Hey,

As you know, we don’t have a link cable, or a suitable connector available for the VB. There’s several ways to make a cable that works, but in the end, it’s mostly ugly hacks for development/prototyping. I’ve been trying to come up with a way to make a quality cable that would just plug in… but so far have been unsuccessful.

So… it got me thinking… how about just making a proper cable? I contacted a custom part manufacturer (who I’ve used parts from in the past), and they said they could do it, but of course wouldn’t be “cheap”. I sort of based my design thoughts on the SNES A/V connector, which includes a plastic shell with crimp pins. So, I found some crimp pins which should work, but I didn’t have any way to make a 3D model of the plastic shell.

Well, of course I asked Hedgetrimmer (our resident 3D modeling expert), and he created a GREAT model of a plastic shell to house the pins. With that, I was able to verify with the MFG that it could be made, as well as get an estimate for price.

So, now here’s the question. They were right… it’s not cheap. A complete link cable would cost about $40, since the quantity would be so low. At this price, how many would be interested (and how many)? Would anyone want just the connector/pins?

There’d probably only be about 50 cables made, and this would probably be the only run, since I’m assuming the demand would be low. I don’t mind investing the money (and probably losing quite a bit on this project), since I think it’s a very worthwhile project… but, if I’m the only one that has any interest in it, there’s no point in even considering it further.

But, IMO this seems like a good time to pursue this, since homebrew is continually advancing, and I think linked homebrew has been held down by lack of link cable. Also, I assume some will be buying the new Flashboy, even though they already have an old Flashboy… so with two flash carts, why not have a cable to link the systems?

Of course, if there’s an unanticipated large interest in this, the price would come down… but we’re a pretty small community, and the homebrew crowd is really the only market for this.

Thanks,
DogP

I’m in for one in the event it happens… turns out one of my best friends has a VB… and we will be playing some 2P goodness in the future hopefully!

I know I haven’t been keeping this thread updated… but we’re still moving forward, making quite a bit of progress. Just figured I’d drop by and post a few pictures of the latest prototype.

There are still a few tweaks to be made, but this version is fully functional. I’ve built up both a VB<->VB link cable, as well as a VB<->PC cable, and both are working great. So from here on out, it should be a matter of making the final tweaks to the model (yes, Bat VB will flipped 😉 ), and then actually getting the molded plastic part made.

BTW, did I mention that Hedgetrimmer is awesome at this stuff? 🙂

Link Cable:

USB Cable:

Detail:

System Front:

System Back:

DogP

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You’re my hero !

They look great.

amazing work, I’ll buy one of each definitely!
Wynd

The VB to USB is exactly what I described, that’s so awesome that you made it a reality.

Great work guys, that plug looks fantastic! I want both! One can only dream of what great applications both cables will find. 🙂

KR155E, the USB version is a concept for online multiplayer for future games.
It still needs a receive and send program and a connection.

Would it be possible to dump carts with the USB cable?

Looks great guys, good job.

Any idea on what the final cost might be? Will you sell these as a set or allow us to pick up one or the other? Will they come in any color choices? Do you guys have plans to include a homebrew or two?

Cheers!

Dreammary wrote:
KR155E, the USB version is a concept for online multiplayer for future games.
It still needs a receive and send program and a connection.

That’s only one possible application, albeit a very cool one. I guess it could also be used for debugging, cart dumping or for using the Virtual Boy as a 3D display device for the PC, like Alberto Covarrubias’ veGL. 🙂

Thanks for the comments, guys.

MasterOfPuppets wrote:
Would it be possible to dump carts with the USB cable?

Yeah… when I built my first prototype VB<->PC cable years ago, a ROM dumper / memory reader/writer / remote code executer was the first application I wrote.

The hope was to make a simple debugging interface with watchpoints and stuff, but after spending a little bit of time on it, I decided rather than reinventing the wheel (poorly), I should invest the time in making it work with GDB. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of experience with the inner workings of GDB, and it seemed pretty complex. :/

I don’t remember if Alberto ever released his Virtual-E project with the USB link code added, but it’s pretty cool rendering things in OpenGL on the PC and viewing them in 3D on the VB.

