retrobrad
Looking into modding cartridges....

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    retrobrad Forum Index -> Modification discussions
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
retrobrad
Administrator
Administrator


Joined: 08 Jun 2007
Posts: 1039
Location: NSW, Australia

PostPosted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 5:56 pm    Post subject: Looking into modding cartridges.... Reply with quote

Okay i thought its about time i modded some old cartridges. (i.e NES, Master System, Gameboy etc...)

after all ive got about 30 copies of the ninja and about 30 copies of super mario bros!

im looking at what eeprom chips would be the best to use and if theres a way i can write games to them without having to take the eeprom chips out of the cartridge (i.e plug the cart straight into a programmer connected to a computer)

this way ill be able to download homebrew games and play them on the actual consoles - and hopefully one day write my own game and play it!

will let you know how i go....
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
ozzipete
Moderator
Moderator


Joined: 02 Jul 2007
Posts: 276
Location: Rural Victoria Australia

PostPosted: Sat Aug 18, 2007 6:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Heres a link that I used as a base for my project but for some reason it didnt seem to work as well as it does for him

Code:
http://www.raphnet.net/electronique/nes_cart/nes_cart_en.php


theres also a lot of other good projects listed but before you guys rush out and hack a good piece of hardware to bits I would recommend on doing the math first some stuff just doesnt work

for me anyway Rolling Eyes
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
tomz/TIDE
Moderator
Moderator


Joined: 08 Jul 2007
Posts: 562
Location: nsw.Australia

PostPosted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 10:11 pm    Post subject: Looking into modding cartridges Reply with quote

@-Retrobrad- Why not look at making ARs available to forum members for say $50 (this is a fair price Smile )

Smile tomz Smile
_________________
http://noname.c64.org/csdb/scener/?id=1971
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
retrobrad
Administrator
Administrator


Joined: 08 Jun 2007
Posts: 1039
Location: NSW, Australia

PostPosted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 6:47 pm    Post subject: Re: Looking into modding cartridges Reply with quote

tomz/TIDE wrote:
@-Retrobrad- Why not look at making ARs available to forum members for say $50 (this is a fair price Smile )

Smile tomz Smile


hi again, i looked into it and it cant really be done (well not easily / cheaply) i thought it might just have some run of the mill eproms in there, but theres a whole bunch of other stuff which is hard to come by Crying or Very sad


sorry guys!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
retrobrad
Administrator
Administrator


Joined: 08 Jun 2007
Posts: 1039
Location: NSW, Australia

PostPosted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 6:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ozzipete wrote:
Heres a link that I used as a base for my project but for some reason it didnt seem to work as well as it does for him

Code:
http://www.raphnet.net/electronique/nes_cart/nes_cart_en.php


theres also a lot of other good projects listed but before you guys rush out and hack a good piece of hardware to bits I would recommend on doing the math first some stuff just doesnt work

for me anyway Rolling Eyes



oh and heres a tip for anyone looking into modding carts!

you can fit 2 256k games on one 512k eprom, heres how!

the 512k eprom has a 16-bit address bus which can access 65,536 memory addresses. There are an equal number of memory locations below the msb as there are above, so you can write one game to the eeprom in the lower 256kbits and another in the upper 256kbits, then to select your game, you just have a toggle switch connected to the MSB address bus and either put a '0' or a '1' on it!


MSB LSB
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

just thought id share that info for ya!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
retrobrad
Administrator
Administrator


Joined: 08 Jun 2007
Posts: 1039
Location: NSW, Australia

PostPosted: Mon Oct 15, 2007 6:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ozzipete wrote:
Heres a link that I used as a base for my project but for some reason it didnt seem to work as well as it does for him

Code:
http://www.raphnet.net/electronique/nes_cart/nes_cart_en.php


theres also a lot of other good projects listed but before you guys rush out and hack a good piece of hardware to bits I would recommend on doing the math first some stuff just doesnt work

for me anyway Rolling Eyes



oh and heres a tip for anyone looking into modding carts!

you can fit 2 256k games on one 512k eprom, heres how!

the 512k eprom has a 16-bit address bus which can access 65,536 memory addresses. There are an equal number of memory locations below the msb as there are above, so you can write one game to the eeprom in the lower 256kbits and another in the upper 256kbits, then to select your game, you just have a toggle switch connected to the MSB address bus and either put a '0' or a '1' on it!



just thought id share that info for ya!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
VERTIGO
beginner
beginner


Joined: 31 Dec 2007
Posts: 27
Location: Australia NSW

PostPosted: Sat Mar 08, 2008 7:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dear, Sir. I'm not going to flame it, but thats bull shit.. Understand that the eeprom is read, not write! Writting it, just causes conflicts, so reading it is easier. No flame, just knowledge!

