Friday, February 24, 2017

New NESRGB Firmware Featuring RGBSource Color Palettes

If you enjoy using my NESCAP, HYBRID, and/or NESCLASSIC color palettes, you now have the option of doing so on Tim Worthington's NESRGB! Two firmware (.pof file) options are now available.

palette1:
1. NESCAP
2. HYBRID
3. NESCLASSIC
Download palettes1_NESCAP_HYBRID_NESCLASSIC.pof

palette2:
1. NESCAP
2. HYBRID
3. FCEUX (aka "Improved" - default firmware palette 2)
Download palettes2_NESCAP_HYBRID_FCEUX.pof

The remainder of this post is a guide for updating the NESRGB firmware on an installed system. Tim's original guide for updating firmware can be found here.

Requirements


1. Altera Quartus Prime Programmer and Tools (Standard Edition) - Found under the "Additional Software" tab. Requires free account creation to download. I have used both the latest (v16.1) and the older 13.1 version linked on Tim's page.
2. Altera compatible USB Blaster (JTAG Programmer) - I use the Terasic P0302. Other Altera clones work too.
3. Altera JTAG to NESRGB JTAG adapter. Here's what I created, followed by a wiring table.



Altera JTAG Pin NESRGB Pin Signal Name Description
4 1 VCC (TRGT) 3.3V DC power supply
2 2 GND Ground
3 3 TDO Data from device
1 4 TCK Clock signal
9 5 TDI Data to device
5 6 TMS JTAG state machine control

The NESRGB has a 6 pin JTAG programming connection on the lower left hand side of the board. Pin 1 is encircled.

 

Steps to update the NESRGB firmware 

  1. Install Quartus Programmer software
  2. Connect USB Blaster to your computer and install driver (default location for v16.1 drivers: C:\intelFPGA\16.1\qprogrammer\drivers)
  3. Run Quartus Prime 16.1 Programmer
  4. Click Hardware Setup and select USB-Blaster from the list.
  5. Select File → Open → palettes1_NESCAP_HYBRID_NESCLASSIC.pof or palettes2_NESCAP_HYBRID_FCEUX.pof
  6. Check the boxes for Program/Configure and Verify.
  7. While the NES is turned off, connect the USB Blaster to the adapter cable, then to the NESRGB. Make sure you connect the adapter correctly to the NESRGB JTAG connection!
  8. Turn the NES on, making sure that the adapter is making contact with the NESRGB JTAG connection (e.g. gently hold at an angle - gravity is enough)
  9. Click the Start button and wait for the process to complete!
  10. Once completed, turn off the NES, disconnect the JTAG adapter from the NESRGB, and enjoy!
Step 6 - Selecting firmware update actions

Step 7 - Connecting the USB Blaster to the NESRGB JTAG connection
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4 comments:

  1. knMarch 1, 2017 at 6:33 AM

    Great thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. triple_leiMarch 20, 2017 at 6:07 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. TheBufferMarch 13, 2019 at 2:25 PM

    hello there, will you be updating your .pof NESRGB palette files to be compatible to the new 2.0 boards? Pls? :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownAugust 31, 2021 at 10:39 AM

    The NES palette is a 64 colour palette, defined by the following colours: 585858, 00237C, 0D1099, 300092, 4F006C, 600035, 5C0500, 461800, 272D00, 093E00, 004500, 004106, 003545, 000000, 000000, 000000, A1A1A1, 0B53D7, 3337FE, 6621F7, 9515BE, AC166E, A62721, 864300, 596200, 2D7A00, 0C8500, 007F2A, 006D85, 000000, 000000, 000000, FFFFFF, 51A5FE, 8084FE, BC6AFE, F15BFE, FE5EC4, FE7269, E19321, ADB600, 79D300, 51DF21, 3AD974, 39C3DF, 424242, 000000, 000000, FFFFFF, B5D9FE, CACAFE, E3BEFE, F9B8FE, FEBAE7, FEC3BC, F4D199, DEE086, C6EC87, B2F29D, A7F0C3, A8E7F0, ACACAC, 000000, 000000.

    ReplyDelete

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