Are famiclones illegal?

Discuss technical or other issues relating to programming the Nintendo Entertainment System, Famicom, or compatible systems. See the NESdev wiki for more information.

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tepples
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Re: Are famiclones illegal?

Post by tepples »

Game Boy boot ROM is easy to HLE though. Only by the GBA era did it actually contain program-visible functionality other than initial register state.
lidnariq
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Re: Are famiclones illegal?

Post by lidnariq »

Keyman Electronics Co wrote:As
you are aware through your technical training it is more
difficult to copy an original layout than to produce an
original integrated circuit.
They don't say "we didn't copy it". And given the layout we can see in the decapped UA6538 I have to say I'd be skeptical that it's not a copy.

But maybe the UA6541 was a proper original clone, and when they had bugs they gave up and went back to cribbing the design in the 6538.
The DRAM refresh circuits on the RP2007-0 for data
retention are not necessary for UA 6538, and please note
most importantly that the control timing and data retention
method for these two devices are totally different
Huh! I wonder what they changed there. They're certainly still using DRAM.
NewRisingSun
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Re: Are famiclones illegal?

Post by NewRisingSun »

Which reminds me of something I have always wondered: why have expensive SRAM in both CPU RAM and PPU nametable RAM, but DRAM for something as crucial as the tiny 256 bytes of OAM? DRAM is usually described as the choice for higher-capacity memory, yet in the NES, it's the opposite.

I must say that I am having trouble understanding what that court document means in terms of outcome. Did Nintendo or Centronics win in the end?
MLX
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Re: Are famiclones illegal?

Post by MLX »

There were followups, which are much less interesting to read.
December 1991
December 1992
October 1994
Summary
Comments from both parties (Centronics, 1992 and Nintendo, 1994)

In short, Nintendo won as usual.
Last edited by MLX on Mon Apr 16, 2018 1:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Eugene.S
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Re: Are famiclones illegal?

Post by Eugene.S »

1'st link is very interesting.
Seems UMC make it's own PPU better than RP2C07
I still waiting for RP2C07 and UA6527P decapsulation.
NOAC UM6561 series (used in later Dendy/PAL famiclones ~1994~) will be interesting too
In short, Nintendo won as usual
Nintendo won Centronics, but not UMC, right?
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