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 »

@Alec glad you have a low power solution for the ESP8266. Eliminating the extra regulator is also great; this thing should be pretty battery efficient with the full load at this point.

@ry755 a different sort of things I suppose, but that CUzeBox on 3DS is a cool idea in it's own right.
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by ry755 »

D3thAdd3r wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 3:17 pm @ry755 a different sort of things I suppose, but that CUzeBox on 3DS is a cool idea in it's own right.
Yeah, I'll probably still try to port it. I remember Jubatian saying somewhere that Cuzebox needs at least 600 MHz to run, so it'll have to be for the New 3DS only. The Old 3DS runs at 268 MHz, while the New 3DS can run up to 804 MHz. Full specs here:https://www.3dbrew.org/wiki/Hardware

The New 3DS also has 4 cores so that'll help if I can figure out multithreading.
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by uze6666 »

L4rry wrote: Mon Sep 03, 2018 8:56 am I actually bought a cheap 3D printer in anticipation of the portable
That's the spirit! :D Specially with all those inexpensive printers like the Creality CR-10 or ender 3 hitting the market.
@Alec glad you have a low power solution for the ESP8266. Eliminating the extra regulator is also great; this thing should be pretty battery efficient with the full load at this point.
Yeah, pretty happy I could add it without having to compromise on the power budget. :)
Yeah, I'll probably still try to port it. I remember Jubatian saying somewhere that Cuzebox needs at least 600 MHz to run, so it'll have to be for the New 3DS only.
Was that 600mhz for Intel CPUs? Because I would think an ARM could probably do more at that speed.
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by ry755 »

uze6666 wrote: Thu Sep 06, 2018 4:19 am Was that 600mhz for Intel CPUs? Because I would think an ARM could probably do more at that speed.
I found the thread where Jubatian said it needed at least 600 MHz: (http://uzebox.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2914) I'm assuming he meant 600 MHz for an ARM CPU.

There's an SDL port for the 3DS which will make it way easier to port Cuzebox or Uzem. It's SDL 1.2, not 2.0, but that's still better than nothing :) https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-sdl ... ds.459291/
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Jubatian
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by Jubatian »

uze6666 wrote: Sun Sep 02, 2018 12:48 amI 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.
Nice! I checked this out in the relevant software components, and found the followings:
  • New (5.x.yy) bootloaders: Unused PORTA pins are set inputs with internal pull-up enabled.
  • Old (4.x.y) bootloaders (maybe not really relevant as this is new HW): Same.
  • Kernel: Same.
I also checked older commits of the kernel, it looks like PORTA always had this init, so it can be assumed all games behave this way.
ry755 wrote: Thu Sep 06, 2018 4:37 amI found the thread where Jubatian said it needed at least 600 MHz: (http://uzebox.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2914) I'm assuming he meant 600 MHz for an ARM CPU.

There's an SDL port for the 3DS which will make it way easier to port Cuzebox or Uzem. It's SDL 1.2, not 2.0, but that's still better than nothing :) https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-sdl ... ds.459291/
CUzeBox can be compiled for SDL 1.2 (Emscripten uses it), Lee might also be using it this time as there is (or was) an SDL2 bug in a recent release of Ubuntu preventing running SDL2 applications. Whether it would run on such an ARM also depends on its architecture, but it might. It would be interesting to use two cores if it was possible (running the emulation on one, all graphics and UI rendering on the other), but that may take quite some time to realize.
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by uze6666 »

The new boards are on the way. I still can't believe the prices for the JLCPCB service...remember this is for ENIG surface finish which adds a 'whopping' 23$. And yes, shipping is 0.76$! :D
jlcpcb.jpg
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Here's the final layout for those interested:
pcb.jpg
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Very happy about the final design and it better be after 3 years of work! :P
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by D3thAdd3r »

Love it, this could also work nice for embedding in other devices!
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by uze6666 »

Update time. Just received the new PCBs and they look pretty good. :D I will assemble one to test it and report in a couple days.
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by L4rry »

uze6666 wrote: Tue Sep 25, 2018 7:06 pm Update time. Just received the new PCBs and they look pretty good. :D I will assemble one to test it and report in a couple days.
I'm pumped for this! Looks really pretty. Hope it all works out. I'm also fairly confident that in a week or two we'll have at least one game that will be multiplayer capable between two of those ;)
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by uze6666 »

Finally got to assemble one of the new PCBs and tested the esp8266 and all work perfectly. All is left is to assemble the remaining audio and powerboost part and I'll be ready to take "orders". :D

Btw, I tested the esp-12f and it works just fine.
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