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171 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
171 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
# FDSKey
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An open-source, low-cost, and easy-to-build Famicom Disk System drive emulator featuring a sleek OLED display.
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This project is currently a work in progress and is not yet finished.
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How you can use it:
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* You can run Famicom Disk System disk images from a microSD card
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* You can dump disks using a physical FDS drive without additional hardware/cables
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* You can write disks using a physical FDS drive without additional hardware/cables
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Requirements:
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* Famicom
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* Famicom Disk System RAM adaptor
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* microSD card
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## How to build it
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You'll need a few low-cost components.
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### Circuit diagram
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### Bill of materials
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### Components
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1. **PCB**
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The PCB is designed in the [DipTrace](https://diptrace.com/) software.
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You can have it produced at any PCB factory (e.g. [jlcpcb.com](https://jlcpcb.com) or [PCBWay](https://pcbway.com/)) using [gerber files](PCB_gerbers). PCB properties:
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* PCB thickness: 1.6mm
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* Gold fingers are recommended
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2. **STM32G0B0CET (or any STM32G0B0CETxxx) microcontroller**
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You can easily find it on [mouser.com](https://www.mouser.com/c/?q=STM32G0B0CET) or [taobao.com](https://s.taobao.com/search?q=STM32G0B0CET).
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3. **OLED display module**
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It's a very popular OLED display, search for **SSD1306 0.91-inch OLED 128x32 4-pin** on [aliexpress.com](https://aliexpress.com), [ebay.com](https://ebay.com), [amazon.com](https://amazon.com) or [taobao.com](https://taobao.com). These displays are available in different colors: blue, white and yellow, you can select the one you prefer.
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Solder it like this:
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It's recommended to put something soft under the display on the right side.
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**WARNING**: some unscrupulous sellers may sell you used, burned-in displays.
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4. **microSD card socket (push-push, 8-pin + card detect pin = 9-pin)**
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It's a very popular push-push socket, they can be found on [aliexpress.com](https://aliexpdress.com). Also, you can search for **112J-TDAR-R01** model but there are many compatible models with other names. You can always modify the PCB to accommodate a different socket model.
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5. **LD1117S33 stabilizer**
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You can buy it in any electronic components store.
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6. **Four SMD buttons**
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Search for **3X4X2.5H SMD** buttons, they can be found on [aliexpress.com](https://aliexpress.com), [ebay.com](https://ebay.com), [amazon.com](https://amazon.com) or [taobao.com](https://taobao.com). You can also search for **434133025816** model on [mouser.com](https://www.mouser.com/c/?q=STM32G0B0CET).
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7. **Resistors and capacitors**
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You will need only a few of them:
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* C1, C2 - two 22uF ceramic capacitors, 0603 size
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* C3, C4 - two 100nF ceramic capacitors, 0402 size (0603 will be fine too)
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* R1, R2 - two 1.5K resistors, 0402 size (0603 will be fine too), actually you can also use any values from 1K to 10K
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You can buy them in any electronic components store.
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8. **Plastic case**
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You can print plastic case with a 3D printer. You can find .stl files in the [case_3d_models](case_3d_models) directory. There are two types of models:
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* [For FDM 3D printers](case_3d_models/fdm) - can be printed on a affordable home 3D printer, the bottom and top parts of the case must be glued together
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* [For MJF 3D printers](case_3d_models/mjf) (recommended) - for industrial 3D printing, you can order it from a manufacturing service (e.g. [jlcpcb.com](https://jlcpcb.com)), this version features latches
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What does it look like when everything is assembled:
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## Flashing the firmware
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There are five TH pads (actually 6 but 1 is unused) on the PCB to connect a ST-Link programmer (GND, VCC, SWD, SWCLK and NRST). First, you need to write the bootloader - **bootloader.bin** file. Then you can put the main firmware file - **fdskey.bin** on your SD card (FAT/FAT32/exFAT formatted) and hold all four buttons on power-on, e.g. connect FDSKey to RAM adaptor, hold buttons and turn a Famicom on. You can use the same method to update the main firmware in the future without additional hardware.
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After the first boot, press and hold the **left** button for 3 seconds to access the service menu. There, you can select the OLED display controller type (change it if the display shows a corrupted image) and check some system information.
