges inserted

Which ones? I can figure out three of them:

- Memory mapper
- Flash ROM (is this ROM shared between the SD IF kernel and the ROMs stored in the cartridge?)
- SD interface / disk ROM

What's the fourth one?

Subslot 0: Recovery menu.
Subslot 1: MegaFlashROM SCC+
Subslot 2: RAM
Subslot 3: Nextor + SD interface + ROM Disk

The flashROM memory is used to store all the firmware (Recovery, DSKROM, Nextor, ROM Disk) and MegaFlashROM SCC+
MegaFlashROM SCC+ can access the whole flashROM (8MB), but OPFXSD limits the access to ~7MB.

Van Wierzbowsky

Guardian (3608)

06-11-2015, 11:17

giuseve wrote:

Sd+megaflash+scc already seen and still available
Sd as standalone cart still available
Msxaudio+msxmusic+moonsound+(sampleram)+(midi)+(v9990) never seen before
It would be great to avoid having so many version of the same solution while others are missing...
...especially on a homebrew world as msx
What do you think?

If everyone would think like that, we would be all driving steam-powered cars and fly in wooden planes. Our goal was not to repeat the same, but to make it cheaper and better. I can't afford paying 150 euro for a cartridge. Our cartridge costs 30 euros + some fun assembling it. I can afford this and I gain experience while soldering it.

Besides the "standard" functionality we will have RAM and MSX Music in this cartridge. The 64mb flash ROM can hold all your favorite games at once so you don't need to re-flash it every time you need a new game. And we will also make a combo music cartridge with lots of nice features that will cost a fraction of Moonsound's price.

Concerning the V9990, if the project owners would share their work instead of sitting tight on their know-how, we would probably include it in our project list.

Van syn

Prophet (2123)

06-11-2015, 15:55

2. yes. MSX-Music as a standard is indeed the OPLL/YM2413, and FM pac is just the normal PAC (for saving game progress/scores) + the msx music part. Which is totally different from the MSX-Audio standard, which contains the Y8950 soundchip. So I was confused when you said MSX Audio

I think I misunderstood your idea, I thought you were going to add the msx music to the flashcart (which already contains SCC), but you meant for the seperate "multi soundchip cartridge" right?

Van giuseve

Paladin (787)

06-11-2015, 16:03

Yes Guys, your work is simply great !!
I was only dreaming about a kitset of 2 cartridges who would add to my NMS8245 upgraded to Plus almost all the best HW features in 2 CART.
Sincerely I think that MFRSCCSD512K is simply great. Ok maybe it is not so cheap, but it really rocks.
With it my MSX now has:
- 640Kram
- SCC+ Audio
- 8Mbit FlashRom
- an SD slot where I can Use a SD as HDD with nextor
.. and it is an Amazing experience...

think about another cart with...
- Moonsound
- MSX Audio
- MSX Music
- something else

So many MSX2 and MSX2+ users would have the ultimate Hardware solution without using a slotexpander

Van Wierzbowsky

Guardian (3608)

06-11-2015, 16:07

syn wrote:

I think I misunderstood your idea, I thought you were going to add the msx music to the flashcart (which already contains SCC), but you meant for the seperate "multi soundchip cartridge" right?

No, you understood me correctly. We are planning to add FMPAC into the flash cartridge if that is possible. The only limitation is the capabilities of our Altera Flex. If we had Cyclone, that would not be a problem. But our Flex is not that powerful. Also don't pay attention to what's written on our current Altera chip. That's Flex, not Max. The Chinese clone with the wrong label.

Van Wierzbowsky

Guardian (3608)

09-11-2015, 00:14

Alexey wrote:

The 64mb flash ROM can hold all your favorite games at once so you don't need to re-flash it every time you need a new game.

Correction, "mbit", not "mb", so 8 megabytes in total. Sorry for the confusion.