(noob) Making repro nes carts

[Nerdy Nick]

Hi, i've allways wanted to make a couple of nes carts like earthbound etc.
now i dont really know what im doing so im here hoping to get some kind of guidance.

ive been looking into it heaps and got a basic idea of what do, ive never soldered anything before or messed around with eproms but i do have a pretty good background in computers.

Before i go into the hard stuff i was going to do a basic hack of a Smb, like this: http://beigerecords.com/cory/Things_I_Made_in_2003/mario_clouds_2005.html just to test if i can i burn and solder the eproms properly, if i can do that then il move onto bigger stuff.

now what im most worried about... THE PARTS

Ive had a look at a bunch of similar tuts and they all use differnet eproms ( some use 27C256 and some just use 27256) so im really confused which are the right to buy.

i currently put a bid on these (27256) http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=150161771568&ssPageName=STRK:MEBI:IT&ih=005

If you were bothered to read everything i cant thankyou enough ( i know noobs are annoying)

[cheshire191]

not 1000% sure. But i believe this is the part you need. You can get it from the mouser catalog for $5.10 each plus shipping which will be cheaper than getting it from Australia. Unless, of course you are from Australia.

also this one would be brand new, not a pull from an old board.

And unless I am mistaken there is a typo on the ebay listing. it should be a 256k not 265k.

http://www.mouser.com/search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=CAT28C256LI-15virtualkey69800000virtualkey698-CAT28C256LI-15

[Nerdy Nick]

Ok i found an site that i THINK sells the right ones (27C256)
http://www.futurlec.com/Memory/27C256-200pr.shtml

and if i get these chips then what sockets should i get

because theres different types for 28pin, narrow, machined etc

[SkiDragon]

What sort of burning device are you planning to use?

[Nerdy Nick]

After i know which eproms i need then i will buy the programmer

[Nerdy Nick]

Im sorry to douple post but i really need to order these eproms soon,

I know i need 27C256 32K x 8 for my smb cart

but What eproms do i need for earthbound 0!! my doner cart is shadow gate btw

[shadowkn55]

Im sorry to douple post but i really need to order these eproms soon,

I know i need 27C256 32K x 8 for my smb cart

but What eproms do i need for earthbound 0!! my doner cart is shadow gate btw

That depends on the size of the chr and prg portions of the game.

[Nerdy Nick]

well for earthbound i need two 256k eproms... so are these right?

27C020 - 27C020 2048K 100ns CMOS EPROM (256k x 8)


http://www.futurlec.com.au/Memory/27C020-100.jsp

[jajaja]

well for earthbound i need two 256k eproms... so are these right?

27C020 - 27C020 2048K 100ns CMOS EPROM (256k x 8)


http://www.futurlec.com.au/Memory/27C020-100.jsp

The number is right atleast, but dont know about the other specifications. If you're going to make NES repros, this site sell parts too:

http://www.retrousb.com/index.php?categoryID=85

[Nerdy Nick]

The number is right atleast, but dont know about the other specifications. If you're going to make NES repros, this site sell parts too:

http://www.retrousb.com/index.php?categoryID=85


If there the right number there good right?? should i get them

[jajaja]

If there the right number there good right?? should i get them


I have no idea, sorry.

[cheshire191]

I have been in the same boat you are in, in terms of getting older spare parts. And I have learned that sometimes you have to buy the wrong things, to find out what the right things are.

I personally went through about 15 seperate din connectors until I found the 'right' one to use with the Sega V2. Or at least one that ended up working anyway.

Needless to say, since the Sega came out, parts and components have changed, part numbers are different, and even suppliers have changed or gone out of business.

The coolest part of the process for me has been learning. And also to report back what I have learned or found out back to the forums.

-just my 2 cents... feel free to give me change if you want.

[Nerdy Nick]

Ok, i finaly programed all the chips and soldered them using AlanD's earthbound zero guide, and i just get a grey screen :( im pretty sure all my soldering is good, so it leads me to think that i didn't program the chips correctly. I still have the prg and chr files i burnt to the chips on hy hdd, so is there anyway to check the files to see if there correct? like a prg and chr emulator??

[shadowkn55]

Did you connect vpp to 5V? Which eproms did you use? If they are larger than the you needed, you may need to tie some of the higher address lines to ground.

[Nerdy Nick]

mmm... i think i know what it is, somebody just told me you can only use the earthbound proto rom, and not the hacked one with the zero in the title is this true?

[shadowkn55]

No, you can use the hacked version just fine.

[Nerdy Nick]

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=86386


http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=86387

theres my soldering, there has to be something wrong with it, or its those silvery contacts undeneath i got a bit of solder on them

[shadowkn55]

It's difficult to see whats going on because of the lighting but one thing I see wrong is that prg /oe is not connected to ground.

[Nerdy Nick]

You mean pin 24? i soldered it to 22 like it said in this guide (red wire)

- Board required: NES-TKROM-10 (Tecmo Basketball works)
- Use 2 D27C2001D-15 or equivalents
- Remove mask roms
- Bend up pin 1, 2, 24 & 30 on PRG eprom
- Solder into place of the masked rom.
- Tie pins 1 & 32 together (+5)
- Tie pins 22 & 24 together
- Tie pin 2 & pin 24 hole together
- Tie pin 30 & pin 1 hole together
- Bend up pins 1, 2, 22, 24, 30 & 31 on CHR eprom
- Solder into place of the masked rom.
- Tie pins 1, 31 & 32 together (+5)
- Tie pin 30 & pin 1 hole together
- Tie pin 24 & pin 2 hole together
- Tie pin 2 & pin 24 hole together
- Tie pin 22 & pin 31 hole together

[shadowkn55]

There shouldn't be a reason to connect pin 22 and pin 24 together on prg rom unless pin 22 was also connected to ground.

[Nerdy Nick]

will this game boot without the battery?

[shadowkn55]

Yes, its the same as having a dead battery.

[AlanD]

I have not made one in a long long time and don't recall the procedure but that write-up is exactly the one I used when I made them for people.

The main problem I see from the pics is that is a NES-TSROM-08 board and not what I wrote the procedure for. I have no idea what the layout of that board is or if it is compatible.

TKROM-10 boards are in:
Baseball Stars 2
Gold Metal Challenge
Kirbys Adventure
Might & Magic
Pool of Radiance
Tecmo Basketball
Tecmo Super Bowl
Wario Woods
Wizardry 2 Knight of Diamonds

Tecmo Basketball is just a more common and cheaper cart than the rest of the list

Also it does look like you threw some good heat to the pins to get those large wires attached and it could potentially mess up the chip. Radio Shack has small gauge hookup wire last I checked for fairly cheap which would be a better choice. Email me directly at aldavis2@cox.net if you have issues as I seldom come around and very rarely log in for PMs