Enter Rhea

So this is Rhea V1, the Saturn ODE prototype, playing Yello – Pocket Universe on my TV:

At the moment playing audio is all it does as I haven’t gotten around to implement protection emulation yet. I’m in no hurry, this is a prototype and it’s main purpose is to test how stuff works, what I can and cannot do.

Saturns use 2 different drive types: 20- and 21-pin ones. Even though it looks like a small difference, the protocol is actually quite different for both models. This prototype has only 20-pin connector but the design was meant to handle both formats with just once MCU and no external logic chips like FPGAs or PLDs. If it works that way at all that is, but so far it’s very promising.

Just so that we are clear on this: V1 is not for sale, and in general not quite fully functional yet. All questions about the final product, it’s timing and price, will be ignored. It’ll come when it’s ready.

Keep hope alive

I’ve received a lot of emails asking about GDEMU so I can confirm now: There will be a 3rd production run. Now, I’ve mentioned Xmas before but that doesn’t mean you’ll have to wait until December. That’s just a deadline of sorts. I hope to have the preorders reopened in 4-6 weeks.

So, in other words, watch this space. Especially if you’re also interested in Saturn and PCE.

Joyride

I’m almost done with the primary list of the 2nd run and even started with the backup list – so it all should be wrapped up soon. Turns out I got more black PCBs than I ordered so there will probably be a few spares left, I should be able to fulfill all preorders.

After that I’m taking a short break to work a bit on software and other projects but I will also attempt to assemble some more GDEMUs in case there is enough demand for the 3rd run. Assuming there is, the plan is to have a bunch of units prepared in advance and ready for shipping well before Xmas – so if you want to get one, keep an eye on this blog 🙂 I figure these will trickle out sooner or later anyway so might as well go ahead and make them.

In other news: Both Saturn and the prototype PCB survived connecting together, which is good. PCE is also moving forward, there should be a prototype ready soon. Two actually, one for the console and one to interface with the drive directly to continue analysis.

I’ve also recently decided to go ahead and try KOS for the GDEMU menu, it seems most/all of what I need is under BSD type license. If any problems arise later I can always revert to my own libs.