PCE Flash Cards

[Ceti Alpha]

I KNOW!!!  Convenience sucks ASS!

teehee

[spenoza]

I vote for the next flash card supporting a NuBus card interface only.

[Joe Redifer]

Or better yet, ADB which is only available on ancient Macs.

[spenoza]

NuBus slots are available on fewer Macs (and computers in general) than ADB. ADB survived until Apple's blue G3 towers and NuBus died off shortly after the original PPC revolution.

Wow, I just ranted to try and win an obscurity pissing contest. That's kinda embarrassing.

[agranger5]

I've got the Neo Power 64 meg version and have had it for over a year now.  It works great.  All of the games both US and Japanese have worked great on it except for one.  I have trouble with TwinBee having trash in the graphics while it is playing.  It boots up great but plays with distorted graphics.  It's the only game that does this for me.  I'm playing on an American Duo with a Region Switch.  Ive programed the card for both regions and I have even used the numerous hacked versions of the rom and they have all had the same trash in the graphics.  Has anyone else experienced this?

[BigT]

What possible reason could you have to want to use a parallel port?  That is just insane.

Parallel ports (and RS232 serial ports) are rather simple designs that are well documented and easy to program for... great for homebrew projects.

As long as we're on the subject of obscure computer buses, I feel compelled to suggest IBM's MCA and Amiga's Zorro...

And come on, ADB was never really designed for data transfer    It was originally introduced on the Apple IIgs for mice and keyboards and then was adapted for the Mac line. It only transfers a few kilobits/second, so it would take quite a while to transfer the contents of a Hucard.

[Keranu]

What possible reason could you have to want to use a parallel port?  That is just insane.

I was somewhat joking. It does piss me off though when stuff like printers use USB ports because then you just have a parellel port available for no reason. I want to use my USB ports for other things, not printers! Not to mention parallel ports are way cooler. It's not like there is anything wrong with using a parrellel port, it's just not hip like you anymore.

[nat]

What possible reason could you have to want to use a parallel port?  That is just insane.

I was somewhat joking. It does piss me off though when stuff like printers use USB ports because then you just have a parellel port available for no reason.

Computers still come with parallel ports? I had no idea.

[MissaFX]

It's not like there is anything wrong with using a parallel port, it's just not hip like you anymore.

If a USB device is like putting glue on your CPU, using a parallel port is like burying it in cement and dropping it in the ocean.  They are very system intensive to use, I have 4 use ports, 1 of which has a hub and card reader on it.  I have plenty of usb slots to use so my parallel port goes unused and dusty.

[Turbo D]

I've never used my parallel port. I'm assuming that it is that big ugly oblong pink think on the back of my pc, right? All of my 2 printers have been usb. All of my accessories are usb too! I have always wanted to use that parallel port for something though. Seeing it there taking up space with no use makes me angry, haha.

[nat]

Parallel ports were invented in 1784 and are virtually obsolete in today's world. Like I indicated earlier, I'm genuinely surprised to hear that computers manufactured today still have them.

[spenoza]

Not very many still have them, but some. There are some devices of older design that continue to be manufactured without engineering update, or devices which were made like tanks and just won't die that continue to need them. For example, dot matrix and tractor feed printers. These may still be used for label printing in libraries, for receipts, or for certain types of reporting. Also, some ID card printers, being expensive, are expected to only be replaced on pain of death. For many businesses, then, especially small businesses, parallel ports are still indispensable.

[Paisa49]

I've recently obtained a flash cart, and I was hoping to get some advice on something that I observed regarding its functionality with my TG-16. Specifically, I noticed that my TG-16 doesn't recognize my flash cart as easily as it does any of my Turbo Chips. Sometimes it'll take me turning the TG-16 on and off a few times to get the Flash Cart to load up. When it doesn't load up, I just get a purple screen. Has anyone else experienced this?

I've looked at the end (the part that goes into my console) of my Flash Cart to ensure that it's not dirty. Is there anything that I can do to make the Flash Cart more compatible with my TG-16 so I don't have to turn my console on and off so many times?

[Nazi NecroPhile]

I had to get pretty aggressive in cleaning the contacts on mine; they never looked dirty or corroded, but it wouldn't work at all without a thorough (and slightly abrasive) scrubbing of the contacts.  Beyond this initial problem, mine has worked flawlessly and hasn't exhibited the problem you describe.

[Paisa49]

I had to get pretty aggressive in cleaning the contacts on mine; they never looked dirty or corroded, but it wouldn't work at all without a thorough (and slightly abrasive) scrubbing of the contacts.  Beyond this initial problem, mine has worked flawlessly and hasn't exhibited the problem you describe.

Other than utilizing a non-abrasive, non-latex eraser, what would you recommend for cleaning the chip contacts that won't damage the contacts? What did you specifically use and do to get yours to work better?

[Nazi NecroPhile]

I used some 000# steel wool, but any fine sandpaper would work just as well.  Neither is abrasive enough to quickly remove a lot of material, so a few light passes won't do any real damage (though you have to be careful not to sand any other part of the card).  You could even try one of those Mr. Clean Magic Erasers.  If you're not familiar with 'em, they're a block of melamine foam and are slightly abrasive - slight enough to be safely used on walls, counters, appliances, etc.

[Paisa49]

I used some 000# steel wool, but any fine sandpaper would work just as well.  Neither is abrasive enough to quickly remove a lot of material, so a few light passes won't do any real damage (though you have to be careful not to sand any other part of the card).  You could even try one of those Mr. Clean Magic Erasers.  If you're not familiar with 'em, they're a block of melamine foam and are slightly abrasive - slight enough to be safely used on walls, counters, appliances, etc.

I'll be the first to admit I'm not very "technology-inclined," but I'm a little hesitant to use steel wool or sand paper to clean the contacts. If the problem persists, I may have to go that route.

Has anyone else gone a different route to get their flash cart to work better with the respective console? Most of the folks that post on this board seem so knowledgable that I'd like to hear some other flash cart cleaning alternatives.

[nat]

Interestingly enough I have problems using the flash cart on my stock TG-16 as well. Mine always boots to the blue menu screen, but locks up when you try to play the games. No amount of cleaning has remedied this (although it didn't look dirty to begin with, but I thought I'd exhaust all options).

It works flawlessly on my Duo though. Go figure. Both are unmodified American consoles.

Hmm, I should try it on my SuperGrafx sometime and see what happens.

[Paisa49]

Interestingly enough I have problems using the flash cart on my stock TG-16 as well. Mine always boots to the blue menu screen, but locks up when you try to play the games.

I've had that happen on certain games. It seems to be an issue with bad roms. I'll try cleaning with isopropyl alcohol first, and if that doesn't work, then it'll probably have to be some sand paper action.

[TurboXray]

Interestingly enough I have problems using the flash cart on my stock TG-16 as well. Mine always boots to the blue menu screen, but locks up when you try to play the games. No amount of cleaning has remedied this (although it didn't look dirty to begin with, but I thought I'd exhaust all options).

It works flawlessly on my Duo though. Go figure. Both are unmodified American consoles.

Hmm, I should try it on my SuperGrafx sometime and see what happens.

It might be a power issue (internal or the AC adapter) with you're TG16, Nat. There was recent talk about this for another project where a person was driving some other logic/IC/LEDs via the hucard port. The flash card more than likely requires more power than a normal hucard rom, so you're not seeing the problem with them.

[Nazi NecroPhile]

I'll be the first to admit I'm not very "technology-inclined," but I'm a little hesitant to use steel wool or sand paper to clean the contacts.

I don't blame you for being hesitant, as it almost always pays to err on the side of caution.  On that note, #000 steel wool and super fine sand papers (800 or 1000 grit) would do more polishing than sanding.  Much like a chemical cleaner that dissolves a very thin layer, your goal is to remove just a tiny bit of material.  In any case, please keep us updated.

[Paisa49]

Well, I tried using an 800 grit sand paper to clean the contacts, and that didn't work either. I've tested the flash cart on my Turbo Express as well, and the Express does the same thing as my TG-16. I'm thinking that the American systems just don't react well to these flash carts.  I wish the American systems weren't so problematic, even the American Duo has technical issues. The funny thing is that the flash cart worked perfectly the first time I placed roms on it, and only after subsequent switching of roms, did my tg-16 not feel like loading up the flash cart. Now, it won't even load up the blue flash cart menu screen at all. Has anyone had this similar experience as me, and if so, have you come up with any solutions?

[Paisa49]

Sorry, but I'm hoping a cheap bump up will get a discussion going, in case anyone else out there is having similar problems with their flash cart as me. I hope someone out there can provide some suggestions. 

[MissaFX]

Sorry, but I'm hoping a cheap bump up will get a discussion going, in case anyone else out there is having similar problems with their flash cart as me. I hope someone out there can provide some suggestions. 

If I try to load a non-japanese game on my CGII, it will make a slight flash/distortion in the screen of the load menu but will not progress any further.  Every Japanese game though I have tried works (though Space Invaders crashes in the advanced mode sometimes ).  If I format the flash card for TG-16 instead of PC-E, I get a white screen, but no blue screen will ever load.

I do not have an americal Turbos to test the flash card on.  But I assume with an american system, an american game, and TG-16 formatting of the card that american games will load.  Assume might be a big word here though.

[nat]

Sorry, but I'm hoping a cheap bump up will get a discussion going, in case anyone else out there is having similar problems with their flash cart as me. I hope someone out there can provide some suggestions. 

If I try to load a non-japanese game on my CGII, it will make a slight flash/distortion in the screen of the load menu but will not progress any further. 

This is because American ROMs have region lockout code. They can tell you are running them on a JP console and won't load.

This isn't related to the issue Paisa is having.

[MissaFX]

Sorry, but I'm hoping a cheap bump up will get a discussion going, in case anyone else out there is having similar problems with their flash cart as me. I hope someone out there can provide some suggestions. 

If I try to load a non-japanese game on my CGII, it will make a slight flash/distortion in the screen of the load menu but will not progress any further. 

This is because American ROMs have region lockout code. They can tell you are running them on a JP console and won't load.

This isn't related to the issue Paisa is having.

Is there a way to alter the file to make it load?  I am specifically trying to get the haxxord Galaga '90 to load so that the kids I watch sometimes could play it.

[nat]

Sorry, but I'm hoping a cheap bump up will get a discussion going, in case anyone else out there is having similar problems with their flash cart as me. I hope someone out there can provide some suggestions. 

If I try to load a non-japanese game on my CGII, it will make a slight flash/distortion in the screen of the load menu but will not progress any further. 

This is because American ROMs have region lockout code. They can tell you are running them on a JP console and won't load.

This isn't related to the issue Paisa is having.

Is there a way to alter the file to make it load?  I am specifically trying to get the haxxord Galaga '90 to load so that the kids I watch sometimes could play it.

I've never heard of the hacked Galaga '90. How was it hacked?

As far as your other question, I don't believe there is any way to modifiy the ROMs to remove the region lockout. Bonknuts could probably give you a definitive answer.

The only way around the lockout that I'm aware of is to physically ground one of the pins on the CPU inside the CoreGrafx. An unfortunate side effect of this mod would render your flash cart useless, thus completely defeating the purpose.

[MissaFX]

It's hacked so you cannot die and you start off with the super ship (3 shots).

[OldRover]

This is because American ROMs have region lockout code. They can tell you are running them on a JP console and won't load.

I'm pretty sure it's actually the other way around...it would explain why US systems are far easier to region-mod than JP systems. And, cards won't run on the wrong system because the byte order of the data lines is different.

[T2KFreeker]

So, I was looking at one of these, are they really that good? I am looking at the idea of playing some fan translated stuff, but would I still need an adapter for a US system?

[MissaFX]

So, I was looking at one of these, are they really that good? I am looking at the idea of playing some fan translated stuff, but would I still need an adapter for a US system?

You can set the card to either PC-E or TG-16 when you write to it.  But you can only play the proper region of games on the system.  So if you want to play translated games, most of them would play on a Japanese system since they are Japanese games to begin with.

