Long overdue site redesign, plus some cool new projects coming

Here's the new site design... I'm still in the process of getting all the pages back up, but I'll get that finished shortly, followed by a new update in content.

Site back up on new webspace, plus lots of updates

WOW! Sorry about the HUGE delay in this update, and sorry about the site downtime. I promise I've still been VB'ing, just been too busy to update, and I've switched ISPs, so that's what caused the downtime :-(. Thanks to Ferry from www.virtual-boy.org for the webspace. Anyway, for those that care, I've been busy with work and school mostly, I got my AS in Computer Science back in Dec. 03 from NVCC, and for the last two years I've been going to George Mason University for a BS in Electrical Engineering. I can't wait to get done with school, I've got one more semester :-). I've also been collecting arcade games and pinball machines... right now I've got over 40 coin-op machines, with (lack of) space being my worst enemy >_<.

Now for the updates... I'll try to remember everything ;-). First, I've added a new section on fixing the glitchy display problems. This has become a MAJOR problem recently (and Nintendo has stopped repairing VBs :-( ), and after explaining how to fix it to lots of people, I figured I'd put up a tutorial on it (and also some stuff on modifying a security bit to work in the deep holes). I also got my hands on an official Nintendo VB EPROM cartridge, so I added pics and some info on that to the Reprogrammable Cart section. I've also made a reprogrammable cart PCB, which I've also added into the Reprogrammable Cart section. Sorry, they're not for sale yet... but I should have a few for sale eventually. I've been working on a progam to flash the cart from the VB (sending the data over the link port), that way you don't need an EPROM programmer, but it's still in the works (it works, but isn't complete yet). Oh yeah... the last unknown pin on the cart edge (pin 5) is a /WE!!! I also picked up a USB Virtual Boy controller kit from www.retrousb.com and it works great, so I put a page on that up in the controller section. Oh, and I reorganized a lot of my site (the behind the scenes stuff), so let me know if you find any broken links.

Coming soon (this is more of a reminder for myself than trying to get you excited about the next update ;-) ): I've successfully built a link cable to go from the VB link port->PC parallel port. So far I've done some simple speed tests and made a cart dumping program (with a CRC32 check to ensure a good dump). Thanks to Frostgiant (are you still out there???) for the help on the dumping program. I've also overclocked a VB... it works, and it is faster, but because the mirrors are dependent on the timing of the rest of the system, the display is messed up (the system runs stable to 28MHz, at 33MHz the system gets glitchy, and at 40MHz, it won't start). Speeding the mirrors up proportionally should help the display problem. I've also been doing a lot of VB programming, mostly just hardware tests and demos, but I've also been working on a Mario game, which I'll get some pics and maybe a ROM of up of soon. I've also gotten some more game endings (V-Tetris, NFB, Insmouse, Golf, Mario Clash), some of which I think I already added, but I'll have to make sure. I'll get all of that information and code up hopefully in the next update (it's been so long, I have no idea where that stuff is anymore).

Obviously you've found my new web address (or it's still being redirected from http://projectvb.vze.com), but if you find any broken links, please let me know. Of course since you're reading this the page is up, but I'm still in the process of uploading all of the new content so it may be a short while before all of the promised updates are available. Also, for those who haven't noticed, my email has changed too... it's virtual .dot. boy @at@ comcast .dot. net.

Controllers and other random stuff

Finally, another update! VB work has been a little slow lately because of finals and that kinda stuff... but now it's summer, so here's some of the projects I've been working on. First, I've made a new controller section for a few controller modifications and related stuff... I've got a lot more controller related stuff than I put up, but it's not really the top on my priorities to finish. In the controller section right now is the start of a how-to for an adapter to use NES/SNES controllers on the VB, and a VB controller with two outputs so you can control multiple VB's with one controller. I also added a how-to for a rechargable VB battery pack. And thanks to Parasyte for pointing out an article with a cheat to access a debug menu in Red Alarm, and for finding two more cheats in Jack Bros... those are in the cheats section. I also added a pic of a new "tool" for making cartridges in the reprogrammable cart sections. Lastly, I uploaded the ending description/pics for Virtual Fishing.

Homebrew stuff released, plus more pinout info

Ugh... I STILL haven't gotten the projects I've been wanting to get up... but I did add two more pins to the cart pinout, leaving only pin 5 to figure out. Also, thanks to RedAlarm for sending me a scan of an article from GMR which does a short overview of the Virtual Boy, although it's a really crappy article, it's interesting to see :-P. And lastly, finally I'm releasing the ROMs / source to my apps / games that I've programmed for the VB, so those check out HERE.

VUE-Debugger

This is a quick update with some pics and info on the VUE-Debugger that I'm borrowing from a friend. Check it out under the Virtual Boy Development section. I'll get more info up later when I get it working, and I've got some more projects I'd like to get up, but I'm going out of town for Spring Break next week :-), so it'll be a couple weeks until the next update.

