SNES Powerpak is now available [Archive] - Page 5

Nature Boy

12-21-2009, 03:10 PM

i read all the snes powerpak problems . and i have none of them

MY SNES POWERPAK WORK PERFECLTY NORMAL WITH the included 2gb card i bought with it.

people are not lucky here.

castlevania 4 work perfeclty.

For the record, I purchased the 4 GB card from POWERPAK (which is the Dane-whatever brand that the 2 GB card is).

It's really the only rom (other than Contra III) that I've had issues with. I have another spare CF card kicking around (16 MB I think it is :) ) that I'm going to try out, just to see if I can rule out the card or not. Haven't gotten around to it yet!

maxwell7301

12-21-2009, 04:15 PM

For the record, I purchased the 4 GB card from POWERPAK (which is the Dane-whatever brand that the 2 GB card is).

It's really the only rom (other than Contra III) that I've had issues with. I have another spare CF card kicking around (16 MB I think it is :) ) that I'm going to try out, just to see if I can rule out the card or not. Haven't gotten around to it yet!

One thing I've been wondering is if it makes a difference whether the card is formatted FAT-16 or FAT-32.

Cards 2GB and under can be formatted FAT-16, which may be more compatible with the SNES Powerpak.

Cards 4GB and above must be formatted FAT-32.

My 4GB Lexar card only works without problems if I set DMA=0 in the config.txt file in the POWERPAK mapper directory. If I don't do this, I have problems saving in many games, games don't always load, and some of the text on the rom loading screen is corrupted.

Also, Super Castlevania IV works 100% perfectly for me, so it's probably an issue with a bad rom. I would try to obtain another rom of it, and see if that helps.

12-22-2009, 02:30 AM

maxwell7301

12-24-2009, 01:10 AM

To expand on a previous post, my Transcend 133x 8gb card card was extremely slow (many times saw the message "card busy") and almost every game had graphical or sound glitches. Tried several formatting tools and eventually rendered it unusable to the Powerpak, now I get the "cart format error, use Fat16 or Fat32" even though the card works fine with any PC. Also get the same error on my NES Powerpak with this card.

Currently using SanDisk Ultra II 4gb (15mb/s) and SanDisk Ultra 4gb (30mb/s) with no problems yet, both of these cards also work on the NES version.

I tried using a SanDisk Ultra 4GB, and it didn't work at all for me in the SNES Powerpak. Ended up returning that one to the store. Sandisk Extreme III 4GB didn't work either. I just got an error message at boot that said something like "$01 Card Read Error" (off the top of my head). Reformatting in FAT-32 using Win XP did nothing to help.

The reason that the SanDisk Ultra 4GB works for other people, might be because they have a different SNES hardware revision.

My Sandisk Ultra II 1GB has always worked perfectly in my NES Powerpak, if that's useful for anyone to know. I even did the expansion slot resistor mod, which allows full VRC6 audio for Japanese Castlevania III, and FM synth for FDS games. The USA version of Castlevania III doesn't work on NES Powerpak anyway, plus it has inferior sound quality.

As I've stated in earlier posts, my Lexar Platinum II 80x 4GB works great in the SNES Powerpak, but only if I set DMA=0 in the config.txt file.

I now have nearly all supported games (that I've tried) running and saving fine, which is good. The DMA=0 thing still bothers me a bit though. I'm pretty sure it just increases CF card compatibility, but load times worsen when selecting games.

Greg2600

12-24-2009, 10:28 AM

My Sandisk Ultra II 1GB has always worked perfectly in my NES Powerpak, if that's useful for anyone to know. I even did the expansion slot resistor mod, which allows full VRC6 audio for Japanese Castlevania III, and FM synth for FDS games. The USA version of Castlevania III doesn't work on NES Powerpak anyway, plus it has inferior sound quality. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think bunnyboy uses the same program files for the NES and SNES powerpak, so you could use the same CF card for both cartridges. 1GB is enough likely for NES and SNES games combined (that work). That's why I was asking people if they had an NES PP, and a card that worked.

BeaKManiak

12-26-2009, 10:05 PM

Hi, I've just received the Powerpak 1.02 for Christmas, but I cannot make it work. I have a PAL SNES, 2/1/3, SNSP-001A(UKV) and a 2 GB Kingston CF (that works perfect with the NES Powerpak).

