tinkup

A multiplatform utility for performing firmware updates on the RetroTINK family of retrogaming devices.

See the RetroTINK homepage for more information about RetroTINK devices.

Information about firmware updates for each of the RetroTINK devices, as well as links to the canonical (Windows-only) firmware update utility and links to the firmware images (hex files) themselves can be found at the RetroTINK Blog.

Liability

This is a third party utility that is not maintained by the official RetroTINK team. Use at your own risk. Please review the following:

• The RetroTINK bootloader exists in protected memory space, and this tool is only able to erase the firmware application. Thus, it should not be possible to brick your RetroTINK, but you will be able to erase your firmware and render your device unbootable until a successful firmware update is performed.

• This utility does not attempt to verify that the hex file you specify matches the hardware platform you are updating. Please ensure that you are downloading the hex file that is appropriate for the device you are updating.

• If something goes wrong mid-update and you are left with an unbootable RetroTINK, simply reattempt the update from the beginning and all should be recoverable.

This project does not handle general RetroTINK support requests. If something goes wrong specifically while using tinkup.py, please feel free to reach out here on Github and we'll see what we can do to improve this software.

Installation

Dependencies

• Python 3

See Python.org for installation details.

Windows users: Check the optional box for "Adding Python to PATH" during the installation wizard. This allows the python executable to be accessed from the command line without needing to specify its absolute path.

• pySerial

Install with Python's package manager pip from a command line:

python3 -m pip install pyserial

Your system might have Python 3 installed simply as python rather than python3, so try that if python3 is not found. If neither are found, please double check your Python installation, and Windows users should note the "Add Python to PATH" requirement mentioned above.

More info about pySerial here.

• Driver support for FTDI serial devices.

This depends on your operating system. If your RetroTINK is not detected by tinkup on the first try, look for the VCP drivers for your platform on the FTDI website. You shouldn't need to bother with these if attaching the RetroTINK in firmware update mode causes a new USB serial device to be detected by your OS.

Usage

1. Download the hex file for your specific model of RetroTINK by visiting the RetroTINK Blog.

2. Attach a USB cable between your host PC and the RetroTINK while holding the correct button on the RetroTINK to put it in update mode. Details about this procedure can be seen on YouTube.

3. Run tinkup.py

As with the pySerial installation, if your system has installed Python 3 simply named python, use that instead of python3.

tinkup should automatically identify your RetroTINK and proceed with the update. It will print an error if it can't identify your RetroTINK or if it detects several RetroTINKs connected to the same system (since it doesn't know which one it should be updating).