The DIY cartridge: JOLLY CARTRIDGE!

[doug_in_nc]

Ah,, that clarifies this for me too. Like Chysn, I thought the U2 jumper was an either-or option, ie you could use a jumper to activate RAM1,2&3 or you could activate BLK1. I didn't realize both were possible at the same time. The more I find out about this cartridge, the more impressed I am

I think what confused me is that on the first page of this thread, you show an example configuration with 8K in BLK5 and either 3K in RAM 1,2 &3 or 24K in BLKs 1-3. In that example, the jumper to activate the 3K is between pins 4 and 5 of J1, but in this case you are able to activate the 3K by jumping between pins 3 & 4. If I understand it correctly, in one case you are assigning the 62256 chip's BLK1 RAM to RAM 1,2&3 and in the other case you are assigning the 65256's BLK5 RAM to RAM1,2&3. Is that correct?

The way this cartridge works is very flexible, but without understanding how it works internally, it's not very easy to understand how to get the maximum out of it.

[chysn]

Chysn, try this:
U1= 8k Rom [BLK5]
U2= 27k Ram [3k RAM1,2,3]+[BLK1]+BLK2,3

Yes! That's the pattern, thanks!

Now I can set up some kind of software-based switching system...

The more I find out about this cartridge, the more impressed I am

Indeed, me too.

[chysn]

Got my Jollies! Thanks!

[MCes]

Got my Jollies! Thanks!

Thanks to you,
I hope you will have a lot of fun with DreamCart too!

[doug_in_nc]

I finally got round to refining and printing my 3d printed design for a Jolly Cart case, so I thought it might be useful to other owners. I went through a number of iterations including ones that are direct copies of the Commodore cartridge design, but those are not easy to print reliably, so I went for a simplified one. The case includes a reset button, and is designed to be assembled either with metal inserts for M3 screws or to just clip together (this works on my printer, but may not do so on anyone else's depending on the tolerances). To use the inserts, just clean out the holes on the base section that are currently blanked out. You may need to do a little bit of sanding to get the reset button to fit properly as I designed it to fairly tight tolerances. The PCB should clip in to the base quite snugly without needing screws to hold it.

[chysn]

That's great work! Sadly, my son's 3D printer, the only one in the house, doesn't have a big enough platform to print cartridges. But, it's definitely something on the wish list.

[Lechuck]

Looks great! Thanks a lot for sharing.

Cheers

[MCes]

I finally got round to refining and printing my 3d printed design for a Jolly Cart case, so I thought it might be useful to other owners. (...)

Wonderful, thanks for sharing it!

[chysn]

I ordered a bunch of HM62256s for my project. Instead, the vendor sent the same number of 27C512s. I requested a return (because I really need the SRAM chips), and the vendor sent the correct chips, while letting me keep the 27C512s.

So now I have the opportunity to try out some new stuff with the Jolly Cart! I'm not sure what. I could load up my three favorite cartridge games onto a single PCB, or.... something. I can think about that while erasing all these EPROMs!

[chysn]

Okay, Max, I have a configuration question...

I've got a 27C512. I install it in socket U2. My understanding is that if NO jumpers are connected, it will place the 27C512 in Blocks 2 and 3.

Do I need to offset my code within the 27C512 in order for it to be started in Block 2 with SYS 16384?

[doug_in_nc]

I asked a similar question shortly after MCe announced the JollyCart, and in reply he created a template to show you where to put the data in a 27C512. This is a copy of it.

jolly cart U1 U2 empty.zip

(989 Bytes) Downloaded 49 times

[chysn]

I asked a similar question shortly after MCe announced the JollyCart, and in reply he created a template to show you where to put the data in a 27C512. This is a copy of it.

I appreciate this, but what is this BIN file format? My computer doesn't know what to do with these.

(Edit: Never mind, got it, thanks!)

(Edit again: All right, cool, I'm all set! Since the blocks are backwards, I wrote a shell script to wrangle the various bits of a single assembly file, using Max's template as padding, where necessary:

Code: Select all

# Build ROM for Jolly Cartridge
# So, block 1 goes to $e000 and block 2 goes to $c000
# Split the file up into two parts
cat ./vic/archivist.bin | head -c 8192 > ./vic/block1.bin
cat ./vic/archivist.bin ./src/jolly.bin | head -c 16384 > ./vic/int
cat ./vic/int | tail -c 8192 > ./vic/block2.bin
rm ./vic/int
cat ./src/jolly.bin | tail -c 49152 > ./vic/int
cat ./vic/int ./vic/block2.bin ./vic/block1.bin > ./vic/archivist.eep
rm ./vic/int

I might add autostart to this, but... it's a text adventure, and everyone knows you need to do an SYS for text adventures!)

[doug_in_nc]

Are you going to include speech in it too? After all, if its got a SYS it's got to have speech too, right?

[chysn]

Are you going to include speech in it too? After all, if its got a SYS it's got to have speech too, right?

Probably off-topic here, but is there a way to emulate that in VICE? I never had the speech thing.

Also, I’ve decided on using regular autostart.

[chysn]

Here's an updated shell script. This takes a binary file (PROGRAM.bin) of up to 24K and builds a 64K ROM image suitable for use with Jolly Cartridge in blocks 1, 2, and 3. Additionally, it takes a second binary file (AUTOSTART.bin) for block 5, which can be used for autostart, or more ROM, or both.

Code: Select all

# Build ROM for Jolly Cartridge
# So, block 1 goes to $e000, block 2 goes to $c000, block 3 goes to $6000
# Autostart for $a000 goes to $4000

# Split the binary file (PROGRAM.BIN) up into three parts
cat ./vic/PROGRAM.bin ./src/jolly.bin | head -c 24576 > ./vic/block1-2-3.bin
cat ./vic/block1-2-3.bin | head -c 8192  > ./vic/block1.bin
cat ./vic/block1-2-3.bin | head -c 16384 > ./vic/block1-2.bin
cat ./vic/block1-2.bin   | tail -c 8192  > ./vic/block2.bin
cat ./vic/block1-2-3.bin | tail -c 8192  > ./vic/block3.bin
rm ./vic/block1-2.bin
rm ./vic/block1-2-3.bin

# Make 16k padding and autostart
cat ./src/jolly.bin | head -c 16384 > ./16k
cat ./vic/AUTOSTART.bin ./16k | head -c 8192 > ./vic/autostart.eep

# Generate entire Jolly Cartridge image
#    0-4       $4000                $6000        8-c       $c000            $e000
cat ./16k ./vic/autostart.eep  ./vic/block3.bin ./16k ./vic/block2.bin ./vic/block1.bin > ./vic/PROGRAM.eep
rm ./16k