First of all, the CF only "works" if it's formatted to FAT32, because if I format the card to FAT then the Powerpak gives me a "CONFIG file not found" error. With FAT32, I can see the games list, but when I execute any of them, it just shows a black screen or it executes the game with a lot of graphic glitches and then it hangs, even with DMA=0.

I think it can be a CF compatibility problem, but before spending 30+ € in a Dane-elec one, I prefer to make sure this is the problem. Any ideas?

maxwell7301

12-27-2009, 01:34 AM

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think bunnyboy uses the same program files for the NES and SNES powerpak, so you could use the same CF card for both cartridges. 1GB is enough likely for NES and SNES games combined (that work). That's why I was asking people if they had an NES PP, and a card that worked.

Well, I managed to fill up the 1GB card with about 400mb of NES roms for the NES Powerpak, which is not an easy task, considering the absolutely tiny size of NES roms.

This includes every USA release, every Japanese release, nearly every worthwhile fan translation and many hacks, not to mention FDS roms. I also keep an extra folder of duplicate roms that I play often for easy access. All of the full sets are split into folders by letter.

I was really going for completeness, and of course, there are some duplicates and a few games don't work.

I really want a dedicated card for the NES and SNES Powerpaks, and do not want to use the same card for both, although the NES and SNES mappers are definitely combined, and it is very easy to do this.

That said, the 1GB Sandisk Ultra II works perfectly on both Powerpaks. The remaining ~550MB should be plenty for anyone's SNES needs, but I'm stubborn, and want to give my SNES Powerpak the same treatment as the NES (need 1.5GB for this).

eastbayarb

12-27-2009, 01:36 AM

maxwell7301

12-27-2009, 01:39 AM

Hi, I've just received the Powerpak 1.02 for Christmas, but I cannot make it work. I have a PAL SNES, 2/1/3, SNSP-001A(UKV) and a 2 GB Kingston CF (that works perfect with the NES Powerpak).

First of all, the CF only "works" if it's formatted to FAT32, because if I format the card to FAT then the Powerpak gives me a "CONFIG file not found" error. With FAT32, I can see the games list, but when I execute any of them, it just shows a black screen or it executes the game with a lot of graphic glitches and then it hangs, even with DMA=0.

I think it can be a CF compatibility problem, but before spending 30+ � in a Dane-elec one, I prefer to make sure this is the problem. Any ideas?

I would definitely try a different CF card, as the SNES Powerpak appears to be very picky as to which cards it likes.

The worst case scenario would be to buy an NTSC Snes off of Ebay. The problem could be the PAL Snes, which I'm pretty sure are largely untested with the SNES Powerpak.

maxwell7301

12-27-2009, 02:03 AM

I have a 2gb card for my NES powerpak. Takes about 1gb for all the USA/Japanese games, and a bit more for the FDS, and NSF music collections.

I have a 4gb CF card for SNES with every USA game and many JAP, European, and Fan translations. Hopefully, SPC music playability will be possible at some point.

Yeah, I guess my NES setup isn't complete, then. I definitely can't think of any games worth playing that aren't in there though.

I have 687 USA roms and 1050 Japan, not including hacks, translations or duplicates.

I basically used windows search to filter out filenames with specific tags, such as (U), (J), [!], [T+ENG, [T-ENG, etc. This was from a very complete set that includes over dumps, bad dumps, pirates, and such.

It would definitely appear that you are more thorough than me.

MarioMania

12-27-2009, 02:24 AM

Why do people need a 2GB Card for??

I just wait til it works 95% of the time

Kiddo

12-27-2009, 04:02 AM

Hey, folks. Someone I know wants some help with the Powerpak.

http://z9.invisionfree.com/bszelda/index.php?showtopic=1039&st=0#entry1402608

Unfortunately I do not know the ins and outs of the Powerpak enough to help him much more than the suggestions I have. If I had one of my own, I'd try to figure it out myself, but I use a Super UFO ROM copier still...

Greg2600

12-27-2009, 04:30 PM

maxwell, yes, I went crazy too, and spent a lot of time scrounging up every USA, Japan-only, and PAL-only release. I don't have any duplicates or music files, although I did eliminate many Famicom games which I'll never play.

1. Puzzle games because I couldn't figure out what the heck to do (kept US games)
2. RPG games because I'm not an RPG'er (kept US games).
3. Any totally untranslated game, because if I can't follow the menus, what's the point? Some have enough English to get by.

In doing so, I wound up test playing (for half a minute) hundreds of NES games, many for the first time ever. So it was interesting, and I have a spreadsheet of lousy game reviews to prove it.

So on that note, does anyone know of or have a listing of all the SNES releases, which lists the Japanese alternatives as well? I know wikipedia does, but its a pain to copy it from there and convert it into usable data for Excel. SNES Central has listings as well, but I'd rather not have to go through that all again.

jupitersj

12-28-2009, 02:04 AM

The Powerpak(1.02/1.02) is extremely picky/flaky with compatibility right now.

So far I have tested 5 different systems using the same CF card mentioned in my earlier posts with DMA ON.

#1 v1 SNES US NTSC 1/1/1
system claims DSP1 installed and SDRAM check ok
cannot reset to Battery Save Screen always resets every game instead

#2 v1 SNES US NTSC 2/1/2
system claims DSP1 installed and SDRAM check ok
Occasionally gives errors when loading Seiken Densetsu 3 (J) [T+Eng1.01_NCorlett+LNFT], Sonic Blast Man (U) [!], Sonic Blast Man II (U) ...these load fine on System #1 and #5

etc also will show errors when using select button on these titles on this console but not others

#3 v1 SNES US NTSC 2/1/3
system claims DSP1 not installed error, SDRAM error read bank FF = 21

#4 v1 SNES US NTSC 2/1/3
system claims DSP1 not installed error

#5 v1 SNES US NTSC 2/1/3
system claims DSP1 installed and SDRAM check ok
No trouble on this system so far

I haven't the time to do a large comprehensive 100+ game test on 5 separate consoles at the moment and I do have more information but it'll have to wait till I have time.

Suffice it to say it's a gamble atm until more updates come out for the snes powerpak

BeaKManiak

12-28-2009, 07:08 PM

I would definitely try a different CF card, as the SNES Powerpak appears to be very picky as to which cards it likes.

The worst case scenario would be to buy an NTSC Snes off of Ebay. The problem could be the PAL Snes, which I'm pretty sure are largely untested with the SNES Powerpak.

Finally I bought a Sandisk Ultra II 2 GB and works like a charm with my PAL SNES, even with DMA=1. I had to format the CF to FAT32, because with FAT format the Powerpak still gave me the "CONFIG file not found", but in FAT32 it works perfect.

So, if anyone of you are having problems with a PAL SNES (at least with 2/1/3 hw), check if you can get a Sandisk Ultra II 2 GB, because in my case it worked.

Drejjmit

12-29-2009, 02:18 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR0Msnp5oNU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR0Msnp5oNU&hd=1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KATnEosPEv8 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KATnEosPEv8&hd=1)
Anyone else having this problem?

scottw182

12-29-2009, 02:27 PM

Omgosh, I want!

Is there a translated version of the Japanese Terranigma that could be played so you don't have to mess with the Pal version?

Is there a limit to what size CompactFlash card it supports?

"PS: The price went up to $135."
What was the price before?

Is there an incompatibility list for the NES PowerPak? I didn't see one on the site.

I expected them to have a Donkey Kong Country competition cart repo but I didn't see one. Does anybody else make one?

schnuth

12-30-2009, 01:11 AM

Omgosh, I want!

Is there a translated version of the Japanese Terranigma that could be played so you don't have to mess with the Pal version?

Once I applied this patch the PAL version of Terranigma works great on my NTSC SNES & Powerpak:

http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/541/

Hope this helps!

eastbayarb

12-30-2009, 01:22 AM

Nature Boy

12-30-2009, 11:28 AM

So what's the 'DMA' setting for anyway?

My Super Castlevania IV problem looks like it was due to DMA=1 instead of DMA=0.

I've read before that this fixes a lot of issues with cards, but never what the setting actually does? I bought my card along with the PowerPak, so I never thought of touching that setting until my Castlevania problems.

