FPGA Based Videogame System

[Jurai]

 

It was much slower even when loading the rom from a PC.

 

I had joined all of my roms, removed all intros/cracktros/trainers, and then I would send them from a small "boxed PC" which I assembled from a mini-ATX board, hdd, and CDROM drive.

A friend of mine (who went on to graduate from Digipen, and also landed a job for Nintendo), wrote a small DOS rom sender for me which sorted all of the games via title, year, # of players, company) and displayed them on a small 9" monochrome CRT, which I grabbed from Babbage's when they decided to update their registers.

 

You can see the monitor under the SNES + SWC DX. I really loved this setup!

Here is the old rom list: http://www.videogameobsession.com/personal/snesdisc/1sdus.htm

It took me ages to dump about 200+ of these from original, rented carts, and the ones I found on international BBS's racked up a huge phone bill. I can't say it wasn't a blast though.

Before sending the games from PC I would use floppies. I found that formatting them as 1.6Mb (12Megabits) worked great. It could fit an entire 12Mb game (such as Rabbit Rampage), or fit 24Mb games nicely on 2 disks. They also had room left over for the SRAM battery data, and Real-Time Saves took up almost no space so I'd keep many of those as well.

 

Here's my old Pro Fighter X setup with diskettes. All labeled with box art and MEG/company/Date info.

 

BTW, the Official SNES Player's Guide was all too perfect for using as floppy diskette cover art! The cutout box art + info fit perfectly. The info was very useful since it gave the file size and weather or not it used SRAM. I would always recommend it to people buying these copiers.

 

Probably more than anyone cared to know, but once I get on a topic I am passionate about, I tend to keep on going. Haha

 

I had that same copier back in the day

[Newsdee]

I dreamed of those copiers back in the day... more recently I picked up a V64 (CDR based copier) in a flea market and I had quite a bit of fun trying it out. Totally obsolete with the ED64, but still cool.

[Jurai]

Yeah, I sold off my V64JR after the newer flashcarts came along, it was far too clunky to flash and use when trying out prototypes

[phoenixdownita]

And redguy released sa-1 v05

https://github.com/RedGuyyyy/sd2snes/releases/tag/sa1_v05

 

The guy's a machine.

[Jurai]

got my SD2SNES from eBay, it is infact a Rev H board, works fine from quick testing of SuperFX and SA-1

[phoenixdownita]

I believe the SuperNT rebalances the audio incoming from the cart slot with the internal one so that the 2 levels are matched .... in such a way the SD2SNES version becomes less of an issue (I am not aware of SNES special chips with additional audio channels, maybe the BS-X, Sufami?).

I have a very early SD2SNES (can't remember which version, maybe E) and I remember having to get boosted audio for RoadBlaster/MarioOdissey MSU to play on my SnesJr, not at all an issue with the SuperNT as far as I can tell (actually changing the db gain on the SD2SNES menu has no discernible effect on a SuperNT).

 

I'll let kevtris confirm/deny this behavior, maybe my hearing just got a lot worse with age .... I admit I have not tried recent MSU patches as it interest me little so let's see what kevtris has to say.

[Jurai]

I believe the SuperNT rebalances the audio incoming from the cart slot with the internal one so that the 2 levels are matched .... in such a way the SD2SNES version becomes less of an issue (I am not aware of SNES special chips with additional audio channels, maybe the BS-X, Sufami?).

I have a very early SD2SNES (can't remember which version, maybe E) and I remember having to get boosted audio for RoadBlaster/MarioOdissey MSU to play on my SnesJr, not at all an issue with the SuperNT as far as I can tell (actually changing the db gain on the SD2SNES menu has no discernible effect on a SuperNT).

 

I'll let kevtris confirm/deny this behavior, maybe my hearing just got a lot worse with age .... I admit I have not tried recent MSU patches as it interest me little so let's see what kevtris has to say.

 

The supernt does have an option in it's audio setup for boosting cart audio on its own I believe, which I would guess does the same thing that the sd2snes was booster to do. Definitely happy with the cart, it loads very quickly and the expansion chip support worked without any apparent issues, will need to try out msu1 packs

[RetrogamerX]

I have heard many say that this new sa-1 v05 works perfectly and haven't seen any issues at all. Near perfect

[Toth]

I went out and bought all the special chip carts I cared about like 6 months ago, LOL. It is cool that so much progress is being made though.

[killersquirel]

I found an interesting "bug" with the new firmware for the SD2SNES and the Super NT. I haven't tried the brand new v.5 of Redguy's SD2SNES firmware yet, but experienced this problem with both v.3 and v.4 of the firmware. When I try to play the game Super Bomberman - Panic Bomber W on the Super NT I get a yellow screen with a message saying "This game can not be played with the mouse." This happens all the time, even if I unplug the controller at boot up. If I try to play the game on my Super Nintendo it works fine.

