Search found 1045 matches

by ccovell
Tue Aug 22, 2023 4:44 pm
Forum: Homebrew Projects
Topic: FDS Community - I need your help!
Replies: 13
Views: 2795

Re: FDS Community - I need your help!

Hi CCovell, ...I am also thinking about doing a proper fine tuning version, where I hijack the disk reading code to get you the exact frequency of byte transfers On that note, my FDS Disk Listing program which I updated recently (in 2021) has a "CPU cycles between bytes" readout for this ...
by ccovell
Mon Aug 21, 2023 7:06 am
Forum: Homebrew Projects
Topic: FDS Community - I need your help!
Replies: 13
Views: 2795

Re: FDS Community - I need your help!

This is an interesting project you have going. Here are a few tests with a drive that I bought "refurbished" with a good black belt (none of the modern transparent ones which are apparently total crap) in 2021. It's starting to sound a little grindy nowadays, so perhaps this isn't the best...
by ccovell
Sun Mar 05, 2023 6:03 am
Forum: NES Hardware and Flash Equipment
Topic: Does the Twin Famicom actually need 1.25A?
Replies: 2
Views: 1005

Re: Does the Twin Famicom actually need 1.25A?

The Twin Famicom contains a solenoid which activates to block the cartridge/FDS switch (IIRC) when the FDS motor is active. You can hear it make a distinctive "thud". I found that a bit noisy, so I disconnected the solenoid just to make FDS operation quieter. If you disconnect yours, you c...
by ccovell
Sun Feb 27, 2022 5:43 pm
Forum: SNESdev
Topic: S-PPU and the V9990 (also MSX3)
Replies: 14
Views: 3378

Re: S-PPU and the V9990 (also MSX3)

Quite frankly, the MSX VDPs (MSX1, MSX2(+) etc) were always relatively primitive for their time; and didn't someone at Yamaha in an interview (online) even admit that the company were beginners at making video hardware, hence being behind the curve? Knowing this, if anyone's copying off the other, I...
by ccovell
Thu Jun 24, 2021 7:13 am
Forum: NESdev
Topic: FDS header date fields
Replies: 43
Views: 30889

Re: FDS header date fields

That is all very cool. I didn't know the FMC-CHK disk had that disk header info screen. For ZReport's question, I'll think of a way to add some more info/data on the screen, but I don't want to make my program output too cluttered. I don't think I want to make it print everything in the FDS header.
by ccovell
Sun May 16, 2021 5:14 pm
Forum: General Stuff
Topic: How were Neo Geo games so big?
Replies: 22
Views: 13825

Re: How were Neo Geo games so big?

I don't know how much this applies to Magician Lord, but the Neo Geo's PCM playback is very wasteful. I think only one channel has controllable pitch, and the other 6 channels have a fixed sample rate. In order to use more than one channel for music, you need to have samples for each note. Yes, man...
by ccovell
Sat May 15, 2021 7:03 pm
Forum: SNESdev
Topic: SNES programming Videos
Replies: 58
Views: 34973

Re: SNES programming Videos

Thanks for these videos. They are very clear, methodical, and drop words of wisdom regarding beginners' pitfalls.

Though every time I step up to the SNES to dip my toe into a tiny bit of programming I walk away in fear and befuddlement, these videos are a great resource.
by ccovell
Sat May 15, 2021 6:55 pm
Forum: General Stuff
Topic: How were Neo Geo games so big?
Replies: 22
Views: 13825

Re: How were Neo Geo games so big?

If you're casually into the Neo-Geo and on a tight budget, I think a cheap MVS, homemade power+JAMMA cable+Joy connector, and suitable 1xx-in-1 multicart with the right combination of games that you want, is the best compromise.
by ccovell
Sat May 15, 2021 5:12 pm
Forum: NESdev
Topic: In Search of 6502/Turbo Game Doctor 6M+ Hacking Expert.
Replies: 30
Views: 12179

Re: In Search of 6502/Turbo Game Doctor 6M+ Hacking Expert.

I echo everyone else's sentiments here. I am, like Memblers and Rainwarrior, always interested in technical challenges with NES/6502 code. ROM to disk conversion is an interesting idea. But none of us wants to do it for free in the similar way that your friend/"contact" did, because of the...
by ccovell
Fri May 14, 2021 4:54 pm
Forum: NESdev
Topic: FDS header date fields
Replies: 43
Views: 30889

Re: FDS header date fields

Well, yes, the FDS RAM adaptor contains a "mapper" that handles IRQs, mirroring, and has an extra audio channel. However, FDS games are not in the iNES format; they are essentially distilled dumps of the bytes on magnetic media. Please read up on the format: https://wiki.nesdev.com/w/index...
by ccovell
Tue May 04, 2021 6:46 am
Forum: NESdev
Topic: FDS header date fields
Replies: 43
Views: 30889

Re: FDS header date fields

loopy wrote: Mon May 03, 2021 6:34 pm Pretty impressive what you've pulled off with a native NES app.

A little project I've been tinkering with lately is a drive interface board, that connects directly to the drive mech for doing low level shit.
Thanks for the compliment! And that new board looks pretty interesting too!
by ccovell
Mon May 03, 2021 6:40 am
Forum: NESdev
Topic: FDS header date fields
Replies: 43
Views: 30889

Re: FDS header date fields

Just an update to note that I've made a page and a 2.0 version release of my FDS Disk Lister:

https://www.chrismcovell.com/fds-lister.html
by ccovell
Wed Apr 28, 2021 5:00 pm
Forum: General Stuff
Topic: Zelda II - The Adventure of Link... SUCKED
Replies: 31
Views: 18183

Re: Zelda II - The Adventure of Link... SUCKED

Music has a very excessive, overbearing, low-quality tremolo. It sounds like a tape deck with a rubber band instead of a belt. I agree with most of your points, and also felt that the music was disappointing/grating. The composer was Akito Nakatsuka -- and that seems to be his style, mostly, with w...
by ccovell
Mon Apr 26, 2021 4:47 pm
Forum: Homebrew Projects
Topic: Farsi Word Processor
Replies: 2
Views: 4711

Re: Farsi Word Processor

That's kinda cool. We all got our start making random crap, out of which great things blossomed. :beer:
by ccovell
Tue Apr 20, 2021 7:11 am
Forum: NESdev
Topic: FDS header date fields
Replies: 43
Views: 30889

Re: FDS header date fields

HAHA! So many revisions! This one is a cool change. Is there something to look for as far as the disk data? Like could I see a bad disk or one that has been demagnetized? Hmmm... only partially. If there's no disk header at the start, my program will error out, so corrupted disks like this will not...