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## Device usage
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Format a microSD card to FAT/FAT32/exFAT and put some .fds files on it. Insert a microSD card into a FDSKey, insert a FDSKey into a RAM Adaptor's cable instead of a physical disk drive and turn on a Famicom. You can hot plug a FDSKey when Famicom is already on too, it's ok.
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Now you can navigate through the FDSKey interface using the buttons. **Left** button usually means **back**, **right** button usually means **OK** and **up**/**down** are used to select something (file, disk side, etc.) Also, you can long press the **left** button in the file browser to directly return to the main menu from a subfolder, and long press the **right** button to open the file properties menu.
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Oops, too complicated :( Let's try again...
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Much better.
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**WARNING**: when a game writes some data to a virtual disk (i.e., saves game progress) don't turn off your Famicom power until the updated ROM has been saved to the SD card. Wait a second for it or eject a virtual disk (**left** button). A **saving** message will be displayed, do not turn off power while this message is visible.
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### Settings menu
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Use **up**/**down** buttons to select a setting and **left**/**right** to change it. Setting descriptions:
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* Rewind speed: you can select a drive operation speed as either **original** (very slow, like on a physical FDS drive, for the nostalgic ones), **fast** (where the rewind time is reduced but the virtual head position is not altered), or **turbo** (the fastest possible mode, instant head rewind)
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* Remember state: you can select a power-on state between **none** (always start from the main menu), **browser** (open browser and select last file if browser was opened before power off) and **ROM** (start first side of the last started game emulation if ROM emulation was active before power off)
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* Hide non .fds files: hide files with non .fds extension in the file browser
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* Hide .fds extensions: hide .fds extension in the file browser
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* Hide hidden files: hide hidden files and directories in the file browser
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* Brightness: screen brightness from 0 to 10
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* Invert screen: draw black on white instead of white on black
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* Lefty mode: rotate screen image on 180 degrees and flip buttons
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* Screen off after: time before automatic screen off if there is no any action (button presses, drive activity), it's recommended to use this feature to prevent OLED screen burn-in
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* Backup original ROM: copy a .fds file to a .fds.bak file if a disk content was rewritten
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* [ Save and return ] - press **left** or **right** button on this item to return to the main menu
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### How to dump physical disks
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You can use a homebrew disk copier applications to copy a physical disk to a virtual one, simply create an empty ROM. There is **Create blank disk** item in the main menu for it.
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1. Put **Disk Hacker**/**Disk Keeper** or another homebrew disk copier ROM on SD card
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2. Select a disk copier software on your SD card like any other ROM and load it
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3. Return to the main menu and select **Create blank disk**
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4. Enter filename for the new ROM, trailing spaces will be trimmed
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5. When disk copier asks to insert game disk disconnect a FDSKey from a RAM adaptor and connect a physical FDS drive with a game disk inserted
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6. When disk copier asks to insert new/blank disk disconnect a physical drive, connect a FDSKey and select ROM created in steps 3-4
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7. Repeat steps 5-6 until the copy operation is completed
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### How to write physical disks
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This is a reverse operation of dumping: you can use disk copiers homebrew applications to copy a virtual disk to a physical one.
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1. Put **Disk Hacker**/**Disk Keeper** or another homebrew disk copier ROM on SD card
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2. Select a disk copier software on your SD card like any other ROM and load it
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3. When disk copier asks to insert game disk select the source ROM/side
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4. When disk copier asks to insert new/blank disk disconnect a FDSKey from a RAM adaptor and connect a physical FDS drive with blank disk inserted
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5. Disconnect a physical FDS drive and connect FDSKey
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6. Repeat steps 3, 4, and 5 until the copy operation is completed
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## Firmware updates
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You can always download the latest version at https://github.com/ClusterM/fdskey/releases.
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Also, you can download automatic interim builds at http://clusterm.github.io/fdskey/.
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Remember, you can update the firmware by putting **fdskey.bin** on your SD card and holding all four buttons on power-on.
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## Donate
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* PayPal: cluster@cluster.wtf
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* [Donation Alerts](https://www.donationalerts.com/r/clustermeerkat)
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* [Boosty](https://boosty.to/cluster)
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