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PCE_TurboEverdrive_USB

What is this "TurboEverdrive USB" thing ?

For those who have a TurboEverdrive v2.x from krikzz.com, there was originally an optional USB port for sending files directly from PC to the cart. Developers have been very happy with this functionality, but unfortunately, it is no longer an option at the time of checkout on the site (only initial orders around 2015 had this option, I hear). All of the boards can have the option added later, however.

Note that version 1 boards do not have this option. Also note that there are many boards being sold on ebay and AliExpress calling themselves "Turbo Everdrives", but are not version 2.x TurboEverdrive boards. Be careful to verify which board you have before using this.

What is actually new in this repository ?

The program which krikzz had written for data transfer to the Turbo Everdrive was built only for Windows, and is only a command-line tool.

It can be found here (turbo-usb2.exe): https://krikzz.com/pub/support/turbo-everdrive/v2/usb-tool/

I have taken this tool, and reverse-engineered and reimplemented it in Python so that it can be used on other platforms as well (i.e. linux).

Can I add USB to my TurboEverdrive ?

If you're good at soldering, it's pretty straightforward, although 2022 is a time of chip shortages, so you may not be able to get the required IC chip immediately.

IF YOU ARE NOT EXPERIENCED AT SOLDERING, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND TO REACH OUT TO SOMEBODY WHO DOES CONSOLE MODIFICATIONS FOR ASSISTANCE.

The change itself is pretty straightforward.

ELIGIBLE CARTS

The Turbo Everdrive cartridges versions 2.x are capable of having this added. The cartridges look like this (prior to modification):

Before Modification

And they look like this (after modification):

After Modification

PARTS

You will need:

  1. a USB-B mini socket, surface mount (such as Mouser part 649-10033526N3212MLF)
  2. a FT245RL USB-to-parallel converter chip, SSOP-28 package (such as Mouser part 895-FT245RL-TUBE)

SOLDERING

Be very careful to ensure that the chip's orientation (direction) is correct, and that the pins are soldered without creating any solder bridges, which could cause damage or malfunction. The pins are very close to each other, and solder bridges are very likely for the inexperienced.

PC SIDE SETUP & TEST

You will need to ensure that your PC has the FTDI Virtual COM Port drivers installed (if they aren't already installed).

They can be found here: https://ftdichip.com/drivers/vcp-drivers/

To test:

  1. Insert the TurbEverdrive into a PC Engine (or TurboGrafx) and ensure that it still has original functionality
  2. With the console off, connect a Windows PC to the TurboEverdrive cartridge, open "Device Manager", and expand the "Ports (COM & LPT)" section if you have one.
  3. Turn on the console, and watch the Device Manager enumerate the COM port - there should be a new "USB Serial Device" in the "Ports (COM &LPT) section. Take note of the port number (mine is COM9).
  4. Now try using the original Krikzz "turbo-usb2.exe" to send a ROM file.

How to run the python version

The normal command line is:

python SendTED.py <COM port> <ROM file>

In my case, this would work:

python SendTED.py COM9 testROM.pce

There are ways to change the 'SendTED.py' script into an .EXE file so that 'python' is not needed each time it is run, but I will leave that as an exercise for the reader.

This should also work fine on other operating systems such as linux, but I have not tested it as yet; I would appreciate feedback on this.

For any bugs or issues (for example, with odd-sized ROM files), please file an issue in the GitHub issue log with an example file in order for me to debug.

I hope this is useful !

Dave