I haven't really had any time to play around with it much, but I have zero complaint so far (getting one game to work doesn't qualify as complaint worthy in my book - I love a challenge!)

Greg2600

12-30-2009, 02:23 PM

Is there a limit to what size CompactFlash card it supports?

"PS: The price went up to $135."
What was the price before?

Is there an incompatibility list for the NES PowerPak? I didn't see one on the site. No limit I guess, but you don't need more than 2GB for SNES. The price was originally 125 plus 11 for the optional DSP1 chip. Now it's 135 plus 11. NES Powerpak latest mapper/drivers will work with nearly every NES/Famicom game except those that used the MMC5 mapper, which was the largest. They include Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (NA/EU version), Just Breed, Metal Slader Glory, Gun Sight, Uchuu Keibitai SDF, Nobunaga's Ambition II, Bandit Kings of Ancient China, Romance of the Three Kingdoms II, Uncharted Waters. Castlevania III Japan works.

So what's the 'DMA' setting for anyway?I think the latest mapper set from Retrousb sets the DMA to Off automatically.

shadowkn55

12-30-2009, 03:43 PM

I got terranigma working on my SWC DX2 copier many years ago. Works on my PowerPak without a Patch because even though my SNES is USA, but since it is connected to my RGB monitor, doesn't matter if it's PAL or NTSC

That's not how the lockout chips works. How you connect the system to a screen is irrelevant. Your snes probably has the lockout chip disabled.

Mitch

01-11-2010, 02:19 PM

There is a beta version of some new mappers that are supposed to fix most of the issues here (http://www.retrousb.com/downloads/POWERPAK132103b.zip). Use at your own risk, though they are suposed to work pretty well. I will be testing them myself shortly.

Mitch

Troglodyte

01-14-2010, 12:03 AM

Can anyone tell me (in their opinion) which version of the (non mini) SNES console seems to be the most PowerPak compatible overall at this point in time?

I recently won a lot of items on eBay, which included two SNES consoles of unknown condition. Assuming that they are both in working condition, and one of them has better compatibility then the one in my personal collection, I may swap the two, before selling the others off.

Thanks in advance

Mitch

01-14-2010, 01:22 PM

With the new mappers compatibility is much better. The only issue I have seen is with my brothers 1/1/1 SNES having intermittent loading problems. I'm sure that issue will be fixed eventually as well.

Mitch

schnuth

01-22-2010, 01:49 PM

New mappers for both the SNES and NES Powerpak have been posted on RetroZone today. The SNES mini is now supported for those of you who have been waiting. I have yet to try the new mappers out, but hopefully it fixes problems some people have been having.

maxwell7301

01-22-2010, 11:22 PM

The new mapper set fixes Dragon Quest III (DQ Translations Eng 1.1). There's no need for any save fix now, and also no more text corruption issues that I was complaining about earlier.:-D

I wonder if a save fix is still necessary for Star Ocean? Haven't tried that yet. I imagine I'll find out if I ever get around to playing Star Ocean.

maxwell7301

01-24-2010, 03:52 PM

Hey, I had some issues with my Lexar 4GB Platinum 80X and the new mapper set.

I had everything working perfectly with the 1.02 mappers and DMA=0, but with the 1.03 mappers, the menu text was corrupting, and some games had issues with loading, requiring multiple hard resets to work. Also, pressing select at the boot screen revealed some corrupted looking text at times, and worked perfectly at other times.

I finally went out and bought a Sandisk Ultra II 2GB. No issues at all with the new mappers. Everything seems to be 100% perfect, even with DMA=1.

I'm pretty happy now. It took 3 months, but I think I have finally obtained a CF card that is 100% compatible with the SNES Powerpak.

I have no use for the Lexar card now. It turns out I know someone that uses a camera that takes CF cards, so I'll probably sell it to that friend.

renejr902

01-31-2010, 03:59 PM

I HAVE A GREAT NEWS !!! I GOT BS F-ZERO 2 to work
i think its the first bs game to work on powerpak. but i cant get bs zelda to work

how to get BS F-Zero 2 working

1. You need this rom title: BS F-ZERO Grand Prix 2 (J) [f1].smc
2. you need to remove header ( i use snesROMUtil.exe )
3. change the byte at $7fd5 to $20

ENJOY

Tell me if you get it working thanks
note: i have Mapper v1.03
note: i TRIED Several fzero2 rom and different way to patch it. only the way i explain before work.

Troglodyte

01-31-2010, 04:19 PM

I HAVE A GREAT NEWS !!! I GOT BS F-ZERO 2 to work
That is great news! How on earth did you figure this out ?!

eastbayarb

01-31-2010, 09:02 PM

That is great news! How on earth did you figure this out ?!

Indeed this is great news! I just hope some day BS Zelda will work. And hopefully games with irregular file sizes like Contra III (it really sucks that game doesn't work - it's like the PowerPak NES version not being able to play Contra, or Super Mario Bros 3) Awesome job!

Troglodyte

01-31-2010, 10:17 PM

hopefully games with irregular file sizes like Contra III (it really sucks that game doesn't work - it's like the PowerPak NES version not being able to play Contra, or Super Mario Bros 3)Crude... that kind of sucks. I didn't know that.
Thankfully, those carts are fairly common.
I assume there is some kind of
incompatibility list. This info
is good to know.

I have a feeling that someone will figure out how to inject just the right amount of
"junk" / blank date into the ROMs to make them the appropriate file sizes to work.

I don't own either of the PowerPaks yet... but I plan to eventually purchase two of each.
Since someday, maybe sooner than later, I will be moving out of my parents house,
and my entire video game collection is basically split between my younger brother
and I, even though I bought most of it.

I have been trying to think of the fairest way to to this. I plan to eventually house almost the entire physical game collection in a game / storage / display room, and basically never play the physical carts. Then I plan to purchase two NES PowerPaks, and two SNES PowerPaks, and another RetroDuo. The additional PowerPaks and the RetroDuo will be purchased as a gift for him I would assume. We have sort of talked about the PowerPaks, and he agrees this might be the best solution, since he also likes to play on the 'real thing'. Expensive? Yes, but not nearly as
expensive as trying to own two carts of every game. Plus, it will take up a lot less room.

Mitch

02-01-2010, 02:56 PM

Contra 3 works if you do the same byte change as above. ie: change the byte at $7fd5 to $20.

Mitch

Widar

02-04-2010, 11:33 AM

1. Download Cygnus Hex Editor FREE EDITION
2. Open the rom file ( you need the star ocean rom of 96mbit edition translated in english, made by neviksti)
3. go to edit choose GO TO and write : 0081D5 , choose ok
4. now change the 32 value to 31. FORGET the h
5. change the others too the same way:
0081D6: 45->02h
A081D5: 32->31h
A081D6: 45->02h

6. go to file and choose save

i hope it can help a few people.

note: i sent you the patch anyway)Have anyone gotten this patch to work on a PAL SNES? I've been in contact with renejr902, patched and everything but saving still doesn't work.
Anyone else encountered this problem?

Troglodyte

02-04-2010, 11:42 AM

Contra 3 works if you do the same byte change as above. ie: change the byte at $7fd5 to $20.

Awesome. I have a feeling these tricks will be added to the latest firmware in the future. It would be mad easy to implement.

maxwell7301

02-11-2010, 04:07 PM

I just tried the byte change on Contra III, and it works fine now.

Another game that doesn't seem to load on SNES Powerpak is Super Adventure Island. I wonder if the same fix could be applied?

EDIT: Super Adventure Island works with the same fix for Contra. I had to delete the header first (used snestool), then change the hex value at $7FD5 to $20.

Apparently, this fix works for 8 megabit lorom games.

j.m.ratkos

03-07-2010, 05:04 PM

I found that while the "good" version of sanrio world smash ball! (jp) doesn't work, the overdump does

Troglodyte

03-07-2010, 05:09 PM

I found that while the "good" version of sanrio world smash ball! (jp) doesn't work, the overdump does

That's very interesting...
May be a good tip to try if there are any other games that are
found not to be working, where overdumps exist, of course.

badinsults

03-07-2010, 06:30 PM

You can always pad the ROMs with NSRT.

schnuth

03-08-2010, 12:33 AM

You can always pad the ROMs with NSRT.

Could you dumb that down for us pleebs? :)

badinsults

03-08-2010, 12:38 AM

Well, they are talking about overdumps (essentially ROMs that when dumped have excess data on them). In general, the "good" roms have this excess data removed when distributed, so if you need to add it back on, you can use the snes rom tool, NSRT.

Really, if you want to get full use of the Power Pak, you should learn how to use NSRT.

Rickstilwell1

03-16-2010, 12:36 AM

OK I might be possibly interested in getting one of these for the NES and SNES since it would be fun to play some of the more expensive titles before I find the actual cartridges, the only thing is that I have a huge backlog of games I haven't played and I'm thinking that as far as collecting goes, an individual repro of each translation looks better in a collection than a rom cart.

I don't know how difficult it is to manage this either and my PC doesn't have that type of card drive on it either.

For me space is an issue so I am trying to sell off games I don't want as much. If I am going to eventually buy the individual games I want at some point anyway, do you think this would be a waste of money for me even if it's cheaper than all the repros together in the long run?

I guess I'm just struggling to decide whether I'm more of a gamer or collector when I don't have much money to blow. Really I'm thinking if I am going to stay a collector I should hold off on this and just use my modded Xbox or PC for the hacks.

What do you think looks better in a collection? flash carts or repros?

renejr902

03-17-2010, 07:57 PM

does anyone know for sure if it'd work on the portable Yobo FC-16 Go?

Yobo gameware snes handheld.

thanks for answer

Leo_A

03-17-2010, 11:32 PM

What do you think looks better in a collection? flash carts or repros?

Neither one are collectible.

Do you actually want to play these games? If so, pick the one you'd prefer. For myself and many others, this flash cart is the way to go over paying a hefty sum just for one reproduction.

does anyone know for sure if it'd work on the portable Yobo FC-16 Go?

Yobo gameware snes handheld.

thanks for answer

It works on both revisions, but you can only save games with the recently released revision 2 that adds a proper reset button to the hardware.

Icarus Moonsight

03-18-2010, 12:47 AM

Rick: What Leo said. At this point, the only repro that anyone would need outside of a SNES PowerPak is Starfox 2. The PowerPak is the ultimate repro in my eyes.

renejr902

03-18-2010, 01:12 AM

Leo_A

03-18-2010, 04:09 PM

Are you sure at 100%, its not compatible with Revision 1 for saving ??

because i was about to buy the revision 1 for a low price.

thanks for answer

or do you think it can be easily modded for get the reset working correclty on revision 1 for saving

reset button work so bad ? how bad exactly ?

my father is a electronic tech can he do something to correct it.

I'm 100% sure it won't work with saving on the PowerPak. For some reason they designed the reset button to just cut power to the unit, which has since been rectified with the revision 2 that has just started shipping in recent days. I'm unaware if it can rectified with modding the unit and I can't imagine the time and effort is worth it with the revision 2 available at a reasonable price.

Rickstilwell1

03-18-2010, 04:14 PM

Hmm maybe I'll try this someday but since my computer has no CF card port I should probably just get repros of the J-RPGs I really want and play the rest on the emulator until I get an upgraded computer.

Or do they sell USB CF card readers anywhere?

Leo_A

03-18-2010, 06:37 PM

They do and they're extremely cheap (Under $10), so the lack of a CF card slot on your PC isn't really a reason to go one way or another.

c0ldb33r

03-18-2010, 06:39 PM

You can order one cheap with the powerpak. My PC didn't have one either so I got when I placed my order.

renejr902

03-18-2010, 08:03 PM

thanks for answer

renejr902

03-19-2010, 12:55 AM

Greg2600

03-19-2010, 12:44 PM

They do and they're extremely cheap (Under $10), so the lack of a CF card slot on your PC isn't really a reason to go one way or another.
You can get a CF card with a card reader for not much more than that.

Rickstilwell1

03-19-2010, 07:13 PM

You can get a CF card with a card reader for not much more than that.

I think the thing that makes me like collecting certain repros is just the fact I can group together a whole game series and not feel as screwed over by Nintendo for not getting the holes in the series translated and sold here. Sticking a FFV cart in between FF2 & FF3 gives me a "so there!" kind of feeling. Apart from the Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy series + Super Mario Bros. 2 Japan, I can agree that the rest of the repros are kind of meaningless. And of course Star Fox 2 because it's the only way to play it on a system.

