FPGA Based Videogame System

[Chindabin]

On 1/23/2021 at 11:32 AM, Kismet said:

This sounds like perhaps the ROM ...

Konami made the PCB but yes I'm aware of Capcom's slimy arcade business with their suicide boards. 

The only NES cart I've heard of overheating is Action 52 but that thing is obviously built off-spec and is janky as all hell.

 

I'm willing to accept that maybe the hardware is getting too old to the point of failure, but that does also require accepting a rather large coincidence. I've played this cartridge several times to completion on my NES and on the very first time playing on the Noir it melts within 30 minutes.

 

The person who replied in the reddit thread claiming his cartridge died after regular use in a toploader is really the most evidence I've seen; I just wish there was more documentation on the internet so I could attempt a repair. I would have sooner pointed to a power issue, capacitor or resistor before the actual ROM chip, I mean aren't those the things regulating how much power is being sent to the ROM chip? Alas, my beginner soldering skills don't quite stack up to the expertise of Voultar and I'm not sure where to begin troubleshooting.

 

But curiously enough, it's been a few weeks since that cartridge melting. I've played for hours more on the Noir and the same copy of Castlevania and both are working fine! I just beat it again today with no troubles or irregular temperatures. Makes tracking down any potential issue all the more difficult if I can't even replicate it.

[blzmarcel]

On 1/23/2021 at 11:32 AM, Kismet said:

It would be kind of amusing if capcom had invented a kill switch to kill the cart if played without a CIC with the assumption that it's an illegal copy, but that seems like too much effort. Capcom did make suicide tricks exist on their arcade boards, but for a cart? Unheard of.

IIRC, the NES 2 (top loader) didn't do any lockout checks, which is why unlicensed games like Little Red Hood can be played directly without a licensed cart attached S&K/GameGenie style on the pass-thru slot, so it seems very unlikely that there would be a kill switch based only on the CIC lockout.

[Kismet]

On 1/24/2021 at 8:02 PM, Chindabin said:

 

I'm willing to accept that maybe the hardware is getting too old to the point of failure, but that does also require accepting a rather large coincidence. I've played this cartridge several times to completion on my NES and on the very first time playing on the Noir it melts within 30 minutes.

 

The person who replied in the reddit thread claiming his cartridge died after regular use in a toploader is really the most evidence I've seen;

 

On 1/25/2021 at 9:17 AM, blzmarcel said:

IIRC, the NES 2 (top loader) didn't do any lockout checks, which is why unlicensed games like Little Red Hood can be played directly without a licensed cart attached S&K/GameGenie style on the pass-thru slot, so it seems very unlikely that there would be a kill switch based only on the CIC lockout.

This seems to be the only direct evidence. Suffice it to say, I don't think the CIC actually ever interfaced with the ROM itself, I'm more inclined to say it has to be some kind of intentional or accidental manufacturing design that might have only been discovered by people using game genies.

 

Fun fact. I wanted a game genie when I was a kid, and it turns out that there are a whole series of game genies that didn't work with my SMB3 cart, which meant we went to more than one store to find one version of the game genie that worked with it. So my early experience with this suggests that there are different versions of the NES game genie. It's likely that the developers of the game genie might even have known about this, since they probably didn't want to be responsible for melting games (yet the GG itself warps the cartridge slot.)

 

Anyway, the evidence suggests:

a) Either a chip on the cart is dying, resulting in this effect when the CIC is disabled

b) The ROM chip itself has a design flaw that results in more current being pulled if the CIC isn't pulling any current.

 

At any rate, I probably wouldn't risk the cart, though I feel the NT Mini's greatest value is when it's jailbroken so that legitimate vintage carts can be copied to the device, so maybe just do that. 

[Reaperman]

Soooo.  I hope I've properly encoded this question:

 

Preorders are open for a very expensive MVS flashcart, but I also feel Analogue may have me covered in that area.  It's almost 'more weird' that Analogue hasn't gone back to Neo Geo already, that'd be fair to say, right?  

 

I'm reminded of a certain pricey lynx screen upgrade I preordered shortly before the pocket announcement 

I've had my fun with it, but it was still a D'oh! moment.

Edited January 29, 2021 by Reaperman

[XtraSmiley]

30 minutes ago, Reaperman said:

Soooo.  I hope I've properly encoded this question:

 

Preorders are open for a very expensive MVS flashcart, but I also feel Analogue may have me covered in that area.  It's almost 'more weird' that Analogue hasn't gone back to Neo Geo already, that'd be fair to say, right?  

