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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nicksen782
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by nicksen782 »

Super awesome! You can count me in for one when ready! Maybe even a second one for the new Tank-Fu.

Questions:
Has the BOM changed? What are you charging?
I see FTDI on the silkscreen. What do you intend to do with it?
Is "U6" for the SPIRAM? What about "IC4"?
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uze6666
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by uze6666 »

No worries, I will publish the full Bom soon, nothing changed much since last time, only the volume pot. Yes the two sockets are for the SPI ram and lm386. The ftdi footprint is to be able to upgrade the esp8266. I went of a simple approach of breaking out just the rx and tx pins for the ftdi cable. The enter program mode+reset sequence required by the esp 8266 tool will be done by the Uzenet setup ROM mentionned in the uzenet thread.
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nicksen782
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by nicksen782 »

Oh! Of course! The audio amplifier.

Using an FTDI header is a great idea if that is how the ESP will be updated. So, that means the rx/tx are connected to the ESP and not the ATMEGA644, right? Or do I misunderstand?

A setup ROM is a good clean approach as long as it doesn't need to be used before each game (in case games use different settings.) How do you think that will be mitigated or is that even an issue? I am looking forward to reading through L4rry's the Tank-Fu code for how to use Uzenet.
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ry755
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by ry755 »

Looks cool! Kinda similar to a DS Lite motherboard

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

Post by uze6666 »

nicksen782 wrote: Wed Oct 10, 2018 7:07 pm Using an FTDI header is a great idea if that is how the ESP will be updated. So, that means the rx/tx are connected to the ESP and not the ATMEGA644, right? Or do I misunderstand?
Rx/tx are connected to both in fact. But when using the setup tool, the 644 pin will be set to input/high impedance so to not interfere with the communication between the esp8266 and FTDI cable. Sad I didn`t think of this when I made the 1.3.1 pcb rev. For those I think it is still possible to update the firmware by removing the 644 and hacking some wire in it`s socket and the FTDI cable.
A setup ROM is a good clean approach as long as it doesn't need to be used before each game (in case games use different settings.) How do you think that will be mitigated or is that even an issue? I am looking forward to reading through L4rry's the Tank-Fu code for how to use Uzenet.
Rest assured, not at all. The AT firmware supports versions of the operations that stores setting in flash (operations suffixed with _DEF). So the idea is to run the setup rom once and then games don`t have to care about all those details. Just call the wifi_init() and if it returns errors, just display to the user something like: `Some wifi initialization error happened, please run the Uzenet setup program`. What I think is important is have a set of basic settings `baked in` when esp8266 starts that most game could use out of the box. If some game wants different settings from those, they are free to set them up as long as they never use the *_DEF versions. What those settings are I'm no sure yet so we should discuss it in a new thread.
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uze6666
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by uze6666 »

ry755 wrote: Wed Oct 10, 2018 11:50 pm Looks cool! Kinda similar to a DS Lite motherboard

Image
Holy crap, I swear I never saw it! :o Thought I will admit the position of the sd card was influenced by the DS! :D
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L4rry
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by L4rry »

Yes, but the Uzebox Portable design is infused with love! And soft rounded corners! :D
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ry755
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by ry755 »

L4rry wrote: Sat Oct 13, 2018 4:17 am Yes, but the Uzebox Portable design is infused with love! And soft rounded corners! :D
Definitely! :D
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

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L4rry wrote: Sat Oct 13, 2018 4:17 am Yes, but the Uzebox Portable design is infused with love! And soft rounded corners! :D
I could not have said it better! :lol:
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nicksen782
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Re: The quest to a portable Uzebox - update!

Post by nicksen782 »

This may be the wrong place for this but I have an idea that might work.

SD support is pretty strong now (especially with the new bootloader.) What if WiFi settings could be stored in a text file and read from there instead? This way you could adjust wifi settings without the need to recompile the program. Perhaps even a separate file per game? Or even just integrate it into the game's data file if applicable. Just a thought.
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