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TangCore Retro Gaming Installation Guide

🎮 Supported Devices

Board Model FPGA Capacity Compatible Cores Status
Tang Console 60K 60K LUT All cores ✔ī¸ Great
Tang Mega 60K 60K LUT All cores ✔ī¸ Great
Tang Mega 138K 138K LUT All cores ✔ī¸ Great
Tang Primer 25K 25K LUT NESTang, SNESTang only ⚠ī¸ Limited
Tang Nano 20K 20K LUT Unsupported ❌ Not working

đŸ“Ļ Pre-Install Checklist

  • Bouffalo Lab Dev Cube v1.8.4+ (Download)
  • USB 2.0 drive (FAT32/exFAT, ≤32GB recommended)
  • USB-C OTG adapter with power pass-through, needed for Tang Console and Tang Primer as these do not have USB Host ports.
  • Valid GBA BIOS (gba_bios.bin MD5: 81977335...)
  • Latest TangCore Release Package

🔧 Firmware Installation

  1. Extract release package

  2. Launch Dev Cube → Browse → Select: 

    /firmware-bl616/flash_<board-model>.ini
    (e.g., flash_tang_console_60k.ini)

  3. Boot Mode Activation:

  4. Hold BOOT button → Connect USB → Release after connection

  5. Flash Process:

  6. Refresh COM ports → Select Port/SN → Download
  7. Confirm success screen:

Firmware Flash Success
Green status indicates successful programming

🕹ī¸ Game System Setup

USB drive content

📁 USB_ROOT/
├── 📁 cores/        # Core binaries from release
├── 📁 nes/          # .nes files
├── 📁 snes/         # .smc/.sfc files
├── 📁 gba/
│    └── 🗎 gba_bios.bin  # Mandatory BIOS
└── 📁 genesis/      # .bin/.md files

Hardware Assembly

  1. Connect components as shown:

Left: OTG+USB | Right: DS2 PMOD+Wireless Receiver | Top: HDMI output

  1. Power sequence:

  2. Insert USB drive → Connect OTG → Apply power

  3. Initial Boot:

  4. FPGA auto-programs (5-7 sec)
  5. Main menu appears

Navigation using gamepad

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