 

I'm reminded of a certain pricey lynx screen upgrade I preordered shortly before the pocket announcement 

I've had my fun with it, but it was still a D'oh! moment.

Well, you could get a MiSTer a lot cheaper and play all the NG games on a CRT or HDTV with no issues.

 

The real question you are asking is, should I get the cart to do this on real hardware? If you want to use the cart and real hardware, get in on the pre-orders. If you are leaning toward Analogue for a solution, it means you want a JB that lets you play games off of SD cards, so why wait, just get a MiSTer today. The NG core is 99.5% right now, I don't even know what else needs to be done to make it 100% to be honest.

 

Also, to me getting the MVS cart to pay on an arcade system makes sense too, but if you are doing it to play a CMVS on a TV... well, MiSTer.

 

That being said, I have all of the above and I'm jumping in on the AES one, just b/c I'm weird an I like using my AES. 

[NE146]

32 minutes ago, XtraSmiley said:

Well, you could get a MiSTer a lot cheaper and play all the NG games on a CRT or HDTV with no issues.

 

Caveat: All my CRTs have RF and composite inputs at best, and as I found out, getting composite output from a MiSTer isn't exactly out of the box, even with an io board. I eventually gave up as "too much effort" and just plugged it to an hdtv.

[XtraSmiley]

16 hours ago, NE146 said:

 

Caveat: All my CRTs have RF and composite inputs at best, and as I found out, getting composite output from a MiSTer isn't exactly out of the box, even with an io board. I eventually gave up as "too much effort" and just plugged it to an hdtv.

You can't use a simple HMDI to composite adapter? (not a dig, a real question, they seem to be available everywhere).

[DragonGrafx-16]

6 hours ago, XtraSmiley said:

You can't use a simple HMDI to composite adapter? (not a dig, a real question, they seem to be available everywhere).

You'd need one with OSD controls otherwise the overscan might cut off too much. I learned this when I tried the same thing but with a laptop so I could play PC-Engine CD games on my CRT since I don't have a CD-Rom unit yet. 

[Reaperman]

On 1/29/2021 at 3:33 PM, XtraSmiley said:

Well, you could get a MiSTer a lot cheaper and play all the NG games on a CRT or HDTV with no issues.

 

that comes off a bit like a variation on 'd00d should get a pi, yo!' from the emu-brah drive-bys

Edited January 31, 2021 by Reaperman

[XtraSmiley]

3 hours ago, Reaperman said:

 

that comes off a bit like a variation on 'd00d should get a pi, yo!' from the emu-brah drive-bys

I can see that it does in your opinion, but if you look at his question, he was asking if he should get the flash cart or an FPGA solution that hasn't been announced yet (if ever) and I was providing an alternative FPGA solution.

 

The Pi isn't really in the realm of what this point is (and it's a fine solution for those who are good with the compromises it provides), not to mention it wasn't a drive by as I really expanded the answer with some explanation behind it and even came back to post again when someone else brought up a point.

 

Finally, I even said despite all of the points discussed, I myself am interested in an AES one, despite having a MiSTer, so, I guess I appreciate you posting your opinion, but I disagree with it.

Edited January 31, 2021 by XtraSmiley

[dashv]

On 1/29/2021 at 3:59 PM, Reaperman said:

Soooo.  I hope I've properly encoded this question:

 

Preorders are open for a very expensive MVS flashcart, but I also feel Analogue may have me covered in that area.  It's almost 'more weird' that Analogue hasn't gone back to Neo Geo already, that'd be fair to say, right?  

 

I'm reminded of a certain pricey lynx screen upgrade I preordered shortly before the pocket announcement 

I've had my fun with it, but it was still a D'oh! moment.

I currently own a NEO SD MVS (which is what I assume you are talking about).

 

I also have a single slot jamma mvs arcade board with a supergun to HDMI. And I have two Neo Geo arcade sticks with competition buttons and stick custom installed.

 

It’s certainly not the cheapest route to go to just scratch the itch.

 

But if you want to plug the jamma board into a cabinet and play on a real arcade machine, I personally feel it’s worth it and a lot cheaper than getting a 2 or 4 slot MVS board and then buying individual carts.

