Wide-Boy64 Research

Overview

I got my hands on a Wide-Boy64 AGB that I found on Ebay. It's in a very good condition.


Picture 1
Wide-Boy64 AGB

It came with this small cable. I don't know what this is used for.


Picture 2
Cable that came with the Wide-Boy64

The smaller black connector of this cable fits into the white connector on the front side of the Wide-Boy. The bigger white connector fits into the connector on a Wide-Boy64 CGB cartridge port adapter that is used to connect a specially prepped Game Boy Color to a Wide-Boy64 CGB. I bought such an adapter from the same seller on Ebay from which I got the Wide-Boy64 AGB. Though this adapter obviously can't be used with the AGB version of the Wide-Boy. I bought it out of curiosity. The Wide-Boy64 AGB that I have doesn't even have the 40 pin connector that you need for that. The connector is not soldered onto the PCB and there is no hole cut for it into the front of the shell. I could solder it in myself, but then I would also need to cut a hole for it. I don't want to modify the original shell. It would look very ugly when I do it.

You can't connect any regular Game Boy to a Wide-Boy. The ones you use as a controller for the Wide-Boy don't have a Game Boy CPU. They have a different PCB that just connects the cartridge port to the display, buttons and the audio amplifier. So they just act as an I/O device.

Wide-Boy64 CGB

Since I don't have the CGB variant of the Wide-Boy64 (yet), I can only describe it's adapter here.

CGB Adapter

This is the CGB Adapter I bought:


Picture 3&4
Wide-Boy64 CGB Adapter


Picture 5&6
Wide-Boy64 CGB Adapter PCB

I have drawn a schematic for the PCB: dmg_cart_probe.pdf

I labelled the pins on the cartridge connector with the signals that they ususally have on a cartridge (address, data, ...), not the display and button signals that the Wide-Boy puts onto them. The fact that they didn't connect pin 31 (the analog pin) makes me think that this PCB wasn't designed specifically for the Wide-Boy in mind. They might have used this for probing the signals between a Game Boy and a cartridge. (Notice the silk print on the PCB: "DMG CARTRIDGE PROBE") It wouldn't make any sense to not use pin 31 otherwise.

Wide-Boy64 AGB

Components

Here is what I found out about the main components inside the Wide-Boy64 AGB. (Higher resolution pictures can be found in my Game Boy database.)


Picture 7
Components of the Wide-Boy64 AGB

The EEPROM in the bottom left (BU9850) is used in many N64 cartridges that allow to save the game. I don't know what it is used for in the Wide-Boy. My guess is, they designed it in just in case they need it, but then never used it for anything. The Wide-Boy64 AGB does not save any settings. It doesn't even have a menu or something. I haven't checked the contents of this EEPROM yet. I expect it to be all 0xFF. Ah, and yes, it is connected to the N64 connector at the bottom, so it can be accessed by the N64.

There is a second place at the top center of the PCB where a Game Boy External Link Port could be soldered in. Seems like when the PCB was designed, they haven't decided yet where to put the connector.

Luckily, the CIC, EEPROM and PROM chips are socketed. This makes it easy to change the region and dump the EEPROM and PROM contents. The Flash is not socketed though. I don't know yet if all it's contents can be accessed by the N64 or if the FPGA reads some other data than the N64 software from it as well.

The clock generator (U15) to the left of the FPGA provides a ~48.6 MHz clock to the FPGA pin 70. See page 3 of my schematic of the Wide-Boy64 AGB for details: wideboy64agb_sch.pdf
Note that the 250 MHz clock output (RCLK) just gets drained through resistor R24.

Spartan bitstream

I was able to dump the FPGA bitstream from the PROM with an iCE40HX-8K Breakout Board.


Picture 8
Wide-Boy64 AGB PROM connected to iCE40HX-8K Breakout Board

The code I used for dumping it on a 1MBit UART can be found here.

The PROM contains 179160 bits (22395 bytes) and when stored LSB-first it has the following hashes:

40-pin connector (CN3) pinout on Wide-Boy64 AGB

Pin# Usage To CPU To FPGA Pin# Usage To CPU To FPGA
1 Audio R 6 SO1 - 21 LCD Data B2 100 LDB2 86 I/O
2 Audio L 7 SO2 - 22 LCD Data B3 99 LDB3 87 I/O
3 Button B 5 P1 61 I/O 23 LCD Data B4 98 LDB4 88 I/O (D4)
4 Button A 4 P0 62 I/O 24 LCD Data B5 97 LDB5 89 I/O
5 Button R 3 P8 63 I/O 25 LCD Data G1 96 LDG1 92 I/O (D3)
6 Button Start 127 P3 65 I/O 26 LCD Data G2 95 LDG2 93 I/O
7 Button Select 126 P2 66 I/O 27 LCD Data G3 94 LDG3 94 I/O
8 Button D-Right 123 P4 67 I/O 28 GND 102,128,... GND 81,91,... GND
9 Button D-Down 122 P7 68 I/O 29 LCD Data G4 93 LDG4 95 I/O
10 Button D-Left 121 P5 69 I/O 30 LCD Data G5 92 LDG5 96 I/O (D2)
11 Button D-Up 120 P6 75 I/O (D7) 31 LCD Data R1 91 LDR1 97 I/O
12 Button L 119 P9 77 I/O 32 LCD Data R2 90 LDR2 98 I/O
13 LCD VSHD Enable? 118 R10 78 I/O 33 LCD Data R3 89 LDR3 99 I/O
14 AGB-REG Switch? 108 REVC 79 I/O (D6) 34 LCD Data R4 88 LDR4 101 I/O (D1)
15 LCD Mode? 107 MOD 80 I/O 35 LCD Data R5 87 LDR5 102 I/O
16 LCD SPS? 106 SPS 82 I/O 36 GND 102,128,... GND 81,91,... GND
17 LCD CLS? 105 CLS 83 I/O 37 LCD PS? 86 PS 103 I/O
18 LCD SPL? 104 SPL 84 I/O (D5) 38 LCD LP? 85 LP 104 I/O
19 GND 102,128,... GND 81,91,... GND 39 LCD Data Clock? 84 DCK 112 I/O, GCK7
20 LCD Data B1 101 LDB1 85 I/O 40 3.3 V Supply 1,103 VDD3 128,144,... VCC

Table 1
Connections from Wide-Boy64 AGB 40-pin connector (CN3) to AGB CPU and Spartan FPGA

Memories connected to FPGA (and each other) on Wide-Boy64 AGB

Flash

Pin# Name To FPGA To DRAM Pin# Name To FPGA To DRAM
1 A15 21 I/O - 25 A0 3 I/O 23 A0
2 A14 20 I/O 21 BA1(A12) 26 CE# 28 I/O -
3 A13 19 I/O 20 BA0(A13) 27 GND 27,... GND 41,46,... VSS,VSSQ
4 A12 16 I/O 36 NC 28 OE# 29 I/O 17 !CAS
5 A11 15 I/O 35 A11 29 DQ0 47 I/O 2 DQ0
6 A10 14 I/O 22 A10 30 DQ8 58 I/O 42 DQ8
7 A9 13 I/O 34 A9 31 DQ1 46 I/O 4 DQ1
8 A8 12 I/O 33 A8 32 DQ9 57 I/O 44 DQ9
9 A19 25 I/O - 33 DQ2 43 I/O 5 DQ2
10 A20 26 I/O - 34 DQ10 56 I/O 45 DQ10
11 WE# 30 I/O 16 !WE 35 DQ3 42 I/O 7 DQ3
12 RP# 72 DONE - 36 DQ11 52 I/O 47 DQ11
13 VCCW 144,... VCC 1,3,... VCC,VCCQ 37 VCC 144,... VCC 1,3,... VCC,VCCQ
14 WP# 144,... VCC 1,3,... VCC,VCCQ 38 DQ4 41 I/O 8 DQ4
15 RY/BY# - - 39 DQ12 51 I/O 48 DQ12
16 A18 24 I/O - 40 DQ5 39 I/O, GCK3 10 DQ5
17 A17 23 I/O - 41 DQ13 50 I/O 50 DQ13
18 A7 11 I/O, TMS 32 A7 42 DQ6 33 I/O, GCK2 11 DQ6
19 A6 10 I/O 31 A6 43 DQ14 49 I/O 51 DQ14
20 A5 9 I/O 30 A5 44 DQ7 32 I/O 13 DQ7
21 A4 7 I/O, TCK 29 A4 45 DQ15/A-1 48 I/O 53 DQ15
22 A3 6 I/O, TDI 26 A3 46 GND 27,... GND 41,46,... VSS,VSSQ
23 A2 5 I/O 25 A2 47 BYTE# 144,... VCC 1,3,... VCC,VCCQ
24 A1 4 I/O 24 A1 48 A16 22 I/O -

