Description
A backplane extension module to support MSX Cartridges
Tired of slow load times for your games? Miss the days of flicking the power button and having your game instantly running? Well perhaps this kit is for you. Pair the Slot Extension with a MSX configured RC2014 build, and you can load cartridge based games and software with the simple flick of the power button.
This module attaches to the right most slot on your backplane (see notes below) and gives your RC2014 two 50pin MSX card connectors slots. It include required decoding logic for addressing the slots as per the MSX standard.
It includes optional support for an on-board DC converter to step up the 5V from the RC2014 backplane to +12/-12 voltages.
Once installed and operating on a MSX configured RC2014, you can boot up original 1980’s MSX cartridges or install new modern release cartridges from places such as https://www.msxcartridgeshop.com/
Or perhaps you can select the optional MSX Cartridge 16K/32K ROM board and flash your own (or downloaded) game and enjoy the era of instant gaming.
Key features
- 2 MSX 50pin compatible cartridge slots
- Indicator LEDs when a cartridge is inserted and powered.
- Optional DC converter to supply +12/-12V*
- Optional 16K/32K blank rom for you to flash**
Please note that mounting stand-offs are not supplied.
* Most cartridges do not need or use the 12V lines. A 5 way screw power terminal is provided if you wish supply the +12V/-12V from an external source.
** The supplied ROM is a blank SST39SF040 Flash chip. You will need an external programmer to flash this chip.
What is the ‘Yellow MSX Series of Boards’?
These are a series of boards developed to achieve MSX compatibility for RC2014 systems.
The idea is that you can build each board one at a time, test it and play with it under RomWBW – and then once you have the set – load up some MSX games!
More details of the development of the Yellow MSX series of modules can be found on my hackaday project
And for RC2014 details, check out its official site https://rc2014.co.uk/
Other MSX Modules Required
The MSX Cartridge slot extension is designed to work in a RC2014 with the Yellow MSX Modules for RC2014. Your RC2014 needs to be able to boot as a MSX system.
You need at a minimum:
- Yellow MSX Series Memory Module designed for RC2014
- Yellow MSX Series Video Module designed for RC2014 (RGB or Advanced)
- Yellow MSX Series Game Module designed for RC2014
- Yellow MSX Series Keyboard/PPI Module designed for RC2014
- A CPU & Clock
It is recommended that you use a backplane that carries all 8 of the RC2014 user lines – otherwise you will need to map the SLT-HIGH (USER-6) and SLT-LOW (USER-2) signals from the PPI module to both the Memory and the Slot Extension. You will also need to ensure there is sufficient space for attaching the slot extension.
The 12+1 Backplane designed for RC2014 systems carries the required lines and has been fully tested.
If are using a backplane such as the 12+1 Backplane, you can short the corresponding jumpers on the board for sound and SLT-LOW and SLT-HIGH signals. Otherwise you need to construct a bus for the SLT-xxx lines between the slot-extension, PPI and Memory modules. (And any other future modules that might need the SLT-xxx signals).
Testing status:
I have tested this slot extension with a limited set of MSX Cartridges. It has been successfully tested with 3 different MSX1 original cartridges from the 80s, the recent 2021 release of Mutants from the Deep from https://www.msxcartridgeshop.com/ and the MegaFlashRom SD Flash unit.
The MegaFlashRom worked only after manually flashing the onboard ROM of the Memory module to remove NEXTOR/MSX-DOS kernel (a software compatibility issue as at this time, not yet resolved).
It also has been successfully tested with the optional 16K/32K ROM Cartridge module.
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