Alexander DyasNov 13, 2023

I'm toying with the idea of making a clock with an original Gameboy. This would be code running on a cartridge in a working Gameboy unit, the time displayed on the Gameboy’s screen.
The little research I've done shows that this is entirely feasible. So I've ordered a flash cartridge, and I'm looking at various coding tutorials.

#electronics #gameboy #maker

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Show threadAlexander Dyas

The only real issue I can see is keeping the clock in sync, there is no radio in the Gameboy unit, and as far as I can tell no battery backed up internal clock. So I will probably have to set the clock each time I turn it on. But as long as I keep it plugged in that shouldn't be a big deal.

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Nov 13, 2023 at 6:39amWeb
Show threadAndrew MackieNov 13, 2023
@alexanderdyas Add a wifi microcontroller to the cart to pick up the NTP timesignal, and your clock will keep time on its own.
Show threadAlexander DyasNov 13, 2023
@amackie I considered this, and making a GB cart emulator with a microcontroller, but I don’t have the electronics chops 🫤 I’ve searched around a bit for an existing project but nothing has come up yet.
Show threadAlexander DyasNov 13, 2023
@amackie Aaand then I find an interesting link - https://hackaday.com/2021/07/01/pi-pico-game-boy-flash-cart-gets-slim-rp2040-upgrade/
Something to investigate.
Pi Pico Game Boy Flash Cart Gets Slim RP2040 Upgrade

The story for this one starts a few months ago, when [John Green] released his PICO-GB project. His code allowed the Raspberry Pi Pico to stand in for a Game Boy cartridge, complete with a simple t…

Hackaday
Show threadAlexander DyasDec 11, 2023
@amackie An other avenue I’m considering is sending a clock signal down the GameBoy’s serial port from a micro controller.