Mini MSX!

Post by **undamned** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 9:00 am

I really know very little about hte MSX scene, but if I were to get into it I'd either want a Sanyo Wavy or one of these things:

http://www.msx.d4e.co.jp/

-ud

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 9:45 am

This is actually really old. Been out about 2 years now, no? But they output RGB I think. Pretty cool if you dig the MSX shit.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 12:33 pm

More than 2 years I guess. But yeah, it's really cool.

szycag · Post by **szycag** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 12:36 pm

How much would one of these run?

D · Post by D » Sat Apr 12, 2008 12:56 pm

ud,

don't stop updating us on all of these rare and cool items.
I had no friggin idea.
How would they work? you can attach it to a cd-rom or just use the old tape deck? or both perhaps.
neat find

Ex-Cyber · Post by **Ex-Cyber** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 1:25 pm

Looks like it can emulate the floppy drive with an SD card, but also has a jack for a tape deck. Also, the manual shows an MSX1-style floppy interface (the kind that attaches to a cart slot) being used, so presumably those will work if you have software that knows to look for one.

What I want to know is whether the FPGA is user-programmable.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 1:49 pm

A couple of members here have them. Just wait for them to comment.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 3:33 pm

do they run MSX2 / MSX2+ software?

it290 · Post by **it290** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 3:48 pm

Damn, that is sweet. This needs to be done with other classic systems - I know there's the C64 joystick, but that requires a bit more hacking. Can you imagine how much money Nintendo would make if they released an official Famiclone / SNES clone that allowed you to transfer games from the Wii VC? I would personally rather have a small box with built-in, customizable games than a portable system.

ED-057 · Post by **ED-057** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 4:33 am

It has composite/S-video and VGA outputs but it can't output 15KHz and 31KHz signals at the same time. In the original firmware you could press F12 or something to cycle through different screen modes (15KHz NTSC, 15KHz RGB, 31KHz, 31KHz high contrast). I think it's been changed somehow or other in the later firmware, I forget. The newer (downloadable) firmware fixes some bugs and assigns a key for switching between standard 3.5MHz and new 10.7MHz mode (which was only accessible by setting the tiny little dipswitch before)

Right now I have an old 16MB SD card that came with my camera plugged in there. It turns out that 16MB fills up pretty fast even with MSX software though

The specs are MSX2 except there is no battery-backed clock. 1-2MB of RAM, MSX-MUSIC/FM-PAC, option to simulate 512KB ASCII or SCC cartridge in slot 2 (ROMs can be loaded from SD card with command line utility, disk images also)

I bought one from a seller in Europe and got raped by the exchange rate and shipping ($300

) They supposedly sold for 19,800 yen in Japan.

Floppy controller cartridges should work fine... the Sunrise IDE cart does (at the same time as the SD card even)

It's possible to reprogram the FPGA (I've heard about an NES core being worked on) but if you bugger it up so the system won't boot then you need a fancy cable to restore it.

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 4:52 am

And it will play Euro cartridges and images, right? No region lock in it? That is pure sex encased in plastic. Me wants.

bay · Post by **bay** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 5:08 am

ive been waiting for the remade version that is legal for the usa to come out forever now.. sigh.

http://www.bazix.nl/onechipmsx.html

Ex-Cyber · Post by **Ex-Cyber** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 5:21 am

it290 wrote:Damn, that is sweet. This needs to be done with other classic systems - I know there's the C64 joystick, but that requires a bit more hacking. Can you imagine how much money Nintendo would make if they released an official Famiclone / SNES clone that allowed you to transfer games from the Wii VC? I would personally rather have a small box with built-in, customizable games than a portable system.

For the C64 there is the C-One, which is a bit closer in both form and spirit to the 1chipMSX.

Kevin Horton was working on a homebrew FPGA-based NES clone, but I don't think that's intended for mass-production.

Super Laydock · Post by **Super Laydock** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 10:02 am

Specineff wrote:And it will play Euro cartridges and images, right? No region lock in it? That is pure sex encased in plastic. Me wants.

Why wouldn't it?

MSX was never region locked. The only thing that could happen was you getting a different title screen or onscreen text language, and even that wasn't that often.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 11:57 am

I think I'm in love. Does this thing output RGB signal, unlike the AV Famicom? if it does, I only need to find an import-friendly store.

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 12:06 pm

its a great piece of kit, its long out f production tho so sourcing one can be kinda difficult and costly.

you can plug any kind of device into it via USB (zip drives etc), its very user friendly

VGA out is a pretty awesome feature aswell.
only bad thing about it is it doesnt come bundled with any kind of controller..

Post by **Shatterhand** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 3:05 pm

You can use any Atari-standard controller for games that use only 1 button (Atari controllers, Master System or Mega-Drive will do). For games that use 2 buttons you will need either an MSX controller (not THAT hard to find), or use an adapter Master System/Mega-Drive -> MSX. On the web you can easily find how to make one of those,

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 8:39 pm

I think I'll stick to BlueMSX.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 1:41 am

Nothing beats the real thing₢

Super Laydock · Post by **Super Laydock** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 4:53 pm

Shatterhand wrote:Nothing beats the real thing₢

Word!

***refers to other thread.***

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 8:36 pm

Good. I'll buy a real MSX instead of this little Expensive Box O' Problems.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 8:45 pm

Can you use a keyboard with this mini-msx?