Contra - Revenge of the Red Falcon

Anyone ever get this game working on real hardware? I've seen it done, but I can't seem to get it working, purple screen every single time =( I have done other unrom games with no problem.

Can you get the same bug to happen in any emulator?

Nope plays fine in that. I tried several different roms I found, and wasted 5 UNROM boards trying to get it going =(

You do realise it is 256kb PRG ROM and needs an UOROM board.
UNROM only holds 128kb of PRG ROM.

Or rewire the 74'32 and 74'161 to UOROM to not waste more UNROM boards.

Works fine.

Actual UOROM boards are certainly much harder to come by than UNROM ones, so this might indeed be a better option. I did this a long time ago (pics are gone, sorry), and as far as I can remember, it wasn't hard.

You need to cut-off the VCC from pin 6 in 74*161 and connect CPU-D3 to it.
Then pin 11 of 74*161 wire to pin 1 of 74*32, then pin 4 of 74*32 to pin 2 of 74*32 and finally pin 3 of 74*32 to A17 address line of your PRG-ROM

Here simplified:
UNROM -> UOROM conversion (mapper 2):
Bend up pin 6 of 74HC161
Bend up pins 9 and 10 from 74HC32
Connect pin 9 from 74HC32 to pin 2,5, or 12 of 74HC32 so all 4 are connected together.
Connect pin 11 of 74HC161 to pin 10 of 74HC32
Connect pin 6 of 74HC161 to D3 of PRG ROM
Connect pin 8 of 74HC32 to A17 of PRG ROM

And the PRG is wired the same as normal I assume?


PRG Socket:
Bend up pins 1, 2, 24, 31 and 32
Solder pin 1 to pins 30, 31 and 32
Solder pin 2 to hole 24
Solder pin 24 to pin 16

That diagram is way over my head. Dont even see a 27c020 or know what chips are the 74*32 or 74*161 on the diagram hehe

This is what I tried twice and come out with a purple screen.

PRG soldered as usual.

Too many wires on the 74'32, I'll make it more clear:

UNROM -> UOROM conversion (mapper 2):
Bend up pin 6 of 74HC161
Bend up pins 9 and 10 from 74HC32
Connect pin 9 from 74HC32 to pin 2 of 74HC32 (2,5 and 12 are already connected together)
Connect pin 11 of 74HC161 to pin 10 of 74HC32
Connect pin 6 of 74HC161 to D3 of PRG ROM (DO NOT LIFT this pin)
Connect pin 8 of 74HC32 to A17 of PRG ROM

Other than that, for PRG:
Bend up pin 1, 2, 24, 31 and 32
Solder pin 2 to hole 22 (A16)
Solder pin 24 to GND (OE)
Solder pin 30 to to pin 8 of 74HC32
Solder pin 31 and 32 to hole 28 (+5V)

Well, I feel kind of hard to understand when someone writes what should be plugged where.
Most of the time, I need to draw what needs to be done, so I can understand.
I think this can give a little more help

viewtopic.php?p=83131#p83131

You said pin 31 and 32 to hole 28....so should pin 30 be lifted? I have not tried lifting it yet, but getting purple screen with it not lifted and pin 31 and 32 tied to pin 30

So tried with it lifted and not lifted. (Pin 30). Here is where I am at now, still purple screen =(

Pin 2 seems tied to GND.
It should not, since it's A16.
I've put the ROM pin numbers on this schematic:

I hope this helps.

I can't quite tell in that picture, but is pin 30 connected to both ROM pin 32 and 74'32 pin 8? That's not right....

In the pic no, (30 lifted, tied to pin 8 of 74'32). I also tried leaving pin 30 in the hole and tying it to pins 31/32

Not really sure how to read those things lol. But pin 2 is tied to hole 22 of the pcb (under lifted pin 24 of the chip)

You stole the wrong OR gate in the 74'32. The one on pins 8-10 was already being used.

Look at the reverse side of the PCB.

Not sure what you are saying =( hehe

Well, take a look at the picture I posted.
If you rotate it to the right, you'll have the exact position of the 74LS32 and the 74LS161.
The pins are also drawn on the same IC pins position.
I tried to do a quick (and dirty) example, hope this helps:

Really? Pin 30 is lifted up and ONLY connected to pin 8 of the 74'32.

I cannot make it more clear.

PRG ROM:
Bend up pin 1, 2, 24, 30, 31 and 32 of 27C040 EPROM
Pin 1 is not connected anywhere
Solder pin 2 to hole 22 (A16)
Solder pin 24 to GND (OE)
Solder pin 30 to 74'32 pin 8
Solder pin 31 to hole 28 (+5V)
Solder pin 32 to hole 28 (+5V)

UNROM -> UOROM:
Bend up pin 6 of 74'161
Bend up pin 9 and pin 10 from 74'32
Connect pin 9 from 74'32 to pin 2 74'32
Connect pin 11 of 74'161 to pin 10 of 74'32
Connect pin 6 of 74'161 to D3 of PRG ROM (DO NOT LIFT THIS PIN OF PRG ROM!)
Connect pin 8 of 74HC32 to pin 30 (A17) of PRG ROM (LIFT THIS PIN!)

There's really nothing else I can add/do. Schematics already showed how it's soldered.

Otherwise get an UOROM donor or check the connections with a multi meter.

The NES-UNROM-09 PCB uses the three OR gates on 74'32 pins 1-3, 8-10, and 11-13. Rewiring instructions that say to use the OR gate on pins 8-10 won't work on this donor! You'll have to use pins 4-6 for the added address line, and unfortunately Tormenter will now have to repair pins 8-10.

Look at back side of the PCB.

It is a 256k rom, so using a 27C020 if that matters?

