Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Roll-Your-Own EEPROM Burner

It's been awhile since I've written anything, mostly because I've been busy actually making stuff, but I figured I'd take some time out to do some writing instead.  Something I've been working with lately is building SNES reproduction carts.  I see a lot of people buying and using Willem-based programmers to burn their EEPROMs, and from what I can tell, they're way more trouble than they're worth, and more expensive too. I chose to go a different route and build my own programmer.  EEPROM programming is a pretty straightforward microcontroller exercise.  The main trouble is finding a microcontroller with enough I/O pins. Personally, I used a Teensy++ 2.0 development board.  One of the most common chips used for SNES reproduction is the AM29F032B, used with a TSOP-to-DIP36 breakout board, usually the one made and sold by BuyICNow.com.  So, for lack of anything better to do, I'm going to explain how to go about creating a programmer for the AM29F032B, though much of the information can be adapted to any EEPROM.

First of all, you'll need to build yourself an adapter in order to connect the microcontroller to the ROM.  For the sake of cleaner code, logically contiguous pins on the ROM, such as A0-A22, D0-D7, should be connected to logically contiguous pins on the microcontroller (an 8-bit microcontroller will only have 8-bit ports, so a good compromise is to utilize full ports as much as possible, e.g. A0->PORTX0, A1->PORTX1 . . . A7->PORTX7, A8->PORTY0, A9->PORTY1, etc.). For my Teensy++ adapter, it looked like this:

(I'm trying to figure out how to create a custom part in Fritzing so I can post a nice image representation of this circuit, but for now you'll have to live with a pin table)

ROM    Teensy
Vcc    Vcc
Gnd    Gnd
A0-7   D0-7
A8-15  C0-7
A16-22 F0-6
D0-7   B0-7
/CE    E7
/OE    E6
/WE    E1

Ok, so now that we have everything wired up (or, in my case, I created a socketed PCB), we can start writing code. The most basic functions are reading and writing a single byte. The function prototypes will look something like this.


uint8_t ReadByte(uint32_t address);
void WriteByte(uint32_t address, uint8_t value);


In order to understand how to implement these functions, we first need to look at the function waveforms in the datasheet.  Here's the read function:


We can ignore the actual timings right now, all we really care about is the sequence.  From the diagram, we can see that the sequence goes like this:

Set CE# high, OE# high, and WE# high (in any order, or simultaneously)
Set up the address
Set CE# low
Set OE# low
Wait for a short time
Read the data
Set CE# high and OE# high (in any order, or simultaneously)


In code, it looks like this:


uint8_t ReadByte(uint32_t address)
{
  // Set data line as input, pulled high
  DATA_DDR   = 0x00;
  DATA_PORT  = 0xFF;
 
  // Pull all control lines high
  CS_PORT |= CS_BIT;
  OE_PORT |= OE_BIT;
  WE_PORT |= WE_BIT;
 
  // Set up address
  ADDR_PORT_0 = address & 0xFF;
  ADDR_PORT_1 = (address >> 8) & 0xFF;
  ADDR_PORT_2 = ((address >> 16) & 0x7F);
 
  // Pull CS low, then OE low
  CS_PORT &= ~CS_BIT;
  OE_PORT &= ~OE_BIT;

  delayMicroseconds(1);
 
  // Read data
  uint8_t data = DATA_PIN;
 
  // Pull all control lines high
  OE_PORT |= OE_BIT;
  CS_PORT |= CS_BIT;
 
  return data;
}


As you can see, I've #defined a few values here to make the code cleaner. That's all done based on the pinout specified above.  For instance:


#define DATA_PORT    PORTB
#define DATA_PIN     PINB
#define DATA_DDR     DDRB

#define CS_PORT      PORTE
#define CS_DDR       DDRE
#define CS_BIT       (1<<7)


...and so on.  Writing is almost identical, though you wouldn't think it, looking at the waveform in the datasheet.


