I am currently looking to figure out a way to determine which consoles, hopefully by serial number alone, have removable APU units.

Update - I found out from others that ALL snes units with 4 rubber feet on the bottom, definitely have the units. Snes systems that have only 2 rubber feet, and 2 plastic feet, don't have the units.

Highest Serial # with moduleLowest Serial # without module
JapanS10321639S23427480
North AmericaUN12865956UN14944982
EuropeNone recordedUP11261983
If any system you have, with a number higher than the ones listed, have a module, or any systems lower than the number listed, without a module, please email me at: (Read all of the characters horizontally.)
g d @ c a i s t h 2
d _ o o t i . c o m

Definitely email me the serial number, if you do have a european unit that has a removable module.

SNES APU Solder Side

SNES APU Component Side

APU pinouts

APU Interface schematics and programs available. (This version is specifically for the parallel port interface. If you are looking for the Arduino Interface version, Click this link instead. Source code to that version is linked further down.) Click Here.

    pins numbers as viewed from Component side.


          Top Edge of APU
       01 03 05 07 09 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
       02 04 06 08 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
          Components.
          Bottom Edge of APU
  1. PA7 - Pull Low
  2. PA6 - Pull High
  3. PA0 - Address 0
  4. PA1 - Address 1
  5. /WR
  6. /RD
  7. D0 \
  8. D1  \
  9. D2   \
  10. D3    \
  11. D4    / - Data lines
  12. D5   /
  13. D6  /
  14. D7 /
  15. /RESET
  16. Not Connected - Connect to Gnd
  17. SMPCK - external clock pulse - Frequency unknown
  18. Vcc
  19. Gnd
  20. Mute
  21. Audio Left
  22. Audio Right
  23. Gnd
  24. Audio Vcc

http://www.raphnet.net/electronique/snes_apu/snes_apu_en.php - Someone else built an interface.  Their interface has a headphone jack, as well as rca connections.  You can also get a linux port of Apuplay from there.


I have now constructed a PCB version of this interface, as well as another interface choice. Besides the parallel port, this interface can also be hooked up to most Arduino boards, in the standard or mega formfactor. These are the boards that this interface is NOT compatible with.
  1. Arduino Ethernet - Conflicts with pins 10, 11, 12 and 13.
  2. Arduino Mega ADK - Conflicts with pin 7
  3. Arduino Zero - Exclusively 3.3v
  4. Arduino Due - Exclusively 3.3v
  5. Arduino 101 - Although it does have 5V tolerant IO, the APU unfortunately requires 5V to operate, and the board operates at 3.3v.
  6. Arduino Yun - I don't have one to try and work out an alternative sketch that will make it work. Pinouts differ.
For this interface, you will need the following software/firmware.
Software/Firmware, Source code
Also, here is the Parts List to build the Arduino part of the interface. You can upload this directly to digikey's Bill of Materiels manager. For the Rseet source jumper, and the Power source jumper, just solder in a wire, or even more convenient, one of the resistor leads you clipped off.
  1. Updated Feb 1, 2012.
    1. Added support for Kevtris' Latest SPC2 spec.
    2. Added playlist, drag & drop, and autoplay.
    3. Now ALL com ports are searched for the interface before erroring out, if its not opened.
    4. Firmware is now included with the software. If you have previously uploaded the firmware for the older version, you must reupload it, since I changed the communication speeds from 56K to 112K.
  2. Updated Feb 7, 2012.
    1. Rebuilt the Star Ocean/Tales of Phantasia control panel. Was broken when I converted to Visual Studion 2008 a few years back.
    2. Also, the Inport and outports are now displayed with 2 digits, even when their values are less than 0x10
  3. Updated Feb 13, 2012
    1. Fixed an instance where the program falsely indicated that upload of spc failed, even though it actually succeeded.
  4. Updated Oct 24, 2015
    1. Revised Kevtris' SPC2 specifications. The revision can be found here. The revisions allow for a hardware spc player with limited resources to be able to upload the spc quickly, without needing to look for the boot code offset.
    2. Fixed a bug in id666 time parsing.
    3. Fixed a bug in the Arduino mega firmware, that was only noticed when emu_kidid tried to implement SD card loading.
  5. Updated Oct 31, 2015
    1. Binary and source code now lives on github. https://github.com/emukidid/SNES_APU_SD/
  6. Updated Nov 6, 2015
    1. Updated SPC2 Specifications to 1.3, adding in spc page upload mask as extended tag type 9.

Eagle Board File
Eagle Schematic File









Purchase PCB $12.00 CAD each

It could take me up to a week or more to get the post office to ship out the order, due to the fact that I don't have my own vehicle, and the nearest post office where I live is out of town. The high rate for shipping and handling is due to the fact that I have to pay someone for gas money, and their time. :( (If you don't mind waiting up to a month for the order, I can knock $25 CAD off of the shipping & handling cost. Just put into the special instructions that you want the reduced rate, and I will refund $25 CAD at that point.)


Purchase Kit (SNES APU module/connector not included.) (OUT OF STOCK)
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