usb copynes help - NESdev BBS

usb copynes help
by sleepy9090 on 2010-12-26 (#71993)

I have the usb copynes
installed it

I can play games with it not plugged in to usb.
I launch the software and I can grab NES info, which returns the usbcopynes string.
I had the bank watch working and dumped some data that way

nothing else works
i try "play Cart" and nothing happens, I try to dump carts and it just hangs.

I took the nes apart, made a complete project board, ran wiring from the usb copynes board to the nes (40 wires) and does the same thing.

I've checked all connections with a multimeter, the lockout chip I have a switch ran to and it is bypassed when toggled, I've re-soldered connections, everything checks out.

I have a large box of bootleg carts i want to dump and I cant even get the thing to dump donkey kong classics.

Question #1: Is it possible that something is wrong with the board, can i re-lfash the roms on it, or test it in some way?

Question #2: Can you use different NES CPU's between toaster models? I can't be 100% sure that this is the original CPU but I do know it is from a toaster model and games play fine. Is there a preferred CPU for usbcopynes?

thanks

by crazyness on 2010-12-26 (#71996)

#1 yes but you need to erase the EPROM before it can reprogrammed. you can test the BIOS ROM by dumping them with a EPROM programmer then comparing MD5 hashes with the .BIN file in the source code package

#2 yes the CPU's are interchangeable

if you're not using Windows XP you need to download new drivers

try clicking play cart and keeping the "click ok" alert open.. the system should run as if the USB isn't plugged in

if the game isn't working power off (with the click ok alert still open)
remove and reinsert the game and power it back on

did you replace the capacitor on the NES's board? I don't think it's supplied anymore but you need a 1uf 50v capacitor to lengthen the reset

anyway hope that helps

by Memblers on 2010-12-26 (#72006)

1: Yes, anything is possible. But, I always try to rule out the easy/dumb stuff first. Have you tried different USB ports on your PC, for example (not sure why, but I had a few things that don't work right on my PC's front USB ports while others were fine). I doubt that the ROM failed - possible, but I don't think you would get the CopyNES ID string and bankwatch to work at all. The problem also could be with the 6522 or USB circuit, or anywhere.. From what I understand, at least with the original LPT CopyNES, running the NES without the port plugged in is the same thing as selecting 'play mode'. So I don't get why it doesn't work (I'm not the expert on this though).

After you've checked everything you can reasonably check, I would ask RetroUSB for help. If it's symptomatic of something, maybe they would know the solution. In my (brief) experience with electronic repair, actual 'bad parts' are relatively rare, but they can cause some of the weirdest errors (and not always immediately obvious ones). I don't know how/if those kits are tested, but it's always possible for a bad part to slip through if it's not tested (burn-in test is always good), especially if these are pulled parts from Jameco or somewhere.

by sleepy9090 on 2010-12-27 (#72024)

@crazyness
Quote:
you can test the BIOS ROM by dumping them with a EPROM programmer

Thanks I didnt even think to try this, I will compare it tonight

Quote:
try clicking play cart and keeping the "click ok" alert open

I tried this, the game does not boot. I've made sure the game boots with usb copynes usb cable disconnected and that boots.

Quote:
did you replace the capacitor on the NES's board?

yes

@memblers
Quote:
Have you tried different USB ports on your PC,

I have not tried this, will tonight.

thanks for your help so far!

by crazyness on 2010-12-31 (#72169)

did you get it going?

made some hashes when I was trying to figure out what was wrong with my CopyNES
turned out to be a software bug

anyway one should match your dump
Quote:
v401 $6000 BRK (should be RTS) MD5: 868FFAAD6E0D09031A64CD6628072A9F

v401 (byte fixed) MD5: 0DD649495A139C85A7F5D53B1453D784

v400 MD5: B72414ABAE312824B1842B92384CD1D5

by Wookie on 2011-01-02 (#72219)

If you're tired of fighting windows, I have a working Linux implementation here: https://bitbucket.org/wookie/libcopynes.

--Wookie

by sleepy9090 on 2011-01-08 (#72484)

Hi guys,

I dumped the BIOS chip and compared it with the one in the source, the only difference I found is the following:

from source
Code:
00001140 317E 31FF FF00 1008 0402 0100 00A9 FF85 1~1.............
00001150 8085 8185 8285 8360 8515 8A48 A515 4580 .......`...H..E.
00001160 AABD 003B 4581 8580 BD00 3C45 8285 81BD ...;E.....<E....
00001170 003D 4583 8582 BD00 3E85 8368 AA60 A203 .=E.....>..h.`..
00001180 A9FF 5580 9580 CA10 F760 FFFF FFFF FFFF ..U......`......

from my chip
Code:
00001140 3176 31FF FF00 1008 0402 0100 00A9 FF85 1v1.............
00001150 8085 8185 8285 8360 4580 AABD 003B 4581 .......`E....;E.
00001160 8580 BD00 3C45 8285 81BD 003D 4583 8582 ....<E.....=E...
00001170 BD00 3E85 8360 A203 A9FF 5580 9580 CA10 ..>..`....U.....
00001180 F760 FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF .`..............

Should I reflash it with 4.0 from the source, also does anyone have a link for 4.1?

