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Well, first of all, I?ll be happy if the project is found to be useful.
About the programming part, I don?t know... I tried to write some code for the Cybie, but its lack of information made me feel like an Indiana Jones. The only thing that is a bit easy if to "tweak" the personalities. I may have a CD with all the stuffs I found on the net about the Cybie. If I find it (give me a week or so...) I?ll post here.
Maybe if you could use your own hardware and some sort of hi-level programming environment you end up with something that can be easily programmed.
So, I love my I-cybies. I have 2 now: 1 blue and 1 gold. Since I got them I have been searching high and low for the expansion cartridge and programmer that came out, but with no luck. It seems to be quite rare.
RetroPlayer's Elvis cartridge hack got me thinking... I wondered if I could somehow make my own expansion cart. I googled around and after many hours discovered a spanish website with lots of interesting info about the cartridge. Unfortunately, the Google translation of the page leaves something to be desired.
You can see it here, if you are curious: http://www dot 3drogue dot com/translate_c.htm
(replace the word "dot" with actual ".") last time I posted a link, i got spammed all to hell, so I will try it this way.
Anyway, I-cybie came with a "dummy" cartridge in its expansion slot. I was lead to believe it was of no interest, so i never really looked at it beyond taking it out and putting it back in.
Last night however, I got curious. I took it out of cybie and removed its little screws. Inside I found the actual PCB for the real cart! It looks like it's all set to have it's parts soldered on! Woot! The web page I listed above lists the memory chips used on the cart and says they are cheap.
So, here's my question. I suck at soldering. Even if I was decent, the PCB is tiny. It looks like something a machine would be best at making. So, Where would I look for someone who might be able to solder the components onto the board? Maybe a computer repair place? I have no clue....
November 8, 2010 3:39 PM
November 9, 2010 3:48 AM
updated: November 9, 2010 3:50 AM
Hello, Lutcho!
Greetings to you as a bringer of hope to all iCybie enthusiasts remained! 
It's incredible to have you joined our Community! The world is really narrow!
Now I have all the components (thanks to RebelTaz) to attemt making my own working cartridge and my own copy of your Cybie programmer. It would be nice to read your original english article and have an ability to ask the author himself in case something will go wrong.
And also your collection of all iCybie-related stuff will be interesting if you could manage to find it and to publish on repidshare.
Anyway, it seems, your arrival kindled a new spark of the enthusiasm in me!
Stay tuned.
November 9, 2010 9:09 AM
This is a very old thread, but the problems and solutions haven't changed much in years.
Some comments:
See my earlier comments on this thread (I am repeating some of them here)
A prebuilt *working* cartridge along with the programmer is still available from Silverlit (http://www.3deshop.com/ - $95 plus world-wide shipping, PARALLEL port on Windows computer required)
This cartridge can be used with a Super i-Cybie.
If you have an older iCybie, turning it into a Super i-Cybie makes it both a cartridge programmer, and a development system for writing lower level programs (ie. it adds a serial port for programming and debugging)
Most of the personality files etc can be found on my website. Hasn't changed in years:
http://www.aibohack.com/icybie/index.html
> I have been wondering lately if it would be easier to just gut poor I-cybie and put my own Microcontroller inside to run everything...
IMHO this is impractical. Most of the iCybie processor's ports are hooked up to hardware (leg 'servos' etc). Rewiring those is a lot of busy work since the existing CPU is programmable.
If you need more brain power, attach a separate processor on top of the i-Cybie and control it with the serial port (ie. let the iCybie processor do the legs and motions).
> Maybe if you could use your own hardware and some sort of hi-level programming environment you end up with something that can be easily programmed.
Check out the IC SDK. It allows for more advanced programming. It comes with a "C" compiler, header files for all the low level functions, and a few (simple) samples. Great for a number of things.
http://www.aibohack.com/icybie/icsdk.htm
For tweeking the basic personality, use YICT.
November 28, 2010 2:51 PM
Hello All,
I just aquiered a I-Cybie for Santa gift, all was OK until I recieved a mail from the seller teeling me that the poor doggy has a bother with the battery. Apparently the battery is full but the doggy think its empty? The owner charged it for 6 hours prior shipping it to me to make sure all was OK. This might have killed the battery tho but the owner said the battery still work fine?
This is all new to me and I should receive it next week.
Any suggestion on what I can do to fix it? Santa cannot bring a broken gift :(
Thank you.
Olivier
November 28, 2010 2:53 PM
Helo All,
I just aquiered a I-Cybie for Santa gift, all was OK until I recieved a mail from the seller teeling me that the poor doggy has a bother with the battery. Apparently the battery is full but the doggy think its empty? The owner charged it for 6 hours prior shipping it to me to make sure all was OK. This might have killed the battery tho but the owner said the battery still work fine?
This is all new to me and I should receive it next week.
Any suggestion on what I can do to fix it? Santa cannot bring a broken gift :(
Thank you.
