PicoMEM 2 - Black Gold Audio Edition

PicoMEM 2 AVAILABLE NOW. includes a high quality 3d printed bracket.

The PicoMEM 2 is the next-generation iteration by FreddyV, of the original PicoMEM 8-bit ISA expansion card.

Setup guide by Retro Erik:

🚀 Performance & Hardware Upgrades

The PicoMEM 2 features significant hardware enhancements over the PicoMEM 1 :

Hardware Specification Comparison

System Support

• DMA Support: Features DMA from PicoMEM emulated RAM (except during active PicoMEM DMA operations). Users can manually select DMA 1 or 3 via an onboard jumper.

• Multi-IRQ Support: IRQ 3, 5, 6, and 7 are now completely independent.

• Global Optimization: Overall RAM and I/O performance increase for maximum vintage PC compatibility.

🔌 New Connectivity & Onboard Features

• USB-A Connector: Directly connect a Joystick, Mouse, USB drive, or a USB Hub.

• Real-Time Clock (RTC): Onboard battery-backed RTC for maintaining system time.

• Enhanced Wi-Fi: The Wi-Fi antenna is now positioned externally 

• Serial & LED Expansion: Includes a serial port (TX/RX) + LED Connector for external LEDs or a HDDClicker.

• I2C Expansion: Dual (2x) QwiiC connectors 

• Front Panel Connector: 1x Front Panel connector supporting an OLED display and control buttons.  
       (3.5" and 5.25" panels that fit in drive slot, similar to the McCake Panels (but mirrored) -- photos coming soon)
   

🔊 Audio Improvements

The PicoMEM 2 significantly upgrades its audio capabilities, allowing all emulation modes to run simultaneously (e.g., you can run General MIDI + GUS at the same time in DOOM).

• Onboard Dedicated DAC: Features a premium PCM5102 DAC with optimized 4-layer PCB routing and an onboard 3.5mm audio jack for pristine sound quality.

• Hardware-Assisted Sound Blaster: Sound Blaster emulation now utilizes hardware DMA, drastically improving game compatibility.

• Gravis UltraSound (GUS): Native GUS support added, complete with 1MB RAM, DMA, and IRQ allocation.

• MPU-401 / General MIDI: Implemented via a modified, high-quality TinySoundFont library.

• Stereo OPL3: Audio output now generates true Stereo OPL3 instead of standard OPL2.

🔄 Firmware & Compatibility Updates

(Note: These software-driven updates are also backward compatible with PicoMEM 1)

• Expanded Controller Support: Native support for DirectInput, PS4/PS5, and Switch/Switch 2 controllers via joypad-os.
• Variable Disk Geometry: Added support for custom disk geometries using an accompanying .chs text file (formatted as imagename.chs).
• Compatible with the latest tools by FreddyV - see this github page for downloads and getting started information

📋 Core Features Summary

• Network Emulation: Built-in NE2000 Network Support.

• Storage: Integrated MicroSD card reader.

• Peripherals: USB Mouse & Joystick support.

• Build Quality: Premium Rev 2.02 PCB featuring a gold ENIG finish.

• Plug & Play: Pre-flashed with the latest stable firmware.

• Audio Out: Convenient onboard 3.5mm audio jack.