NES Cartridge Pinout Orientation [SOLVED]

NES Cartridge Pinout Orientation [SOLVED]
by jwdonal on 2010-03-19 (#58645)

Hey guys,

I'm trying to work up a quick prototyping cart board for my emulator. I've got a cartridge-related question. I've found plenty of docs that tell you what the pin definitions and pin numbering is for the original NES cartridge, but I can't find one that gives you the exact orientation of the pinout diagram relative to a physical cart (i.e. if you were holding it in your hand).

For example, if I'm holding a cart, with the game label facing me and the connector-side down, which pin is pin 1?

1) Front pin, left-side
2) Back pin, left-side
3) Front pin, right-side
4) Back pin, right-side

And from the pinouts that I have seen, pin 2 is _adjacent_ to pin 1 and not behind pin 1 (i.e. on the other side of the board). I want to make sure I get this pinout 100% correct because I don't want to have to re-spin the board because I made a dumb mistake.

THANKS!

Jonathon

by tokumaru on 2010-03-19 (#58646)

If you have an actual cart just open the case and look at the PCB: the pins are numbered. Or look for high-resolution scans of PCBs on Google, the numbers should be quite visible.

If you are facing the label of the cart, I think pin 1 is the rightmost one of the side that's facing you, and the count increases to the left, up until pin 36. Behind pin 1 is pin 37, and the count goes until pin 72 on the left.

by jwdonal on 2010-03-20 (#58693)

Thanks tokumaru! I do have original NES carts but I don't have that special weird screwdriver you need to get it open. LOL. I also have a PowerPak (which has normal screws) but it doesn't have the pins numbered! haha.

But I did find this pic online of the back of the PCB and it confirms the orientation that you specified:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2574/429 ... 308c5b.jpg

Pz!

Jonathon