Re: ZVG firmware / the future of ZVG

How much?
thanks, Bob
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: The Arcade Collector
  To: vectorlist@vectorlist.org
  Sent: Monday, April 16, 2012 6:54 PM
  Subject: Re: VECTOR: ZVG firmware / the future of ZVG

  I have a new zvg for sale.

  -----Original message-----

    From: GamingDevices <gamingdevices@tx.rr.com>
    To: vectorlist@vectorlist.org
    Sent: Mon, Apr 16, 2012 22:40:49 GMT+00:00
    Subject: Re: VECTOR: ZVG firmware / the future of ZVG

    The Atmel ATmega16 & ATtiny2313 devices used in the ZVG have lock bits, so I doubt that you can just read the part.

    Mike

    On 4/16/2012 4:59 PM, Jeremy Abel wrote:
      Hello all!

      So, I've got my vector monitor (or at least the post office does; I have to go pick it up), and I've been investigating ways to control it. So far, the ZVG seems like the best / only option. However, they seem to be hard to come by, and a bit out of my price range, not to mention the fact that they just aren't being made anymore. Making it even more complicated, I don't even have a PC with a parallel port (only a macbook). Instead, I've come up with several other options, which I will talk about below.

      Using the schematic that's available online, I've managed to re-enter the whole thing into EagleCAD, and have begun to design my own board for it, using only through-hole parts (because I don't have the patience / skill to solder SMDs). So far, only the power supply area is done, because I don't want to put too much effort into it before getting some more information about the whole thing. I'm doing this only because it would cost me $100 to print the board, and then $50 in parts, which is about $100 less than I'd end up paying for an original ZVG. There is one snag though: basically, I need the firmware that goes on the two Atmel chips. Without that, I might as well not even bother. So, I've come up with some solutions to that problem. Here's what I've been thinking:

      Option 1: I somehow manage to get ahold of Zonn (no luck with that so far), and somehow convince him to open-source the firmware (something he talked about here, about a year ago). With access to the actual code, I could pretty easily convert it to communicate over USB. With Zonn's permission, I would then open source the entire thing, and thus you all would have a lovely new open-source USB-enabled ZVG. This, I think, is the best option, as I don't need anyone to dump the firmware for me, I don't need to logic probe the thing and figure out what's being sent over the parallel port, and I don't need to program an interpreter to convert the thing into USB.

      Option 2: Someone with a ZVG solders up headers to J5 and J6, and uses an AVR programmer to read off the firmware and sends it to me as a hex file. I can then use this to program my own atmel chips, and proceed. However, this will make it difficult for me to get around the parallel port problem without a large amount of logic-probing and then adding another microcontroller to convert the signals being sent to the parallel port into signals I can send over USB. In order to keep Zonn's IP safe, I'd keep the whole thing to myself. Still, this feels shady.

      Option 3: I buy a ZVG from someone, dump the firmware myself, then sell it back to someone else. This feels just as shady, maybe more, than option 2.

      What do you all think about all of this? I'd love to get the ball rolling on this, preferably on option 1 if anyone knows how to get ahold of Zonn.

      Thanks,
      ~Jeremy

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Received on Wed Apr 18 20:37:54 2012