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LTO Flash! User Interface Version 1.0

Welcome to the online help for the LTO Flash! User Interface Software (LUI) (Version 1.0)! This documentation describes the software's features and guides you through the process of putting Intellivision ROMs onto your LTO Flash!–and more!

Initially released for use with the LTO Flash from Left Turn Only, the software behind LUI is designed with the true Intellivision fan in mind. Not only does LUI provide an easy-to-use "front end" for managing your LTO Flash, it is useful for tracking your Intellivision ROM collection. It also ships with support for the original Intellivision Cartridge Emulator–The Intellicart! Future updates to the software are planned that will not only fix bugs (blush), but also add new capabilities.

Requirements

  1. Quick Start
  2. Requirements
  3. Installation
  4. Using the Desktop User Interface Software
  5. User Interface Layout
    1. The Ribbon
    2. The ROM List
    3. The Menu Layout Editor
  6. LTO Flash! Features
    1. Sending your Menu Layout to LTO Flash!
    2. Download & Play immediately without updating the menu
    3. Getting the Menu Layout from your LTO Flash! onto your computer
    4. Device Configuration
    5. Backup and Restore
    6. Updating the firmware
  7. Intellicart Support

Quick Start

In a hurry to use your LTO Flash!? Here's a minimal guide to get you up and running as quickly as possible. The Quick Start assumes you've already downloaded the software and know how to run "unsafe" programs downloaded from the internet.


  1. Unzip the software and run setup.exe
  2. Connect LTO Flash! to your computer using a micro B USB cable
  3. Wait for the operating system to finish installing drivers if necessary
  4. Start the LTO Flash! User Interface Software (hereafter referred to as LUI)
  5. In LUI, click the Add Folders... button in the ribbon to choose the directory containing all of your ROMs
  6. When prompted, indicate that you would like to have the ROMs added to your menu layout
  7. After the ROMs have been added, click the Send to LTO Flash! button in LUI
  8. When the ROMs have been added, plug your LTO Flash! into your Intellivision console–you're done!

Requirements



The software requirements for the LTO Flash! User Interface (LUI) software in Windows differ slightly depending on the version of Windows you are using. All versions of LUI require the .NET runtime to execute. The required version for your operating system is listed in the following table.

Windows Version Required .NET Version
Windows 10 and newer, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista .NET 4.5 or newer
Windows xp .NET 4.0 (Full)

When you run the LUI setup program, if a suitable version of the .NET runtime has not already been installed on your computer, it will be installed for you. Note that this installation may take awhile, depending on your internet connection speed and, of course, your computer.

The first time you connect your LTO Flash! to your computer, Windows may run the Found New Hardware Wizard to install drivers. Let it proceed. To be able to communicate with your LTO Flash!, the Virtual COM Port (VCP) driver software from FTDI is necessary. You may choose to install the drivers directly from FTDI if you so choose. On some computers, it has been observed that the driver wizard may take much longer to complete than directly installing them yourself.


Installation



Installing the LTO Flash! User Interface software is simple!

  1. Download the installer.
  2. Run the installer.
  3. Follow the prompts.

If the necessary .NET Runtime is not already present on your system, the setup program will install it for you.

It should not be necessary for you to manually install any driver software for LTO Flash! on your system. During testing, it was noted that on some machines, especially older systems running Windows xp, driver installation could take a long time. If you can't wait for the Found New Hardware Wizard to do the work for you, you can download and install the latest FTDI VCP drivers directly from their website.


Basic Usage

This section offers a quick overview of the most important features. You can find complete documentation here.

User Interface Layout

This section offers a quick overview of the basic parts of the user interface. You can find complete documentation here.

LTO Flash! User Interface Software

LUI offers three primary work areas:

  • The Ribbon: Quick access to features
  • The ROM List: Your Intellivision ROM library
  • The Menu Layout Editor: Arrange your ROMs for use on your LTO Flash!

ROM List



In addition to the two largest work areas (the ROM list and the Menu Layout), you will use the features located along the top of the main window. This part of the user interface is called the "Ribbon". Modern versions of Microsoft Office and many other Windows applications use this style of user interface to give users quick access to many powerful features.

ROM List

LUI provides a convenient location to keep track of the ROMs in your collection. Simply drag ROMs from your file system into the ROM list, or click the Add Files or Add Folders button. Note that although LUI does attempt to ensure that only valid Intellivision ROMs are in the ROM list, because the .bin and .rom file extensions may be used for other types of files as well, it's possible that some files that are not ROMs will be included in the list. If this happens, simply delete the items from the ROM list. Because the .rom format for Intellivision ROMs has a well-defined format, LUI will only add files whose contents appear to adhere to the standard.

When you add ROMs to the list, you will be prompted to decide whether any newly added ROMs should also be added to your Menu Layout. This makes populating not only your ROM list, but also your Menu Layout, quick and easy. If you're adding an entire directory of ROMs to the list, directories in your Menu Layout will be added in a corresponding fashion. Thus, the on-disk organization of your ROM library will be reflected in your Menu Layout.

Note that when you delete a ROM from the ROM list, it is merely removed from the list. LUI never modifies or removes any ROMs from your computer.

Menu Layout Editor

Simply drag and drop ROMs from your ROM list into the Menu Layout Editor to create a Menu Layout for your LTO Flash!. In the Menu Layout Editor, you can set a "long" name (up to 60 characters) and "short" name (up to 18 characters) for each ROM. You can also assign a color for each menu item's icon. To save some time, you can select multiple items in the ROM List by using the same keys you would to select multiple files in the file system. Using Shift will select all the items between the currently selected item and the next one you click. Using the Control key will select items individually.

