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Welcome to retrode.org, the community portal for the Retrode

This is what it looks like – sweet, eh1?

Welcome to retrode.org! On this website, we will collect all things useful and fun around the Retrode, the world’s bestest USB adapter for vintage video games. Expect the following and more to show up in the near future:

  • User Stories. We have a growing team of editors who will take care of user-provided content. Do you have a retro-gaming project that you want to share, or tutorials, useful bits of information? We’ll do our best to feature them on this website. Just drop a line to editors@retrode.org, and make sure to include as much information as possible. If you have pictures and/or a video, don’t forget to include them!
  • Documentation Repository. We keep on extending our collection of documentation about the Retrode, including troubleshooting hints, how-tos and lots of useful information about your Retrode.
  • Community Forum. Once again, [lulemurfan] built us a nice forum. Meet your fellow Retrode enthusiasts in here!
  • Development Blog / General Announcements. As always, we will blog about the latest news and behind-the-scenes stuff.

If you have never heard of the Retrode, or are interested in buying one, make sure to check out the new product site, retrode.COM!

Note: As of December 2011, some information provided on this website still refers to the original Retrode and may no longer be valid for the current model. Please give us some time to get everything up to date.

The USB part of the Retrode firmware is based on the LUFA library by Dean Camera (license). Thanks Dean for such an awesome piece of code!

1 Just a bit too much exposure to Canadians, I guess…

Firmware update – Lots of good new stuff

D-pad settings
Button mapping for HID mode selection

Dear all,

A firmware update is knocking on the door. Besides a few technicalities, there are two main features in the new version: support for two N64 controllers (yay! Played my first round of Super Mario 64 last night, with proper analogue controls), and an option to set the HID Mode upon startup without having to edit the config.

Please find the firmware and updating instructions on this page. As always, I’d be glad if you could give it a test run, and report if something doesn’t quite work the way it’s supposed to. Here’s the full list of changes:

v0.17h alpha (2012-05-08)
- KB Mode ([HIDMode] 3) now supports 4 players
- Streamlined config file (no more key mappings, file
extensions for plug-in prototypes)
- Added config options for SMS and GG rom extensions
- A dedicated USB PID per HIDMode setting, for
smoother enumeration, and driver handling by OS
- Fixed overdump mode (HWB button)
- HID joystick (HIDMode 1, 2) now reports 16 buttons
- N64 controller support: Connect data line via 220ohm
resistor to Sega slot pins A7 (controller #1) and
A5 (#2).
- Startup HIDMode setting: Hold down D-pad to choose
values 0 (up), 1 (up+left), 2 (left), 3 (down+left),
4 (down). Also press Start to make the setting
permanent

 Read more… »

Packaging Fantasies

box1box2box3
No text today :)

New Tutorial for Windows Users

tutorial-Windows-ZSNES2

Our new tutorial section is beginning to grow – our old friend Muzer has just written up a detailed tutorial for Windows users. If you are having trouble setting up your Retrode, make sure to check it out. Thanks Muzer for your effort!

→ Want to contribute a tutorial? Let us know at editors@retrode.org!

Firmware Update: Controllers

We recently received reports about glitches with the SNES controller readout (controller doesn’t work, sometimes works, or goes nuts when you press B button). If you are suffering from such problems, please make sure to flash your device to the latest firmware v0.17f, and let us know if it helps. We consider this an essential update since it also fixes a nasty glitch with savegame writing.

Find the latest firmware here.

v0.17f (2012-03-19)
- Essential fix for SNES controllers ("B Button
  Problem" and others)
- Bugfix SRAM writing: didn't check against total size

Plug-In Prototypes

Plug-in circuit boards and raw shell

Assembled and with sticky labels

At last, I have managed to find some time and prepare a set of plug-in prototypes! Those beauties are already pretty close to the real production run that is planned for later this year. The three models are as follows:

  • Game Boy (GB/GBC/GBA) plug-in with additional unpopulated N64 slot because, well, why not? :)
  • Nintendo 64 (N64) plug-in
  • Master System (SMS) plug-in

These are plug-ins for the three cartridge systems for which we managed to source connectors. Always eager to hear about potential suppliers for historic cartridge connectors so we can grow our plug-in range! Since people keep on asking: We currently do NOT plan for a commercial NES plug-in since technical limitations of the NES cartridge system would not make it a lot of fun to use anyway.

Those of you who have been following the project closely may notice that there are a few design changes compared to earlier versions. The GBx and N64 combo plug-in was split into two separate boards (although the GBx one still has the soldering pads for a N64 slot because it doesn’t cost anything extra). The SMS plug-in in its current revision does not feature solder pads for an optional Game Gear connector (had been planned as a user retrofit but didn’t make it into this prototype for lack of space).

And now, tell me: Are they not lovely? :)

Sega Pico Plug-in adapter is the latest addition to the Retrode family

Pico Adapter

Pico Plug-in adapter

crazy2001 over on the www.arcadezentrum.com forums has been hard at work. Knowing that the Sega Pico was based on the Megadrive, he set out to make a plug-in adapter to read the Pico ‘books’ on his Retrode. He was kind enough to send over some instructions on how to build one:

Retrode Sega PICO Plug-in adapter

A Sega “PICO” to “MEGADRIVE” Adapter is pretty easy, as both Systems are basically the same! The Cartridges only have a different PIN-Layout! The Retrode even recognize the RomSize and the RomName…as it would be with a Megadrive-cartridge!

So for an adapter you need the following stuff:

  1. A PICO console (the Pinout of the PICO-Cartridges is unique), where you can de-solder the Cartridge-SLOT
  2. A Megadrive cartridge (I used SONIC – THE HEDGEHOG)
  3. Wires
  4. Solder
  5. Electrical tape
  6. A Multimeter (not really needed, but nice to have sometimes)

 Read more… »

Call for Tutorials / Documentation

Dear all,

We are currently in the process of gathering step-by-step tutorials that provide assistance through the process of setting up your Retrode under various operating systems and emulators. We hope that these tutorials will be of use for people who are new to emulation and USB game controllers.

Our first entry explains the setup of the Retrode under SuSE Linux, and we hope to collect lots more over time. As we all know, the thing with tutorials is, there can never be enough of them. To help others enjoy their Retrode as much as you do, we therefore ask you to contribute! Whenever you solved a specific problem in a non-obvious way, please write it up. Any material, including screenshots, links to instructional videos, etc., can be sent to editors@retrode.org, and we will be more than happy to take care of it.

Thank you for your effort!

Matthias and the retrode.org Editing Team