 

I’m not going to plug my Analog consoles into my arcade cabinet. But I wouldn’t mind being able to load up roms on it from a jailbreak core if one ever became available.

 

I could be completely wrong, but I feel like the market for NEO GEO may be so small that the work required to provide support for it on Analog Consoles may just not be there or we may have to wait a crazy long time.

 

Then again we are getting a TG16 so... take with a grain of salt.

 

If mister can support it and you are cool with that, I say go with what works for you.

 

I feel like the SD cart (especially the MVS one) is aimed at folks determined to have a hardware cab or an arcade board consolized with a supergun.

Edited February 1, 2021 by dashv

[phoenixdownita]

Can anyone confirm that the MegaSg with latest JB firmware has "noise" while playing SMS outrun with FM on?

 

I tried it via a MegaED x7 and the MegaSg self switches to SMS mode but it does have the same issue Tim SMSFM board had up to ver 2.2:
http://etim.net.au/smsfm/smsfm.html
" In late 2014 there was some extra details discovered about the Japanese SMS sound hardware on detailed in this thread. The benefit is there are no longer 'extra' sound effects playing in Outrun at the start of a race."

 

I have Tim SMSFM 2.0 on my US SMS and it has the issue, I was hoping the MegaSg emulated it correctly instead (a JP SMS does not show the issue obviously).

 

If you want to test it, just load SMS Outrun with FM turned on, you will hear quite some noise as you play until the first time you activate sound effects that needs the PSG chip, it can be your tires screeching in a tight corner or the bumpy sound when the tires hit the dirt off-road, at that point the noise ceases until the very next segment of the race.

On the side it also appears that on the MegaSg the FM sound as emulated by the MegaED x7 on SMS games simply does not work, I turned on MegaSg cart audio, turned off MegaSg SMS FM, turned on MegaED (3.13) FM but I still just got PSG on SMS Outrun .... to be fair I have not tried it on my real Genesis but I expect it to work as it is an advertised feature ( https://krikzz.com/forum/index.php?topic=6702.0 )

 

[adamchevy]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this but here goes.  I’ve recently been looking into picking up an analogue mini noir.  The main draw for me are the various cores in addition to its obvious physical features.  Has their been any discussion on adding a 32X or SegaCD core?  That would be a huge draw for me. 

[cacophony]

55 minutes ago, adamchevy said:

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this but here goes.  I’ve recently been looking into picking up an analogue mini noir.  The main draw for me are the various cores in addition to its obvious physical features.  Has their been any discussion on adding a 32X or SegaCD core?  That would be a huge draw for me. 

 

No, I'd say the chances of that happening are close to zero.

[adamchevy]

 

No, I'd say the chances of that happening are close to zero.

Well thats ok I guess.  The available cores are still pretty amazing at this point.  I decided to spend some time looking for the new Noir console on ebay.  Surprisingly they are still being sold at close to MSRP at this time.  

 

Now I’m wondering if my newly purchased Quadtari might work with it?

[Reaperman]

I'd been looking for raphnet snes controller to nes port adapters for some time.

No idea how hard they are to get hold of, but they'd always been out of stock when I checked--until today.  (granted I don't check super-often, so maybe my timing was previously just awful)

 

Looks like they are currently available at both raphnet-tech.com or their ebay store.

 

Sure I could make my own, but I'm lazy, and these have a nice extension + map the buttons around.

I bought an NTT data controller some years ago, and haven't yet tried it out with the NT Mini

Edited February 16, 2021 by Reaperman

[adamchevy]

I'd been looking for raphnet snes controller to nes port adapters for some time.

No idea how hard they are to get hold of, but they'd always been out of stock when I checked--until today.  (granted I don't check super-often, so maybe my timing was previously just awful)

 

Looks like they are currently available at both raphnet-tech.com or their ebay store.

 

Sure I could make my own, but I'm lazy, and these have a nice extension + map the buttons around.

I bought an NTT data controller some years ago, and haven't yet tried it out with the NT Mini

 

I picked up a Famicom Network controller today as I noticed that the new jailbreak update supports them. I looked into some snes controllers as well but the NTT data controllers sell for quite a bit more right now. They both seem to accomplish the same thing with the different cores.

 

I didn’t know about Ralph-net, thanks for the info[emoji106].

[phoenixdownita]

1 hour ago, Reaperman said:

I'd been looking for raphnet snes controller to nes port adapters for some time.