Use the New Directory button to create a hierarchy of menus to arrange your ROMs as you see fit. Feel free to put the same ROM in as many different menu locations as you wish. The file system on LTO Flash! avoids making unnecessary copies of the same ROM.

To arrange your menu items, simply drag and drop them to put them in the desired order or into different directories. To delete an item from your menu, click it and use the Delete key on your keyboard, or, click the Delete button in the Menu Layout Editor, or, click the button in the Ribbon, or right click on the item and choose Remove from Menu.


LTO Flash! UI Features

The LTO Flash! delivers the most advanced cartridge platform for the Intellivision to date. Not only can you use LTO Flash! to bring all your games into one convenient cartridge, it can work around common incompatibility problems, too! Do you long to show your friends the tragedy of the original Coleco version of Donkey Kong, but only have an Intellivision II? Lament no more! LTO Flash! fixes the incompatibility! Or, do you impress your coworkers with the prescient power of your Intellivision ECS setup—with Intellivoice and Music Synthesizer installed—but find the process of disconnecting everything to show them how great the Atarisoft version of Pac-Man is? You're covered! LTO Flash! also addresses common ECS compatibility issues. LUI provides access to all the advanced configuration features of LTO Flash! as well as other powerful utilities.

Send to LTO Flash!

Once you're ready to put your ROMs, manuals, and menu layout onto your LTO Flash!:

  1. Make sure you have connected your LTO FLash! to a USB port on your computer
  2. Once LUI has detected your LTO Flash!, you will notice that the Send to LTO Flash! button can be clicked
  3. Click the Send to LTO Flash! button
  4. LUI will determine which files to send to your LTO Flash! and copy them to it
  5. If the operation will take awhile, a progress bar will appear to update you on what is happening

NOTE! If your LTO Flash! is also plugged into your Intellivision console, the power to the console must be turned off in order to update the contents of your LTO Flash!. The user interface should prevent you from attempting to do this if such is the case.

Download and Play

One especially useful feature for game developers—or simply as a means to quickly try out a work-in-progress ROM—is the ability LUI provides for you to quickly Download & Play a game. Simply have your LTO Flash! connected to your computer and your Intellivision. With LTO Flash! plugged into your console with the power on, and at the menu screen (not playing a game), select a ROM from the list and press "Play"!

If you have not already added a ROM to the ROM list, you can also browse for to the ROM file on your computer from LUI and immediately download and play it using the Browse & Play feature.

Get from LTO Flash!

If you connect your LTO Flash! to another computer and install the LUI software, you can also import your menu layout and ROMs from your LTO Flash! into LUI. After installing and launching LUI on the computer, connect your device and choose the Get from LTO Flash! command. When you use this feature, any ROMs not already in your local ROM list, but on your LTI Flash!, will be added to your ROM list.

NOTE: If you already have a menu layout defined on your computer, it will be replaced! You will be reminded of this.

Device Configuration

LUI offers much more than defining the menu layout for your LTO Flash!–it also makes it simple to configure the features available on the cartridge. You can also configure all of these features directly from your Intellivision console:

  • Show LTO Flash! Title Screen
  • Configure ECS Compatibility
  • Configure Intellivision II Compatibility
  • Remember Menu Position
  • Enable Keyclicks
  • Enable Background File System Cleanup

Backup and Restore

If you wish to make backup copies of the contents of your LTO Flash! LUI offers the ability to extract the contents of your device. Later, you can use the data backup to restore the menu layout and contents of your device to the same state.

Update Firmware

Your LTO Flash! is field upgradable! If a problem is found, or, more likely, new features are added, you can simply download a firmware update and use LUI to easily apply the changes using the Update Firmware feature.


Intellicart Support

Many Intellivision fans have enjoyed playing their ROMs on real hardware ever since Chad Schell shipped the Intellicart! Intellivision Cartridge Emulator back in 2000. Nearly all of the original titles, and a large majority of newer titles, can still be played on the Intellicart!. The download program that made it so easy to use has not been updated for newer operating systems. In appreciation for the groundbreaking work accomplished with its release, LUI includes the ability to download ROMs to an Intellicart!.

To use download a ROM to Intellicart!:


  1. Configure LUI to locate your Intellicart!; there are two ways you can do this:
    1. Click the Intellicart tab in the Ribbon
      1. Select the serial port to use; if this option is grey, no valid serial (COM) ports could be found in your system
      2. Select the baud rate from the supported values
      3. If you desire, you can try different values for the Serial Write Timeout; this setting should not need to be changed
    2. Choose Jewel » Settings...
      1. Select the Intellicart tab in the Settings dialog
      2. In the Serial Port box, click the Select... button to choose the correct serial port and baud rate
      3. If you desire, you can try different values for the Serial Write Timeout; this setting should not need to be changed
      4. Close the Settings dialog by clicking the 'X'
  2. Locate the ROM you would like to send to your Intellicart! in the ROM list
    • If the Intellicart tab is active in the Ribbon, click the Play button
      –OR–
    • Right click on the ROM and choose Play on Intellicart

Most modern computers no longer have a standard D-sub 9 (DE-9/DB-9) COM port, but inexpensive USB-to-Serial adapters, such as this one, can be used to connect to your Intellicart!. If you haven't gotten LTO Flash! yet, or simply wish to relive the nostalgia of using the original Intellivision cartridge emulator, don't fret about locating the download software. It's here!