So which revision of the UNROM # should Use with the wiring info Ice Man provided?

Doesn't matter if it's a 27C020. However, what EPROM is it? Brand, etc..
I've had EPROMs where PGM had to be grounded.

Either way, I never knew that certain revisions had another pinout. So far all UOROM games I did (using Famicom games only so far) worked fine with that method.

Looks like ... none of them?

AFAICT, every single revision of both US and European NES-UNROM leaves the unused OR gate on pins 4-6 instead. NesCartDB doesn't have any backs for PCB revisions before NES-UNROM-04, but even the top shows traces connected to pins 8-10 and not to pins 4-6.

So the "use pins 8-10" instructions must be for Famicom HVC-UNROM boards only...

Do you happen to have any pics of the board you are using?

Would you wire it to a UOROM (Say Paperboy 2) the same as you would wire a regular UNROM board? I noticed the UOROM has the 4 extra pin holes (Pins 1, 2, 31, 32)

Well, here are some pictures of a UOROM mod I've made a few weeks ago.
But I don't think this can help...
In fact, it may confuse you even more, since it looks like a rat's nest

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0OtM ... ERqVW5NNzQ
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0OtM ... U1qN3dmYk0

Yep. lol

Have to agree on your rat nest. Thats pretty advance for us noobs the way u have that wired. Still cool to look at and study for wiring shortcuts.

I found a test board that is a little less atrocious than the other.


I usually use it to test SRAMs or games.
Originally this was a pirate Hokuto no Ken 2 made by CCE.

That other was originally a Super Sprint, that had the ROMs and the mapper defective.
Now it's a hacked version of Castlevania 2, made by Bisqwit.

About the noobish level, I think I'm on the same level as you, maybe with a little more luck

Edit: A similar board "naked"
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0OtM ... lBVSXNLQWc
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0OtM ... HNhcVZYYWs

Edit 2: More board "porn". This one is Rockman.
I scanned after cleaning and before putting it back together:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0OtM ... nl5U1VScnM
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0OtM ... zViWURYN2M
I did not take a picture before, but both boards were really bad, now they're working fine

Are there any wiring diagrams for an actual UOROM board with 27C020?

It's evident that you really want someone to just give you a set of no-think instructions.

For your own sake, please bother to learn some basics of digital logic¹. Your UNROM board is a fine place to start. Just because it didn't work doesn't mean it couldn't.



¹: Here's a tutorial from SparkFun, and the class notes from something that looks reasonable.

I want to play the game. I don't want to really spend months learning it just to play it. Would be just as simple to say how that way everyone in the future will have this information here posted on the board. I really do not want to learn logic, electric circuits etc, just want to play the game. Thanks for the help.

Then why not just buy a flash cartridge like the Everdrive N8? Why bother with all the soldering and everything if you have no desire to learn this stuff? I don't understand your reasoning there.

With a flash cart you just copy a ROM onto an SD card and you're done, and then you can play whatever game you want. It's much less hassle for you, really, and saves a few donor boards along the way.

Or you can use custom boards so that you don't have to rewire anything at all, just drop your EPROM chips in. Something like RetroStage's or INL's boards

Because I like to have them on individual carts for my collection.

Did you even follow his links?

Sorry man!
I took a look at my stuff and I have no original (US) UNROM
If I had I would strip the board naked and make some pics showing what to do.

You really don't need to learn that much, just a bit on how to interpret the diagrams.
If you lived near me, I would invite you to come to my home, have some nice chat, take some mate, play some retro games and look at this game's board.
But you don't live in the south of Brazil, do you?
I don't trust the mail here either... so I won't ask nobody to send me anything

I would like to convert UNROM on UOROM.
This method will work with famicom HVC-UNROM-02 board? (original Dragon Quest II Famicom)


I found this link:
http://www.famicomworld.com/forum/index ... #msg115726
Topic question concerns the HVC-UNROM-04, which is probably the same as HVC-UNROM-02.

Theoretically it should work. I have successfully converted HVC-UNROM-XX to UOROM but don't ask me which revision I used. It's been some months ago. UNROM-02 should work fine. Just try it out. You can still revert it back if it fails to work.

I found some schematics that can help:
http://atariusa.com/Famicom_Schematics/ ... matics.png

I can disassemble a FC-UNROM-02 (i think it's this revision) board and post detailed pictures here, if you can wait a a couple or days, maybe up to some weeks, since I'm on a vacation trip now.

But the "generic" instructions are:
- Find the unused OR gate of the 74'32.
- Find the unused input pin of the 74'161 (usually it's pin 6, but it's good to check).
- Find the unused output pin of the 74'161 (usually it's pin 11, but it's goot to check).
- Disconnect any connected input/output pins of the unused gate of the 74'32 and the 74'161. Sometimes, the inputs are tied to +5v or GND.
- Connect the unused 74'161 input pin to D3.
- Connect the unused 74'161 output to one of the OR gate's inputs.
- Connect the other OR gate's input to PRG A14. Do a little check and you'll find some pins on the same IC already connected to that.
- Connect the OR gate output tho your ROM A17 and you're done.

I'm not sure of what pins exactly you should disconnect and connect to where, but this information may be enough once you figure what is connected to where.
I also think that's better to remove the ICs and pull the pins you'll need to rework. This way it's easy to undo the mod and normally results on a cleaner work.
This is what I've done here (some posts ago on this same thread), on a pirate board:
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=14829&start=30#p180384

Good luck and nice gaming!!

I have done UOROM according to the description of this topic:
http://www.famicomworld.com/forum/index ... #msg115726

Everything works OK. Both UNROM-128 and 256 UOROM run correctly (on the uorom cart).

I made two versions using HVC-UNROM-02 (DQIIj) - UNROM (without rewiring controller) and UOROM .