Gameboy Hardware for controll and development?

[farhada]

gateboy gameboy

Hi,
|I just finished a small project with a CPLD, Flash and a paralelle port for the GameBoy. I just got the boards and have to put the component on and start programming in C or Assembly, but I wonder if it is legal to sell this online?

Does anyone know where I can find any information about the legality of using a gameboy as a hardware control device and selling hardware for it?

The board can not be used to copy games, it has a small memory space (max 512K bytes), nor SRAM either.

Would really appreciate your advice and help,

Farhad A.

 

[bilgekaan]

what is the purpose of your projet? i saw a game boy osiloskop on the web

 

[papyaki]

Hi,

Look at this old topic (scroll down). Some oscilloscope development was made, based on a gameboy :

h**p://

replace * by t

 

[farhada]

what is the purpose of your projet? i saw a game boy osiloskop on the web

Hi,
The purpose or the projet is just FUN!, it is not for anything specific, just to use a couple of GB and GBC that I have in boxes and put them into use! I know there are 1000s of them on the market and maybe others want to do the same.

The 8 bit interface can be connected to anything, a PC parallell port, or any other device, I just need to change the PLD program to change the interface to the DB25 connector!

But since it is a generic board, I may get into trouble if I try to sell it! That is my only concern!

BR,
/Farhad

Added after 17 minutes:

Hi,

Look at this old topic (scroll down). Some oscilloscope development was made, based on a gameboy :

h**p://

replace * by t

Thanks for the info,
I knew about it, the product now is a commercial one and they guy who designed it is selling it, but it is alightly different than my idea.

My idea is a generic HW platform for GB with a standard DB29 connector, that makes it really easy to use the GB as a test/development unit for anything people want!

BR,
/Farhad

 

[eltonjohn]

Hi :
I don't see why you couldn't sell this product .You are not violating any LAW !
I did some teaching of programming with 11 year olds kinds (very bright little guys) that could program in C and assembler and we used the gameboy as our dev plataform and It was great .
There are plenty of open and very good tools simulators ETC.

Also another good factor is the price .As low as $60 in quantities .
is perfect for develloping WEB servers,as i recall there was even a port of clinux . and other interesting projects .The only problem is the lack of peripherals ..Then i think that your product has a lot of POTENTIAL

Cheers

 

[farhada]

Hi,
Thanks, may I ask what yype of class you were teaching? Why did you chose GB?

Did you use GBA or GB/GBC for your class?

Hope you have great new year,

Best regards,
/Farhad

 

[eltonjohn]

No i used GAME BOY ADVANCE I didn't choose it .They Did .
because it has a nice graphic engine capable of rotation,zooming,spritres control
etc ..it has a lot of high resolution modes etc .
But also there simulators and open tools .These kids were interested in doing their own games!

Cheers

 

[farhada]

Interesting.

I was planning to make the board for the GBA first, but then I realized that all my CPLDs that I have are 5V and GBA is 3.3V only. So for the first try I am working on a 5V only device, maybe in a near future I make a 3.3V board.

GB cartridges work inside a GBA as well, but you will loose the 16/32 bit benefits and can only work in a Z80 emulating mode which is OK for me but I am not sure if there are many people who would use it.

BR,
/Farhad

 

[Dspnut]

Hello farhad,

I agree with eltonjohn that you can sell your HW design without violating any law. Some examples are ....
https://www.goldenshop.com.hk/AI-trad/Misc_htm/gb_radio.htm (Turn a GB into a radio reciever)

https://www.gatesboy.com/ (The GatesBoy™ cartridge is supplied complete in its translucent plastic case. It is ready to plug into a Game Boy Pocket or Color and carries a 6 month warranty.
ROM
128 KBytes of Flash ROM.

RAM
2 KBytes of volatile RAM. The RAM can be made non volatile by adding a 3V battery inside the cart.

PCB
The double sided PCB has a gold plated edge connector and is tinned over the rest of its surface. It does *not* have any resist (green paint). This makes life a bit easier for hardware designers who therefore do not risk damaging the PCB while trying to scrape off the resist.

Built in I/O ports
A built in female DB25 connector has 5 Bi-directional lines, 5 Output and 4 Input (all TTL) under user program control.
+5V from the Game Boy is also present but you should use this with great care to avoid damaging either your Game Boy or your GatesBoy™. In any case, you should not draw more than 10 mA.

Program (ROM) Download
The female DB25 connector is also used to program the GatesBoy™ Cartridge via the Parallel Port of an IBM PC. )

HTH

 

[farhada]

Thanks,
I didn't know about the GateBoy, that was very interesting.

It seems they are using the Siemens devices on their board instead of multiple items. Very smart, but not so cheap.

The HK company, not really what I am looking for, their devices are more add-ons for GB, and not exactly like what I have in mind.

I will look into the Gateboy to see what kind of support they have and compare it to my ideas.

BR,
/Farhad

 

[farhada]

Hi Guys,
Just wnated to show you the first picture of the board. I finally got all the components on it (except for the connectors).

Now it is time to refresh my C and Assembly programming knowledge and do some fun work!

Cheers,
/Farhad