[GUIDE/INFO] Flash Carts, ODE, and more!

[Ziggy]

Agreed, those are why I never picked one up. I was planning on getting an N8, but kevtris always puts out a good product so I can wait.

I've been thinking about ditching the PP for a N8, but I'd definitely wait for a superior cart. Especially one that also plays GB games.

[Anapan]

This is neat - Tototek has a FDS Drive emulator!
http://www.tototek.com/store/index.php? ... cts_id=196

[Ziggy]

Yeah, I saw that. It's essentially a flash cart for the FDS.

Here's the USA purchase link: http://3dscapture.com/fdsstick/

And forum post: http://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?p=142730#p142730

BTW, loopy is the guy you have to thank for originally implementing FDS support on the NES PowerPak.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Seriously considering the Everdrive N8 for NES. Mainly to prevent wear and tear on my Fami disks.

Funny how buying just one thing leads me down a rabbit hole into something else......

[Anapan]

I've had some time to play with the FDSStick and Flashmasta's NGPC cart, and both are very fun. The games are not something I'd buy, but being accessible, I really enjoyed the time spent.
My attempts at hex editing FDS roms have been unsuccessful, and I got in trouble on the romhacking.net forum for offering a great bounty on a simple IPS patch. Not sure where to ask now.
I checked Flavor's site and progress is being made on the Wonderswan flashcart.
My WS Crystal has a dead line, so It'll need to be replaced ASAP. Wish I'd noticed it when I bought it... Anyone want a defective Wonderswan Crystal for cost of shipping from Canada? PM me with your address.(edit:claimed)
Flavor reports that he now has new stock available on his NGPC flashcarts:
http://www.flashmasta.com/
He made me one from a defective board by patching the problems with some kynar wire, and I don't think they've been available for a while. Good news if you've been craving one.

[JoeAwesome]

Pm'd

[Ziggy]

Anyone willing to write up something about the Retron 5 ?

I'm not looking for a full blown review of the product (there's already plenty). Rather, I want something to focus on what the Retron 5 can do that is similar to flash carts and the Retrode. I know you can soft-patch game carts with translation patches. I know you can back up SRAM from carts. Are you able to write SRAM back to carts yet? I know this wasn't working, or only partially working, when the Retron 5 was first released. Has FW updates fixed this yet? Also, can you dump ROMs using the Retron? If some one can do a small write up on these points, please PM me.

Anyone willing to write something up on some of the disc drive replacements that are available? I want to add these as a section in this thread, being that they're pretty much the disc drive equivalent to flash carts.


Coming soon: INL programmer and flash carts. I plan to tidy up some of the existing write ups, as well as update them as needed. I might add a few more write ups, if I don't lose my ambition. I also want to finally add the sections that have been missing.

[nightrnr]

I could write something on the 3DO usb, the PSIO, and/or the Rhea/Phoebe Saturn SD drive replacements.
I might could do the Dreamcast "GDEMU" too, if needed.

I own each of these (except a Phoebe, but assuming you have the right jumpers on the right system, they install and operate the same as my Rhea, minus CD+G compatibility).

If someone else wants the opportunity for a write up, by all means take it, as I might not get to them all.

[Tanooki]

The Retron 5 can dump roms, if you hack it, so they're of any use off the system. Natively the R5 dumps to the system memory temporarily then releases it.

Stuff I remember it can/can't do:
- SRAM/FRAM back to carts will work across all the systems using the copy to cart option
- And in reverse you can copy saves off a cart as well
- Bonus, you can transfer a save from one cart to another too
- Like a flash kit, it can use various game genie/action replay codes but not natively, you have to add the cheat file to it to do so, then select what you want.
- 32X will not work, nor will Game Genie, it'll pass right through it
- Like an emulator the R5 can save/load multiple states menu or touch of a button shortcut
- As you noted, IPS patching on the fly -- translation, hacks, you name it

Some other odd fluff...
- It will not work with accessories/controllers they didn't code into it (vaus on NES fails, powerpad works, SNES mouse works)
- Speaking of, SNES mouse can drive the entire menu system of the console
- System has a few prank messages burning on bad games like Deadly Towers before loading
- The console will hot save any progress in any game only by popping back to the menu
- Emulator allows for various smoothing techs, scan lines, and audio sample/filter improvement

Basically it doesn't stand out much against what a flash kit/retrode can do other than the basics, but the critical one of dumping games it won't unless you hack the firmware in it which I know can be done and I don't know how to.

[ElkinFencer10]

And, most importantly, the Retron 5 looks really stylish.