I'm not sure what the Super NT is sending to the cartridge that would cause that message to pop up in that game. I wonder if there are other games that won't work with the mouse that also get that message to pop up on boot up? In case anyone asks, I don't have my mouse plugged in at all and still get that message.

[Tanooki]

Nearly perfect from an outward view would be right for the v5 of the SA1 job. A little bit more speed, and a little bit less glitchy. You still do see some little momentary flicker or something with the visuals in the Kirby games, but most the stuff seems to be set around the much larger amount of Japanese titles. if you're a US consumer and stick to that, odds are it's basically 99% done for your needs.

 

I'm glad I got the kit, the way it handles things with class and speed is really refreshing compared to the everdrive.

 

 

Killersquirrel -- that's NOT the SD2SNES, that's the SuperNT. Go into the configuration menu, look for NTT Data Pad Compatibility Enabled and switch it. This isn't a Panic Bomber issue, it's a game that uses the mouse problem as Mario & Wario does it from Japan and others.

[Jagasian]

Super NT bug causes Super Metroid to crash right after defeating Mother Brain:

 

https://github.com/SmokeMonsterPacks/Super-NT-Jailbreak/issues/122

[killersquirel]

Nearly perfect from an outward view would be right for the v5 of the SA1 job. A little bit more speed, and a little bit less glitchy. You still do see some little momentary flicker or something with the visuals in the Kirby games, but most the stuff seems to be set around the much larger amount of Japanese titles. if you're a US consumer and stick to that, odds are it's basically 99% done for your needs.

 

I'm glad I got the kit, the way it handles things with class and speed is really refreshing compared to the everdrive.

 

 

Killersquirrel -- that's NOT the SD2SNES, that's the SuperNT. Go into the configuration menu, look for NTT Data Pad Compatibility Enabled and switch it. This isn't a Panic Bomber issue, it's a game that uses the mouse problem as Mario & Wario does it from Japan and others.

 

Thanks, this fixed it. I had thought I checked the NTT Data Pad Compatibility box in the past, but I guess I didn't.

[Tanooki]

Super NT bug causes Super Metroid to crash right after defeating Mother Brain:

 

https://github.com/SmokeMonsterPacks/Super-NT-Jailbreak/issues/122

Am I off seeing that complaint is around the jailbreak, or is it on the original setup too?

[Jagasian]

Am I off seeing that complaint is around the jailbreak, or is it on the original setup too?

That bug list is a mix of bugs for non-jailbreak and jailbreak. The Super Metroid issue impacts both.

[cacophony]

That bug list is a mix of bugs for non-jailbreak and jailbreak. The Super Metroid issue impacts both.

 

Does it? The bug only mentions the rom and nobody else has been able to reproduce.

[Jurai]

Yeah, I tested his save multiple times on both an SD2SNES and via Jailbreak, cannot recreate his crash

[Tanooki]

His save or not unless my battery died I have a completed Super Metroid game I could fire up and go after the Mother Brain with. I mean unless there's like a 1.0 or a 1.1 of it and I don't have a matching copy, it really shouldn't matter if it's jailbroken or not a ROM is a ROM all the same, just in one case it's stored on a chip it was meant to be, the other, not so much but same interpretation basically.

[cacophony]

His save or not unless my battery died I have a completed Super Metroid game I could fire up and go after the Mother Brain with. I mean unless there's like a 1.0 or a 1.1 of it and I don't have a matching copy, it really shouldn't matter if it's jailbroken or not a ROM is a ROM all the same, just in one case it's stored on a chip it was meant to be, the other, not so much but same interpretation basically.

 

There were a number of instances where running a particular rom via the JB would fail, while running the same rom in a flashcart would have no problems. So no, they are not necessarily the same.

[Jurai]

His save or not unless my battery died I have a completed Super Metroid game I could fire up and go after the Mother Brain with. I mean unless there's like a 1.0 or a 1.1 of it and I don't have a matching copy, it really shouldn't matter if it's jailbroken or not a ROM is a ROM all the same, just in one case it's stored on a chip it was meant to be, the other, not so much but same interpretation basically.

 

Super Metroid only has 1 version afaik across all regions, his save worked against the common dump of the cart. My original cart save is too far from Tourian to justify playing more right this second just to test this bug again, but like I said, so far I cannot replicate it from jailbreak nor sd2snes

[mrpopsicleman]

Here is the old rom list: http://www.videogameobsession.com/personal/snesdisc/1sdus.htm

It took me ages to dump about 200+ of these from original, rented carts, and the ones I found on international BBS's racked up a huge phone bill. I can't say it wasn't a blast though.

