CV cartScanner

A cartridge reader for the ColecoVision: an Arduino wired to a cartridge slot, with software on a PC that reads what is in the ROM and saves it to a file.

How it works

• An Arduino UNO drives the cartridge's address lines and reads back the data lines, one location at a time.
• A Windows program receives that, displays it and writes it out - so a cartridge becomes a file.

What it handles

• ColecoVision cartridges carry 15 address pins, 8 data pins, four low-enabled chip selects, two grounds and a supply pin.
• Sizes run 8K, 16K, 24K and 32K, with the occasional 12K, built from one to four 8K ROM chips - which is why the reader has to work out what is there rather than assume.

Matthew Heironimus published the design and the software openly in 2014, and the cartScanner software on GitHub is built on it. FOR AN ARCHIVE THIS IS THE IMPORTANT KIND OF TOOL: it is how a cartridge that still works becomes a copy that will outlive it.