Table 2
Connections from Flash on Wide-Boy64 AGB to Spartan FPGA and DRAM

DRAM

Pin# Name To FPGA To Flash Pin# Name To FPGA To Flash
1 VCC 144,... VCC 37,13,... VCC,VCCW 28 VSS 27,... GND 27,... GND
2 DQ0 47 I/O 29 DQ0 29 A4 7 I/O, TCK 21 A4
3 VCCQ 144,... VCC 37,13,... VCC,VCCW 30 A5 9 I/O 20 A5
4 DQ1 46 I/O 31 DQ1 31 A6 10 I/O 19 A6
5 DQ2 43 I/O 33 DQ2 32 A7 11 I/O, TMS 18 A7
6 VSSQ 27,... GND 27,... GND 33 A8 12 I/O 8 A8
7 DQ3 42 I/O 35 DQ3 34 A9 13 I/O 7 A9
8 DQ4 41 I/O 38 DQ4 35 A11 15 I/O 5 A11
9 VCCQ 144,... VCC 37,13,... VCC,VCCW 36 NC 16 I/O 4 A12
10 DQ5 39 I/O, GCK3 40 DQ5 37 CKE 144,... VCC 37,13,... VCC,VCCW
11 DQ6 33 I/O, GCK2 42 DQ6 38 CLK 106 I/O, GCK6 (DOUT) -
12 VSSQ 27,... GND 27,... GND 39 UDQM 113 I/O -
13 DQ7 32 I/O 44 DQ7 40 NC - -
14 VCC 144,... VCC 37,13,... VCC,VCCW 41 VSS 27,... GND 27,... GND
15 LDQM 115 I/O (CS1) - 42 DQ8 58 I/O 30 DQ8
16 !WE 30 I/O 11 WE# 43 VCCQ 144,... VCC 37,13,... VCC,VCCW
17 !CAS 29 I/O 28 OE# 44 DQ9 57 I/O 32 DQ9
18 !RAS 111 I/O - 45 DQ10 56 I/O 34 DQ10
19 !CS 31 I/O - 46 VSSQ 27,... GND 27,... GND
20 BA0(A13) 19 I/O 3 A13 47 DQ11 52 I/O 36 DQ11
21 BA1(A12) 20 I/O 2 A14 48 DQ12 51 I/O 39 DQ12
22 A10 14 I/O 6 A10 49 VCCQ 144,... VCC 37,13,... VCC,VCCW
23 A0 3 I/O 25 A0 50 DQ13 50 I/O 41 DQ13
24 A1 4 I/O 24 A1 51 DQ14 49 I/O 43 DQ14
25 A2 5 I/O 23 A2 52 VSSQ 27,... GND 27,... GND
26 A3 6 I/O, TDI 22 A3 53 DQ15 48 I/O 45 DQ15/A-1
27 VCC 144,... VCC 37,13,... VCC,VCCW 54 VSS 27,... GND 27,... GND