Olivier
December 3, 2010 12:58 PM
updated: December 3, 2010 12:59 PM
Olivier said: Helo All, I just aquiered a I-Cybie for Santa gift, all was OK until I recieved a mail from the seller teeling me that the poor doggy has a bother with the battery. Apparently the battery is full but the doggy think its empty? The owner charged it for 6 hours prior shipping it to me to make sure all was OK. This might have killed the battery tho but the owner said the battery still work fine? This is all new to me and I should receive it next week. Any suggestion on what I can do to fix it? Santa cannot bring a broken gift :( Thank you. Olivier
Hello Olivier.
I own two I-cybies. It is well known that the original batteries that came with the I-cybie are probably ruined by now. There was an error in the original instruction manual that came with the dog that instructed people to charge the battery in a manner that would ruin the battery.
It is my advice to anyone buying an I-Cybie dog to ALSO buy a new battery and charger (unless the seller has already upgraded the battery themselves). This will offer two benefits:
- You get a fresh battery with a longer lifespan
- Your new battery will last a much longer time between chargings. The original battery from 2001 was rated at 800 mAh (mAh=milli-amp hours= how long you can play between chargings. A higher number is better). I purchased a battery rated at 2100 mAh and it lasts much, much longer than the original.
A company called "Strikealite" sells two batteries designed specifically for the I-cybie: a 2100mAh and a 1200 mAh. I purchased mine from them. Make sure to get a charger for that battery as well, since the connector for the I-cybie battery is slightly unusual.
Hope this Helps.
December 3, 2010 1:16 PM
Hiya,
thank you for the reply, but the bother is actually a broken cobwheel, I find this out pulling it apart...
I tryed to glue it ( melted) but it didn't last.
Looking for a cobwheel now.
Cheers.
Olivier
March 11, 2011 6:28 AM
Hi! I'm a programmer, and I'm just starting to get into the hardware side of things, working with microcontrollers, basic electronics, etc.
I'd like to try the Super I-Cybie hack, but I haven't been able to locate this file:
http://66.70.136.74/icybie/crominst11.zip
Does anyone have a copy that they could send my way. Thanks a heap!
March 11, 2011 10:36 AM
If you will give me your email address I will send you a copy...
Derek Tombrello
www.RobotsAndComputers.com
March 11, 2011 12:05 PM
Lutcho said: Hi! The project was originally in English (with my Brazilian-Portuguese accent, I'm afraid). That Spanish guy translated it and after that my site got offline. So, I found the backup and uploaded the original files (in English) at http://rapidshare.com/files/429646478/cybie_uploader_full.zip Hope it can help. Building the programmer is quite easy if you know how to use the right tools: A PIC programmer (there are lots of free projects on the net - JDM is quite simple and works fine) and soldering skills are enough. Just call me back if you need help. Regards, Luiz
Hi Lutcho,
I just tried to get the file, but apparently Rapidshare removed it. :--(
Could you possibly post it again?
Thanks!
April 5, 2011 1:09 PM
updated: April 5, 2011 2:22 PM
I ordered a charging station and a downloader from http://www.3deshop.com
Delivery took exactly 4 weeks as promised. The accessories arrived in good shape. The downloader requires software which is supposed to be available at www.Silverlit.com.
A search of Silverlit produced no hits for the software. But I was able to get software here:
http://www.pennapparel.com/i-cybie/iCYBIE.html
This software is supposed to run on XP. I have BootCamp running on my Mac with a Windows 7 (32bit) partition. Couldn't get it to run under 7.
At this point, I may get an ancient Windows machine on eBay to run the software, or I may just build my own eprom programmer as described above. I plan on doing the Super I-Cybie hack once I get a cartridge with crominst installed.
The significant news for I-Cybie fans is that 3deshop is still in operation, and the accessories are still available!
I-Cybie is extremely cool and they are available on eBay for not a lot of money.
April 7, 2011 5:51 AM
jannypan said: I don't recommend the approach used on that website, unless as a very last resort.
Why's that?
April 18, 2011 8:34 AM
Hi pals,
Since I'm still receiving e-mails asking for my project files, I decided to upload it back on my blog.
If anyone needs it, just go to http://luizcressoni.blogspot.com/2011/04/i-cybie-uploader-project.html Everything is there.
Regards,
Luiz
May 30, 2011 4:29 PM
Thank you a lot, Luiz !
I have one i cybie working, and one not working anymore (leg disease), and i hope to use your files.
Sharing is agreat thing, and as you see, we should protect the knowledge from the time, on the net.
This forum is great :-)
Best regards from France.
@hugobiwan
June 6, 2011 12:41 AM
Luiz... can the uploader be used to create a CROMINST cartridge?
Derek Tombrello
www.RobotsAndComputers.com
June 6, 2011 5:18 AM
Hello, Derek!
Sure it can. All you need is the CROMINST image files (the .bin files) and use the uploader to write them to the cartridge.
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