configtool

PICO9918 Configurator

The configurator is a software tool used to modify PICO9918 configuration options, including:

• Clock rate
• Scanline CRT effect
• Scanline sprite limit
• Default palette
• Diagnostics overlays

Additionally, firmware updates can be provided via the Configurator. The full configurator is available for the TI-99/4A, ColecoVision and MSX. With cut-down builds (without firmware updates) available for several other machines.

See the configurator in action:

The configurator was written in a custom fork of CVBasic.

Web-based Configurator

If you don't have a device supported by the native configurator, the Web-based PICO9918 Configurator can be used to generate a config .uf2 file. Just drag-and-drop the resulting file onto your PICO9918 using the same method as for firmware updates.

Building

Prerequisites

Option 1: Use existing tools

• CMake 3.13 or later
• Python 3 (accessible as python3)
• CVBasic compiler (cvbasic.exe)
• GASM80 assembler (gasm80.exe)
• XDT99 XAS99 assembler (for TI-99 builds)

Option 2: Auto-build tools (Linux/cross-platform)

• CMake 3.13 or later
• Python 3 (accessible as python3)
• Git (for checking out tool repositories)
• C compiler (GCC or Clang for building tools)

Usage

Integrated Build (Recommended)

The configurator is now integrated into the main PICO9918 build system:

# Build from project root
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
make                    # Build firmware
make configurator_all   # Build all configurator ROMs

All final artifacts will be in build/dist/:

• Firmware: pico9918-vga-build-v1-0-2.uf2
• Configurator ROMs: pico9918_v1-0-2_*.rom / pico9918_v1-0-2_*.bin

Standalone Build (Legacy)

cd configtool
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. [-DBUILD_TOOLS_FROM_SOURCE=ON]
make configurator_all

Build Individual Platforms

make ti99              # TI-99/4A
make ti99_f18a         # TI-99/4A F18A Testing  
make coleco            # ColecoVision
make msx_asc16         # MSX ASCII16 mapper
make msx_konami        # MSX Konami mapper
make sg1000            # SG1000/SC3000
make nabu              # NABU
make creativision      # CreatiVision
make nabu_mame_package # NABU MAME (.npz)

Build with Ninja (faster)

cmake .. -G Ninja [-DBUILD_TOOLS_FROM_SOURCE=ON]
ninja configurator_all

How it Works

1. Firmware Dependency: Checks for pre-built firmware in ../build/src/
2. UF2 Conversion: Converts firmware to CVBasic data using uf2cvb.py
3. CVBasic Compilation: Compiles .bas sources for each target platform
4. Assembly: Uses GASM80 (most platforms) or XAS99 (TI-99) for final ROM creation
5. Packaging: Creates platform-specific ROM files (.bin, .rom, .nabu, etc.)

Platform Support

Platform	Mapper/Banking	Output Format	Assembly Tool
TI-99/4A	8KB banks	.bin cartridge	XAS99 + linkticart
ColecoVision	16KB banks	.rom	GASM80
MSX	ASCII16/Konami	.rom	GASM80
NABU	No banking	.nabu/.npz	GASM80
CreatiVision	No banking	.bin	GASM80

Tool Detection

Default Mode (existing tools)

The build system automatically searches for tools in:

1. configtool/tools/cvbasic/ (bundled tools)
2. ../CVBasic/build/Release/ (local CVBasic build)
3. System PATH
4. c:/tools/xdt99/ (Windows) or /usr/local/bin, /opt/xdt99 (Linux)

Auto-build Mode (-DBUILD_TOOLS_FROM_SOURCE=ON)

When enabled, CMake will:

1. Clone CVBasic from https://github.com/visrealm/CVBasic.git
2. Clone gasm80 from https://github.com/visrealm/gasm80.git
3. Clone XDT99 from https://github.com/endlos99/xdt99.git
4. Build CVBasic and gasm80 from source using their CMake systems
5. Install tools to build/external/ directory
6. Use the locally-built tools for ROM generation

This mode enables fully cross-platform builds without pre-installed tools.