Reverse engineering 161 in 1 cartridge to change Rom games
- Thread starter goguelnikov
- Start date
@rewrite looking good! thank you for taking the time.
I just corrected a mistake I made in the menu. I was sending the NGH number to $2C0FEE, but it was actually just the list index. I stumbled upon this after 2 failed tests on real hardware and disassemling the original menu rom from vortex's repository. I also implemented the original routine that clears the backup ram prior to launching a game.
I just corrected a mistake I made in the menu. I was sending the NGH number to $2C0FEE, but it was actually just the list index. I stumbled upon this after 2 failed tests on real hardware and disassemling the original menu rom from vortex's repository. I also implemented the original routine that clears the backup ram prior to launching a game.
Thanks
It looks like it will come down to seeing if that ribbon cable will cause a problem.
If it does I will simply make a new, longer ribbon and route it around!
They really are new! Ha
Some Menu progress to share.
Everything was tested on real hardware and several improvements were made.
I've added C and V roms, primarily to have the NEO GEO logo in the Unibios splashscreen, but I've also implemented the EyeCatcher animation with respect to the work from @Vortex .
The Compiler script had to be changed a little to reflect these changes.
We've been testing with a small number of games, next up is testing with a full set.
I'll try to post some video footage from our discord later.
Everything was tested on real hardware and several improvements were made.
I've added C and V roms, primarily to have the NEO GEO logo in the Unibios splashscreen, but I've also implemented the EyeCatcher animation with respect to the work from @Vortex .
The Compiler script had to be changed a little to reflect these changes.
We've been testing with a small number of games, next up is testing with a full set.
I'll try to post some video footage from our discord later.
Attachments
I was honored with the task of testing, as well as taking footage of the new menu:
View: https://youtu.be/OnxyKLLq-3w?si=clHeps5Q1VkDWBy2
https://github.com/ArcadeTV/neogeo-menu
It is now in a stable state, and works like a charm
It needs some modifications to the Assembler to use C- and V-Rom for the menu as well and the C and Vrom files need to be converted before being able to be used. But this will all be described in detail the near future.
Big thx to @ArcadeTV for this elegant and beautiful menu
https://github.com/ArcadeTV/neogeo-menu
It is now in a stable state, and works like a charm
It needs some modifications to the Assembler to use C- and V-Rom for the menu as well and the C and Vrom files need to be converted before being able to be used. But this will all be described in detail the near future.
Big thx to @ArcadeTV for this elegant and beautiful menu
You guys all smashed this project out the park! Kudos!
Having a "hacked unibios" with a "reboot to menu" option would be great addition.
Or maybe just hack the "soft reset" option to reset to menu by default, I'm not sure if any side effects could occurs with original games.
Or maybe just hack the "soft reset" option to reset to menu by default, I'm not sure if any side effects could occurs with original games.
I got this from Razoola when I asked about Pick'n'Mix.
Unfortunately this means that I can't offer a working Pick'n'Mix and "Reset back to Menu" because this is out of my league.
The modded cart though remains what it is - a neat fullset with some given limitations for an affordable amount of money.
I think these are going to go really smoothly.
On my first cart I did get one of the SMD pin sets a little cock-eyed after removal. A little heat and tweezers slid it back in place no problem.
I didn't clog my 0.6mm tip, but it also just wasn't that useful. Great for cleanup though.
I globbed on extra solder to all the pins, then just took a nozzle-less heat gun and treated it like a cell screen (constant motion, even temp increases across the board), once the PCB was pretty warm I focused on the rows of pins, still keeping constant motion, but basically only in that corner. Once the solder was wet for 4-5 seconds I took a metal spadger and laid it flat like @ack did with tweezers and pressed down, then just tapped the corner of the PCB for the daughterboard to fall out. Then I put the heat lower, and kept evenly heating the PCB to try and make sure it all cooled slowly at the same rate.
These aren't bad at all! S1/M1 roms are way scarier than these. Very time consuming though.
Pic is pre-cleanup, the muck is just flux. No burns, no bubbles, no warping.
EDIT: Slight warping on one of the daughterboards. I wonder if putting a piece of copper over the back while doing this would help keep the heat on the pins and not the PCB. Kinda like using a copper back plate for welding.
I DID buy a cheap reflow oven locally today, and I'm wondering if that could be put to use somehow, but I'm not seeing how. Should be nice for soldering things onto the dumper boards though!
On my first cart I did get one of the SMD pin sets a little cock-eyed after removal. A little heat and tweezers slid it back in place no problem.
I didn't clog my 0.6mm tip, but it also just wasn't that useful. Great for cleanup though.
I globbed on extra solder to all the pins, then just took a nozzle-less heat gun and treated it like a cell screen (constant motion, even temp increases across the board), once the PCB was pretty warm I focused on the rows of pins, still keeping constant motion, but basically only in that corner. Once the solder was wet for 4-5 seconds I took a metal spadger and laid it flat like @ack did with tweezers and pressed down, then just tapped the corner of the PCB for the daughterboard to fall out. Then I put the heat lower, and kept evenly heating the PCB to try and make sure it all cooled slowly at the same rate.
These aren't bad at all! S1/M1 roms are way scarier than these. Very time consuming though.
Pic is pre-cleanup, the muck is just flux. No burns, no bubbles, no warping.
EDIT: Slight warping on one of the daughterboards. I wonder if putting a piece of copper over the back while doing this would help keep the heat on the pins and not the PCB. Kinda like using a copper back plate for welding.
I DID buy a cheap reflow oven locally today, and I'm wondering if that could be put to use somehow, but I'm not seeing how. Should be nice for soldering things onto the dumper boards though!
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I'm currently trying to build the C3 stuff... Without much success 
it seems my PC lacks of RAM
I looked through the python code and unfortunately there are byte arrays of ~3 GB created in there beside some other variables being 1GB etc.
This seems to be a little too much for my 24GB RAM system
I'll have a look on how to improve this and report back
it seems my PC lacks of RAMI looked through the python code and unfortunately there are byte arrays of ~3 GB created in there beside some other variables being 1GB etc.
This seems to be a little too much for my 24GB RAM system
I'll have a look on how to improve this and report back
Got the rest of the surface mount chips pulled and the PCBs cleaned up. There's probably a better way to remove these... I don't think I've damaged them, but sheesh were they stubborn.
Waiting on all the PCBs and chips now. But at least the part I feared would be terrifying wasn't that hard at all!
Waiting on all the PCBs and chips now. But at least the part I feared would be terrifying wasn't that hard at all!
I'm working my way through this.
I have successfully removed the C-chips with an Yihua desolder station and a 0.8mm nozzle.
Unfortunately, I ripped one of the legs off. Can I solder a wire directly from the chip itself to the programmer or cart without problems?
Also, can someone tell me how much time it takes to program one of the C-chips?
I have successfully removed the C-chips with an Yihua desolder station and a 0.8mm nozzle.
Unfortunately, I ripped one of the legs off. Can I solder a wire directly from the chip itself to the programmer or cart without problems?
Also, can someone tell me how much time it takes to program one of the C-chips?
I have documented the entire process on my Twitter feed. You can read it here and follow along with pictures: https://x.com/leonkiriliuk/status/1719900444439327176?s=20