kitsch-bent > quint
2012

this is a quick-start guide for the quint.  

the quint is a reprogrammable and interactive *duino-based device meant for the precise control of the CPU's clock rate within 
many older handheld gaming devices.  quint was designed mainly for the nintendo game boy original, pocket, and color 
consoles.  

what to do first:
-- you quint came with two 3.5mm stereo jacks, as well as two diodes.  you will need to install these in your consoles, 
	please refer to the instructions linked to on the quint's product page.
-- your console will not operate once the crystal has been removed without the introduction of a suitable frequency 
	to establish the speed at which the CPU processes data.  quint will supply this frequency to your device, and 
	the freq. can be controlled by the user through quint's onboard buttons, switch, and potentiometer (refer to 
	the button diagram on quint's product page).  because quint is powered via the consoles (when not using usb), 
	you must also connect the 3.5mm jacks to ground and the internal regulated voltage.  the diodes are included to 
	prevent reverse voltage issues if drawing power from two consoles, two consoles and usb, or a console and usb.

how to power-on:
-- quint gets power externally.  because of this, and the immediacy which CPUs need a clock rate at startup, quint 
	needs to be powered on before it can properly allow the console to boot.  if you use the usb connection, the process 
	is a little easier.  either way isn't hard, just try it!
	with usb connected:  when quint is connected via its usb breakout header it is powered via the 	usb cable.  this means it is sending out frequencies to the consoles at the point of them being 	powered on.  so that's it, everything should work fine.  the consoles can boot.
	without usb connected:  quint requires a cascading type of powering on when using two 	consoles and no usb, because it lacks power until it is received via the console and the console will crash 	without an immediate clock speed.  solution: turn the first console on (it will most likely 	not engage).  then turn on the second console (which will engage, as quint is already powered 	at this point by the first console).  then simply turn the first console off and back on again.  since quint is powered 	from the second console at this time, the first one will now engage properly.  as long as one console quint is connected 
	to is powering it,  you can turn the others off and on freely.
	with only one console:  you have to use usb, there is no other easy way to have quint powered on prior to 
	turning the console on.  the alternative would be to create a usb->3.5mm power cable and get power from jack two.  or
	another similar cable to power the divice from a 5V source.

how to use:
-- you can find a button diagram on quint's product page, this explains what each button does according to the software 
	which ships installed on quint.
-- quickly, quint has five main buttons which are each programmed to a software-defined value which controls the frequency 
	output by the device.  pressing a button will cause this frequency to engage, changing the CPUs operating speed 
	accordingly (its 'clock' rate).  the button, when pressed, illuminates to show that it has been engaged.  this is controlled 
	in quint's code.  
-- if you wish to change the value of one of these buttons immediately without altering the code the slide potentiometer 
	provides a fine tuning function.  to engage the fine tuning slide pot, press the tact switch at the end of the pot.  you 
	will know the pot is engaged because the slider illuminates when engaged (coded).  
-- there is a micro-switch on the side of quint.  the function of this switch can be controlled by changing the code.  as it 
	ships, in its downward position (wires coming out the top of quint) it is in DMG/MGB mode: all 5 buttons are within DMG/MGB 
	operating parameters.  when the button is up at power-on, quint is in CGB mode: the 5 buttons relate to CGB operating 
	parameters.  to change between the two modes, quint must be reset or powered off.  this will cause the devices quint is 
	controlling to crash as well most likely.
-- the code which ships on quint is available on the product's page.  feel free to change it to make quint a customized controller.  
	if you do this we'd love to see what you've done.  feel free to send code for us to try to 'matt (aatt) kitsch-bent (ddoott) com' 

this is the way your code should correspond with the hardware:

 Digital Pins 0 - 7
 ARDUINO PORTD BIT 0 = SS1 (SPI slave select line)
 ARDUINO PORTD BIT 1 = CLK (SPI clock line)
 ARDUINO PORTD BIT 2 = MOSI (SPI master out slave in line)
 ARDUINO PORTD BIT 3 = LED 1 (these are the LEDs within the five main tact switches)
 ARDUINO PORTD BIT 4 = LED 2
 ARDUINO PORTD BIT 5 = LED 3
 ARDUINO PORTD BIT 6 = LED 4
 ARDUINO PORTD BIT 7 = LED 5
 
 Digital Pins 8 - 13
 ARDUINO PORTB BIT 0 = BUTTON 1 (these are the five main tact switches)
 ARDUINO PORTB BIT 1 = BUTTON 2
 ARDUINO PORTB BIT 2 = BUTTON 3
 ARDUINO PORTB BIT 3 = BUTTON 4
 ARDUINO PORTB BIT 4 = BUTTON 5
 ARDUINO PORTB BIT 5 = JMP (switch selection for mode - 0V for mode 1; 5V for mode 2)
 
 Analog Pins 0 - 5
 ARDUINO PORTC BIT 0 = LINEAR POTENTIOMETER 
 ARDUINO PORTC BIT 4 = LED 6 (this is on the linear potentiometer)
 ARDUINO PORTC BIT 5 = BUTTON 6 (this is the non-illuminated tact switch)

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rev. 1.0 (6/13/12)