DevSter's Super-Duper Super Nintendo (SNES) to PC conversion project page!
"What is this SNEC thing, they say?"
The SNEC is actually a PC computer embedded into a Super Nintendo case. That's right, a SNES was hacked apart of its original system board, and modified to fit an SBC motherboard. SBC is short for Single Board Computer. SBC's are mostly used in industrial, or unique applications because they provide much better reliability compared to commercial PC motherboard computers.
1/30/2006 Yessss, more additions to the SNEC project - new pictures + etc :D!
I also added a VGA to Composite Video converter, so games could be played on the big-screen! I "made" the converter myself, by desoldering a Chrontel CH7001 scan converter from one of my many Webpals, and using it for the SNEC. The CH7001 comes in a 44 pin PLCC package, and requires not very many external discreet components (an oscillator, a buncha decoupling caps, and a reference resistor are all that's required). Desoldering the chip was kinda hard because the chip was soldered on 4 sides, and I kinda destroyed the original pads o the webpal to remove it :P. Overall, the CH7001 worked okay - okay as i it gets the job done. The scan converter chip only works in resolutions of 640x480, so the Windows 98 startup screen scrolls downward.
If you look at the scan converter board for the SNEC, you'll also see a PIC controller, which is used to center the screen by toggling the screen adjustment pins of the CH7001. The screen still looks clipped on a TV screen though x.x, and ZSNES scaling mode doesn't help either =P.
This will probably be the last update for this page, since I don't plan to make any more additions to the SNEC (well, except I could maybe add on a TV capture card, and turn it into a TiVo :P). The project was way too easy, and went too fast =D! The only hard parts were trying to place a 3-1/2 hard drive inside, which I failed at. Can't believe I started building the project the day after New Years :P.
1/5/2006
This is straight from the thread I posted on the forums:
hey, i got myself a SNES for christmas!
« Thread Started on Today at 2:27pm »
i haven't been on the board lately, and i haven't been doing much development. sorry that the beta of the noise machine isn't out yet, when i promised to release it like a month ago =P
so, on to the project --
kids, don't ty this at home!
okay, so i have this snes system: i didn't have any games for it, so i ripped the motherboard out, and replaced it with an SBC (single board computer) packed with a pentium CPU, and a slim hard drive. you know that stock sucks =P, now i can play any game i want on my SNES using emulation =D.
for pictures of the modified SNES, check out the pictures page on the main site (http://devster.monkeeh.com/pictures.html). the pictures aren't very good at all, the first 10 or so suck real bad and had to be editted =P. i'll retake photos when i get a TV scan converter, and whenever i feel like it
there's not much to the computer, i didn't want to add any removable drives like a cd-rom or floppy because i don't plan to be playing any movies or music =P (streaming might be an option). here are the specs of the computer:
- motherboard: kontron CoolMonster P3 SBC (costing $500! I got it for free though =P, and its a lot smaller than an ITX board)
- cpu: Pentium 3, 400 mhz with some cache
- memory: 128mb PC100 sdram
- hard drive: 1.3 gb
- 100mbps ethernet port
- video: ATI rage mobility something something
here's what the entire project cost me:
- 2 SNES systems and 2 controllers: $5
- Motherboard: FREE
- Hard Drive: FREE
- Power Supply: FREE
- Wires+Connectors+Switches: Probably $10, these are all parts i already have
- All the hot-glue i used: $5 (used lots of hot glue :D!)
- SDRAM: ? (dunno how much the memory was when it was bought)
vi
Total: ~$25, all for converting a SNES to a PC
All that is left to do now is to build a scan converter, so that i can use a TV monitor instead of VGA (probably could get this for free too =P)
