AX5202P MMC3 clone pinout?

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mark_k
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AX5202P MMC3 clone pinout?

Post by mark_k »

Hi,

Does anyone (kevtris? :)) have pinout info for the MMC3 clone chip marked AX5202P, which is used in some pirate cartridges? I have a couple of carts with that chip and the pinout would be helpful in figuring out how they work.

-- M
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Memblers
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Post by Memblers »

Here it is, on siudym's site. http://nintendoallstars.w.interia.pl/romlab/pmmc3.htm

According to kevtris' tests, it's 100% functionally compatible with the original MMC3. Though I wonder if it can help any with battery-backup.

BTW man, I remember you from the NESdev email list. That was a while back huh?
mark_k
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Post by mark_k »

Thanks for that! That page didn't show up in a Google search, probably because AX5202P doesn't appear in the text.

And yes, it has been a while... :)
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getafixx
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Re: AX5202P MMC3 clone pinout?

Post by getafixx »

Sorry to necro another old post! But i recently got my hands on about 10 of these AX5202p chips. I designed a basic TLROM board and tested with "Little Nemo: The Dream Master", and sadly only 4 of the chips work! The others either don't load at all, crash after selecting Start Game, or have completely messed up graphics. I've heard that some of these MMC3 clones can be a little hit and miss, but for half of a lot to not work is brutal odds.

So, my question is how or what would cause these chips not to work anymore, and in differing ways? As far as I can see these were new (well, new old stock anyways), so it can't have been from misuse. Or, is it possible that these AX5202p chips have different pinouts/functions?
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Re: AX5202P MMC3 clone pinout?

Post by tepples »

I've read that among MMC3 features in these clones, the IRQ circuitry has the lowest yield. Try them with Holy Diver Batman; does anything but IRQ (third digit of result code) fail on them?
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Memblers
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Re: AX5202P MMC3 clone pinout?

Post by Memblers »

I had the same problem, out of the 10 that I tested, only 2 worked, some where partially working. Funniest one was where everything but IRQ worked, so SMB3 was playable without the status bar. I have some more tubes of them that weren't tested. It didn't look very promising, plus I don't have a board for it (was using a friends' board when we tried those 10), I never bothered to make one.

I don't know if we could ever know for sure, but my theory is that all the good chips were built into carts years ago, these were from a known bad batch that was set aside and never used, or were thrown out and someone pulled them from the trash. I have a hard time believing that that many defects could be normal, but I suppose that's possible too.
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FARID
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Re: AX5202P MMC3 clone pinout?

Post by FARID »

Can you upload a picture of your chip?
I use this and never had any problem with them
It seems its date code is 1998
Attachments
AX5202P.JPG
AX5202P.JPG (24.08 KiB) Viewed 11538 times
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getafixx
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Re: AX5202P MMC3 clone pinout?

Post by getafixx »

I have the exact same chips, even the date stamp is the same. Any idea what the issue is here?
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Memblers
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Re: AX5202P MMC3 clone pinout?

Post by Memblers »

Mine look similar, but the codes are different, 012823A 0016
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infiniteneslives
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Re: AX5202P MMC3 clone pinout?

Post by infiniteneslives »

What do these things go for? Curious if it would be worthwhile to make a CPLD breakout board that was pin compatible with the AX5202P for dev use like this.
If you're gonna play the Game Boy, you gotta learn to play it right. -Kenny Rogers
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FARID
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Re: AX5202P MMC3 clone pinout?

Post by FARID »

@ infiniteneslives
Using these clones will salvage the remaining original NES/Famicom cartridges :mrgreen:
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getafixx
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Re: AX5202P MMC3 clone pinout?

Post by getafixx »

Not necessarily... they are still available from some online places, but if they only half-work then whats the point?

I've attached a couple pics of what my issues are. One is a working chip, the other 2 not so much.
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bad chip #2
bad chip #2
bad chip #1
bad chip #1
Working chip
Working chip
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FARID
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Re: AX5202P MMC3 clone pinout?

Post by FARID »

From the pictures I say they are defected for sure
Were they used when you bought them?
You need to adjust the pins (bend a little manually) of an unused chip to insert it into the IC socket, this is a sign of a new chip
Also these chips are very sensitive to static electricity and they must carried or shipped inside of a special tube

ps : very nice controller you have, I have the same thing and works perfect, nes controller with snes style
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getafixx
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Re: AX5202P MMC3 clone pinout?

Post by getafixx »

Yeah all of the pins had to be bent slightly to get them into my socket. They came in a tube in a static-free bag, so I'm not sure what could have happened there... I spoke with the place I bought them from and they told me "they can't be faulty, the manufacturer has said they were new and unused", but they sure appear faulty to me...

BTW, the ones that do that blue garbled screen also get very hot after a minute, and have a scrolling humbar vertically. Almost what you'd expect if you reversed VCC and GND or something, but the chip was inserted correctly.
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l_oliveira
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Re: AX5202P MMC3 clone pinout?

Post by l_oliveira »

It's possible they're mis-labeled.

They could be the VRC4 clone or the alternate MMC3 type. I know of at least two different pirate MMC3 pinouts.
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