Looking to ROM dump just a handful of games, so I’m trying not to spend hundreds on a Sanni or Retrode. I saw this on AliExpress for $15.

I’ve personally had good luck with Alibaba and Aliexpress, but I recognize that this could just straight not work. There’s no documentation, but it claims the game data will show up like files on a USB flash drive.

Anybody know where this design came from?

  • simplymath@lemmy.worldEnglish
    361·
    2 years ago

    A sketchy USB device from Alibaba with 0 documentation is significantly less safe than grabbing a ROM, which are widely available and have known file hashes. The security risk alone from a no name USB device is probably not worth it unless there’s a save file you reeeeeeeeally care about, as another user mentioned.

  • wjrii@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    2 years ago

    The basic concept seems to be floating out there, and I’ve bought many empty RP2040 boards from AE without issue, but if you’re determined to do this, maybe disconnect from any networks, back up your PC, and start with an expendable cartridge. :-)

    I don’t THINK a Pi Pico clone could send enough voltage back up into a board to fry a cart, but it’s your risk. 98% chance everything is fine, but you’re spending money on what should have a 100% chance of being fine.

    Or, accept the almost-inevitable and just grab ROMs of your carts. If you really want to experiment, maybe build the dumper itself as a DIY project. Buying someone else’s device to create files somebody already ripped twenty years ago doesn’t quite pull the right nostalgia or hobbyist levers for me, but we have to go where our nerdery takes us, and from that perspective, I understand.

    • ch00f@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      2·
      2 years ago

      That’s a great link. Also looks like the cheapest option for what I’m trying to do, so I might just buy it from there.

      It’s a bummer that the Sanni reader parts are so expensive despite the design being open source.

      • FlatFootFox@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        2 years ago

        Unfortunately most of the PCB fab companies only print off PCBs in at least batches of 5. I bought enough parts to make two cart readers and split the costs with a friend to help drive the price down into the low hundreds.

        I don’t know which number you were looking at when you saw the Sanni was “so expensive”. You can get an assembled Sanni v3 for about $150 online. https://savethehero.builders If you join their Discord, there’s also folks selling Sanni v5 DIY part kits for $110-130 depending on what add-ons you go for. https://store.starshade.dev/product/oscr-hw5-complete-kit-diy It’s still a pretty penny, but significantly less than some of the $250 pre-assembled stores online.

        • ch00f@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
          1·
          2 years ago

          That’s a good deal. I was looking at eBay and Tindie where even kits were $150-$200 if they were in stock at all.