Table 3
Connections from DRAM on Wide-Boy64 AGB to Spartan FPGA and Flash

Voltages measured on regulators on Wide-Boy64 AGB

Pin# Name U3 U4 U5
1 VIN 11.5 V 11.5 V 5 V
2 VO 2.5 V 5 V 3.3 V
3 GND 0 V 0 V 0 V
4 VADJ/VC 1.25 V 2.5 V 1.25 V

Table 4
Voltages measured at the three voltage regulators at the bottom of the Wide-Boy64 AGB PCB

N64 cartridge connector on Wide-Boy64 AGB

Pin# Name To CN2 To component pin# Pin# Name To CN2 To component pin#
1 GND 1,2,9,10,37,38 GND 26 GND 1,2,9,10,37,38 GND
2 GND 1,2,9,10,37,38 GND 27 GND 1,2,9,10,37,38 GND
3 AD15 3 FPGA 139 I/O 28 AD0 4 FPGA 140 I/O
4 AD14 5 FPGA 136 I/O 29 AD1 6 FPGA 138 I/O
5 AD13 7 FPGA 134 I/O 30 AD2 8 FPGA 135 I/O
6 GND 1,2,9,10,37,38 GND 31 GND 1,2,9,10,37,38 GND
7 AD12 11 FPGA 132 I/O 32 AD3 12 FPGA 133 I/O
8 !WRITE 13 FPGA 2 I/O, GCK1 33 ALE_L 14 FPGA 143 I/O, GCK8
9 VCC* 15,16 EEPROM;CIC;U6 8;1,16;5 VCC 34 VCC* 15,16 EEPROM;CIC;U6 8;1,16;5 VCC
10 !READ 17 FPGA 142 I/O 35 ALE_H 18 FPGA 141 I/O
11 AD11 19 FPGA 130 I/O 36 AD4 20 FPGA 131 I/O
12 AD10 21 FPGA 126 I/O 37 AD5 22 FPGA 129 I/O
13 12V 23,24 Regs U3;U4 1 VIN 38 12V 23,24 Regs U3;U4 1 VIN
14 NC - - 39 NC - -
15 AD9 25 FPGA 124 I/O 40 AD6 26 FPGA 125 I/O
16 AD8 27 FPGA 122 I/O 41 AD7 28 FPGA 123 I/O
17 VCC* 15,16 EEPROM;CIC;U6 8;1,16;5 VCC 42 VCC* 15,16 EEPROM;CIC;U6 8;1,16;5 VCC
18 CIC_DIO 29 CIC 15 DIO 43 CIC_DCLK 30 CIC 14 DCLK
19 1.6MHZ 31 EEPROM;CIC 3;11 CLK_IN 44 JTAG_CLK_R4300 32 FPGA 120 I/O
20 !COLD_RESET 33 FPGA;EEPROM;CIC 121;6;9 I/O;!RST 45 !NMI_R4300 34 FPGA 119 I/O
21 S_DAT 35 EEPROM 5 DATA 46 VIDEO_CLK 36 FPGA 117 I/O
22 GND 1,2,9,10,37,38 GND 47 GND 1,2,9,10,37,38 GND
23 GND 1,2,9,10,37,38 GND 48 GND 1,2,9,10,37,38 GND
24 LAUDIO 39 Cap C6 49 RAUDIO 40 Cap C7
25 GND 1,2,9,10,37,38 GND 50 GND 1,2,9,10,37,38 GND

Table 5
Connections from N64 cartridge connector on Wide-Boy64 AGB to CN2 and other components.
* VCC on the N64 cartridge connector is 3.3 V, but it is not connected to the VCC of the FPGA or the AGB CPU. It only powers the CIC, EEPROM and Reset Controller (U6).

FPGA pin connections on Wide-Boy64 AGB

Pin# Name Usage To component pin# To component pin# To component pin#
1 GND
2 I/O, GCK1 N64 !WRITE N64 connector 8 !WRITE - -
3 I/O Flash/DRAM A0 Flash 25 A0 DRAM 23 A0 -
4 I/O Flash/DRAM A1 Flash 24 A1 DRAM 24 A1 -
5 I/O Flash/DRAM A2 Flash 23 A2 DRAM 25 A2 -
6 I/O, TDI Flash/DRAM A3 Flash 22 A3 DRAM 26 A3 -
7 I/O, TCK Flash/DRAM A4 Flash 21 A4 DRAM 29 A4 -
8 GND
9 I/O Flash/DRAM A5 Flash 20 A5 DRAM 30 A5 -
10 I/O Flash/DRAM A6 Flash 19 A6 DRAM 31 A6 -
11 I/O, TMS Flash/DRAM A7 Flash 18 A7 DRAM 32 A7 -
12 I/O Flash/DRAM A8 Flash 8 A8 DRAM 33 A8 -
13 I/O Flash/DRAM A9 Flash 7 A9 DRAM 34 A9 -
14 I/O Flash/DRAM A10 Flash 6 A10 DRAM 22 A10 -
15 I/O Flash/DRAM A11 Flash 5 A11 DRAM 35 A11 -
16 I/O Flash A12 Flash 4 A12 DRAM 36 NC -
17 GND
18 VCC
19 I/O Flash/DRAM A13 Flash 3 A13 DRAM 20 BA0(A13) -
20 I/O Flash A14; DRAM A12 Flash 2 A14 DRAM 21 BA1(A12) -
21 I/O Flash A15 Flash 1 A15 - -
22 I/O Flash A16 Flash 48 A16 - -
23 I/O Flash A17 Flash 17 A17 - -
24 I/O Flash A18 Flash 16 A18 - -
25 I/O Flash A19 Flash 9 A19 - -
26 I/O Flash A20 Flash 10 A20 - -
27 GND
28 I/O Flash !CE Flash 26 CE# - -
29 I/O Flash !OE; DRAM !CAS Flash 28 OE# DRAM 17 !CAS -
30 I/O Flash/DRAM !WE Flash 11 WE# DRAM 16 !WE -
31 I/O DRAM !CS - DRAM 19 !CS -
32 I/O Flash/DRAM DQ7 Flash 44 DQ7 DRAM 13 DQ7 -
33 I/O, GCK2 Flash/DRAM DQ6 Flash 42 DQ6 DRAM 11 DQ6 -
34 M1 Cfg. Mode (NC; M1=high) - - -
35 GND
36 M0 Cfg. Mode (M0=low) GND - -
37 VCC
38 !PWRDWN (Never Power Down) VCC - -
39 I/O, GCK3 Flash/DRAM DQ5 Flash 40 DQ5 DRAM 10 DQ5 -
40 I/O (HDC) ? - - Testpoint CP1
41 I/O Flash/DRAM DQ4 Flash 38 DQ4 DRAM 8 DQ4 -
42 I/O Flash/DRAM DQ3 Flash 35 DQ3 DRAM 7 DQ3 -
43 I/O Flash/DRAM DQ2 Flash 33 DQ2 DRAM 5 DQ2 -
44 I/O (!LDC) PROM !CE PROM 4 !CE - -
45 GND
46 I/O Flash/DRAM DQ1 Flash 31 DQ1 DRAM 4 DQ1 -
47 I/O Flash/DRAM DQ0 Flash 29 DQ0 DRAM 2 DQ0 -
48 I/O Flash/DRAM DQ15 Flash 45 DQ15/A-1 DRAM 53 DQ15 -
49 I/O Flash/DRAM DQ14 Flash 43 DQ14 DRAM 51 DQ14 -
50 I/O Flash/DRAM DQ13 Flash 41 DQ13 DRAM 50 DQ13 -
51 I/O Flash/DRAM DQ12 Flash 39 DQ12 DRAM 48 DQ12 -
52 I/O Flash/DRAM DQ11 Flash 36 DQ11 DRAM 47 DQ11 -
53 I/O (!INIT) PROM OE PROM 3 OE/!RESET - -
54 VCC
55 GND
56 I/O Flash/DRAM DQ10 Flash 34 DQ10 DRAM 45 DQ10 -
57 I/O Flash/DRAM DQ9 Flash 32 DQ9 DRAM 44 DQ9 -
58 I/O Flash/DRAM DQ8 Flash 30 DQ8 DRAM 42 DQ8 -
59 I/O AGB-AMP !Standby? AGB-AMP 12 !STB - -
60 I/O ? - - Testpoint CP2
61 I/O Button B CPU 5 P1 CN3 3 -
62 I/O Button A CPU 4 P0 CN3 4 -
63 I/O Button R CPU 3 P8 CN3 5 -
64 GND
65 I/O Button Start CPU 127 P3 CN3 6 -
66 I/O Button Select CPU 126 P2 CN3 7 -
67 I/O Button D-Right CPU 123 P4 CN3 8 -
68 I/O Button D-Down CPU 122 P7 CN3 9 -
69 I/O Button D-Left CPU 121 P5 CN3 10 -
70 I/O, GCK4 48.681812 MHz MX8350 (U15) 3 VCLK - -
71 GND
72 DONE Flash !RESET Flash 12 RP# - Testpoint CP5
73 VCC
74 !PROGRAM 48.681812 MHz Enable MX8350 (U15) 14 !RESET - -
75 I/O (D7) Button D-Up CPU 120 P6 CN3 11 -
76 I/O, GCK5 ? - - Testpoint CP3
77 I/O Button L CPU 119 P9 CN3 12 -
78 I/O LCD VSHD Enable? CPU 118 R10 CN3 13 -
79 I/O (D6) AGB-REG Switch? CPU 108 REVC CN3 14 -
80 I/O LCD Mode? CPU 107 MOD CN3 15 -
81 GND
82 I/O LCD SPS? CPU 106 SPS CN3 16 -
83 I/O LCD CLS? CPU 105 CLS CN3 17 -
84 I/O (D5) LCD SPL? CPU 104 SPL CN3 18 -
85 I/O LCD Data B1 CPU 101 LDB1 CN3 20 -
86 I/O LCD Data B2 CPU 100 LDB2 CN3 21 -
87 I/O LCD Data B3 CPU 99 LDB3 CN3 22 -
88 I/O (D4) LCD Data B4 CPU 98 LDB4 CN3 23 -
89 I/O LCD Data B5 CPU 97 LDB5 CN3 24 -
90 VCC
91 GND
92 I/O (D3) LCD Data G1 CPU 96 LDG1 CN3 25 -
93 I/O LCD Data G2 CPU 95 LDG2 CN3 26 -
94 I/O LCD Data G3 CPU 94 LDG3 CN3 27 -
95 I/O LCD Data G4 CPU 93 LDG4 CN3 29 -
96 I/O (D2) LCD Data G5 CPU 92 LDG5 CN3 30 -
97 I/O LCD Data R1 CPU 91 LDR1 CN3 31 -
98 I/O LCD Data R2 CPU 90 LDR2 CN3 32 -
99 I/O LCD Data R3 CPU 89 LDR3 CN3 33 -
100 GND
101 I/O (D1) LCD Data R4 CPU 88 LDR4 CN3 34 -
102 I/O LCD Data R5 CPU 87 LDR5 CN3 35 -
103 I/O LCD PS? CPU 86 PS CN3 37 -
104 I/O LCD LP? CPU 85 LP CN3 38 -
105 I/O (D0, DIN) PROM DATA PROM 1 DATA - -
106 I/O, GCK6 (DOUT) DRAM CLK - DRAM 38 CLK -
107 CCLK PROM CLK PROM 2 CLK - -
108 VCC
109 O, TDO ? - - Testpoint CP4
110 GND
111 I/O DRAM !RAS - DRAM 18 !RAS -
112 I/O, GCK7 LCD Data Clock? CPU 84 DCK CN3 39 -
113 I/O DRAM UDQM - DRAM 39 UDQM -
114 I/O CPU !RESET D4 K R6 -
115 I/O (CS1) DRAM LDQM - DRAM 15 LDQM -
116 I/O Voltage stable? U6 4 VOUT - -
117 I/O N64 VIDEO_CLK N64 connector 46 VIDEO_CLK - -
118 GND
119 I/O N64 !NMI_R4300 N64 connector 45 !NMI_R4300 - -
120 I/O N64 JTAG_CLK_R4300 N64 connector 44 !JTAG_CLK_R4300 - -
121 I/O N64 !COLD_RESET N64 connector 20 !COLD_RESET EEPROM 6 !RST CIC 9 !RST
122 I/O N64 AD8 N64 connector 16 AD8 - -
123 I/O N64 AD7 N64 connector 41 AD7 - -
124 I/O N64 AD9 N64 connector 15 AD9 - -
125 I/O N64 AD6 N64 connector 40 AD6 - -
126 I/O N64 AD10 N64 connector 12 AD10 - -
127 GND
128 VCC
129 I/O N64 AD5 N64 connector 37 AD5 - -
130 I/O N64 AD11 N64 connector 11 AD11 - -
131 I/O N64 AD4 N64 connector 36 AD4 - -
132 I/O N64 AD12 N64 connector 7 AD12 - -
133 I/O N64 AD3 N64 connector 32 AD3 - -
134 I/O N64 AD13 N64 connector 5 AD13 - -
135 I/O N64 AD2 N64 connector 30 AD2 - -
136 I/O N64 AD14 N64 connector 4 AD14 - -
137 GND
138 I/O N64 AD1 N64 connector 29 AD1 - -
139 I/O N64 AD15 N64 connector 3 AD15 - -
140 I/O N64 AD0 N64 connector 28 AD0 - -
141 I/O N64 ALE_H N64 connector 35 ALE_H - -
142 I/O N64 !READ N64 connector 10 !READ - -
143 I/O, GCK8 N64 ALE_L N64 connector 33 ALE_L - -
144 VCC