Note: Read...then write, or otherwises write and then read. And stop if the stream isn't matching to stream constants.

No more, because, I'll just get blocked, or deleted.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
retrobrad
Administrator
Administrator


Joined: 08 Jun 2007
Posts: 1039
Location: NSW, Australia

PostPosted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 4:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

VERTIGO wrote:
Dear, Sir. I'm not going to flame it, but thats bull shit.. Understand that the eeprom is read, not write! Writting it, just causes conflicts, so reading it is easier. No flame, just knowledge!

Note: Read...then write, or otherwises write and then read. And stop if the stream isn't matching to stream constants.

No more, because, I'll just get blocked, or deleted.



Hmm, once again it looks like you dont really know what you're talking about.

If you want to write a game to an eprom you first need to erase it (in an eprom eraser) then put it into your programmer and WRITE to it. then you can put it in your cartridge, and then into your console to play it!

well, i think that's the last we will be hearing from old cranky pants vertigo!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Rybags
beginner
beginner


Joined: 03 Oct 2007
Posts: 26

PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 12:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

EPROM = erase with UV, rewrite with dedicated hardware or special interface.

EEPROM = Electically programmable, e.g. BIOS DIP chips.


That's an avenue I might look into - a use at last for all those old motherboards from the late '486 era until the late P3 period.

I've performed "hot flashes" on numerous occasions. So long as the chip has the same pinout and electrical specs (they're fairly standardised) then it works.
Also, the board has to have enough address lines to the chip. e.g. some older boards only bothered to have 128K addressing although they could take 256K chips.

From memory, the utility you want is called UNIFLASH. It can flash to all types of boards.

So, just collect your old DIP BIOS chips, build an old P166 or similar, then flash several games to a 128 or 256K EEPROM.

Then, you'd need either a DIP to select the active bank, or have one bank dedicated to a menu system (which you'd have to write). I'm thinking a latch could be used to control which bank is selected in that case.

Thinking of trying one on the Atari - kinda low on the things to do list, but it would be a cool project.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
retrobrad
Administrator
Administrator


Joined: 08 Jun 2007
Posts: 1039
Location: NSW, Australia

PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2008 10:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rybags wrote:
EPROM = erase with UV, rewrite with dedicated hardware or special interface.

EEPROM = Electically programmable, e.g. BIOS DIP chips.


That's an avenue I might look into - a use at last for all those old motherboards from the late '486 era until the late P3 period.

I've performed "hot flashes" on numerous occasions. So long as the chip has the same pinout and electrical specs (they're fairly standardised) then it works.
Also, the board has to have enough address lines to the chip. e.g. some older boards only bothered to have 128K addressing although they could take 256K chips.

From memory, the utility you want is called UNIFLASH. It can flash to all types of boards.

So, just collect your old DIP BIOS chips, build an old P166 or similar, then flash several games to a 128 or 256K EEPROM.

Then, you'd need either a DIP to select the active bank, or have one bank dedicated to a menu system (which you'd have to write). I'm thinking a latch could be used to control which bank is selected in that case.

Thinking of trying one on the Atari - kinda low on the things to do list, but it would be a cool project.



i remember the atari's had the 16 in 1 game carts, and they had four switches on the front so you could choose what game you wanted to play by putting in a different combination on those switches.

0000 all the way upto 1111

so you could fit loads of 2k or 4k atari games on a 64k eeprom and use some sort of multiplexing to get things going.

let us know how your project goes Smile
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    retrobrad Forum Index -> Modification discussions All times are GMT + 10 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
Style Distributed by Olate