Believe me I think a hardcore Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest fan would love to get their hands on a repro when many people don't even know repros exist.

I should still get this flash cart first though because it will give me a reason to sell all the mediocre games, and a great way to actually enjoy myself playing all those Super Mario World hacks. I almost forgot about Mario & Wario which was a Japan only game that might be fun to try with a real SNES mouse.

I'm amazed and curious why Pilotwings doesn't work. It's a really good game so I'd keep it anyway, but if it's one of the first titles that was released on the system, what special effects can't the rom cart handle?

Leo_A

03-19-2010, 07:19 PM

I think there are some problems with DSP chip revisions or something to that effect that causes it to work for some and not to work for others. I also thought it was going to be fixed or likely was fixable through a firmware update for the PowerPak with new software.

I haven't read much about it since it was first released so I'm probably remembering things incorrectly, but it didn't sound like it was a permanent problem for those that couldn't get Pilotwings working and I wouldn't be surprised if it's already been fixed with an update.

Lodis

03-29-2010, 11:10 PM

Hey guys,
I bought the SNES powerpak a few weeks back with the 2gb Dane-Elec CF card that ships with it, to go along with my Snes Mini.

Problem is.. I cant get any of the games to work for more than a few minutes. The cartridge boots fine, seems to copy the selected game without too much trouble. Depending on the game, it either just freezes at some point (black screen) or the graphics glitch out badly to the point where it's unplayable. I haven't played a game without issues so far, so I am pretty sure the roms I'm using isn't the problem, but rather either my powerpak or the CF card I'm using.

I have tried with DMA on/off, tried formatting FAT16/32, tried using old mapper versions (though I went back to 1.04 afterwards) and nothing has fixed it.

Any ideas how to fix the problem? Thanks.

Edit: I just tried using the powerpak with a Transcend 1G CF Card and I would get the "CF Card Format Error" even though it has been formatted in FAT32 properly.

Leo_A

03-29-2010, 11:42 PM

I don't have a clue what your problem is. But I do have some suggestions.

First of all, if you've never played a retail game in your SuperNes before or haven't since recieving the PowerPak, you should rule out your SuperNes being the source of issues by spending some time on a game so you know it isn't your console.

Secondly. the NesDev forums seem to be the unofficial forum for RetroUSB's products where the person that developed and manufactures products including the SuperNes PowerPak interacts with the community. That's likely going to be your best avenue for pinpointing what's going on and attempting to find a solution. Hopefully someone here can jump in and help you out, but I'd head on over here and ask about it if I were you.

http://nesdev.parodius.com/bbs/index.php

Lodis

03-30-2010, 12:29 AM

First of all, if you've never played a retail game in your SuperNes before or haven't since recieving the PowerPak, you should rule out your SuperNes being the source of issues by spending some time on a game so you know it isn't your console.

I can rule out that possibility, my roommate and I have put over 60 hours of play into my Snes Mini lately :)

Secondly. the NesDev forums seem to be the unofficial forum for RetroUSB's products where the person that developed and manufactures products including the SuperNes PowerPak interacts with the community. That's likely going to be your best avenue for pinpointing what's going on and attempting to find a solution. Hopefully someone here can jump in and help you out, but I'd head on over here and ask about it if I were you.

Thanks for the input, I posted a message there.
Of course if someone here experienced the same issues and somehow resolved them, I'd appreciate any input.

goldenegg

03-30-2010, 01:17 AM

NESDev is no longer the main site for PowerPak updates. It's been moved to the NintendoAge forums, due to NESDev no longer allowing posting of mapper updates sine they contain certain files which they don't allow sharing.

http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/categories.cfm?catid=22&entercat=y

Lodis

03-30-2010, 01:55 AM

Kamigami

04-14-2010, 04:42 AM

does it play bs games?

Eyedunno

04-14-2010, 08:11 AM

does it play bs games?
Yeah, I even played Pit-Fighter on it!

Just kidding, but yeah, apparently it does, at least in certain cases. There is a video up on YouTube of BS Zelda running. However, the ROMs will have to be hacked extensively to work properly without a Satellaview, and then they will have to be padded to an exact multiple of 4 megabits. One of these days, I'd like to try and see if I can get the BS Sutte Hakkun games working, but I have plenty of improvements left in the cartridge Sutte Hakkun.

