make my own nes reproduction cart (NOT FOR $$$) for a hobby

make my own nes reproduction cart (NOT FOR $$$) for a hobby
by qtoyoda on 2011-02-13 (#73921)

Heyy i am new to this site, but am very interested at what you guys discuss and know. I have recently been reading alot of stuff about people taking donor carts and replacing the PRG and CHR(sometimes) chips inside with new roms. I am thinking of purchasing a willem eprom programmer (good choice? for a beginner?). I have cajoNES to seperate the files. I think i should be able to do it, but i can't find out how to know what donor carts work for each rom? Any help would be greatly appriciated

by 3gengames on 2011-02-13 (#73923)

Willems are terrible, stay away!

Buy parts from retrousb.com for MMC1 and logic mapper games, they work well and no carts are destroyed, plus no rewiring needed!

If CajoNES doesn't split a file right, mail me and I'll give you my splitter program.

by qtoyoda on 2011-02-13 (#73924)

thanks, how would i know if cajo is splitting the file right? do u mind sending me the file you use so i choose the one that i prefer (you probably know what your doihng better than me) and why are willem no good? i am on a fairly low budget so could u suggest another affordable one that could get the job done? Also i have read about retrousb, but i would much prefer do the wiring and stuff myself using donor carts etc. I am doing this project mostly for enjoyment! thanks

by qtoyoda on 2011-02-13 (#73925)

oh right one more thing i meant to ask (sorry to be a bother just want to get information right ) would someone mind explaining the mappers of an nes rom ? ino there are a bunh of types but dont really understand it

Re: make my own nes reproduction cart (NOT FOR $$$) for a ho
by tokumaru on 2011-02-13 (#73926)

qtoyoda wrote:
I am thinking of purchasing a willem eprom programmer (good choice? for a beginner?).

In my personal experience, Willem programmers are very unreliable... Don't get anything that connects to the parallel port, as most new computers don't have this port, and the few ones that do usually have compatibility issues. I replaced my parallel port Willem by a USB Wellon and I'm very satisfied. Works every time, and I don't have to mess with switches or jumpers.

Quote:
I have cajoNES to seperate the files.

I usually split ROMs using an hex editor, since the iNES format is so simple (16 byte header + PRG-ROM pages + CHR-ROM pages), but you feel more comfortable using a software, that's fine.

Quote:
I think i should be able to do it, but i can't find out how to know what donor carts work for each rom? Any help would be greatly appriciated

A good reference for this is bootgod's database. Look up the game you want to put on a cart and see what board it uses. Then make another search for that board, and all the games that use it will be listed. Some boards can be converted into different boards if they are similar enough (if they use the same mapper, for example), and some games will run on different boards without modification if their board is a subset of the other board (for example, if the only difference between two boards is the presence of SRAM, a game that doesn't use SRAM will run on both boards), but you shouldn't wory about that right now.

by 67726e on 2011-02-13 (#73928)

I'm just curious about what you have against Willem programmers. I have the USB programmer and I haven't had any problems with it.

by qtoyoda on 2011-02-13 (#73931)

THis is what i was thinking of buying, and i dont think i have paralel ports, but im thinking, there must me some adaptor ? Also i looked up the wellon usb but that thing is EXPENSIVE! im pretty cheap... and dont know how much i will use this thing. Im a pretty big beginer so this information is very helpful to me could u send me a file to one of your hex editors ?

THANKS

by tokumaru on 2011-02-13 (#73932)

qtoyoda wrote:
would someone mind explaining the mappers of an nes rom ?

"Mappers" is how we call the extra hardware present in the carts that is meant to expand the capabilities of the system. You see, there's an entire computer inside a video game console, but there is no software for it to run. The software is in the carts, and you have to plug them in so that the computer has a program to run. The NES was designed with certain limitations to how much memory it can see (32KB of PRG-ROM, 8KB of CHR-ROM/RAM), and the first games that were made actually respected those limitations, so their carts only conteined the memory chips wit the program and the tiles.

But as time went on, games were becoming more complex, and those limitations were getting in the way. Now, you can't change how much memory the NES sees, but you can use a larger memory chip and select which part of it will be visible to the NES at any given time. This means you can have a total of, say, 128KB of PRG-ROM, but the NES will only see 32KB at a time. This works well for games, because you can have different levels, songs, etc. in different banks (as they are called) of memory.