No idea how hard they are to get hold of, but they'd always been out of stock when I checked--until today.  (granted I don't check super-often, so maybe my timing was previously just awful)

 

Looks like they are currently available at both raphnet-tech.com or their ebay store.

 

Sure I could make my own, but I'm lazy, and these have a nice extension + map the buttons around.

I bought an NTT data controller some years ago, and haven't yet tried it out with the NT Mini

Just bought one for no reason whatsoever, I don't have an NtMiniV2 (or even NtMini for that matter) .... lol .... I realized what it was only after I paid ... oh well!

[adamchevy]

Just bought one for no reason whatsoever, I don't have an NtMiniV2 (or even NtMini for that matter) .... lol .... I realized what it was only after I paid ... oh well!

Ive done that a few times over the years because I didnt want to miss out on some hot product.  Only to find out I dont own a 5200 or Vectrex.  Thats what hepled me purchase my first 5200 was a custom masterplay clone someone was making and selling on the forums.  Sometimes its the products/accessories that are custom made that make a console worth owning.  Another awesome core that I haven’t seen included in many fpga setups is the Vectrex. I’ve recently tried out a few Vectrex emulators and they are coming along pretty nicely. Their are so many good Analog controllers that are supported by 8bitdo’s receivers.

 

Also GCE has made the Vectrex completely open source as far as I know so it should be an easy one to work with. Well Except for the Vectors Ofcourse.

 

I remember when this thread was first started and I thought it was a joke that FPGA would ever mature into something that the masses would ever want or take seriously. I was sure wrong.

[phoenixdownita]

More about MegaSg + MegaED x7 and SMS FM sound.

 

So wrt SMS OutRun playing it directly on MegaSg jailbreak (no megaED at all) it has the sound-noise bug due to non-correct emulation of JP SMS (only game with that glitch by the way), note that I do not know if SMS Outrun played on an original Genesis with FM bolted-on (MegaED x7 or Power Base FM) would show the glitch or not.

 

Now onto MegaED x7 not being able to play its on FM when MegaSg has SMS FM off, not sure why but, here is the kicker, if you have both SMS FM on (MegaSg + MegaED x7) then you get double FM glory, thanks to the MegaSg ability to turn its own SMS FM on/off live you can hear the MegaED x7 version underneath it.

 

So weird, so if MegaSg SMS FM is off, the MegaED x7 SMS FM just doesn't work, no "detection" really and the games play in PSG mode, if you turn on MegaSg SMS FM (before starting a game) and Mega ED x7 SMS FM on they both produce sound which the MegaSg mixes (I  take that cart audio pin if enabled always mixes no matter the core: Genesis/SMS).

 

My take is that the SMS emulation of the MegaSg with SMS FM off somehow "overrides" the MegaED x7 one, because when both are on you get dualFM (no nothing stereo really and they play in glorious synchrony).

And yes, SMS Outrun when played with the MegaED x7 SMS FM only (after switching the MegaSg SMS FM off) still has the same audio glitch (which clears at the first tires-screech or off-road tires noise and reappears at each track section).

Note: you need to have MegaSg cart-audio option turned on for MegaED x7 SMS FM obviously.

End with a question: is the only thing a MegaED x7 (non pro) can play that a MegaSg cannot Virtua Racing? Literally that 1 game?

[Steven Pendleton]

On 2/16/2021 at 2:18 PM, phoenixdownita said:

Just bought one for no reason whatsoever, I don't have an NtMiniV2 (or even NtMini for that matter) .... lol .... I realized what it was only after I paid ... oh well!

If it makes you feel better, the only reason that I got into Neo Geo is because this thing

 

 

got discontinued. Don't regret it at all, as it's become one of my absolute favourite systems ever.

[cybercylon]

Actually, they started making that (Neo geo) adapter again. I will probably never own a Neo Geo system, but sometimes I get the urge to get this adapter anyway. You never know...

[phoenixdownita]

23 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

If it makes you feel better, the only reason that I got into Neo Geo is because this thing

 

 

got discontinued. Don't regret it at all, as it's become one of my absolute favourite systems ever.

What exactly is that?
It looks like an AV adapter, from Neo-Geo to what? 

[Steven Pendleton]

49 minutes ago, phoenixdownita said:

What exactly is that?
It looks like an AV adapter, from Neo-Geo to what? 

Genesis 2

[hyrulebr]

UPDATE TIME: