This is one of the things (along with repair) that finally motivated me to learn electronics. You could probably build your own Everdrive 64 for less than $20! (Plus hundreds of dollars for an oscilloscope and other equipment but you can keep that for the next project)
# If you have more than 2MB flash, you need to change the flash size by adding -DFLASH_SIZE_MB={one of 2,4,8,16} here.
2MB might be a minimum, as the standard bootcode needs 1MB + 4KB. See my boot_stub or modified 6102 bootcode for ways to bypass the 1MB checksum: https://hcs64.com/n64info.html
I think it's actually a limitation of the Raspberry Pi Pico only having 2MB of flash space while some other RP2040 boards can support up to that 16MB. Reading SD cards with the PIO might be a bit much so the project README mentions the 'next-gen' version with added RAM
There are knockoffs for a lot less, the author here is even using one. But then you aren't supporting the inventor of the thing, just a factory that's churning them out somewhere.
Nobody asked, but I'll list differences I've noticed between the real everdrive and the knockoffs: Games that require a cartridge battery won't won't work correctly on the clones, the SD card slot is a lot cheaper on the clones, and the clone doesn't have a USB port (which I think is used for live game dev debugging?)
I assume there's a fair amount of work needed to develop these carts, but they probably don't ever sell in large quantities. Yes, it's expensive, but I can't imagine anyone getting rich out of manufacturing these. They are however instrumental for the hardware and software preservation purposes, so it's important for the community to support them.
It's interesting to note that the Everdrives are still actively manufactured in Ukraine, despite the immense difficulties caused by the war.
Yup. Plus Krikzz has to contend with Chinese clones copying their hardware designs and selling for significantly less. I have a few Everdrives for various systems and I've been happy with them. Some of them are pretty reasonably priced IMO like the GB Everdrives which are like the same price as a new game.