I checked out the linux version and plan on giving it a test run as soon as I figure this out.

thanks again for the help

by Jeroen on 2011-01-09 (#72521)

If you don't plug the usb in does it play that cart?

by sleepy9090 on 2011-01-09 (#72522)

yes it plays games fine

by peppers on 2011-01-09 (#72524)

One of the people I installed one for said he had trouble getting it too a work on a dell netbook and it apperintly worked fine on his desktop. I think it may be difficult if the usb ports are underpowered. It might be a good idea to try a different computer

by crazyness on 2011-01-13 (#72688)

sleepy9090 wrote:
from my chip
Code:
00001140 3176 31FF FF00 1008 0402 0100 00A9 FF85 1v1.............
00001150 8085 8185 8285 8360 4580 AABD 003B 4581 .......`E....;E.
00001160 8580 BD00 3C45 8285 81BD 003D 4583 8582 ....<E.....=E...
00001170 BD00 3E85 8360 A203 A9FF 5580 9580 CA10 ..>..`....U.....
00001180 F760 FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF .`..............

Should I reflash it with 4.0 from the source, also does anyone have a link for 4.1?
no the code you posted is correct

use a program like "hashtabs 3".. you have the new BIOS
32k checksum MD5: 0DD649495A139C85A7F5D53B1453D784

if the hashes don't match your dump you split your 32k dump in to 8k files.. each mirror should match
8k checksum MD5: 7023C69EA4333F8B479CC6B9926388A9

find one that matches then mirror it 4 times and you're set

the last mirror in my BIOS ROM had a bad byte at the very start
it was 0x00 (BRK) when it should of been 0x60 (RTS)
32k checksum MD5: 868FFAAD6E0D09031A64CD6628072A9F

you'll need a MD5 program when you dump games anyway
it's a good idea to reinsert the game and dump it a couple times so you can compare hashes

peppers wrote:
One of the people I installed one for said he had trouble getting it too a work on a dell netbook and it apperintly worked fine on his desktop. I think it may be difficult if the usb ports are underpowered. It might be a good idea to try a different computer
it would most likely be signal related because the CopyNES isn't powered by the USB port
3.6V zener diodes on the signal lines could help
I've seen Dell do a lot of stupid stuff maybe adding a resister across the +5v and ground would fix the problem
they might be detecting the load as part of saving battery power when nothing is plugged in

by Xious on 2011-01-18 (#72869)

crazyness wrote:

did you replace the capacitor on the NES's board? I don't think it's supplied anymore but you need a 1uf 50v capacitor to lengthen the reset

I' doing an install of one for a friend, and the cap wasn't included. It's a damned good thing I both remembered it and had them on hand. I don't think it need be 50V though! 1uF at 6.3V should be more than enough. I may have used a 50V, as I had them handy, but I doubt there would be any reason to need that high of a rating.

Additionally, the correct mezzanine pin strips weren't included either! There was a cheap-o press-pin socket that doesn't fit the header pins on the CopyNES (which just pops out of the socket, instantly). I have to order more female pin strips to complete the installation. That, or file down the pins, which I'd rather not have to do. Sigh.

I also plan to set it up for him so that W/E will be on a selectable EXP pin, instead of hardwired to EXP0.

by crazyness on 2011-01-18 (#72870)

Xious wrote:
I don't think it need be 50V though! 1uF at 6.3V should be more than enough. I may have used a 50V, as I had them handy, but I doubt there would be any reason to need that high of a rating.

50v 1uf capacitors are cheap because they are common only benefit is they could last longer

Xious wrote:
the correct mezzanine pin strips weren't included either! There was a cheap-o press-pin socket that doesn't fit the header pins on the CopyNES (which just pops out of the socket, instantly).

had the same trouble.. if you look at the edge of the expansion port
a metal tab sticks out just enough to stop the PCB

I made a very small notch in the PCB and it fixed the problem

by Xious on 2011-01-18 (#72903)

crazyness wrote:

I made a very small notch in the PCB and it fixed the problem

I'll look for it and see what I can do I foresee problems in posting it cross-county though with the included socket even if I do get it to fit. If it's solid and won't prevent use of the EDP socket I can work wtth that, but I don't know if it will survive UPS knocking it about for a week.

It's just penny-pinching, IMO. there is no reason not to include the proper female pin-strips and they're the only proper way to secure it, unless I file down the pins, as it won't fit into machine-pin (round-hole) sockets either. An extra 50 cents in parts would rectify this problem. I don't see how nobody else has complained about it...

by drag0nneus on 2012-02-12 (#89884)

Wookie,

Im having trouble compiling libcopynes on a mac, getting the error:
(configure seems to work ok, I also have libtool instaled via macports)

make all-recursive
Making all in src
/bin/sh ../libtool --tag=CC --mode=compile gcc -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I.. -Wall -g -O2 -MT libcopynes_la-copynes.lo -MD -MP -MF .deps/libcopynes_la-copynes.Tpo -c -o libcopynes_la-copynes.lo `test -f 'copynes.c' || echo './'`copynes.c
../libtool: line 464: CDPATH: command not found
/Users/drag0nneus/USB CopyNES/copynes_stuff/wookie-libcopynes-747a92e1026b/libtool: line 464: CDPATH: command not found
/Users/drag0nneus/USB CopyNES/copynes_stuff/wookie-libcopynes-747a92e1026b/libtool: line 1142: func_opt_split: command not found
libtool: Version mismatch error. This is libtool 2.2.6 Debian-2.2.6a-1ubuntu1, but the
libtool: definition of this LT_INIT comes from an older release.
libtool: You should recreate aclocal.m4 with macros from libtool 2.2.6 Debian-2.2.6a-1ubuntu1
libtool: and run autoconf again.
make[2]: *** [libcopynes_la-copynes.lo] Error 63
make[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
make: *** [all] Error 2