Acmlm's Board - I2 Archive - General Emulation - NES Flash Carts
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Gavin
Posts: 448/799 |
Originally posted by Gavin
The soldering itself of the Socket can (and probably will be) a lot more complicated than what i have stated. Mostly because the mask rom (original non-reprogrammable PRG/CHR-ROM that came with the game) is very likely to have a different pinout than the chip you want to replace it with.
indeed. although Mapper 0 is a sinch, which is what my test dev cart was made for. NESdev actually has an eprom pin conversion list, which is nice.
and meh, i kinda think GBA sucks  |
HyperLamer
Posts: 3105/8210 |
The real difficulty is the wiring. You're not really likely to find a chip with a compatible pinout, which means you have to re-wire it all to fit. Or just cut off the connector and make your own damn PCB. But once you've got it in there, if you know how, you can usually just stick a parallel port connector on and not have to take the cart apart to reflash it. (Lot of free space in an NES cart.)
Now, a GBC - or even, GBA cart...  |
Nebetsu
Posts: 920/1574 |
Wow. That's really cool, Gavin. Maybe one day if I get brave, I'll try that. |
Kirby PopStar
Posts: 328/431 |
That's really cool, but it seems like quite a complicated process for most people that would be interested.
It used to be that my local swap meet had a guy who sold NES flash carts (and the PC connector, which went through the parallel port), but they were about $30 each, and the size of the smaller famicom game carts, not NES ones. The box looked pretty cheesy too, like the kind of cheap "Hong Kong" product you'd expect it to be, and probably is. However, I'm sure it's a good investment for those that would like to forgo the gamebits and the soldering. I'm REALLY kicking myself for not getting this, when I could have... |
Gavin
Posts: 415/799 |
Originally posted by Keitaro
Hmm..but how would go about flashing this EEPROM(s) once they are installed? Assuming you need some sort of NES 72-pin-to-pc conveter 
i think you are misunderstanding exactly what this would entail. an EEPROM or a Flash rom (a type of EEPROM) is merely a chip. For the NES PRG and CHR chips, they are usually going to be 28 or 32 pin chips.
To transfer data from your PC to a chip, you need an EPROM Programmer (programmer/burner, whatever you want to call it).
First you would need a 3.88mm gamebit to open up the NES cart. Next your going to need basic soldering equipment, and you will want to deslder the desired chip. If the game uses CHR-RAM, you only need to replace the PRG-rom chips, but if it uses CHR-ROM you are going to want to replace both CHR-ROM and PRG-ROM chips (unless you're not going to be changing the graphics, say it's a hack of a game or something that only changes stats). Desolder the chip:
next you're going to want to solder in a socket, so you can put your flash rom in the cart wihout having to solder and then desolder later when you reprogram it. If you happen to have a 32-pin socket and you have space only for 28-pins, just snip the ends off with scissors, it's a quick fix. The soldering itself of the Socket can (and probably will be) a lot more complicated than what i have stated. Mostly because the mask rom (original non-reprogrammable PRG/CHR-ROM that came with the game) is very likely to have a different pinout than the chip you want to replace it with. Each pin has it's own specific function in a chip, and when they don't match up.. well, it doesn't work. Think of the Socket as just a simple extension of the flash rom chip you're going to be plugging into it, and following that thought, you will have to re-wire the Socket to match up with the game's circuit board that you will be connecting and soldering it into.
After you desolder the desired chip and install the socket, you will want to hook up your eprom programmer and place your chip in the correct location. I bought my eprom burner very very cheap (relatively that is, i think it was around $60?) and it did not come with a case or other protection (i'm going to build one as soon as i get a chance):
now, with the addition of the socket, your replaced prg/chr-rom chip will be sticking out far too high to replace the cart top without some "modifications". basically you just cut a big hole in the top. i used a drill and some pliers, it was actually very annoying and a very very unclean cut. I've seen a few other dev carts that look nice and squared up... mine is turning out very ugly  :
i had to take out the top silver bar that stretches over the NES cart loader to make it fit.. i'm not sure if this was just me or what.. |
DahrkDaiz
Posts: 480/885 |
Originally posted by Keitaro
Hmm..but how would go about flashing this EEPROM(s) once they are installed? Assuming you need some sort of NES 72-pin-to-pc conveter
Well once you install the EEPROM, I think the only way to flash it is to take it back out, flash it, write to it and reinstall it. It's cumbersome to say the least. |
Hyde
Posts: 15/24 |
You could try looking for an answer here:
http://nesdev.parodius.com/cgi-bin/wwwthreads/wwwthreads.pl?action=list&Board=hardware
If you cannot find anything useful there (which I doubt), try asking your question here:
http://nesdev.parodius.com/bbs |
Keitaro
Posts: 970/1342 |
Hmm..but how would go about flashing this EEPROM(s) once they are installed? Assuming you need some sort of NES 72-pin-to-pc conveter |
DahrkDaiz
Posts: 479/885 |
Building a flash cart, to my understanding, all you need to do is buy the correct EEPROM chips (one for PRG-ROM, one for CHR-ROM (code and graphics respecitively)) and take the chips out of an NES cartridge. The cartridge you choose will designate what games you can and cannot play on this cart. All you basically do is take your EEPROM (electronically erasable programmable ROM) and replace it with the one in the existing NES cart. I believe it's this simple, but you definitely want to find a document on it at Google to guide you through the process. |
HyperLamer
Posts: 2929/8210 |
I really doubt there's still any in production, and they'd be pretty hard to make since there was like hundreds of different types of NES carts. GBA carts with emulators built in are a scam, they just come pre-flashed with free emulators you can get anywhere online. They'll work on nearly any GBA cart. |
Nebetsu
Posts: 798/1574 |
Does anyone know where I could buy one of these? Also: how is the price in comparison to a GBA flash cart with an NES emulator built in? Any help would be appreciated. |
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