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FPGA Based Videogame System


kevtris

Interest in an FPGA Videogame System  

682 members have voted

  1. 1. I would pay....

  2. 2. I Would Like Support for...

  3. 3. Games Should Run From...

    • SD Card / USB Memory Sticks
    • Original Cartridges
    • Hopes and Dreams
  4. 4. The Video Inteface Should be...


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Anyone smarter than me know what was wrong with the original GameGear adapters and if they could be retrofitted with the proper components to make them safe?

I don’t think they’ve ever disclosed what was wrong exactly. I still have the defective one in case someone smarter than me figures it out.
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5 hours ago, schnuth said:


I don’t think they’ve ever disclosed what was wrong exactly. I still have the defective one in case someone smarter than me figures it out.

If you got both of them it would be lession 1A in reverse engineer hardware. :)

 

 

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Has there been any word on a cart dump function for the Mega Sg aside from this?

 

https://github.com/SmokeMonsterPacks/Mega-Sg-Jailbreak/issues/44

 

Ironic that the pre-2011 home console that I have the most games for is the only one whose games I can't dump (aside from the pending arrival of the Nt Mini so I can dump the only game that I have ever owned for that system, which is Fire Emblem). Time to get the Retrode, I think.

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13 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

Has there been any word on a cart dump function for the Mega Sg aside from this?

 

https://github.com/SmokeMonsterPacks/Mega-Sg-Jailbreak/issues/44

 

Ironic that the pre-2011 home console that I have the most games for is the only one whose games I can't dump (aside from the pending arrival of the Nt Mini so I can dump the only game that I have ever owned for that system, which is Fire Emblem). Time to get the Retrode, I think.

The ability to dump roms and battery saves would actually be useful to many. Then maybe I'd pack this away in storage.

SuperMagicDrive_Floppy-vgo-01.jpg

 

SMD800%20Copier-02-in_genesis.jpg

 

One last FW release which fixes some bugs + GENCopy would be an excellent way to leave the Mega Sg. Also make the cart adapters available for pre-order. The ability to run and dump original carts would set it apart from the MiSTer.

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I seem to recall there was some SEGA CD ISO you could burn that would let you dump games over a custom controller port cable. Probably slow as heck and probably requires a legacy port of some kind (parallel, serial, 15 pin gameport)

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On 5/29/2020 at 10:31 AM, Steven Pendleton said:

Has there been any word on a cart dump function for the Mega Sg aside from this?

 

https://github.com/SmokeMonsterPacks/Mega-Sg-Jailbreak/issues/44

 

Ironic that the pre-2011 home console that I have the most games for is the only one whose games I can't dump (aside from the pending arrival of the Nt Mini so I can dump the only game that I have ever owned for that system, which is Fire Emblem). Time to get the Retrode, I think.

I was going to make this suggestion to you earlier, and I really like this product. Like with everything else, you just have to make sure that the contacts are really clean.

 

Using it to dump Super Nintendo/SFC games is pretty easy too, but aside from the SFX games, you can't dump many of the special chip games (e.g, SA1, CX4). Someone did make an adapter to do so, but it was one of those self made projects and was never made available for sale.

 

I always thought dumping NES games is more difficult. There is INLretro, but that seems like it requires a lot of messing around.

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Question for NT Mini owners. I've been testing out the Atari 7800 core and found that, regardless of which video settings I use, the top and bottom of the picture gets cut off. It's like it is zooming the picture too much. Is this a known problem with this core? The Atari 2600 core doesn't seem to have this problem. Thanks

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I was going to make this suggestion to you earlier, and I really like this product. Like with everything else, you just have to make sure that the contacts are really clean.

 

Using it to dump Super Nintendo/SFC games is pretty easy too, but aside from the SFX games, you can't dump many of the special chip games (e.g, SA1, CX4). Someone did make an adapter to do so, but it was one of those self made projects and was never made available for sale.

 

I always thought dumping NES games is more difficult. There is INLretro, but that seems like it requires a lot of messing around.

The INL dumper is from Kazo's design, the same guy who made UperGrafx UGX-02. UperGrafx can dump HuCard titles too. He's a big proponent of dumping your own games, much to the annoyance of people who just want to throw the whole ReDump set onto their UperGrafx. :)

 

I used INL to dump several things including an unreleased prototype.

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On 5/31/2020 at 12:03 AM, cybercylon said:

I was going to make this suggestion to you earlier, and I really like this product. Like with everything else, you just have to make sure that the contacts are really clean.

 

Using it to dump Super Nintendo/SFC games is pretty easy too, but aside from the SFX games, you can't dump many of the special chip games (e.g, SA1, CX4). Someone did make an adapter to do so, but it was one of those self made projects and was never made available for sale.

 

I always thought dumping NES games is more difficult. There is INLretro, but that seems like it requires a lot of messing around.

Yeah, I've been using the Super Nt to dump my Super Famicom games... all 6 of them. It worked just fine for Yoshi's Island, as well, and I use that dump on my SD2SNES Pro. I do have 1 SNES game, but it's the R-Type III + Super R-Type cart, and there is no way to dump this cart that I am aware of.

 

I really want a way to get my Sonic 3 & Knuckles saves from my real cart, especially since I'm not sure how long the battery will last. I guess I could just 100% the game with each character again with my legally acquired ROM from Steam, but that takes a while, especially since I do separate ones for Sonic + Tails and Sonic alone. I'm also extremely interested in dumping my 2019 Gleylancer to see if it runs on Mega Sg firmware 7.7 through the MegaSD or the SD card slot because the cart's compatibility was 100% completely broken with that firmware. It also boots faster than the 1992 cart since it doesn't have the Sega logo, so there is a practical reason to have it as well. I MUST save those 2 seconds and play the game FASTER!

 

On 5/30/2020 at 1:13 PM, spoonman said:

The ability to dump roms and battery saves would actually be useful to many. Then maybe I'd pack this away in storage.

SuperMagicDrive_Floppy-vgo-01.jpg

 

SMD800%20Copier-02-in_genesis.jpg

 

One last FW release which fixes some bugs + GENCopy would be an excellent way to leave the Mega Sg. Also make the cart adapters available for pre-order. The ability to run and dump original carts would set it apart from the MiSTer.

I think I might have heard of this thing before somewhere. Seeing it open like that somehow reminds me of a strange hybrid of the Jaguar CD and the PC Engine Shuttle...

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3 minutes ago, Steven Pendleton said:

I really want a way to get my Sonic 3 & Knuckles saves from my real cart, especially since I'm not sure how long the battery will last.

 

Now I'm curious if my Retrode can read the save memory on Sonic 3. 

 

That said, the save memory on the Sonic 3 cart doesn't use a battery. The save memory chip is FeRAM. It is non-volatile (to a point), but the chip can wear out, requiring a replacement. I had to replace the chip in my copy a while back, and it's not fun getting salvaged or new old stock of the original chip. Some folks have created adapters for using newer FeRAM chips still manufactured though. 

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Just now, Kaide said:

 

Now I'm curious if my Retrode can read the save memory on Sonic 3. 

 

That said, the save memory on the Sonic 3 cart doesn't use a battery. The save memory chip is FeRAM. It is non-volatile (to a point), but the chip can wear out, requiring a replacement. I had to replace the chip in my copy a while back, and it's not fun getting salvaged or new old stock of the original chip. Some folks have created adapters for using newer FeRAM chips still manufactured though. 

Good, no battery. I forgot FeRAM exists, obviously. I believe it is not possible to open Japanese MD games without removing/damaging the label on the back. I wonder if the Retrode works on Sonic 3 & Knuckles, but I have heard that it does actually work. Of course, I can't verify myself since I don't have it.

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13 minutes ago, Steven Pendleton said:

Good, no battery. I forgot FeRAM exists, obviously. I believe it is not possible to open Japanese MD games without removing/damaging the label on the back. I wonder if the Retrode works on Sonic 3 & Knuckles, but I have heard that it does actually work. Of course, I can't verify myself since I don't have it.

So, Sonic & Knuckles itself has no memory. The FeRAM in Sonic 3 is large enough that there's separate space in it for both Sonic 3 saves and S3&K saves. Having the S&K cart locked on I think modifies the memory offset used for the saves to make this work, rather than doing any sort of memory re-mapping tricks in the S&K cart.

 

Might be possible to just dump the RAM of the Sonic 3 cart itself, and use it for both ROMs. Again, I'm curious, I'll have to play around a bit with my copy this evening.

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30 minutes ago, Kaide said:

So, Sonic & Knuckles itself has no memory. The FeRAM in Sonic 3 is large enough that there's separate space in it for both Sonic 3 saves and S3&K saves. Having the S&K cart locked on I think modifies the memory offset used for the saves to make this work, rather than doing any sort of memory re-mapping tricks in the S&K cart.

 

Might be possible to just dump the RAM of the Sonic 3 cart itself, and use it for both ROMs. Again, I'm curious, I'll have to play around a bit with my copy this evening.

Yeah, I remember that it's all saved on Sonic 3 and that Sonic 3 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles have their own separate saves and this is also of course why Sonic 2 + Sonic & Knuckles can't save, but that's all I remember. I guess the only option is to try dumping Sonic 3 with and without Sonic & Knuckles attached to see what it gives you. Again, I'm not sure what will happen, but I read somewhere like a year ago that it does somehow get the Sonic 3 & Knuckles save files.

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On 5/30/2020 at 11:07 AM, mario64 said:

Question for NT Mini owners. I've been testing out the Atari 7800 core and found that, regardless of which video settings I use, the top and bottom of the picture gets cut off. It's like it is zooming the picture too much. Is this a known problem with this core? The Atari 2600 core doesn't seem to have this problem. Thanks

Would really appreciate some input on this from NT Mini Jailbreak users. Are you also seeing the picture cut off using the Atari 7800 core? Thanks

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1 hour ago, mario64 said:

Would really appreciate some input on this from NT Mini Jailbreak users. Are you also seeing the picture cut off using the Atari 7800 core? Thanks

Since those cores are freebies from Kev's dabblings, and pretty much as-is.. I wouldn't be surprised if it was an issue. That said, I don't recall seeing a zoomed in pic. 

 

Do you have an example screenshot of what you're seeing? I got an NT Mini on the ready, but digging out the 7800 is a big hassle :lol: 

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9 hours ago, mario64 said:

Would really appreciate some input on this from NT Mini Jailbreak users. Are you also seeing the picture cut off using the Atari 7800 core? Thanks

Here's a pic of DK on the 7800 core on mine. While I don't see any cut-off, I'd have to dig out the 7800 to do a direct A/B comparison. Is it similar to what you're seeing?

1241110529_2020-06-0214_42_23.thumb.jpg.bd5444607279401319f157afe8f7d210.jpg

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6 hours ago, NE146 said:

Here's a pic of DK on the 7800 core on mine. While I don't see any cut-off, I'd have to dig out the 7800 to do a direct A/B comparison. Is it similar to what you're seeing?

imageproxy.php?img=&key=f4dcc336a70d5c681241110529_2020-06-0214_42_23.thumb.jpg.bd5444607279401319f157afe8f7d210.jpg

Thanks for the response. Let me grab a picture and I’ll report back

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DK 7800 on my NT Mini. Everything seems fine. I count 5 steps of the ladder above Pauline's head, plus a little extra space. The spacing at the bottom and sides looks about right too. Seems to line up with NE146's pic. I have the Mini hooked up via component. By the way, the audio/sounds with this version of DK are awful!

IMG_20200602_214726271.jpg

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On 6/2/2020 at 9:55 PM, Sneakyturtleegg said:

DK 7800 on my NT Mini. Everything seems fine. I count 5 steps of the ladder above Pauline's head, plus a little extra space. The spacing at the bottom and sides looks about right too. Seems to line up with NE146's pic. I have the Mini hooked up via component. By the way, the audio/sounds with this version of DK are awful!

IMG_20200602_214726271.jpg

Thank you again and yes you’re right :) 
So what I’ve found after further testing is that it’s just certain homebrew games which do this. Froggie being one example. Official releases are fine so I’m good


 

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