Greg2600

04-14-2010, 07:11 PM

New stock is in, and price has risen to $140, but that includes the DSP-1 chip install, so the total price with it has gone down $5.

c0ldb33r

04-15-2010, 08:22 AM

Is the DSP-1 chip now mandatory? Of course, you'd be stupid not to get it installed anyway.

Eyedunno

04-15-2010, 01:25 PM

Is the DSP-1 chip now mandatory? Of course, you'd be stupid not to get it installed anyway.
I don't know if "mandatory" is the right word, but it does come stock now (and there's no option on the page not to have it installed, but I can't imagine you couldn't finagle one without it if for some strange reason you didn't want it). Apparently, bunnyboy anticipated maybe 70% of orders to have the DSP-1, but it was actually more like 95%, so he simplified the order page to reflect demand. :P

Kamigami

04-15-2010, 07:36 PM

Yeah, I even played Pit-Fighter on it!

Just kidding, but yeah, apparently it does, at least in certain cases. There is a video up on YouTube of BS Zelda running. However, the ROMs will have to be hacked extensively to work properly without a Satellaview, and then they will have to be padded to an exact multiple of 4 megabits. One of these days, I'd like to try and see if I can get the BS Sutte Hakkun games working, but I have plenty of improvements left in the cartridge Sutte Hakkun.

yeah
i suppose is that rom you can use to made a repro
so i works just like any other reatail roms

i mean if eh.. games like sutte hakkun or radical dreamers or so will work.

schnuth

05-30-2010, 09:55 PM

I finally got around to updating my SNES Powerpak with the new 1.04 firmware and found that a lot of the compatibility problems I was having have gone away. For instance all versions of Contra III now work without a hitch. Very cool!

Has anyone found any more games that work now with the updated firmware? Contra III was the only one giving me trouble so far. I know some people were having trouble with Super Castlevania IV but it always worked for me.

Kiddo

05-30-2010, 11:55 PM

i got BS-Zelda working with last 1.04 mapper on retrousb.

But i have to download several bs zelda roms before getting one that work really . a lot of them freeze in main menu of the game , you cant choose your name and create your carater.

but i got one rom that work perfect. i play 10 minutes the game. no problem so far.

From what I recall hearing there is some issue with Roto's savemenu code.

I also noted that on BSNES, the hacks based on Roto's code break at a different point - when one enters the starting cave, the music starts to glitch.

http://board.byuu.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=650&start=15

There's a bit of a thread on this too. I unfortunately am still trying to learn coding myself so I don't really have a clue how to fix this, but theoretically if we could solve the issue with the Save menu, -all- the hacks should be playable.

DaddyLongLegs

07-05-2010, 10:50 AM

Mitch

07-05-2010, 01:48 PM

just got one of these delightful devices (seriously... best impulse purchase ever) and I am only wondering if there's an easier method to save? As it stands right now I save my game, then hold reset for a few seconds, then backup my save file. But in that menu it says something about "auto save is disabled". Is there some autosave feature I am missing somewhere? I would love for it to do that because the other day I played like 5 hours of Secret of Mana and forgot to do the whole hold reset thing and lost all my progress!

I think the new beta mappers that were just released a day or two ago include some sort of auto-save feature. I have not had time to test it myself yet. Check the Nintendoage.com forums for a link to the beta mappers.

Mitch

Nature Boy

07-06-2010, 07:30 AM

I think the new beta mappers that were just released a day or two ago include some sort of auto-save feature. I have not had time to test it myself yet. Check the Nintendoage.com forums for a link to the beta mappers.

Mitch

It's certainly easier than it used to be with v1.04 of the firmware, as you used to have to navigate to your Saved game prior to saving - at least now, after holding reset, it remembers which file you used to load and allows you to use that same file without navigation.

DaddyLongLegs

07-07-2010, 10:48 AM

Thanks guys.

Did anyone here figure out how to get rid of the thick, faint line in the middle of the screen caused by the SNES PowerPak? It was discussed somewhat here:

http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=22&threadid=32536&StartRow=21#bottom

and it appears that the lack of an RF shield is causing it. Any ideas?