Rom Question

[TheBman80]

I have been looking around the net lately and have been coming across things like mame that run emulated arcade ROMs. The legal side of being if you don't own the original ROMs you’re in a lot of trouble if you get caught with them. How do they copy the information off these ROMs in the first place? I have looked around and have seen EPROM readers and what not that basically copy the information off the ROM chip. I know the difference between ROMs and EPROMs one being permanent and the other being reusable. Is it possible with ANY EPROM burner and the correct EPROM chip for the ROM chip your copying to make backup a copy of your ageing ROM chips? This way you could have a spare before the enable ROM failure occurs and then you’re stuck looking for another PCB to scalp chips off of. What kind of EPROM burner would you need to backup basically any arcade ROM chip? Then I also see that there is EPROM erasers how do they work?

[Cassidy Nolen]

In a nutshell, an eprom/rom reader/burner is similar to any other reading device (memory card, disk drive, etc) in that you connect it to your computer and you can read/write data to them. The data on roms of course is what makes the arcade hardware play the game.

 

Most roms have been dumped, or copied off of the original roms. You will find many sites that have a few here and there. Afraid you missed the hey-day of being able to download them all at one site. That sort of thing angers copyright holders (gee, wonder why? )

 

Eprom erasers put a specific type of light into the erase windown of an eprom. There is a far more technical explanation of how it all works (someone care to stab at it?) but it just gets the chip ready for the next use.

 

Hope that helps. If you do find some roms, you will most likely not be arrested by Interpol. I think you will find there is not much authority from a company that went belly-up some 20 years ago.

 

Good luck, HTH,

 

Cassidy

[ttontis]

Most need to remove the sticker to expose the die, after cleaning the window, expose the chip to a UV light and it will erase what is on it. It takes about a min or two to clear the memory. Use your reader to check that it is clear and then you can reprogram it. This is for the older style EPROMS, the newer ones you can use the programmer to remove what is on it.

 

If you need more info click on the link

 

http://xtronics.com/memory/how_EPROM-works.htm

[TheBman80]

Well here's an update I just bought a ROM burner a nice one too off eBay today. A smarty EPROM burner and it came with a Galaga rapid fire chip and 2 extra EPROM attachments that are Capable of holding 4 EPROM’s each like ill need this. It only cost me $61 + $20 shipping man what a deal!!