[Nazi NecroPhile]

I'm pretty sure it's actually the other way around...it would explain why US systems are far easier to region-mod than JP systems. And, cards won't run on the wrong system because the byte order of the data lines is different.

Both Japanese and US games have region codes, but only Japanese systems bother to check this code, hence the need to ground a pin to disable the region check.

So, I was looking at one of these, are they really that good? I am looking at the idea of playing some fan translated stuff, but would I still need an adapter for a US system?

They're not as good as sex, but they're pretty damn good.  No adapter needed for US systems, as you set the region when you write the roms to the card.

You can set the card to either PC-E or TG-16 when you write to it.  But you can only play the proper region of games on the system.  So if you want to play translated games, most of them would play on a Japanese system since they are Japanese games to begin with.

I don't think so, Missa.  I played through Bubblegum Crash on my TurboDuo without any problems.

[MissaFX]

You can set the card to either PC-E or TG-16 when you write to it.  But you can only play the proper region of games on the system.  So if you want to play translated games, most of them would play on a Japanese system since they are Japanese games to begin with.

I don't think so, Missa.  I played through Bubblegum Crash on my TurboDuo without any problems.[/quote]
That one specifically might work, but my wonderboy translated game for example will not work on my PC-E specific emulator, but will work on the flash card and the CGII.  I have couple of other english translated games but I have not played/tested them.

[Nazi NecroPhile]

That one specifically might work, but my wonderboy translated game for example will not work on my PC-E specific emulator, but will work on the flash card and the CGII.  I have couple of other english translated games but I have not played/tested them.

Emulators and consoles are two different beasts, so I'd bet that either the emulator isn't emulating the hardware correctly or the translation is buggy.  Proper Japanese roms should work fine on a flash cart in US hardware.

[T2KFreeker]

Hmm, must look harder now . . .

[nat]

You guys have the region thing all wrong. I was not incorrect in what I said.

American games have region lockout code that executes before the game is booted. ONLY AMERICAN GAMES HAVE THIS CODE. By "code" I mean a microprogram or subroutine, whatever. IIRC it was up to the developer to implement this code to comply with Hudson/NEC's policies. There is at least one US cart that doesn't have this code (Night Creatures I think) and that cart will play on a Japanese system. This code checks a condition on the CPU that is only present in Japanese hardware. You can trick the lockout code into thinking the condition does not exist by grounding a pin on the CPU of the Japanese console. This has nasty side effects that break certain games as well as break the ability to use a flash cart.

There is nothing going on in the hardware itself with regards to region protection other than the swapped cartridge port pin layout; it's all in the ROMs.

Therefor, I can play Japanese ROMs all day long on my US system using a flash cart regardless of what region the cart is set to (although if it's set to JP I'll need a Kisado to use it on my US console). This is because Japanese games don't have a lockout routine checking anything. American ROMs will only ever be playable on my American system, regardless of whether or not I swap the pinout to be JP-correct because of the routine that checks for the presence of a Japanese CPU is part of the ROM itself.

Make sense?

So, I was looking at one of these, are they really that good? I am looking at the idea of playing some fan translated stuff, but would I still need an adapter for a US system?

T2KFreeker, the flash cart will work absolutely great for what you want it for-- no adapter required. That's precisely the reason I got mine and it works like a dream on my US TurboDuo.

[Ceti Alpha]

....OK, the flashcard is now finally making sense to me.  Thanks for that info nat. 

[T2KFreeker]

So, I was looking at one of these, are they really that good? I am looking at the idea of playing some fan translated stuff, but would I still need an adapter for a US system?

T2KFreeker, the flash cart will work absolutely great for what you want it for-- no adapter required. That's precisely the reason I got mine and it works like a dream on my US TurboDuo.

Hmm, sounds cool. I should get one then.

[Paisa49]

Hmm, sounds cool. I should get one then.

It seems like most folks that are using their flash cart on U.S. Turbo Duo's aren't having issues. However, if all you have is a TG-16 or TEx, you may want to think about plunking down money for the flash cart. It just seems to strange that both my TG-16 and Nat's have had similar issues, and my TEx reacted the same way.