DogP

Lester Knight wrote:
Any idea on what the final cost might be? Will you sell these as a set or allow us to pick up one or the other? Will they come in any color choices? Do you guys have plans to include a homebrew or two?

Cheers!

Cost is still up in the air (highly dependent on the molded part cost), though of course I’m trying to make it as affordable as possible. I’m expecting to lose money on this (or at least not recoup it for many years), but it’s something I really want for myself as well as for the community.

The plan is to sell the link cable and USB cable individually (and even as raw connectors/pins if you want them for your own project)… and if the manufacturer can do them in multiple colors, I’ll probably consider having red and black connectors… but if it adds significant cost, they’ll probably stay all black. The next prototype will be in red though, so we’ll see how that looks.

I’ll have homebrew examples for download, which you can load onto your flash cart to try it out, and also to see the code for using on your own homebrew.

DogP

DogP wrote:
Yeah… when I built my first prototype VB<->PC cable years ago, a ROM dumper / memory reader/writer / remote code executer was the first application I wrote.

How did you do that? Wouldn’t you need specially programmed ROMs to do any communications?

I don’t remember if Alberto ever released his Virtual-E project with the USB link code added, but it’s pretty cool rendering things in OpenGL on the PC and viewing them in 3D on the VB.

Can data be transferred fast enough for full VB-quality video? If so, then who needs an Oculus Rift? 😛 Also, it would then be possible to display video from the VB on the PC and record it (with hacked ROMs, of course).

DogP wrote:
Thanks for the comments, guys.

Yeah… when I built my first prototype VB<->PC cable years ago, a ROM dumper / memory reader/writer / remote code executer was the first application I wrote.

DogP

I am very interested then!

Excellent news! I especially like the part about getting loose shells/pins to hack with 😉 I’m sure those of us who truly appreciate your effort in this will make sure you at least recoup your losses very soon after release.

Re: other colors — If you’re getting them made in ABS, there is always vinyl dye for those who want other colors. People have been using it for years to mod consoles and controllers. Unlike paint, it actually becomes part of the plastic itself, so it won’t rub or flake off. I don’t know how well it works on black, though, so maybe “natural” or white abs would be better (if it ends up being cheap enough to do two colors).

HorvatM wrote:
How did you do that? Wouldn’t you need specially programmed ROMs to do any communications?

Well yeah, I wrote the code, and used it in homebrew stuff (you couldn’t read/write memory while running an unmodified ROM). The ROM dumper ran from RAM, so you could hot-swap the carts. Of course if you modified a ROM, you could do this stuff while the game ran. I was going to try that to do save states, or a Game Shark kinda thing, but never got around to it.

HorvatM wrote:
Can data be transferred fast enough for full VB-quality video? If so, then who needs an Oculus Rift? 😛 Also, it would then be possible to display video from the VB on the PC and record it (with hacked ROMs, of course).

The speed of the link port (on the one VB I tested) maxed out around 280kbit/sec, so no… uncompressed full frame VB video in/out wouldn’t work in real time. Each display is 384x224x2bpp, so 172,032 bits per display, or 344,064 bits for both displays… so it’d take over a second to read or write a full display. For full quality video, you’d want to use the data bus (which could easily do it with something like an FT2232H on a cart).

I don’t remember exactly how Alberto was doing his, but I think he used LZ compression, and only transmitted the chunks of the display that were being used… so it was usable for some cases (IIRC, his demo used a shaded rotating cube, which compresses well compared to a random bitmap).

DogP

[Morintari]

Looks Awesome DogP and Hedgetrimmer you both have done a phenomenal job. If payment can wait till march I’ll want a link cable and 3 USB cables. That is if you will you be able to play multi-player games (greater than 2 player) using the usb link and a multi-usb hub for your computer? Otherwise I’ll just want a link cable and a USB link cable.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 7 months ago by Morintari.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 7 months ago by Morintari.

Looks good. Our family will definitely be interested.
We have 3 Virtual Boys, it’s like they’ve been waiting for this special moment to come. Thanks gang.