I have almost zero electronics experience but I think it would be fun to hack together a retro style console so that's how I ended up here. It also seems like a fun way for me to learn C properly. I have several questions which I'm hoping the community would be kind enough to answer before I commit to building a Uzebox.
Uzebox is getting old now and there doesn't seem to have have been much activity in this forum over the last 5 years or so. Is there a newer, better open source (hardware and software) console in town now? The nearest alternatives I've found are the Bitbox (which is 32 bit but seems to be a dead project), Gameduino (slightly better spec, VGA output, pre-built but non open hardware design) and the Arduboy, which is a bit too underspec'd for my liking. Is there a valid successor to the Uzebox out there already or in the works?
The two things missing from the current Uzebox design that I'd like to see added on a future revision if possible are microUSB power and VGA or HDMI output. Are there any unofficial Uzebox schematics out there that add either or both of these features?
What about using a Atari/Commodore/SEGA joystick port instead? I'd personally rather use a Megadrive joypad with the Uzebox and I would've thought it might be a bit easier to source the Atari-style joystick ports vs SNES ones? Is there a fork of the design that has implemented this?
I've had a quick look through the current list of games and the ones that most impressed me are the Tempest 2000 clone, the Columns port and the Castlevania WIP. The Donkey Kong port looks cool too. Any other recommended games, apps or demos?
What is the maximum size SD card supported by the Uzebox? This should be mentioned in the FAQ.
I won't be building a Uzebox unless I can get the Hello World example to build under Linux. I only get as far as:
Code: Select all
avr-gcc -mmcu=atmega644 -Wall -gdwarf-2 -std=gnu99 -ffunction-sections -DF_CPU=28636360UL -Os -fsigned-char -MD -MP -MT uzeboxcore.o -MF dep/uzeboxcore.o.d -c kernel/uzeboxcore.c
kernel/uzeboxcore.c:42:13: error: variable ‘initPatches’ must be const in order to be put into read-only section by means of ‘__attribute__((progmem))’
const char *initPatches[] PROGMEM = {initPatch};
^
Makefile:63: recipe for target 'uzeboxcore.o' failed
make: *** [uzeboxcore.o] Error 1
Thanks!