All my turbo chips work fine on my console. After comparing the contacts on my turbo chips with those on the flash cart, I've noticed that they're arranged differently. Again, being that I'm not very tech-saavy, is it at all possible that even if I write all my roms in TG-16 mode onto my flash cart, that the region lock-out is being engaged by my console because the flash cart doesn't have the same contact configuration as TG-16 turbo chips?

I wish I could find someone around me with a TG-16, so that I can test my flash cart on their console just to see if I got stuck with a strange console that just rejects the flash cart.  If anyone on here is around Tampa, FL, and willing to let me test out my flash cart on your console, let me know. It's too bad that the flash cart is giving my problems now after it started off working so well on my console.

[nat]

Paisa49, I think I've come to the conclusion that the power output of the TG-16's AC adapter is just a HAIR too weak for it to work consistently. The power draw of the flash cart is higher than a normal cart. I think it works fine on the Duo because the Duo has a more powerful AC adapter (it's gotta power the CD-ROM after all) and gets more juice.

So far, it seems to work flawlessly on my TurboDuo and also on my PCE GT handheld when the GT is plugged into the wall using the AC adapter. I haven't tried it on the GT using only batteries yet, though.

[Paisa49]

That was my initial suspicion, as well. When the flash cart was first working on my console, it was doing so with an ac adaptor from radio shack that was giving me 9 volts. As a result of getting less "juice" to the flash cart, the cart would start up, but there would be an annoying buzzing sound coming from my TV whenever I played a rom. After I switched the radio shack adaptor to an original TG-16 adaptor, the buzzing sound went away, and the flash cart continued to work. Then, after sometime, it would only load up my rom menu screen every so often. Now, it won't even load it up at all. I really can't think of anything else other than my console not liking the contact configuration for the flash cart.

I'm so glad this forum exists. Your collective knowledge is appreciated.

[awack]

You can play US games on a Jpn system but you have to do some editing to the rom with a hex editor, i changed the code in the us version of magical chase so that it would work on my core grafx.

[nat]

That would be very useful information for you post, IE, what address range needs to be changed and what it needs to be changed TO.

Missa was looking for information like this for a pet project, and I'd like to have this info on hand for reference purposes.

[awack]

First you need a hex editor, you can download a trial version for free if you don't have one already, you have to know how to use it of course, its not hard it took me about 10 min's, then you need to search for this line $54 $A9 $FF $53 $01 $AD $00 $10 $29 $40 $F0 change the $F0 to $80.

Obviously its ideal to have the ability to put both US and Jpn roms on one flash card even if you have a US and Jpn system.

If you need any help let me know.

[nat]

I'm already familiar with how to use a hex editor, etc, and all that.

A couple questions:

a) Will this work for disabling the region program in all US ROMs or only Magical Chase?

b) How did you figure out where the region check was located in the ROM? Is there documentation somewhere I don't know about?

[awack]

I have been able to find this line in 4 out of 6 US roms that i looked in, so they might all be the same and i just couldn't find it.

And to your second question, i read it some where on the net  but i cant remember where, some one allot smarter than me figured it out

[nat]

Hmm, maybe someone over on the Assembler forums.

Thanks for the tip, I'm going to do a little digging on this.

[MotoRoaderMike]

Boy, I could really use a TG16 flash card so I can play import games on my TG16. Do they even exist?

[nat]

Of course! Why do you think this thread is here?

[sideshow]

I did the hex edit trick to all of the US roms except the following of which I cant find the standard code:

Cadash
Final Lap Twin
Ghost Manor
Legend of Hero Tonma
Night Creatures

I did this about 2 years ago when I first got my NEO Flash Card with nice R-Type decal.  Too bad I get just a white screen when booting it up on my DUR-RX console.  I cant even get the main menu.  Maybe I need to do this non abrasive cleaning methods as stated in this thread.  Funny thing is that regular Hucards work great.  I'm pretty much having the same problems as Paisa49.  The card worked the first couple times now doesnt work at all.  The card appears to write the roms correctly cause I get no errors on the PC side.  I"ve come to point where I'm playing Turbo roms on my modded XBOX.