The reason that this looks so complicated is that Flash ROMs actually require you to write several command bytes for every byte of data you actually want to program.  However, we want to first write the code to write a single byte, then it's easy to write multiple bytes in a row by making consecutive calls to that function. To make it easier, the sequence is:

Set CE# high, OE# high, and WE# high (in any order, or simultaneously)
Set up the address
Set CE# low
Set WE# low
Set up the data
Wait for a short time
Set CE# high and WE# high (in any order, or simultaneously)

The write operation actually occurs when CE# or WE# is pulled high, which latches the data lines and then performs the write.

No code this time, it should be trivial.  Copy and paste the read function and make the necessary changes.

Next, we want to be able to program information to the chip.  As mentioned before, this is done by writing several command bytes, followed by the actual data byte.  This varies from chip to chip, but for the AM29F032B, the sequence is:


Addr   Data
0x555  0xAA
0x2AA  0x55
0x555  0xA0
addr   data


where the final "addr" and "data" are the actual address and data that you want to program on the chip.  All you have to do is call your WriteByte 4 times in a row with those addresses and data values.

Now, the final function we need to write is to erase the chip.  EEPROMs, including Flash ROMs, must be erased before they can be written to.  This is because the program function can only change a 1 to a 0, it can't change a 0 to a 1.  Because of that, in order to change a 0 to a 1, you have to change EVERYTHING to 1's by erasing the chip, then you can go back and program the 0's.  It's just how it is.  Anyway, erasing a Flash ROM is achieved by a command sequence.  Again, this varies from chip to chip, but for the AM29F032B, the sequence is:


Addr   Data
0x555  0xAA
0x2AA  0x55
0x555  0x80
0x555  0xAA
0x2AA  0x55
0x555  0x10

One last thing is that we need to know when the erase function has completed. There are several ways to do so, as described in the data sheet. The lazy way to do it is to continuously read any address (I usually pick 0x000) until the data returned is 0xFF. The reason for this is that during an erase procedure, the result of any read, instead of being the data at that address, is actually a status register. The status register will never equal 0xFF, but once the chip is erased, the whole chip will be all 1's, so any read should return 0xFF. Like I said, it's the lazy way to do it.

So now, we have 4 functions that pretty much handle everything that we need in order to burn code to our Flash ROM:


uint8_t ReadByte(uint32_t address);
void WriteByte(uint32_t address, uint8_t value);
void ProgramByte(uint32_t address, uint8_t value);
void EraseChip();

Now, you have to figure out how to actually transfer data between the PC and the microcontroller. I use RealTerm, because it has the ability to transmit binary files over a serial connection. I then set up my Teensy++ main loop with a simple serial interface that resembles a command-line application, with various commands and flags, then I use RealTerm's send function for programming, and its capture function for reading. Once I've programmed the ROM, I read it back to a file, and compare the file against the original ROM file to make sure that they match (be sure you've padded your ROM file or else trim the file you read back to match the original file size or you may get an incorrect mis-match). Because I'm using the Teensy++'s CDC virtual-serial-port-over-USB interface, it would be entirely possible to write a full PC-side host application tailor-made for this device, but there really isn't much point, seeing as all it would be doing is sending a file to a serial port, or capturing data from that serial port. Better to just use an existing application, if it fits our needs, and RealTerm does just that.

[Minor Edit]
RealTerm apparently does a really terrible job of packet utilization for USB-CDC virtual serial devices, an issue which I've submitted to their bug tracker, though it hasn't generated any response, so it's unlikely to be fixed.  For that reason, I've switched to Tera Term, as it speeds up write speeds by a factor of about 20-30, which makes the difference between taking 45 minutes to burn a chip with RealTerm vs about 90 seconds with Tera Term.  This doesn't change the fact that I'm still using the same code on the microcontroller side.

Anyway, I'll probably throw up some more pictures at some point, but for the most part, I wanted to describe the process, rather than just handing out schematics and code.  This is a relatively simple feat to accomplish, and from what I've seen of a lot of the SNES reproduction makers, I feel it should be something of a rite of passage.  If you want to just go out and buy yourself a Willem, go ahead.  But be warned that nobody really wants to help repro makers with their crappy Willems.  Be a man, roll your own burner.

