The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Topics regarding the Uzebox hardware/AVCore/BaseBoard (i.e: PCB, resistors, connectors, part list, schematics, hardware issues, etc.) should go here.
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D3thAdd3r
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by D3thAdd3r »

uze6666 wrote: Sun Aug 12, 2018 1:45 am Over the years I have cumulated so much filament, it's insane. Help me get rid of it! :)
:)
uze6666 wrote: Sun Aug 12, 2018 1:45 am There is some scaling going on but for all-in-all, it looks pretty satisfactory to me including color and brightness (I think Lee ordered some too, he could vouch for them). Plus it work flawlessly with all game including those which had their video timing a bit off.
I can confirm that it works pretty well across the board. My testing was a while back, but I remember I tried some cases I expected issues, and found it compatible. Is it perfect? I love the idea of perfection, but it is just a word meaning an unquantifiable highly ideological opinion which needs to fall within reality ;) That said, hi-res modes with text were the weakest link I recall, but still readable.
uze6666 wrote: Sun Aug 12, 2018 1:45 am Anyway, what I really wanted to say is that if you are really a perfectionist and want ultra sharp pixels, perhaps buy the screen first to test it before buying all the other parts.
Maybe it was this thread, or another one, but there was already lots of discussion about the possibilities of RGB for a portable if someone is interested in the pros and cons. All the proposed RGB ideas were requiring additional hardware and development to, perhaps, match the compatibility of this screen. The only proven working solution after years of interest in a portable Uzebox is the only logical choice IMO.
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Jubatian
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by Jubatian »

D3thAdd3r wrote: Sun Aug 12, 2018 4:20 amThe only proven working solution after years of interest in a portable Uzebox is the only logical choice IMO.
Yup! If this works, it should go, if it looks decent enough, it isn't anything bad considering it also should be able to do pretty fine from the battery (six hours is something!).

Out of curiosity I did a bit of research after the solution. It is hard to make out on the site, but it is an AMT630A, I found a datasheet here. Arkmicro technologies, checked their site, got an error clicking on their LCD display processor: "Error: Access denied for user 'joe'@'localhost' (using password: YES)", oh well, chinese stuff, somebody couldn't even manage to set up a MySQL database proper... Joe? JOE?!! Where are you?

Anyway, I was curious of the chip's capabilities. An interesting oddity is that it even has a 8052 incorporated, possibly it controls OSD, and maybe some configuration, it doesn't reveal from the datasheet what exactly. A bit difficult to make it out, but the 8 pin chip on the right seems to be an SPI flash (the few visible traces correspond to typical SPI flash pinout), combined with the Application diagram on the datasheet, I could imagine it contained code for the MCU... Let's poke around a bit for this... And voilà:

https://problemkaputt.de/amt630a.htm
https://problemkaputt.de/x51.htm

So somebody even took the time already to disassemble this thing, and come up with an own firmware for it!

No RGB input anywhere, though, but the solution in overall is interesting :)
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uze6666
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

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Anyway, I was curious of the chip's capabilities. An interesting oddity is that it even has a 8052 incorporated, possibly it controls OSD, and maybe some configuration, it doesn't reveal from the datasheet what exactly. A bit difficult to make it out, but the 8 pin chip on the right seems to be an SPI flash (the few visible traces correspond to typical SPI flash pinout), combined with the Application diagram on the datasheet, I could imagine it contained code for the MCU... Let's poke around a bit for this... And voilà:

https://problemkaputt.de/amt630a.htm
https://problemkaputt.de/x51.htm
No way, awesome! 8-) Thought I can't seems to find how to reflash it... :?

Btw, I had ordered 3 of those screens last month. And I would have though that they were the same as the 3 others I already had buyed at Gearbest ages ago. But no, the chip is not even the same, seems it' s a new revision. So I tested them and it a mix bag. Those new ones have the annoying green OSD for CH1/CH2 that comes up every time the signal is cut. Moreover the screens are a bit more washed out, less contrast, the blacks (specially the borders) are not as black as the old ones and the scaling is less than impressive (as you can see in the Arcanoid blue background, though it seems teh only game that is so noticeable for some reason). So that sucks a bit. On the plus side, and I'm quite surprised, they do work with 5V out of the box! So for all of those looking for a 5V LCD screen module for their arduinos or Raspbery pi , search no more.
display.jpg
display.jpg (194.98 KiB) Viewed 4175 times
Edit: If we can reflash the firmware then I guess we could get over the annoying bit, get rid of the OSD and maybe adjust the contrast/brighness.

Edit 2: Searching on aliexpress I found a store that has the original module! :) https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3-5-TFT ... 321eTaLgzf
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Jubatian
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by Jubatian »

uze6666 wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2018 3:41 amNo way, awesome! 8-) Thought I can't seems to find how to reflash it... :?
You don't reflash it! :) The firmware is sitting on that 8 pin SPI flash, so you just have to devise some hack to interface that to download the original, or upload something new onto it! The old screen definitely looks better, though, I see no vertical scaling, guess it was a typo that it was 320x200.
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by CunningFellow »

Looks fabulous.
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uze6666
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by uze6666 »

Will take a little bit more time before I share the whole thing... as soon as I integrate the new volume pot. In the mean time, you can 'play' with it virtually. ;)
https://a360.co/2L1Qw2V
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by uze6666 »

Update time. I received the new pots and they are the same size but the pinout is different as expected. Modifying the pcb, I decided to add the ESP8266 while at it. So L4rry, it's all ready to go for you. :P I made some tests and found that if the CH_PD/EN pin is held low, the chip enters deep sleep and consumes next to nothing at around 10uA. So I only had to put a 'pulldown' on one of the free pins of PORTA and the chip will only be activated if required. I also redid some current calculations and found out that the second 3.3V regulator is not even required. The combined current requirements of the sdcard and esp8266 is comfortably under 250ma.

Also received an lcd from https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3-5-TFT ... 321eTaLgzf but alas, it the same thing as GearBest modules. :( Oh well, perhaps trying to update the module's firmware could be tried to remove the text overlay. Not that it's the end of the world...

I finished the pcb update and will send it this weekend. Btw, I just heard about a new PCB manufacturer that is really inexpensive, JLCPCB in China. The prices are insanely low and quality is pretty good from all the reviews I've seen.
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nicksen782
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by nicksen782 »

Very awesome! I'm really looking forward to each new update on the Uzebox portable.
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ry755
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by ry755 »

That is really cool! I was thinking about porting Cuzebox to the 3DS, but I guess there's not much reason to do that now that there's an official Portable :)
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L4rry
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by L4rry »

Sweet! Happy that a solution could be found for the wifi module. I actually bought a cheap 3D printer in anticipation of the portable :mrgreen:
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