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Most of us have a desolder station at home, and don't even know it!

Ok. I admit it, I may have done it twice or 3 times with a board I didn't need :thumbsup:

tenor.gif
 
Will wait for the Darksoft PGM Multi. Suggest that there is no roll-up pack ever released for it to avoid Cave's legal team.
 
@MetalliC I checked the code in MAME and if I'm not wrong, the ARM is not even running. AFAIK the ARM will do a CRC check on the program ROM and if it doesn't match what it expects, it will just not decrypt anything. In that case useless encrypted code will reach the 68000 which will hang out inevitably. But if you are running decrypted code already, you are good.

AFAIR in MAME there are some decryption routines for each program rom and that's it. Once you get the program rom decrypted, the game runs properly. Maybe there are some checks/answers that are emulated in MAME but if you run this code in a cart then those checks need to be bypassed, but as far as I could find out, the arm was not used. Can you please confirm?

Thanks.
So, it is possible to just burn a decrypted rom and replace the EPROM on a cart to change its language? that would be nice for me, since I'd like to have my korean Demon Front cart 100% in English. Is the decrypted ROM available somewhere? :D
We got one language-changed and hidden-characters-added rom already from the beautiful people on this board, I keep holding out for more because I too would love to make my games fully English.
There is also a patch floating around for KOV2 Nine Dragons which forces English/Export version. I'm not sure who made it.
 
This blog entry is the best info I've found: https://newastrocity.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/cave-conversions/

it lists which games can be used as donors but it's unclear if you can use MAME ROMs or if the ROMs need to be patched to bypass security.
Cons
  • Bootleg
  • A PGM game needs to act as donor
  • Arrange ROM’s for Ketsui and DDP DOJ cannot be played
  • DDP DOJ Black Label doesn’t have the Vanilla version
Regardless of boot or multi... looks like there is still room for some rom hacking here...
Anyone with any knowledge on this? Could separate Arrange modes / Vanilla versions be built from the available rom sets?
 
Arrange ROM’s for Ketsui and DDP DOJ cannot be played

DDP DOJ Black Label doesn’t have the Vanilla version
First of all how are these modes selected on the original hardware?

Is it just something like dip switches weren't implemented on the cart version, or did they get corrupted as part of the decryption process.

The question then remains, are Apocalypse's ROMs the same as Jeorgs? because that link is about Jeorg's conversions.
 
Perhaps we should consider saying Demon Front is not a suitable donor. ;)

Thanks to Apocalypse and everyone else who shared relevant info!
I couldnt agree more. This game shouldnt be anywhere near a list of games to sac ;(
 
So before everyone destroys a pile of PGM cartridges, please be aware pertinent information to make these conversions work was missed from the instructions posted.

For starters, not all copies of KOV SH and KOV2 are compatible with the roms (which are readily available in mame). I have seen both games come on different pcbs and only one type is compatible with the roms available at this time.

It is recommended to use a 5v to 3.3v regulator pcb, not just a regulator and ceramic cap combo (like used in snes repros). The 3.3v pcbs are about $1 a pop and have current limiting resistors and filter caps built in. If your 3.3v line is “dirty” the game will exhibit glitches.

Pin 1 (WE) must also be lifted and tied to a 3.3v source, just like pin 23 (Vcc). Leaving attached to the pcb will render a non working game.

Most importantly, even if you do have a compatible donor, the cut and jump instructions are missing for modifying the PLD and TTL IC on the main and rom boards. It is not a direct rom swap as implied.

If the mods are OK with it I’ll post the info.
 
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Perhaps we should consider saying Demon Front is not a suitable donor. ;)

Thanks to Apocalypse and everyone else who shared relevant info!
I couldnt agree more. This game shouldnt be anywhere near a list of games to sac ;(
Demon Front is still one of my top favorite games, liked it so much I bought a second cart that was in better shape.
 
So before everyone destroys a pile of PGM cartridges, please be aware pertinent information to make these conversions work was missed from the instructions posted.

For starters, not all copies of KOV SH and KOV2 are compatible with the roms (which are readily available in mame). I have seen both games come on different pcbs and only one type is compatible with the roms available at this time.

It is recommended to use a 5v to 3.3v regulator pcb, not just a regulator and ceramic cap combo (like used in snes repros). The 3.3v pcbs are about $1 a pop and have current limiting resistors and filter caps built in. If your 3.3v line is “dirty” the game will exhibit glitches.

Most importantly, even if you do have a compatible donor, the cut and jump instructions are missing for modifying the PLD and TTL IC on the main and rom boards. It is not a direct rom swap as implied.

If the mods are OK with it I’ll post the info.
Thanks for the complement of information.
My notes are really messy so I tried to complete them with what I could remember.
 
My pleasure.

Btw I edited my initial post. Pin 1 (WE) also needs to be lifted and tied to 3.3v on the replacement flash roms. This is important!!
 
My pleasure.

Btw I edited my initial post. Pin 1 (WE) also needs to be lifted and tied to 3.3v on the replacement flash roms. This is important!!
I was about to ask you about that as I did remember it.
 
For starters, not all copies of KOV SH and KOV2 are compatible with the roms
Is there a good way to determine which carts are compatible and which ones are not? Similarly do you know if KOV2 Plus:Nine Dragons is suitable? it looks like it uses a similar PCB to KOV2 according to the MAME source.
 
Perhaps we should consider saying Demon Front is not a suitable donor. ;)

Thanks to Apocalypse and everyone else who shared relevant info!
I couldnt agree more. This game shouldnt be anywhere near a list of games to sac ;(
Perhaps we should consider saying Demon Front is not a suitable donor. ;)

Thanks to Apocalypse and everyone else who shared relevant info!
I couldnt agree more. This game shouldnt be anywhere near a list of games to sac ;(
Demon Front is still one of my top favorite games, liked it so much I bought a second cart that was in better shape.
I feel the same way. I really enjoyed the game when i first came across it and still think its an awesome game. I only have 1 copy though lol
 
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