Here's mine:

An original SNES MaskROM, used for my initial read-only testing

The double-sided PCB design cut down on PCB size, and as a result, cost

Friday, June 21, 2013

Year in review

Well, school really caught up with me, and although I've had a few pretty neat projects over the last several months, I haven't had the time to post any of them here.  For one, I finally got around to trying reflow soldering, and created a second revision of my SNES Wii Classic Controller mod which turned out really nicely.  I'm actually working on a third revision now, which may not actually be possible, but if I can manage to get it working, it'll be REALLY nice, so fingers crossed there.


Another project I put a lot of time into was the Altera EMP7064S development board I built for my CST231 class.  A large part of this class was devoted to building a wire-wrap board around the Altera CPLD for the purposes of simultaneously building the board and learning to program it in Verilog.  I chose to put my PCB manufacturing experience to good use and go ahead and build a PCB version of the wire-wrap board we built in class.  Here's the board we built in class (the wiring wasn't *quite* complete in the second photo, but it gives a pretty good indication of how much wire wrapping was involved)




And here's the PCB that I made from the same schematic:



As you can see, I made good use of surface-mount parts for the LED current-limiting resistors, as well as the traffic light LEDs.  I also added a DC power jack and a 7805 regulator so I can just hook up a power plug without the need for a bench power supply.  I also made a nice little clock generator from a dual 555-timer IC that plugs into the 4-pin header directly above the main chip socket, so I don't need a function generator for most stuff either.  I'm pretty happy with this board.  My professor really liked it too, and he bought one of the extra boards from me.


In other news, I'm also still working on the Zelda: Parallel Worlds mapping/walkthrough site.  I finally managed to build my first SNES reproduction cart, of ZPW, of course (I built one of Metroid: Super Zero Mission as well...), and have managed to play through the entire game on the actual console hardware, so yay :)  The one major change coming to the website is that I hope to replace WorldKit with Google Maps API.  I currently have a test page up and running and properly displaying the overworld map, but I'm having a few issues, most of which probably stem from my lack of understanding of the Projection class.  I also have yet to try messing around with markers to see if they'll work for my purposes, but I suspect they'll do fine.  So, be watching for that to roll out site-wide soon (I hope...).


I have a bunch of other small projects I've been working on that aren't really in any shape for a write-up yet, lots of fun with the Super Nintendo and other stuff, but I'll get around to them eventually...

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Super Nintendo Classic Controller for Wii

Awhile back, Nintendo released an awesome Wii controller as a Club Nintendo Japan exclusive, the Wii Super Famicom Classic Controller.


This thing is beautiful.  The only problem is, not only is it only available through Club Nintendo, it's a Japanese exclusive.  It's been out long enough to have found its way onto Ebay and other resellers, but it typically goes for about $100.  Not cool, Nintendo.  Not cool.  There are 3rd party versions of this controller, but like the cheap Ebay knockoff SNES controllers, they're crap.  So what's a guy to do?  Let's build one!

So, obviously we have to start with an official SNES controller (or, just because I want to, a Super Famicom controller).  I found this project implementing a classic controller adapter in a cheap AVR microcontroller and figured I could improve the hardware design.  The existing design was incredibly simple, and the AVR came in a surface-mount package, so I figured I could shrink the board sufficiently to fit it inside the controller itself.  Actually, there's a ton of room inside the controller, so I could have even fit the DIP version inside if I'd wanted to.  But I wanted to do better.  So I did.  The PCB did shrink down nicely, and here's the result:

With a minimum of external parts, the final
PCB shrunk down quite nicely
The board fits perfectly over the pin header from the original cable

The placement of the PCB avoids all of the spacer posts, meaning no
cutting or other modification to the controller shell is necessary
Voila!


You can find more info, including source and PCB design files, at the project page on my site.