Nes cartridge reproduction

A place that you can discuss reproduction of classic titles or "licensed-for-reproduction" homebrew for personal use.

Moderators: B00daW, Moderators

Forum rules
1. NO BLATANT PIRACY. This includes reproducing homebrew less than 10 years old, with the exception of free software.
2. No advertising your reproductions, with the exception of free software.
3. Be nice. See RFC 1855 if you aren't sure what this means.
Post Reply
eggman
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2017 12:23 am

Nes cartridge reproduction

Post by eggman »

Hi. I've tried my first cartridge reproduction. I used Super Mario 1 as donor cartridge and copied Galaxian on the Eproms. I tested all connections. However, the screen remains blank. LED on NES is on and not blinking, but is only dim. Does anyone know why this doesn't work? Thanks!
User avatar
rainwarrior
Posts: 8731
Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2012 12:03 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Nes cartridge reproduction

Post by rainwarrior »

Super Mario Bros has 32k PRG, and Galaxian has 8k. How did you fill up the other 24k of space? Did you duplicate Galaxian's ROM 4 times to fill it up (correct), or did you just leave a bunch of empty 0s (incorrect) or something?
lidnariq
Posts: 11430
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 11:12 am

Re: Nes cartridge reproduction

Post by lidnariq »

eggman wrote:LED on NES is on and not blinking, but is only dim.
You are shorting +5V to ground.
eggman
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2017 12:23 am

Re: Nes cartridge reproduction

Post by eggman »

Thanks, rainwarrior. You are right, I did not fill up the rest. For a beginner, how do I do that?

@ lidnariq: I will check that. Thanks!
User avatar
FrankenGraphics
Formerly WheelInventor
Posts: 2064
Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2016 2:55 am
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
Contact:

Re: Nes cartridge reproduction

Post by FrankenGraphics »

If you have the binary, you can write in a .txt file

.incbin "galaxian.bin"
.incbin "galaxian.bin"
.incbin "galaxian.bin"
.incbin "galaxian.bin"

provide a path between the "" if necessary, and assemble in any assembler. sometimes the directive is called .bin instead of .incbin. Both may work in some assemblers.

That will pack four copies of galaxian in one binary to fill up ROM space.

You can also roll the four includes in a .repeat / .rept directive, bit if you have to look that up, it's just faster to type .incbin four times and go.
User avatar
mikejmoffitt
Posts: 1353
Joined: Sun May 27, 2012 8:43 pm

Re: Nes cartridge reproduction

Post by mikejmoffitt »

If you are using Windows, you may also do this

Code: Select all

copy /b galaxian.prg+galaxian.prg+galaxian.prg+galaxian.prg galaxian32.prg
User avatar
FrankenGraphics
Formerly WheelInventor
Posts: 2064
Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2016 2:55 am
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
Contact:

Re: Nes cartridge reproduction

Post by FrankenGraphics »

^^ That's even faster.

I've just started using linux (console). Could i achieve the same with mv or cp?
lidnariq
Posts: 11430
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 11:12 am

Re: Nes cartridge reproduction

Post by lidnariq »

*n*x: use cat and redirects (cat file file file file > output)
eggman
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2017 12:23 am

Re: Nes cartridge reproduction

Post by eggman »

Many thanks, that helped.

Now, I used Wild Gunman. And it runs. It even reacts to the lightgun.
Except that the background graphics is missing. Please see image.
I tested all connections a thousand times. Does that mean the
chr eprom is somehow distorted? I'm reluctant to de-solder
everything...
IMG_7140.JPG
User avatar
Memblers
Site Admin
Posts: 4044
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:04 am
Location: Indianapolis
Contact:

Re: Nes cartridge reproduction

Post by Memblers »

It's probably the mirroring. There is a jumper on the board where you can select H or V. Try setting it so H is closed and V is open (or whatever is the opposite of what it is now).
eggman
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2017 12:23 am

Re: Nes cartridge reproduction

Post by eggman »

That was it!! Many thanks! Very friendly community.

All the effort for... Wild Gunman... :)
Post Reply