Building a Uzebox

[XCVG]

I want to build a Uzebox. For those of you that don't know, the Uzebox is a retro-minimalist game console based on a single chip, the ATMega644. Well, two, actually, including the AD725 RGB encoder, but you could do without it if you had an RGB capable TV, monitor or converter (some Russian guy did that). The community is pretty good and there are quite a few games for it, as well as music and movie players. Games can be flashed directly or loaded from an SD card or serial link. It's supposed to be easy to program, but considering I can barely handle making an LED blink with an Arduino, it's probably still going to be pretty Dang hard. Yes, I realize there are plenty of more practical things to code for. But there's just something about building your own console that draws me in. After all, this is ModRetro. Practicality is overrated.

I also hate Eagle. So I spent a day painstakingly recreating the schematic in DipTrace, which I actually like. I have revised the audio circuitry with the Fuzebox version after this image was made.

Linked for screen stretchyness.

Then I made a board layout. It sucks. The AV section isn't too bad, but I'm probably going to redo everything forward of the ATMega644. The FTDI port is not needed and will be removed, the SD slot will be on board instead of being wired from the headers, and I could probably even drop the ICSP header and program through the breakout headers. The controller ports are DB9 wired for NES clone controllers. And yes, it is a single-layer board with a ton of jumpers.

I thought about buying a Fuzebox board, but they seem to be out of stock and not coming back anytime soon. If anyone has and hints, tips, or suggestions, that would be great. I'm hoping to order parts sometime soon. I might also build a USBtinyISP while I'm at it, for programming AVRs. I wish I had an FTDI cable, but I'm too cheap to buy one. My computer has a serial port, so I guess it's a level shifter for me.

 

[Seren]

This sounds really cool. I'll definately be reading up on this once i get off my school's internet which freaking blocks everything

 

[XCVG]

Well, Uze has come out with boards of his own design, so I'm getting one of those. First pre-production run, woo!

Soldering the tiny-ass AD725 should be fun. I didn't have that much trouble on the N64 I practiced on, though, so it shouldn't be too hard.

 

[jleemero]

Could buy a Fuzebox.

 

[XCVG]

Could buy a Fuzebox.

Indefinitely out of stock.

 

[XCVG]

IT IS HERE!

Assembling right now, will be finished soon.

 

[XCVG]

IT IS FINISHED!

Running the SD bootloader, but sadly my only SNES controller is broken. I'll have to buy another one. The Uzebox works, though, and it works quite well. I got the movie player running, tried and failed to convert my own video. I used composite; couldn't be assed to drag out an s-video cable.

Nearly complete. I forgot a header and had to replace the power jack. This one actually needed a larger connector that none of my power supplies had. And it was broken. I tore one off an old project and replaced t. Missing the side tab, but at least it works now. I did make a few modifications. The 0.33uF capacitor is tantalum, because I couldn't find a ceramic one. I used tall tacts because it was all I had and crammed in some 1/2 watt resistors, again because I didn't have the right parts. I also used a blue LED, which is twenty times more awesome than the stock one. I had to trim the video jack a bit because my capacitors were too big.

Programming the 'box. This didn't work for a long time and frustrated me a lot. Finally, I remembered an adafruit-recommended fix for the USBtinyISP. Two of the resistors are now bridged and do nothing. Programs fine now. It does disconnect when I connect power to the Uzebox, I suspect this has something to do with a conspicuous lack of power filter capacitors on the ChocolateTinyISP. I shall add one in the next revision.

 

[XCVG]

For those who were curious:

It can be made pretty small. Of course it begs the question, why not make your own board? Still, if you wire the controllers and ICSP to the chip, have an RGB screen, and move the power regulators and SD slot off-board, it can be pretty Dang close to credit card size. I may build one of these into a DMG next year, just for the Heck of it. SD bootloader makes this somewhat practical; before you would need an ICSP programmer or an IC swap to change games! Anyone know of a 3.5 inch RGB capable screen?

 

[bud]

I am quite interested in this? I have some questions though:
Was everything through hole soldering?
What voltage does it run on?
Can you give me some examples of things it does?

Sorry if you already answered these.

 

[brunoip]

I am quite interested in this? I have some questions though:
Was everything through hole soldering?
What voltage does it run on?
Can you give me some examples of things it does?

Sorry if you already answered these.

1-no, the video ic and the sd socket are not
2- 5v
3- you tube can

 

[XCVG]

I am quite interested in this? I have some questions though:
Was everything through hole soldering?
What voltage does it run on?
Can you give me some examples of things it does?

Sorry if you already answered these.

I know brunoip has already answered these, but I'm going to answer them anyway because I have nothing better to do right now.

Everything is through hole except for the AD725, SD card and MIDI optocoupler. The optocoupler can be omitted if you don't want MIDI, the SD card socket is super easy, leaving only the AD725. It looks really *Can'tSayThisOnTV*ing small, but it's not that bad. Just take your time, make sure you have good tweezers, flux and solder braid. Practice on dead N64s first if you have any. Of course, if you have an RGB capable screen you can omit half the AV circuitry, including the AD725.

The ATMega644, AD725 and most supporting circuitry run off of 5V. The SD card is the only thing that requires 3.3V. Both voltages are provided from linear regulators on this board. Power to the board is 7-12V, center positive.

YouTube is your friend. There is a decent selection of games, including remakes of Space Invaders, Pac-man and Pong and a really nice looking version of Tetris. It can be used for chiptunes, of course, though I haven't seen it done much. There is a music player which I haven't tried and a movie player which is nearly impossible to convert videos for.

 

[mymixed]

Lol, just found out about the uzebox. Good job assembling! Now program The thing!

- mymixed