Quick Verifications...

Discuss hardware-related topics, such as development cartridges, CopyNES, PowerPak, EPROMs, or whatever.

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Xious
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Location: Sol 3 in Mutter's Spiral
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Quick Verifications...

Post by Xious »

I'm making some headway witht he NESpander Dev board, and I want to ask the community to verify a few things for me, so I don't mess anything up...

#1:

NES EXP Vs. FC EXP Ports
I used a variety of references that I found on several sites, including the NESDev Wiki, some of which were conflicting or incomplete... The FC EXP port isn't seemingly in the NESDev Wiki files either...so I located one by Kevin Horton plus two others, plus the schematic of the FC in the FAQ and used all of what i could find to make this... Does it look right?

Code: Select all

Famicom to NES Expansion Port Pinout 
By: Xious Sonenberg

FC DA-15				NES 48-Pin DSub EXP
1 – Ground			2 - Ground
2 - Sound Output			21 – Audio Out
3 – IRQ				14 - /IRQ
4 - Port #1 (D4) 4017R.4	18 – Joypad #2 (D4)
5 - Port #1 (D3) 4017R.3	16 – Joypad #2 (D3)
6 - Port #1 (D2) 4017R.2	15 – Joypad #2 (D2)
7 - Port #1 (D1) 4017R.1	20 – Joypad #2 (D1)
8 - Port #1 (D0) 4017R.0	19 – Joypad #2 (D0)
9 - Port #1 CLK 4017R.E	11 – /OE Joypad #2
10 - Out2 4016WR.2		45 – Out2
11 - Out1 4016WR.1		44 – Out1
12 - Out0 4016WR.0		43 – Out0
13 - Port #0 (D1) 4016R.1	12 – Joypad #1 D1
14 - Port #0 CLK 4016R.E	37 – /OE Joypad #1
15 - +5VDC			1 – +5VDC (Out)
---

#2 - FC DA-15 Male port Pin Numbering

I also need to verify the port numbering for the male DA-15 EXP connector. Is it:

Viewing Male Pins
8--7--6--5--4--3--‘2--1
15-14-13-12-11-10-9

------OR------

Viewing Male Pins
1--2--3--4--5--6--7--8
10-11-12-13-14-15

I can check it myself later, but I figured I'd ask. This should probably be in the Wiki alongside the DA-15 port pinouts.
-----

#3 - Extra Sound Pins

I know that the powerPak rwquires that I bridge, with a 47KΩ resistor, Audio In (EXP Pin 3) to Cart Pin 54 (EXP Pin 9)...

I need to know if the 100KΩ resistor + 4.7uF cap mod for 'extra sound' on standard Famicom carts also bridges to the same cart pin (54/EXP#9).

Also, is there a tried-and-true method of bridging the pins to perform both mods at once without a toggle switch? If not, what does the powerPak sound like with the 100KΩ resistor and 4.7uF cap, in place of the 47KΩ resistor alone?

Is there a happy medium?

I'd prefer that the NESpander permits the user to hear the extra sound from both the PowerPak and from FC games such as Akumajou Densetsu without requiring the user to toggle a switch...

EDIT: Looks like the 10K mod goes to EXP pin #40 (cart pin 18), so it's a snap to have both...

This is Wiki-worthy too...

---

I took a bunch of photos of the process of building the latest prototype, and as soon as i wire up the DA-15 port and add the developer sockets, I will create a gallery of them all for you to see.

Maybe I can grab a video camera and do a short film that demonstrates the dev board in use... :) I guess that depends on whether or not anybody I know has a video camera that i can borrow, as my video equipment is all analogue and I don't want to have to do encoding and editing to get a 3 minute film on-line.

Anyhow, this is the info that I need to verify, so that I ensure the correct function of the board with FC expansion devices and audio. Thank you all in advance for any assistance and input!

-Xious
Live_Steam_Mad
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Sep 10, 2010 1:01 pm

Post by Live_Steam_Mad »

I just took a multimeter to my NES and it seems that Expansion port pin 21 is connected to Emitter of Q1 (A397) i.e. VIDEO (since Q1's base connects to pin 21 of PPU i.e. Composite Video, and Audio is on pin 22 of Expansion port. Which is the reverse of the pinout on the NESDev Wiki for NES (Expansion port pinout webpage).

I did a search and this seemed to be the best place to post this. Seeing as how I can't even enter the discussion on the editing on that Wiki.

Regards,

Alistair G.
tepples
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Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 11:12 pm
Location: NE Indiana, USA (NTSC)
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Post by tepples »

Live_Steam_Mad wrote:I did a search and this seemed to be the best place to post this. Seeing as how I can't even enter the discussion on the editing on that Wiki.
Create an account on the wiki and PM me your username there, and I might hook you up.
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