Omnimaga
General Discussion => Technology and Development => ROM Hacking and Console Homebrew => Topic started by: miotatsu on June 06, 2010, 08:54:08 pm
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I found an old toy from a few years ago and im wondering if it would be possible to develop for it :{O
it looks like this:
(http://c0030272.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/monster_lg.jpg)
and i found the following information on it:
http://forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=25&m=383480
It has a nice little lcd, a usb connector, an internal speaker, and looks like it has good potential (A 6502 microprocessor clone?)
If possible i would like to be able to put custom software on this thing :{o
EDIT: more info:
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mikrocontroller.net%2Ftopic%2F146804
http://www.sst.com/products/?inode=41433
Powertip LCD color FP-00478-02
Flash IC SST39VF1681 Flash IC SST39VF1681
2 Quarze 16 MHz und 32768 KHz 2 Crystals 16 MHz and 32768 KHz
Mini-Lautsprecher Mini Speaker
SMD 3,3 Spannungsregler SMD 3.3 voltage regulator
2 Ferrit-Filter am USB-Eingang Two ferrite filters on the USB input
3 Batterien Micro 1,5 V 3 batteries 1,5 V Micro
LCD info is on:
http://forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=25&m=383480
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Mhmm interesting, I wonder if it is very popular online?
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oh wow, I think I have one of these lying around somewhere. I might be able to use it still, if I want to...
Custom software would be cool given the potential. Just make sure you don't brick it. :P
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I think I can post again now, it's been more than half a day...
I think the thing has upgradeable firmware, and it, along with all information, is stored in a 16MB flash rom (when you put it in the mode for connection to a computer, it comes up as an unformatted flash drive with a 16MB capacity). That's a good amount of space. And given that the firmware is upgradeable, it may be possible to put custom software on it. Again, my only concern is that it may be able to be bricked, and I only have one device. Does anyone know how easy/difficult this thing is to brick?
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no idea, but if they still sell them they should be relatively cheap
I have been looking into info on the microprocessor, i have not found much information besides that it is probably a SST39VF1681 (which is a 6502 clone?) and if my information is correct a 6502 runs at 1 to 2 MHz.
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This is not really on-topic, but why does the name of this handled reminds me so much of Mudkipz?
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lol ;.;
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They begin with an M, and with a z, and are each 7 letters? idk.
It makes you wonder why a 2MHz device has faster timers and 16MB of memory... How easy is it to get it to receive and actually write data? (It shouldn't be difficult on linux, since it shows up and can allegedly be written to/read from with dd)
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small update:
i noticed http://www.sst.com/products/?inode=41433 lists the density as 16Mb
at first i thought it was referring to the ROM until i realised that its 16 MB not 16 Mb
so i am wondering is the RAM 16 Mb? or am i confused about how this type of device works in general?
I have confirmed that linux sees it as 16 MB at least...
EDIT: I see now, the /flash memory/ is SST39VF1681 and according to my calculations there are 8 of those in 1 of these handhelds, i was thinking the processor was SST39VF1681
the best info we have to go on for the processor is that it is a 6502 clone
EDIT:
http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Monsterz-Roc-MIUCHIZ-Companions/dp/B000F901FA/ref=pd_sim_t_1
$2 same model that i have, thats a great deal
also again check out http://www.sst.com/products/?inode=41433
the product docs suggest it runs at 5 MHz? if that is right and it is indeed clocked at 5 Mhz we are talking almost-calc-speeds!
it probably is running at 2 MHz, but you never know, only time will tell
Double Edit:
I am currently finished reading up on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_storage_density
so i can have a proper understanding of what that 16 Mb is
I now understand it, i was thinking the SST39VF1681 was the processor, it is the flash memory.
see the top most edit for more info
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Wow at the price o.o
I am almost tempted to get one, lol. I wonder if Amazon.com ships such stuff outside USA... the Canadian Amazon site doesn't even appear to have them...
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yes, i dont know if they ship outside the US but it is a great deal, i was not expecting to find anything below $10 when i checked :P
I am going to try to open mine up today and take some pictures, if plans dont change i will be going on vacation tommorow though so there will be a small lack of updates, i probably wont be back until the weekend
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Otherwise another solution there could be is that someone buys one for me then I pay him so he ships it to me :P
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here are the pics of the innards http://s534.photobucket.com/albums/ee348/Miotatsu/miuchiz/
sorry for the watermark and i know you cant see too much from those, i will draw it all out too
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cool thanks for the pics ^^
That thing seems rather small. Is the LCD easy to see?
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the lcd is very small but it is easy enough to see yeah, i can take some pics of it in action if you want
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it's not very big either, only 98*68.
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Youtube video :D
Btw my concern was more the physical size, as in, is it so small that it hurts your eyes like the Game Boy Micro?
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it doesnt hurt my eyes but yeah the physical size is very small, what did I say it was, like 1.3 in. diagonal? Its pretty small. Anyway I am about to dump the ROM, i was afraid to use dd until i knew more about it but Kerm posted a good example of it on cemetech that I will be going by, the example acaceol had gave me had some extra arguments that i did not understand.
EDIT: The dump has been attached now :)
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ouch x.x that's kinda small
EDIT: wow that R O M dump is large, but that might be because I am used to SNES ROMs and calc ROMs :P!
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Wow, that's pretty cool that you were able to dump the ROM so easily! =D I'd be interested in seeing what can be done with this thing!
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I wonder if writing to it is just as easy... Also, providing all the hardware is the same between the different types, that would mean one could just change the device type... (I'm talking about Pawz vs Monsterz vs. Bratz)
And wow, that dump compressed to only ~125 KB? That's a lot of extra space...
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Really? I didn't pay attention at the attachment size x.x
Wow there must be a lot of empty space in there. I wonder what could be done with those.
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update: looks like it has a 65c02 but i still have not managed to flash to it, however i have found that the official firmware has a test mode, i have included footage of it in a demo video which also shows the normal mode
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Wow it seems more interesting than I thought (except for the ridiculously small eye-hurting screen). I did not expect it to have colors like that. I was sure it was just like a calc LCD or those old Tiger handleds such as Mortal Kombat