ENIO NES expansion

[Duke.Togo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWro-RsDG8s

Here is a short video that shows my test of a new product in development called the ENIO (Extended NES I/O). One of its abilities allows you to connect Famicom peripherals that use the expansion port to the NES expansion port.

Being the Famicom/NES geek that I am I think this is really interesting, and great to see the NES expansion port get some real use. I can't wait to see what comes about next.

You can visit the projects main page at http://enio.chykn.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

[NintendoKing]

Pretty cool, I wanna buy one if the price is right.

[P]

Pretty cool indeed! Hope there'll be a Famicom version. Of course the famicom exp part is not necessary for Famicom but the other stuff I mean.

[Chykn]

Thanks for the interest!  I've posted the ENIO EXP boards in the FS section over at NA...
http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=6&threadid=81020

[RGB_Gamer]

What famicom only peripherals would take advantage of this?

[petik1]

That's what Xious and I were looking into. Before, you know.... he disappeared. Nice work!

[Chykn]

What famicom only peripherals would take advantage of this?

I'm not sure what other devices plug into the 15-pin FC EXP port, but the one I had in mind was the FC keyboard.  Mainly because it requires most of the signals on the port which made it a good test.

[Duke.Togo]

What famicom only peripherals would take advantage of this?

3rd party controllers.

[P]

Most Famicom peripherals are extra controllers (often with turbo), the light gun, Family Trainer mat and other things that there already exists NES versions for. But there are a few interesting ones with no NES equivalent besides the keyboard and also a lot of weird ones. There was a cool Japanese site with reviews of lots of obscure famicom controllers but I can't find the URL.

EDIT: Found it: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/oroti/famicom/cont00.htm

If you wanna play Japanese 3- or 4 player games then you need to use the Famicom expansion port for the extra controllers, neither Four Score nor NES Satelite will work. I guess that's another use for the ENIO.

BTW what happened to the network and USB keyboard capabilities? It would be interesting if you could somehow use a USB keyboard with Famicom basic, then more people could start using it and homebrew that makes use of the keyboard would maybe show up.

[Chykn]

BTW what happened to the network and USB keyboard capabilities? It would be interesting if you could somehow use a USB keyboard with Famicom basic, then more people could start using it and homebrew that makes use of the keyboard would maybe show up.

Good point.  If you look at the project page, there are two boards.  One is the ENIO EXP board and the other is the ENIO CPU board.  The CPU board does indeed have the ethernet and USB capabilities as well as a Xilinx CPLD.  It is possible to reprogram the CPLD to emulate a Famicom keyboard.  The PIC32 would grab the state of the USB KB and push the input to a buffer in the CPLD.  The CPLD would then deliver the data when polled by the NES.

I haven't really advertised the CPU board because it's not 100% ready.  Still have to finish adding the MicroSD card bootloader and CPLD reprogramming functions to the firmware.  I've seen enough vaporware to know you usually end up looking like an a$$ if you advertise a product that's not ready to ship.  

[jpx72]

This sure is an awesome project! Board looks great, although some cover would be nice, but that's just nitpicking
Anyway please keep us updated (not just NA) on the CPU board which is definitely more interesting for Famicom owners!

2 Chykn how much is the "fish"?

Selling for $20/each plus $5 shipping via USPS Priority Mail.

[Chykn]

$20 for...

It's $20 for the ENIO EXP board and 15-pin FC EXP header cable (available now).  The CPU board (ethernet, USB, MicroSD) will be no more than $60.  It will be lower if I can get a large enough batch in the first production run.  Someone asked if there will be a bundle deal - yes.  Anyone who buys both (or buys an EXP board before the CPU board is ready) will get $10 off the pair.
Post Merge: August 14, 2012, 06:31:07 pm

This sure is an awesome project! Board looks great, although some cover would be nice, but that's just nitpicking

Good point.  How's this?

[Duke.Togo]

Looking good. Any chance for a shell for the EXP board?

[P]

I can see what the USB and micro SD could be used for but I'm not sure what the ethernet could be used for. Homebrew that needs internet connection for some reason? Anyway it looks great! And if I ever buy a NES again I will be intrested in the EXP board as well.

[Chykn]

I can see what the USB and micro SD could be used for but I'm not sure what the ethernet could be used for. Homebrew that needs internet connection for some reason? Anyway it looks great! And if I ever buy a NES again I will be intrested in the EXP board as well.

The ethernet connection would be good for one of two things.  Either a homebrew as you mentioned or for a dev cart that had the ability to load ROMs over a network.

Finished building and testing the last of the 5 CPU boards.  Everything works great.  The CPLD reprogramming function is finally working, just need to add the SD bootloader.