Much respect.

I see that it's listed as every game from August 1991 to May 1998, minus special chips games. I had a slow work day, so I figured I'd fact check it and see if any where missing. Minus the Exertainment and Miracle Piano ROMs, looks like around 21.

 

3 Ninjas Kick Back (November 1994)

Aero Fighters (November 1994)

Arkanoid: Doh It Again (November 1997)

B.O.B. (June 1993)

Bass Masters Classic (June 1995)

Bassin's Black Bass (November 1994)

The Brainies (April 1996)

Capcom's MVP Football (October 1993)

Championship Soccer '94 (June 1994)

FIFA Soccer 97 (November 1996)

Full Throttle - All-American Racing (January 1995)

Head-On Soccer (September 1995)

International Superstar Soccer (June 1995)

Mario's Early Years - Fun with Letters (October 1994)

Mario's Early Years - Preschool Fun (November 1994)

Mohawk & Headphone Jack (August 1996)

Mr. Do! (December 1996)

NBA Live 98 (March 1998)

Super Bases Loaded 2 (February 1994)

Super Nova (December 1993)

Super 3D Noah's Ark (1994)

 

The only game released after May 1998 was Frogger. Not sure of the exact release date, but the ROM date is September 2, 1998.

[Tanooki]

Well if I remember then with there being only one version of the game, if my save is where I think I left it and it's intact I could pop it into my SuperNT and see if it bombs or not. It should be at the last save door possible in/near tourian wherever it was. I haven't made a real attempt at that game for I don't know how long and probably since it came out.

[Jurai]

Well if I remember then with there being only one version of the game, if my save is where I think I left it and it's intact I could pop it into my SuperNT and see if it bombs or not. It should be at the last save door possible in/near tourian wherever it was. I haven't made a real attempt at that game for I don't know how long and probably since it came out.

 

if you're at the last save it should only take like a minute or less to get to the part, it's right next to mother brain

[phoenixdownita]

If you have an Nt Mini can you tell us if the new EDN8 firmware v20 rc1 (not final yet) does works fine and in case if the FDS now sounds fine too?

http://krikzz.com/forum/index.php?topic=7811.0

 

(pressing select [keep it pressed] during the FDS load would delay the disk swap routine so you can watch the intros ... yayyyy)

 

Note: there's some A B ERROR 7 during FDS saving that seems to be auto-resolving by waiting ...

http://krikzz.com/forum/index.php?topic=7811.msg62446#msg62446

 

Just in case here are the EDN8 v20 firmware releases notes (copied form the first post in the linked forum thread above):

 

New OS v20 contains a lot of new mappers, improvements and fixes, this is probably biggest update for N8. Woks over new release almost complete and i decide to publish beta build for tests.
changes list:

beta1:
1. Now save states supported by all mappers.
2. New MMC5. Mapper was fully rewrited and now it can play all MMC5 games
3. New FDS audio core
4. Audio core for Sunsof5 mapper by Necronomfive
5. Audio core for VRC7 mapper by Necronomfive
6. Specific games databese update. Now works few more games which require specific settings
7. Minor update from MMC3
8. New mappers support: 27, 50, 106, 108, 142, 144, 145, 149, 156, 165, 171, 175, 176, 183, 213, 216, 222, 252, 37, 45, 49, 51, 52, 105, 177, 197, 214, 228, 229, 244, 249, 250,
9. Bug fixes


beta2:
1. Fixed Death Race (AGCI) [!] (game assigned to mapper 144)
2. Fixed Romancia (J) (vram bank switching enabled)
3. MMC5 sound returned
4. long reset function fixed
5. VRC6 aufio fix (thanks to Slamy)
6. FDS autoswap blocking function. Hold select to prevent disk swap (until select pressed) This mostly for test fds sound in zelda intro.
7. FDS audio changes.


rc1:
1. Audio balance option for mappers with expansion audio
2. New mappers: 35, 44, 56, 60, 103, 117, 132, 136, 143, 159, 172, 173, 183, 186, 187, 198, 199, 221, 238, 248
3. Some other minor fixes



Download link:
beta1: http://krikzz.com/pub/support/var/rc/N8/nesos-v20-beta1.zip
beta2: http://krikzz.com/pub/support/var/rc/N8/nesos-v20-beta2.zip
rc1: http://krikzz.com/pub/support/var/rc/N8/nesos-v20-rc1.zip

[Forsaken]

Super NT bug causes Super Metroid to crash right after defeating Mother Brain:

 

https://github.com/SmokeMonsterPacks/Super-NT-Jailbreak/issues/122

This is one of the first games I played through on my SNT. Didn't crash. Must be hard to replicate.