32MB mod pictures and new site


R

Robster

Dodgy hardware mod maker
Joined
Jul 8, 2003
Messages
439
Location
New Zealand
Website
www.cobbleware.com
I've got a website up and running, it's called Cobbleware.com. There's quite a bit of stuff that I'll be putting on there soon(ish), like dev info for SMC and sound etc

Anyway, I've put a description of my 32MB mod on there, with some pictures, for those that are interested.

Please let me know if the site doesn't work on your browser, I'm learning html as I go and it's a bit basic at the moment :)
 
Well, thats it :( this is just too hard for me to even try, im not talented enough to do this upgrade myself...
 
Thank you for that, what a well done article. Screenshots as well, it's all top class :)

Unfortunately I think only about 2 people in the entire scene will be able to perform the upgrade :) CPU pins 0.5mm apart :eek: and I'd imagine the RAM would be the same kind of pitch... you'd probably need to be a soldering god. I'm really interested, but as a friend said of the operation, "it's about as easy as converting the Pope to satanism."

Good luck on your other projects though, I'll keep checking the site.
 
This is going to be great for future development, although hard for other users to implement this themselves. Do you plan on maybe starting little business on doing this for people? Lets say we mail you our GP32 and some cash and you could do it? And if so, how much would you charge? Great job by the way.
 
There are firms and individuals with the equipment and know-how. They do mods to Ham radios and other equipment.

They have soldering iron attachments that can do all the pins at once.

I think Nuts and Volts magazine, or maybe QST magazine would be good places to check.

I have done simple SMT (surface mount)work and it is a stone bitch. Just removing or moving resistors requires a tiny soldering iron tip and a very steady hand. I wouldn't even think of trying this myself.
 
Of course, if i saw a GBA or a NEOGEO proggy that appeared using the 32mb ram configuration ( Which very well may be the case! esp with neogeo arcade ) I would have no choice but to pull out the tools and put aside 3-5 hours... :)

I'm wondering....

Once the change to 32mb occurs (And the bios changed)- it seems like none of the older proggys would run rather creating a memory protection fault. Did you get anything running on it afterwards?

And the other question is, how does the new bios address the new ram? Does it treat it as 8mb untill addressed by a prog that demands more? or other?

Anyway...

I hope this catches on. It almost seems like it MUST be adopted if we want more out of our gp32 units.

Congrads on the page, rob. It is awesome.

Cheers,
YUZO
 
Woo! 32MB ram!

This is the first step to making the Gp32 upgradeable!

imagine... 400MHz and 32mb ram..... imagine what that could do!

Nice work robster!
 
So I guess this means we will have to come up with a name for the updated gp32 systems.

Since I honestly feel ROB deserves to go down in history for boldly going where no gp32 owner would...... I would venture to call the updated units..... GP32r. or GP32rX.

Just a thought :) Any ideas??

Of course, mega props goes to Mr.Spiv for being more than willing to tackle this!

As for the 400mhz- it may not happen at all- But DAMN, would that be awesome or what? Suddenly, the word "MUTINY" comes to mind. :)

Cheers,
YuZo
 
STRIDER_YUZO posted on Nov 2 2003 said:
So I guess this means we will have to come up with a name for the updated gp32 systems.

Since I honestly feel ROB deserves to go down in history for boldly going where no gp32 owner would...... I would venture to call the updated units..... GP32r. or GP32rX.

Just a thought :) Any ideas??

Of course, mega props goes to Mr.Spiv for being more than willing to tackle this!

As for the 400mhz- it may not happen at all- But DAMN, would that be awesome or what? Suddenly, the word "MUTINY" comes to mind. :)

Cheers,
YuZo
Click to expand...
How about calling this 32MB ram upgrade the GP32MB? ;)

Also I'm no soldiering/programming expert, infact i have no experience in either, but it would be really cool if robster opened up his own little business in upgrading other's GP32 units for cash, I'd be willing to pay money for an upgrade as long as someone's willing to write a SNES/Genesis emu that's 32MB compatible :D

As mentioned on GP32x's news page it would be awesome to take it one step further and upgrade to 64MB and add a 400MHz processor to go with it. Sure it'd drain batteries down faster but playing N64 games on a GP32 would simply be a dream come true, even if it isnt at full speed/sound ;)
 
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I do this sort of thing daily, pfft. So why make a GP32 incompatable to current software? The number off the chip would be handy.

A great hack, just wish it was worth the trouble.
 
Rico posted on Nov 2 2003 said:
Thank you for that, what a well done article. Screenshots as well, it's all top class :)

Unfortunately I think only about 2 people in the entire scene will be able to perform the upgrade :) CPU pins 0.5mm apart :eek: and I'd imagine the RAM would be the same kind of pitch... you'd probably need to be a soldering god. I'm really interested, but as a friend said of the operation, "it's about as easy as converting the Pope to satanism."

Good luck on your other projects though, I'll keep checking the site.
Click to expand...
The PS2 DVD / CD Chip Was Less than 0.2mm Apart :D If you use the Razor blade method of soldering onto pins and a 0.1mm fine tip soldering iron you should be fine :D

Only thing that confuses me is the BIOS Setting stuff... :wacko:
 
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Well, I'm encouraged that no-one's said the site didn't display properly on their browser :)

It seems that I didn't make it clear that the bios change is simply so the CPU will physically address the new memory. Once the bios is flashed and the chip is changed, the 32MB is available, including 8MB where older programs expect to find it. The MMU must be changed to access the extra memory, but the normal 8MB can be used in the normal way.

Another thing I should have mentioned was that with another slight bios change and an extra wire, another 32MB chip could be piggybacked onto that one to give 64MB total ;)

dad: the change doesn't make anything incompatible, all older programs still run. The number of the chip is VData VDS8616A8A-75.

And as for it being worth the trouble, I did it to satisfy my curiosity. Which is enough reason to do anything :)
 
Hmmm, does Firefly's GeePee32 emulator work properly with the new firmware? Can it access an extra 24MB of emulated RAM? If so, we may see new 32MB-compatible games yet.

And, once again, great job Robster.
 
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