Hardware Recordings with S5B Chip

Discuss NSF files, FamiTracker, MML tools, or anything else related to NES music.

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lidnariq
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Re: Hardware Recordings with S5B Chip

Post by lidnariq »

tadashibashi wrote:Okay wait, I'm a little confused, so I was connecting the YMZ slot directly to the Gimmick cart, but you intended directions for the Gimmick cart to go into the HFX4 catridge slot (w/ ymz connected to corresponding Gimmick pins)?
No, I intended the former, connecting the YMZ slot directly to Gimmick!, as I thought you did.
I know this is a noob question but what's an example of tying pin 14 to ground? I'm not sure what ground is, other than absorbing current.
Ground is ... another signal. Um. In this case, I'm using it to mean "always 0".

You said you connected the data bus also to the external slot, right? i.e. on the YMZ294 pads, you connected pins 10-18 also, yes? So of the 18 pins on the YMZ294 connector, you had a total of 16 wires going from the connector to Gimmick! ?
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ImATrackMan
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Re: Hardware Recordings with S5B Chip

Post by ImATrackMan »

This reminds me of my failed attempt at wiring an AY-3-8910 to the socket to get the 5B an octave higher. Then I realized you could just connect the clock pin to Lagrange Point's ceramic resonator.

EDIT: was just clicking around on the TNS site and found a chart saying that they moved the original 5B address from $C000 to $5FE0 to avoid conflicting with the VRC7 when used at the same time.
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ImATrackMan
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Re: Hardware Recordings with S5B Chip

Post by ImATrackMan »

Reviving this with something hopefully useful, I got myself an HFC4 which means I can record directly from a real Gimmick! cartridge, and since the last post in this topic, I've also gotten my own copy of Gimmick!.
This has lead to me finding that there's something odd with how Famitracker handles the 5B. When using the YM on the HFX4, (almost) every 5B NSF plays perfectly fine, but when using Gimmick!, the envgen no longer behaves as expected.

The reason I say "almost" is that with the FT 0.5 BETA, Noise and Tone work perfectly fine, but Envelope and anything combined with it either remains silent or plays one of the "oneshot" shapes ($00-$03/$09), the exception to this is when it's combined with a TN that's playing extremely high, nearly-inaudible-to-inaudible periods, effectively halving the ENV volume. This issue happens on both a real 5B and the HFX4 YM. With 0CC-FT, however, the ENV seems to be disabled, so either total silence is "played" or the NS/TN it's combined with plays at full volume (since there's no ENV). Everything else works as normal, but this only happens on the 5B, the YMZ plays all sounds as expected.

The real kicker is that it's not an issue with the TNS hardware or Gimmick!. NSFs generated via MML, with OFGS, NSD.lib, or MCK, play absolutely perfectly on both chips. The TNS sends the right data to the right place, so it's probably somehow FT's fault. Sadly, I'm not programming-oriented at all, so I can't possibly figure out what it is.

Forgive me if this sounds stupid, it's 6-ish AM and I haven't slept in nearly a day and a half.

EDIT: So, Famitracker BETA only needs to have the channel enabled via an instrument macro, it can't be blank or zero-volume, otherwise the envelope won't play. 0CC famitracker still has its odd issue.
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