Hi,

Posting a separate thread specifically about my VB cart programmer. As I mentioned in another thread this can dump the ram/rom space of any VB game. Also allows writing to ram/rom of my custom 16Mbit carts. I’m adding support for my larger 256Mbit cart as well.

I’ll be building a few of these programmers in the next month or so and I’m wondering if anyone has any interest in them. Some free ones will be going to developers for games that need the larger 256Mbit cart. This is really meant as a developer tool but putting it out there for anyone. PM me if interested.

You can see more info here: http://www.mellottsvrpage.com/index.php/virtual-boy-cartridge-programmer/

Thanks,
Kevin

Attachments:

1. 

   a3388100-dd79-4ffc-a493-c30d1b51caf6.jpeg
   

I just wanted to thank you.

It seems like you are making an effort to give credit where its due lately and I really appreciate you taking the time to do so. Being such a tight community is the only reason I got upset way back in the first place. It just drove me nuts to think anyone here would feel taken advantage of.

You’ve done a lot to kick the community into gear, and for that, I want to say thank you.

Just got mine today, I have the 6th one built.
Is their alternative applications that would work for Mac or Linux (rpi3) ?

Attachments:

1. 

   fa95c48c-1344-442c-ad2b-c01b3cbc2fe2-scaled.jpeg
   

Wow Kevin! Love how the revised model looks! I like how you still kept it VB themed with the red and black, too.

Schwanck wrote:
Just got mine today, I have the 6th one built.
Is their alternative applications that would work for Mac or Linux (rpi3) ?

Any terminal program that can read/write the serial port will work with the programmer for any platform.

It was a busy weekend.

Attachments:

1. 

   e006f960-6ef6-4d8b-bced-b144f8863d7d-scaled.jpeg
   

Man, the more you post these the more I wanna save up to potentially buy one.

I’m building up the last of the units tonight. I have two more available if anyone wants one. I don’t intend on building anymore of the VB mini looking units in the future.

How many did you end up building?
Hopefully soon I’ll buy a 128 and a 256 cart

15 programmers have shipped with an assortment of carts. 4 of the 15 went free to devs who have done games in the past. Every programmer got a reprogrammable 16Mbit cart. A large portion also got the 128Mbit cart. Only a few dev units got a 256Mbit cart.

I have two more in the VB mini case and another that will be in the red box enclosure shown previously in this thread. I’ll most likely keep the box enclosure unit.

The project went well and I’ll post minor updates on my site. Otherwise this project is now complete. Thanks everyone!

OK, here’s the one I built with a more regular case. Quite nice. Easier to build and cheaper.

Attachments:

1. 

   vb-cart-programmer-regular-case.jpg
   

if there is any still available, I want to buy one. 128 or 256 if possible

[mellott124]

These are all gone now. Thanks.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 3 months ago by mellott124.

I’ll post this question for @mellott124 here in case it is of general interest to folks that have these.

Regarding the external power supply, if I understood it correctly, you have said that you don’t personally use one and one may not be required if the PC USBs supply enough power. So, how would you know if you needed to use a power supply? Random shutdowns/reboots of the programmer, I would presume? If so, is there any danger of corrupting anything with the programmer or carts if it shuts down midstream?

I’d rather not bother with it if I don’t need one, but if there is some consequence to be avoided I’d rather be safe than sorry.

astro187 wrote:
I’ll post this question for @mellott124 here in case it is of general interest to folks that have these.

Regarding the external power supply, if I understood it correctly, you have said that you don’t personally use one and one may not be required if the PC USBs supply enough power. So, how would you know if you needed to use a power supply? Random shutdowns/reboots of the programmer, I would presume? If so, is there any danger of corrupting anything with the programmer or carts if it shuts down midstream?

I’d rather not bother with it if I don’t need one, but if there is some consequence to be avoided I’d rather be safe than sorry.

Brownout is what happens. What happens during a brownout is undefined so hard to say what would happen. Most desktop USB ports should be fine. Any USB 3.0 is probably fine. If you see odd behavior you can’t explain them plug in the supply. I’ve never had an issue on my machines. The DC Jack is there as a backup. May never be an issue.

Here’s a VB cart programmer build overview. Similar to what I did for the link cable. It’s not complete as I’m missing some pictures but you get the overall point. I’ll update in the future if the opportunity ever arises.

VB Cart Programmer Build

Also excuse any grammar and typos at this point. It’s middle of the night and I’ll admit I haven’t done all the proof reading I should at this point. Going to go back to sleep first. 🙂

Must say that the quality on it is great and it’s super easy to use! Well done Kevin! 🙂

Patrik wrote:
Must say that the quality on it is great and it’s super easy to use! Well done Kevin! 🙂

Thanks! Glad you like it.

I also updated this page with the regular enclosure design files that can be 3D printed. Also included the hex file at the end to program the atmega2560. So if people follow this page carefully, they can build their own. Have fun!

VB Cart Programmer Build

All,

I was lucky enough to get one of the Cart Programmers. Originally, I had it sitting on a shelf, but decided that it deserved better 🙂

I was at Fry’s on the weekend and found a case that I thought would be fitting for it.

Here is the result.

Thoughts?

Attachments:

1. 

   20180923_202908.jpg
   

2. 

   20180926_173202-scaled.jpg
   

Love the case Barry! It deserves something like that.

Those cart programmers look awesome, now I regret that I did not ask in time if it would be possible to get one. 🙂