To use the Atari Lynx Cart Programmer Pi-Hat, special software is required. Since the Pi-Hat is meant for use with a Raspberry Pi, its software is built to run in Linux. The software can be used to read all Atari Lynx cartridges and to write/erase compatible flashable cartridges.
Note: Flashable cartridges must be based on the SST39SF010A / SST39SF020A / SST39SF040 CMOS Multi-Purpose Flash chip. Some homebrew cartridge PCBs are too thick to fit the slot connector and will not work (original Alpine Games for example).
The programmer board software source code is available from https://bitbucket.org/atarilynx/lynx. The software is currently in rapid development in the programmer-enhancements branch. No binary distribution is yet available, but building it is easy...
git clone -b programmer-enhancements https://bitbucket.org/atarilynx/lynx.gitThis should build the readcart, writecart and romutil commands. These are explained further below.
SPI must be enabled on your Raspberry Pi in order to use this software. Failing to enable SPI, you will get the following output whenever using any of the PiHat software...
Initialising SPI @ 10MhzTo enable SPI, edit your /boot/config.txt and ensure that the following line is not commented out:
dtparam=spi=onFor more information on SPI see this page - SPI - Raspberry Pi Documentation.
To read a cartridge, use the readcart command. It's usage is...
Usage: readcart -a|-bN [-h] [-nohdr] [-swvcc] [-turbo] [-v|-vv] [-i|<romfile>]Examples:
An LNX format ROM can be written to a special programmable cartridge. The writecart command is used for this purpose. This command will check that a compatible flash cart is inserted into the board before trying to write any data. It's usage is:
Usage: writecart [-nc] [-nohdr -bN] [-turbo] [-v|-vv] <romfile>Examples:
There is a ROM utility included that can be used to display information about a ROM, convert LNX to LYX formats (and vice-versa), and to compare ROMs. It's usage is:
Usage: romutil -2lyx|-2lnx|-cmp|-i <romfile> [<romfile2>]Examples: