Low cost Flash Hucard

[PunkicCyborg]

Id buy one if the become available again

[wildfruit]

I am wanting one of these now

Sent from my Lumia 520 on Scabb Island using Tapatalk

[Necromancer]

... would that attract enough interest to decrease demand on the actual Hucards and normalize the prices for the original games somewhat?

Nope.  Flash carts (and CDRs) have been available for years (the price cut is meaningless compared to the cost of games), yet game prices are higher than ever.

[Paddyfitz18]

^ yeah, I suppose that is true.

[roflmao]

Not to take this tangent too far off topic, but I think a lot of us feel like we're "cheating" by using a flashcard or cdr to play a commercial game.  I've developed a lot of low budget dvds for clients over the years and I hate hearing when they are pirated. So  that was never my intention when I got this. Though I do think there's some merit to the "try before you buy" saying.  I've picked up  a number of pce games because I loved trying it out on the flashcard.  However I have an Ys IV cdr sitting in my cd wallet practically unplayed because I don't own Ys IV yet.  The same went for Rondo.  I've had a cdr of it for ages, but never dug into it until I bought the real thing.

Also, I love looking through the manuals.  Even if they are pce and I don't understand everything, I appreciate all the effort that was put into them.  That's one of the things I miss about music and PC games being so readily available as a digital download - no kickass manuals.

[gameofyou]

Hey all,
 
I know it has been a very long time.  I only have a few bare PCBs left from my original order.  I have come to the conclusion that I will no longer have the time to build these.  So my plan is to, very soon, post the schematics, BOM, Gerbers, ...ect, on my web page.

So, basically, anyone who has the time and skills can build these cards up, as many as they want.

I will still provide the microcontroller (which will be pre-programmed).  This way I can still make a couple bucks to reimburse my prototyping and design time.  I think that is a fair solution, and hopefully everyone will be satisfied with that solution.
 
It will probably be a couple months before this happens, and I'll post here when I have my web page updated.
 
Honestly, I didn't think there would be much demand, once the Everdrive was released.  But I still get many requests for this card, so I figured it is time to pass the torch.

[SignOfZeta]

I eventually found the Windows 7 netbook (Shortest lived fad in computing history, netbooks? Maybe.) and made an attempt to flash something new onto my card. However it doesn't work, for some reason. The card no longer has Logic on it but I can't seem to get anything to flash now. The card was working perfectly until I tried to change the game.

[esadajr]

I eventually found the Windows 7 netbook (Shortest lived fad in computing history, netbooks? Maybe.) and made an attempt to flash something new onto my card. However it doesn't work, for some reason. The card no longer has Logic on it but I can't seem to get anything to flash now. The card was working perfectly until I tried to change the game.

Seems to be a common occurrence with these unfortunately. I got two back in the day and both had the same issue, after a few write cycles they wouldn't erase. Gameofyou stood behind his product in both occasions. Since I gave them away I don't know how the repairs held.

It is a great idea though and I hope someone picks up this project in the future.

[gameofyou]

I eventually found the Windows 7 netbook (Shortest lived fad in computing history, netbooks? Maybe.) and made an attempt to flash something new onto my card. However it doesn't work, for some reason. The card no longer has Logic on it but I can't seem to get anything to flash now. The card was working perfectly until I tried to change the game.

Yeah, I have seen this happen on a few cards.  I have never been able to determine if the bare pcb's are to blame or the soldering process.  Usually the cause is that a connection has opened up (either a pcb via, or a cold solder joint).  This prevents the erase cycle from happening, as it should.  You will know this if the led begins flashing right away after clicking download.  Normally, there will be a few seconds where the flash is erased, before the led starts flashing.

Reflowing the solder to the microcontroller and the flash chips might fix it.  You could maybe even do this in a toaster oven, if you can't solder small pins.  You can also try putting light pressure against the microcontroller and flash chips, with your fingers, while the download is happening.  Sometimes this works.

[SignOfZeta]

I'll look real close at it. I can solder almost anything.

I really only need it to write once more. After that it can happily retire from flashing and just be...Magical Chase or something. I'm not much of a "channel flipper" with games so just having it be one massively unaffordable game is fine with me. Maybe Bomberman User Battle.

[Arkhan]

One dude's card, you could just press down on the flash chip and it would erase/flash.

Mine seems to be holding up fine over here.  It was a very handy device for Atlantean development.

Much better than that shitheap NeoFlash garbage

[SignOfZeta]

Oh yeah, I have a broken one of those.

[Arkhan]

Oh yeah, I have a broken one of those.

Everyone has a broken one of those

they're total garbage and that USB connector that comes with it is the dumbest idea of all time.

[esteban]

Oh yeah, I have a broken one of those.

Everyone has a broken one of those

they're total garbage and that USB connector that comes with it is the dumbest idea of all time.

The NeoFlash card that I could never get to work....it might not have been 100% due to my incompetence?

[Necromancer]

My NeoFlash took some work to get running, but it's been rock solid since; and as an added bonus, it doesn't get hit by the power switch like my TED does.