VB systems talk over the Link Cable

Here's an update that I've been trying to get up for the last few weeks, but just haven't gotten around to it... I've gotten 2 VB's actually communicating over the link cable, so I put up a link cable diagram as I think it should be. I also put up an updated cartridge pinout. Also, Tonight I made another flash cart, so I put up a few pics of that one. There were a few other things I was trying to get put up, but I guess they'll have to wait until the next update. And for those of you that were having problems with the old java menu, I made a temporary html one until I get a better one.

Reading SRAM, plus game endings

Happy New Year everyone! The biggest part of this update is my new how-to on reading / writing the SRAM with a Game Boy SRAM read/writer, which is under the reprogrammable cart section. I also added some new game endings, including Virtual Lab and SD Gundam.

Merry Christmas!  More Prototype pics/info!

Merry Christmas everyone! I added a little more info / the rest of the pics I have right now of the protos, and made their own pages for each. Also, for mac owners, ViBE 1.0b2 has been released! Now I'm just hoping for a PC version *hint hint* :-)

Flash Cart info, plus Tech Specs

Here's the follow-up that I promised... basically, I just added the info on the flash cart, a little more info on the technical specs of the VB, and updated the VB ROM list. I'll try to get more pics / info up on the protos soon, but I've got to study for my calc final for tomorrow :-(, but then I'm off for a month!

Prototypes Surfaced!  Faceball and Virtual Bowling!

Well, MANY thanks go out to the mysterious VB collector "Mr. G"! for sending me pictures and information on the only known prototypes, Faceball and Virtual Bowling!!! I am still working on completing the rest of my update, but for the time being, you can view the pics / info of the protos here! I have been in contact with him and am trying to get more pics / information on them, so expect more to come soon, along with information on my flash reprogrammable cartridge and a few other things I've been working on over the past few months.

Find me at projectvb.vze.com, plus other stuff

This is mostly just a follow-up update, there are still some parts that aren't completed, but I just needed to put up what I had. First, you can access my page from an easier to remember address... it is http://projectvb.vze.com . Now for the update, I added information on the painting of the Virtual Boy, I added some technical information, added a picture of 2 VB's linked together (still in process of figuring out the link port), and I scanned in pics of some VB merchandise (Virtual T-Shirt... is it really there? or should it be Virtual Boy T-Shirt :-) ) from a Super Power Club (Nintendo Power subscribers) pamphlet... thanks to Neil Schuldenfrei for pointing that out.

Lots of new VB Development stuff

Well, after WAY too long of no updates, I hope you all enjoy this one. I have done a lot of work lately on the development of the Virtual Boy. In my update, I added a few new sections including a how-to for a cart dumper, a reprogrammable EPROM cart, I started an emulation/programming page which will be updated in my next update (soon), I added a section on painting my VB which will also be updated next time, and I did a short how-to on modifying your link port to use a standard RJ45 jack. BTW, the how-to's aren't finished yet, I just put them up so you all could see it. I will complete the how-to's in my next update. I also cleaned up my links section a little.

And some more game endings

I updated my game endings section with the pictures I took a while back... I'll be continuing to work on it, but that is probably going to be the most progress on it in one update for a while. Other than that, we changed the server where the Virtual Boy Chat room is located.

More game endings

I have updated my game endings section with a few more games, thanks to Ferry for letting me rip his game endings. I still have some more to go, and I have personally been going through some of the games to get pictures of the endings, which will be up on my next update.

New name, same great taste

I have changed the name of my site from "Pat's Virtual Boy Page" to Project: Virtual Boy (Project: VB). I have also added a new section for game endings. The game endings is still under construction, but I hope to continue to work towards getting a fairly complete game endings page.

ViBE released

4/4/02 - I have added to the menu a link to the new Virtual Boy chat room. Also, big news for mac owners - ViBE, the macintosh Virtual Boy emulator has been released to the public. I personally have tried it out, and it works very well. It can be downloaded at Here.

Store Displays

3/23/02 - Finally, another real update. I added a new section to my site with pictures and descriptions of my two store display units.

Webspace Changes, I'm back!

Finally got my webspace back... I'm glad you found it. Anyway, no change in content, just put it all back up to the new server since my previous internet provider went bankrupt, so it should be here for a while. Also my email address has changed to [email protected] . Please tell me if there are any broken links, pages that will not show, or still have a link to my old email address. I tried to fix them all, but may have forgotten a few.

New Menu

This is a very small update... Pretty much all that has changed is the new java menu bar on the side. Please email me if you have problems viewing the new bar, or is extremely slow. I plan on adding more of these nice looking java bars if they seem compatible with everybody's internet browsers.

New update page, and some minor updates

The first update is this long needed update page. While I was working on it, I decided to make a few minor cosmetic changes. I also added some new things to the cheats section (Nester's Funky Bowling and Mario Clash).