Making my own NES carts (help a noob, please?)

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Rayban
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Making my own NES carts (help a noob, please?)

Post by Rayban »

OK. So I want to start flashing my own NES carts but I'm having a hard time finding a good source for all the info I need to get started. I understand that I need one of these: http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.ph ... ucts_id=42
But I don't know how to go about putting the proper chips on the board and how to flash it...
Does this work for flashing these boards/chips: http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.ph ... ucts_id=36
Am I in way over my head? :?
Any help is greatly appreciated :)
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pakopako
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Re: Making my own NES carts (help a noob, please?)

Post by pakopako »

Yes. You need the 2nd item to turn your NES into a reader/writer for the first item.

The alternative is to pay the $135 and get the power pak.
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3GenGames
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Re: Making my own NES carts (help a noob, please?)

Post by 3GenGames »

For just playing games on your NES, get this:

Option 1: Best option I think for just playing games.\
Need:
http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.ph ... ucts_id=34

Put all the ROMS on a CF card and FATSORT them to get them in order by name, then goto the NES, Plug it in, navigate the menus, and play the ROM you select. Supports pretty much all NES games except for a few VERY custom ones, but still good enough to where it shouldn't matter.


Option 2: Okay option, but not able to play games with pretty much any mapper or big size.
Need:
http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.ph ... ucts_id=35 and
http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.ph ... ucts_id=36

Bad option, can pretty much only flash the PowerPak light cart/glider, and is nearly as expensive as just the powerpak with a ton of features missing. Bad idea I think, but an option.

Option 3: Best for making actual carts. Epensive as the powerpak at first, but you can have a physical copy of each game you decide to make.

Need:
http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.ph ... ucts_id=43 / http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.ph ... ucts_id=42

and

http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.ph ... ucts_id=38 / http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.ph ... ucts_id=39 / http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.ph ... ucts_id=40 / http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.ph ... ucts_id=41

and

http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.ph ... ucts_id=37

and lastly a EPROM programmer, eraser, and EPROMS. Plus soldering skills and equipment. Carts can't be flashed, have to be programmed before being put together and can only make games that either use logic or MMC1 mappers, no MMC3 or anything. Still, if your into homebrew like me, this is the preffered option as you can get a physical cart and test on real hardware exactly what will be shipped out.

(Somtimes powerpak doesn't emulate stuff 100% yet and homebrew won't play on a actual MMC3 and stuff, so you may also have to strip some other carts with your board to test ROMS on if your doing homebrew, the only legal thing to do. ;) )
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Rayban
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Re: Making my own NES carts (help a noob, please?)

Post by Rayban »

Thank you so much for the info, 3GenGames! Option 3 is exactly what I want to learn how to do.
Another question: Will the USB CopyNES work for programming EPROM chips? You say they need to be programmed before being put together so I'm thinking that this won't work the way I'm thinking.
Where is the best place to purchase the chips I need, eBay?

I remember reading about a program that scans the rom files and tells you what chips you need. Does that sound right?
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3GenGames
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Re: Making my own NES carts (help a noob, please?)

Post by 3GenGames »

I have a program that seperates .CHR and .PRG roms for PC that also tells the rom files sizes, but it's easily viewable by just looking at the ROMs after they're split. You'll need the splitter later, mail me for the ZIP with the program and source and example file.

8KB ROMS need a 27C64
16KB ROMS need a 27C128
32KB ROMS need a 27C256
64KB ROMS need a 27C512
128KB ROMS need a 27C010/27C1001
256KB ROMS need a 27C020/27C2002
512KB ROMS need a 27C040/27C4004

And no, I don't think programming is possible via CopyNES. You'll need a programmer. I prefer pocketprogrammer I, but I think they're all parallel except the newest one which is very expensive. Don't buy a Willem, either. Nothing but bad quality. So as to a programmer, just find one that looks like it works and has good support and does the ROMS listed above, although all programmers should.

As for getting the ROMS, thisz guy has the cheapest chips HANDS DOWN, and for a great price: http://www.epromman.com/

Keep in mind, games you want to repro need to be achievable with the RetroPak you buy, so no MMC2-MMC6 mappers. The mapper will be displayed when you split the file with my program, also, but where you download the prototype/homebrew ROM, it will tell you the mapper and how the board needs set up, so the information there will be used to choose which retropak to buy and what extra parts you'll need or if you need to scavenge a donor. Although since some games use MMC3 and that isn't done on the retrousb.com site yet, I can tell you to wait if you need to do a MMC3 game either scavange and rewire a Nintendo board you need (MMC3 boards are TXROM where X is the variant and what extras the board has), or wait for somebody I know to get the order of the MMC3 retropaks done, they'll be for sale eventually. They won't be on that site though, but they will be available soon, if you would want to do a MMC3 game and don't want to hurt a Nintendo cart.

Hope this helps and is clear, need anything else answered or any more questions?
3GenGames
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Re: Making my own NES carts (help a noob, please?)

Post by 3GenGames »

How'd this go?
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