The same concept has been used to overcome the CHR limitation, and since there are a lot of signals present on the cart connector, the carts can monitor/control a lot of other aspects of the machine as well. So Nintendo and other companies started to explore this potential, and and this resulted in the creation of many mappers with different features available to the games.

by tokumaru on 2011-02-13 (#73933)

If you're gonna get a Willem, at lest get a USB one. There is no adapter to make the parallel programmer work on USB... Even if there is an adapter that works for printers for example, those programmers are very picky, and don't even work right with the majority of actual parallel ports, let alone an adapter.

by qtoyoda on 2011-02-13 (#73936)

Alright thank you for that information, it would suck to buy a paralel port willem before realizing i couldnt use it ! Is this what im looking for eBay Can u plz check for me ? Sorry if the things im asking are RLLY stupid... I appreciate the help

by MottZilla on 2011-02-13 (#73938)

No, don't buy that one. Can't you see the giant Parallel Port on it in the picture? The parallel port eprom programmers are very flakey for some people or when used with certain PCs or operating systems.

by 3gengames on 2011-02-13 (#73940)

Here's my ROM splitter and a blank file maker on racketboy forums, it explains how to use them there. IDK if cajones does it but mine will tell you the mapper it uses so you can find it by just running the ROM through it and seeing what it is if it doesn't say online.

http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... 25&t=28549

Also has source. Basically made by everyone in the IRC chat.

I have a parallel port pocket programmer I, it's amazing and does every NES you'd ever need, but it's old and USB would be a nicer one, but the ones on their site are $300 and that is a tad expensive, even to me.

by tokumaru on 2011-02-13 (#73942)

qtoyoda wrote:
Can u plz check for me ?

Like MottZilla said, watch out for the huge parallel port connector at the left side. Notice how the one posted by 67726e doesn't have it. That seller is probably trying to confuse buyers, because the parallel port Willem does indeed have a USB connection, but it's only used for power. All data communication goes through the parallel cable.

by qtoyoda on 2011-02-13 (#73943)

alright thanks guys, but is there any eprom pregrammer that doesnt use paralel ports that i could get for cheap? otherwise i think i will just buy one of the paralel port ones anyways cus im on a low budget and i reallly want to get on with this project if i do have paralel ports out, how could i determine if it would work or not?

thanks

by 3gengames on 2011-02-13 (#73944)

One somebody I know bought some model for $50, still waiting for it to come in though to see how it works. I'll tell you what he says later, but they exist.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 9460wt_905

Says XP software but not 64 bit PC's, but the software should still work.

by qtoyoda on 2011-02-13 (#73947)

so it would work on windows 7? that would be great if you could get back to me about that, if it does work i will most likely purchase that, why is every so against the paralel ports so much ? jw? what part about the connection ussually causes the problems ?

by 3gengames on 2011-02-13 (#73949)

Because alot of PC's today don't have them. If you have a old PC you can dedicate to this that has one and runs lets say XP, you can buy it. Just you'll have to keep the computer around and it probably won't age well.

by tokumaru on 2011-02-13 (#73951)

qtoyoda wrote:
why is every so against the paralel ports so much ? jw? what part about the connection ussually causes the problems ?

The main problem is that new PCs don't come with parallel ports anymore. Last time I was assembling a PC I had a really tough time finding a motherboard with a parallel port, and when I finally found it, it ended up not working with my Willem programmer.

I believe that there are different communication protocols for the parallel port, and not all hardware and operating systems properly support the one used by the Willem. but still, even in my older PC, where the programmer used to work, it didn't work 100% of the time. There were times when it was hard to get the software to actually detect and acknowledge the thing.

