quack/Misc/esp_8_bit

Quack X esp_8_bit

This is a crossover between two projects, that allow you to mod a Quack board to use with esp_8_bit firmware. The result is a two players small box that can contains a few NES games and fit near your TV.

this is unsupported (outside of the quack project) and the parent project (esp_8_bit) is likely dead so this will likely not receive any updates or fixes

• parent project: rossumur/esp_8_bit
• used patches from: CornN64/esp_8_bit

it supports two players (one hardwired, either NES or SNES) and one Wiimote based. Unlike other builds, the hardwired connector runs at +5V (uses both level converters of the quack board), which allow the use of retro wireless adapters

schematic:

    -----------
    |         |
    |      25 |----------------------------------> video out
    |         |
    |         |   ------------
    |       2 |---| LVC 4245 |----/\/\/\/----|---> audio out
    |         |   ------------      1kΩ      |
    |         |                             ---
    |         |                             --- 10nF
    |  ESP32  |                              |
    |         |                              v gnd
    |         |
    |         |   ------------
    |       4 |---| LVC 2T45 |---< NES (or SNES) controller DATA
    |         |   ------------
    |         |   ------------
    |      12 |---| LVC 4245 |---> NES (or SNES) controller CLOCK
    |      14 |---| LVC 4245 |---> NES (or SNES) controller LATCH
    |         |   ------------
    |         |            5v <--> NES (or SNES) controller VCC
    |         |           gnd <--> NES (or SNES) controller GND
    |         |
    -----------


NES        ___
    DATA  |o o| NC
    LATCH |o o| NC
    CLOCK |o o/ 5V
    GND   |o_/

SNES       _
    5V    |o|
    CLOCK |o|
    LATCH |o|
    DATA  |o|
          |-|
    NC    |o|
    NC    |o|
    GND   |o|
           -

Software

Since the esp_8_bit source code is old, you will need an old IDE (Arduino 1.8.14 with esp board 1.0.4)

there is a couple of patches in this directory that you will need to patch on top of rossumur/esp_8_bit

• base.diff integrates patches from CornN64/esp_8_bit and enable quack specific features (pinout, LEDs, DIP switches)
• controller.diff removes IR support, clean code and adds (S)NES controller support

> git clone https://github.com/rossumur/esp_8_bit.git
Cloning into 'esp_8_bit'...
remote: Enumerating objects: 345, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (15/15), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (10/10), done.
remote: Total 345 (delta 5), reused 5 (delta 5), pack-reused 330 (from 1)
Receiving objects: 100% (345/345), 8.01 MiB | 8.04 MiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (108/108), done.
> cd esp_8_bit
> patch -p1 < ../base.diff
patching file README.md
patching file esp_8_bit.ino
patching file 'src/emu.cpp'
patching file 'src/emu.h'
patching file 'src/emu_nofrendo.cpp'
patching file 'src/gui.cpp'
patching file 'src/hid_server/hid_server.cpp'
patching file 'src/video_out.h'
> patch -p1 < ../controller.diff
patching file 'src/ir_input.h'
patching file 'src/nintendo.h'

To avoid this issue you may want to change the partition layout as well. Check the solution into that issue, and also the boards.txt and quack_8_bit.csv files if needed

Hardware

This mod is compatible with board revision 1.3 and 1.4

PCB mods

hardware modifications needed

• remove Q1
• remove FB9
• remove D1
• bridge R1 or replace by 0Ω
• remove the Mini DIN-4 connector

Under the board:

• connect a wire from DE-9 pin 6 to D1 pin (+) on top of the board
• connect a wire from DE-9 pin 8 to Mini DIN-4 pin 1

Adapter cable

You will need a NES or SNES extension cable, one triple RCA video cable, one USB cable (charge only is OK) and one DE-9 solderable connector RC filtering circuit will be integrated into the connector. pinout is a follow (board side)

   _____________________
  /                     \
  \  1   2   3   4   5  /
   \   6   7   8   9   /
    \_________________/

Pin	Connection	Notes
1	Ground	power ground & RCA shields here
2	+5V	USB +5V and (S)NES +5V connector go here
3	Ground	(S)NES ground + 10nF capacitor ground
4	NC	unused
5	Clock	(S)NES controller clock
6	Video	composite video out, yellow RCA
7	Sound	one pin of the 1kΩ resistor
8	Data	(S)NES controller data
9	Latch	(S)NES controller data
R	Resistor	solder capacitor on the other resistor pin & white + red RCA (+) wires

isolate everything with hot glue or better

Usage

Nothing different than the parent project as far as emulation goes

Switches

Quack set of dip switches allows for the following settings

• ADB Host: (S)NES controller is player A, Wiimote player B or the other way around
• Bluetooth Disable: Kill BT Operation if not needed. More stable / less noise. Use with ADB Host to ON
• Flash: flash mode (GPIO0 to GND)

LED

PCB LEDs are usable and do have basic functionality

• green: init done, board powered up
• yellow: valid (S)NES controller input received
• red: embedded flash operation in progress