SNES PowerPak

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Ramsis
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Re: SNES PowerPak

Post by Ramsis »

Hmm ... weird. The GG code handler in my latest WIP build is still the same as in v2.02, so I can't really see why it doesn't work for you – except maybe a corrupted file system on the card. Have you tried checking it for errors and/or reformatting it, or temporarily using another card?

Anyway, glad you like the firmware. Stay tuned for v3.00 "MUFASA"! :)

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Some of my projects:
Furry RPG!
Unofficial SNES PowerPak firmware
(See my GitHub profile for more)
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Ziggy587
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Re: SNES PowerPak

Post by Ziggy587 »

Ramsis wrote:Have you tried checking it for errors and/or reformatting it, or temporarily using another card?
No, I have not. I'll try that when I get a chance and see if it fixes the problem.
Ramsis wrote:Stay tuned for v3.00 "MUFASA"! :)
Right on! :D

edit: Well I re-downloaded your v2.02 FW and copied it over my CF card. I'm still getting the same results. It might be worth mentioning that I can manual input GG codes and they work fine as far as I can tell. I do have two other CF cards that I could test out with, in case that's the problem.
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Ziggy587
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Re: SNES PowerPak

Post by Ziggy587 »

So, I got it to work.

I never loaded GG codes from .txt files on the PowerPak before, so when I was testing it out I just used any random code and put the .txt file in the route of the CF card. This loaded the code wrong, as I previously described. So I decided to organize some GG codes like I do on other carts: Game Genie folder in route of card, sub folders for each game, .txt files in sub folders. Storing a .txt this way, I was able to successfully load a GG code. I guess you can't store the .txt files in the route of the card?
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Ramsis
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Re: SNES PowerPak

Post by Ramsis »

Ziggy587 wrote:So, I got it to work.

I never loaded GG codes from .txt files on the PowerPak before, so when I was testing it out I just used any random code and put the .txt file in the route of the CF card. This loaded the code wrong, as I previously described. So I decided to organize some GG codes like I do on other carts: Game Genie folder in route of card, sub folders for each game, .txt files in sub folders. Storing a .txt this way, I was able to successfully load a GG code. I guess you can't store the .txt files in the route of the card?
Hmmm ... unfortunately, I don't see any reason why loading of GG codes shouldn't work, regardless of where exactly your TXT file is stored. As a matter of fact, I tried it with a TXT file in the root directory of my CF card yesterday, without issue. :?

The PowerPak hardware really is picky about what type of CF card is used, I guess. :|
Some of my projects:
Furry RPG!
Unofficial SNES PowerPak firmware
(See my GitHub profile for more)
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Ramsis
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Re: SNES PowerPak

Post by Ramsis »

"Pentecost" ... :?:

For me (and you), it's more likely going to be a PowerPak festivity. :D
Some of my projects:
Furry RPG!
Unofficial SNES PowerPak firmware
(See my GitHub profile for more)
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Ramsis
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Re: SNES PowerPak

Post by Ramsis »

Voilà! :D

SNES PowerPak Firmware v3.00 "MUFASA"

Installation instructions (copied from the Readme):
  1. Determine the current version of your firmware. You'll see the version number once you power up your SNES PowerPak. If it says, "Boot ROM v1.0X" (where X can be any number), then you have a version 1 firmware. If you spot the word "SIMBA" anywhere on the screen, then you have a version 2 firmware.
  2. Copy the contents of <this release's archive root>/POWERPAK (sans the SAVES subfolder) to the POWERPAK directory on your CF card, replacing any existing file(s) (i.e., TOPLEVEL.BIT).
  3. Browse to <your CF card root>/POWERPAK. Delete SI.MAP. Then, rename the SIvX.MAP file that matches your installed firmware number from step 1 (i.e., SIv1.MAP for a version 1 firmware, and SIv2.MAP for a version 2 firmware) to SI.MAP.
  4. Power on your SNES PowerPak, and follow the on-screen instructions.
  5. After the upgrade procedure has completed successfully, you can safely delete all *.TXT and *.MAP files from <your CF card root>/POWERPAK.
Have fun! :)
Some of my projects:
Furry RPG!
Unofficial SNES PowerPak firmware
(See my GitHub profile for more)
Great Hierophant
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Re: SNES PowerPak

Post by Great Hierophant »

Once the PowerPak has successfully flashed its update, do we need to keep the TOPLEVEL.BIT, UPDATE.BIN or UPDATE.ROM files? Also, how is the PowerPak to know whether it has the latest firmware without an Internet connection?
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Ramsis
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Re: SNES PowerPak

Post by Ramsis »

Great Hierophant wrote:Once the PowerPak has successfully flashed its update, do we need to keep the TOPLEVEL.BIT, UPDATE.BIN or UPDATE.ROM files?
You can delete UPDATE.BIN, but you have to keep the other two.

Here's the list of files/subfolders in the POWERPAK folder that are required for v3.00 to operate correctly:

Code: Select all

SAVES
THEMES
ERROR.LOG
LASTGAME.LOG
POWERPAK.CFG
TOPLEVEL.BIT
UPDATE.ROM
Great Hierophant wrote:Also, how is the PowerPak to know whether it has the latest firmware without an Internet connection?
When you check for an update via the settings menu, the PowerPak compares the version/build it's running on with that in UPDATE.ROM. If the latter is newer, it launches the update flasher. Of course, you still need an internet-capable device to get the update in the first place. :wink:
Some of my projects:
Furry RPG!
Unofficial SNES PowerPak firmware
(See my GitHub profile for more)
Marvin
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Re: SNES PowerPak

Post by Marvin »

Thanks Ramsis for the new FW! Playing SPC and instantly returning to file selection is AWESOME!
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thefox
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Re: SNES PowerPak

Post by thefox »

Thanks for the update. Going to have to check this out later.
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effowe
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Re: SNES PowerPak

Post by effowe »

Hey Ramsis,

Thanks again for the great firmware update. As a user from the alpha stages I look forward to all of your updates as it gives my PowerPak new life every time. I do have one suggestion, however. I was going through the options and the menu selection keys are colored, namely to the Famicom colors that are on the controllers. These are on Pal and NTSJ controllers, but for those of us in the NTSC (America) regions, we get two different shades of blue. Here's an example..

Image

As a result, I didn't really know what button I was pressing to navigate the menus, as I only have those two shades of blue, and if there were letters underneath the colors I couldn't see them.

My recommendation would be to throw a solid black letter on top of the color so that all users could tell which button press did what. Other than that, speed seems to have increased and you keep bringing new features to this "old" cart. Keep up the good work and thanks again!

effowe
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Ramsis
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Re: SNES PowerPak

Post by Ramsis »

Hey guys, glad to hear my work of long years is still appreciated. :D
effowe wrote:I was going through the options and the menu selection keys are colored, namely to the Famicom colors that are on the controllers. These are on Pal and NTSJ controllers, but for those of us in the NTSC (America) regions, we get two different shades of blue. Here's an example..

(...)

As a result, I didn't really know what button I was pressing to navigate the menus, as I only have those two shades of blue, and if there were letters underneath the colors I couldn't see them.
Indeed, the standard theme (MUFASA.THM) uses SFC/PAL SNES joypad button colors only. If you have any trouble, please try using another theme with North American-style button graphics (like FOURDOTS.THM, MARIO.THM or RETROUSB.THM). :)

Thanks!
Ramsis
Some of my projects:
Furry RPG!
Unofficial SNES PowerPak firmware
(See my GitHub profile for more)
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Ziggy587
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Re: SNES PowerPak

Post by Ziggy587 »

Hey Ramsis. I just updated to the latest FW and it looks/works great! I just wanted to give you a big THANK YOU again for your work. Your menus are a million times better than the stock menus!

Just curious... Any chance of working on the NES PowerPak?
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Ramsis
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Re: SNES PowerPak

Post by Ramsis »

Ziggy587 wrote:Hey Ramsis. I just updated to the latest FW and it looks/works great! I just wanted to give you a big THANK YOU again for your work. Your menus are a million times better than the stock menus!
Thanks, I'm glad to hear you enjoy the new firmware! :D
Ziggy587 wrote:Just curious... Any chance of working on the NES PowerPak?
Unfortunately, I don't own one of those, so I don't even know about its drawbacks. The main enhancement of my SNES PowerPak firmware, however (i.e., horizontal hi-res), can never be achieved on the NES anyway, so there really isn't much point in working on it at all IMHO. :|
Some of my projects:
Furry RPG!
Unofficial SNES PowerPak firmware
(See my GitHub profile for more)
lidnariq
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Re: SNES PowerPak

Post by lidnariq »

Ramsis wrote:The main enhancement of my SNES PowerPak firmware, however (i.e., horizontal hi-res), can never be achieved on the NES anyway, so there really isn't much point in working on it at all IMHO. :|
The corresponding upgrade for the NES would be using a proportional font.

Last time I looked at this, it looked like that wouldn't even require a full firmware upgrade, just replacing a few of the individual modules (?.MAP) ... although reflashing the actual bootloader would be an obvious way to polish it up.
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