EDIT: Believe me, it's better to buy something a little more expensive that you know will be reliable than waste money on a paper weight that will not do anything you want it to. Those USB TOP programmers should be better than the parallel Willem. ANY USB programmer should be better than the parallel Willem.

by qtoyoda on 2011-02-13 (#73954)

I have a fairly old desktop that is Windows XP, but if i get word of a USB eprom burner that is under $50 i will buy tht I guess puttting out a bit of extra money is good for the long run !

by 3gengames on 2011-02-13 (#73955)

Yeah, sometimes. It says it's XP compatible, but yet you never know with imported stuff. I'd wait until the other guy gets his.

by qtoyoda on 2011-02-13 (#73956)

alright sounds good, thanks for the advice

by MottZilla on 2011-02-14 (#73975)

tokumaru wrote:
The main problem is that new PCs don't come with parallel ports anymore. Last time I was assembling a PC I had a really tough time finding a motherboard with a parallel port, and when I finally found it, it ended up not working with my Willem programmer.

I believe that there are different communication protocols for the parallel port, and not all hardware and operating systems properly support the one used by the Willem. but still, even in my older PC, where the programmer used to work, it didn't work 100% of the time. There were times when it was hard to get the software to actually detect and acknowledge the thing.

This pretty much hits it on the nose. The Parallel port isn't 1 standard connection. There are many different modes it can be in depending on the chipset of the motherboard (or expansion card sometimes). Many devices will only work properly on a specific mode. Some will work, but experience seemingly random problems. Others will not work at all.

In my experience with the Parallel Willem I could never get it to program or read anything for a long time. Then one day I did manage to get it to work on another PC but it didn't work with 27C801 chips, but did work with my 27C010 chips.

by qtoyoda on 2011-02-14 (#73987)

who is the guy who is buying that usb programmer jsut waiting for it to arrive ?

by 3gengames on 2011-02-14 (#73997)

Afaik.

by qtoyoda on 2011-02-14 (#74003)

alright cool, do u know when he is expecting it to arrive ? I wanna get mine ASAP

by 82atari5200 on 2011-02-23 (#74422)

I got a logical devices a few years back for 50.00 had to pick up a 486 to use it but it works great especially for the older Atari and Nes stuff. I need to get a newer one know that I'm expanding into the SNES. I can't program anything over a 512k eprom.

by qtoyoda on 2011-02-26 (#74667)

if you need a new one, would you be willing to sell me your old one? does it work on windows 7?

by tokumaru on 2011-02-27 (#74746)

82atari5200 wrote:
I got a logical devices a few years back for 50.00 had to pick up a 486 to use it but it works great especially for the older Atari and Nes stuff.

qtoyoda wrote:
if you need a new one, would you be willing to sell me your old one? does it work on windows 7?

Somehow I doubt Windows 7 would run on a 486...

Seriously though qtoyoda, you have a new computer, that doesn't have a parallel port and is running Windows fucking 7. No old programmer will work on your PC, you need a new one, with a USB connection, please get that in your head. And even then not all USB programmers will work on Windows 7, so you have to ask the seller/read the manual before buying. I don't think you will find prices much lower than $50 though.

by qtoyoda on 2011-02-27 (#74747)

oh sorry i didnt know his old one was paralel port. i am postponing this project because of the price of the usb programmers.... if anyone finds one for >$50 ever please let me know.

by tokumaru on 2011-02-27 (#74750)

qtoyoda wrote:
oh sorry i didnt know his old one was paralel port.

He didn't say it, but I think this is a safe bet since he said he needed the 486 to use the programmer. I don't know if 486 computers could even have USB ports... I know that not even my first Pentium did, so I think it's highly unlikely that a 486 would have a USB port, or even a PCI slot where to plug an expansion card. Not fair of me to expect you to know that, since you weren't even born yet.

by 82atari5200 on 2011-02-28 (#74828)

Yeah I need the 486 because it uses an isa expansion slot and because of timing issues it really can't use anything faster. I tried it in a pentium once and started gettting all kind of errors. I just use a monitor switcher and a 16bit network card so I can transfer files back and forth with windows 3.11. I use it for my Roland MT-32 as well.

by socram8888 on 2011-03-04 (#75118)

I'm using a Willem programmer in my 2 years old computer with Windows 7 64 bits, and it works perfectly, so I don't know why many people hates those programmers, when you have only to configure some DIP switches (and I'm not going to use 9000 different types of ROMs, so I don't have to reconfigure it very often).

I bought mine for 25€ (36USD?) incl. shipping from China with software, cables and a free 27C256 EPROM