Table 6
Connections from Spartan FPGA on Wide-Boy64 AGB to other components

Schematics and ideas for building a Wide-Boy64 clone

I finished drawing the schematic of the Wide-Boy64 AGB. For the parts I don't know the exact values yet, I marked them with a question mark (?). Some values I took from the Portuguese Game Boy Advance Service Manual where I thought they are most likely the same parts, but I still put a question mark after the value to emphasize that I'm not 100% sure about them.

Desoldering the Cartridge Slot from a GBA could be a bit of a pain, I haven't tried it yet. I bought them on AliExpress, but those ones don't have room for that switch, unfortunately.

The Spartan XCS20XL is not produced anymore, but you can still buy some on, again, AliExpress. I wasn't able to find those bitstream PROMs, though. If I'm not able to find one that behaves in a compatible way, then I would use a second FPGA to emulate the behaviour of the XC17S20XL PROM. This FPGA could also emulate the N64 CIC. Then it wouldn't be necessary to sacrifice a cartridge for that.

A better approach would be to replace the outdated Spartan FPGA, but then this would mean one has to implement the decoding of the display signals. The frame buffer interface to the N64 would also have to be replicated. I don't know what is easier: Reverse engineering the interface between the Spartan and the N64 software inside the flash, or writing the N64 code from scratch as well.

Random stuff

Fun fact: On the Wide-Boy64 AGB PCB, the CIC chip is labelled "CTC".


Picture 9
Silk print on the Wide-Boy64 AGB PCB under the CIC and EEPROM chips

I assume the correct notation of Wide-Boy64 is with a hyphen between the words and without a space before the number, like it is printed on the labels on the front and back side of the device. However on the PCB it is written as one word, WIDEBOY AGB. On Wikipedia and many other sites, it is written as Wide-Boy 64, with a space before the number. TBH, I just mention the different notations here to make this page more likely to show up on Google.

I don't understand for what reason there is a 4.0 V reset controller (U6) on the Wide-Boy64 AGB, watching the 3.3 V comming from the N64. On top of that, they didn't put a capacitor between GND and the VOUT pin, like it is recommended in the data sheet of the PST9140N. They put one between GND and VCC. They also didn't leave the NC pin unconnected; they connected it to GND.