What the heck happened here? Strange N64 glitch.

[BetaWolf47]

I just beat Paper Mario, and it showed the ending cutscene. Right after Twink flew away, smiling, it dumped me to this screen:

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/4092/p8050459.jpg

What the heck is this? I've never had an N64 game send me to an error screen like this.

[horseboy]

It is a code. It is so obvious I can't believe you haven't figured it out yet.

[shawnbo42]

Looks to me like a software failure, the game rom is trying to access a part of the game program that is corrupted somehow.

[Wraith Storm]

It is the password for the end level! It is so obvious I can't believe you haven't figured it out yet. ;)

Honestly thats pretty crazy. I have had a similar experience with Batman on the NES. If the game was not inserted properly it would take me to some screen with a bunch of Kanji and stuff.

Yours looks more like the game crashed or something.

[BetaWolf47]

It is a code. It is so obvious I can't believe you haven't figured it out yet.

I know what it is. Mostly just a table with hex values. I just don't understand why it did that. I've never had another game do that to me before.

[alec006]

0.0 Oh damn, that's a memory read error debug screen, never thought I would see one on a console based game, especially N64 then again our cartridges are getting older each day and the data can only be read so many times.

It's probably just a read error where it was trying to access data that hasn't been accessed in along time and it read it incorrectly, all games do it eventually, sometimes by giving us easter eggs like an empty Bunker level in Goldeneye.

http://www.jaytheham.com/zcw/Ocarina_of_Time_-_Debug_Code

From that wiki website page:


Note that not all exceptions result in a crash -- in fact, exceptions are a regular part of the life of the system. Those exceptions that actually cause a crash are known as "fatal exceptions" (for obvious reasons). It isn't until an exception becomes fatal that the debugger actually is invoked. (Sometimes an exception can crash one process while leaving others untouched, while other times an exception can bring everything to a halt. This is why sometimes you can still hear music after a crash, and other times you can't.)

Next, the debugger shows the values of three registers from the System Control Processor (a coprocessor that keeps track of system status and performs some basic system tasks). There are actually 32 registers (at least) on this processor, but only three are important.

Exception Program Counter (EPC or PC) - This is a pointer to the instruction that caused the crash. (Technically, the EPC holds whatever the Program Counter (PC) was set to at the time of the crash. The PC always points to the instruction currently being executed.)

Status Register (SR) - This holds the status of the system, including what coprocessors are available and whether it's running in 32-bit or 64-bit mode (for example).

Bad Virtual Address (VA) - This holds the memory address that the program tried to access and failed (assuming the crash is due to a memory error). On the N64, possible values range from $80000000-807FFFFF (with the Expansion Pak). Anything outside of this range is bad.

FPCSR keeps track of the status of the FPU (Floating-Point Unit), as well as providing any errors that occur during calculations.

In simple terms, the software just decided to crash because it's normal to have an error every once in awhile.

If you really want to know more details on the specific error, I would ask a person that loves to hack/program and/or modify Nintendo 64 games.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Hex Screen of Death

[madman77]

0.0 Oh damn, that's a memory read error, never thought I would see one on a console based game, especially N64 then again our cartridges are getting older each day and the data can only be read so many times.

It's probably just a read error where it was trying to access data that hasn't been accessed in along time and it read it incorrectly, all games do it eventually, sometimes by giving us easter eggs like an empty Bunker level in Goldeneye.

FPCSR is related to the FPU in the N64
There is no read limit on ROMs, they don't have a finite read limit. The data also doesn't age, it doesn't know certain parts of the ROM haven't been accessed in awhile.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Bit-rot begs to differ. Not that I think that's the cause of this.

[horseboy]

I know what it is. Mostly just a table with hex values. I just don't understand why it did that. I've never had another game do that to me before.

I didn't mean that kind of code. I meant like a secret code to uncover unimaginable riches.

[alec006]

There is no read limit on ROMs, they don't have a finite read limit. The data also doesn't age, it doesn't know certain parts of the ROM haven't been accessed in awhile.

Who are we to know the read limit on ROMs thou since they have only been around what 60 years? They are read only data that can never be written to but they can suffer from physical errors (Heat,Environment, Etc) or logical errors (Bit-Rot,I/O,Etc) being read over and over again.


Bit-rot begs to differ. Not that I think that's the cause of this.

Your right, it was probably just a I/O error by the system.

[ubersaurus]

My friend's wife got Paper Mario to crash like that before, though I don't know how she did it.

[madman77]

Who are we to know the read limit on ROMs thou since they have only been around what 60 years?
Because reading does not deteriorate the data. It's not like a cassette or LP where there is physical degradation with each read. A myriad of issues caused by physical damage are possible, but a ROM will not "wear out" from being read too many times.

[Callin]

Bit-rot begs to differ. Not that I think that's the cause of this.
Isn't bit rot only for EPROMs, since the data is stored via electric charges - as opposed to mask ROMs?

[RP2A03]

Isn't bit rot only for EPROMs, since the data is stored via electric charges - as opposed to mask ROMs?


This is more or less my understanding. Data on a mask ROM is for the most part permanent, barring something catastrophic such as a lightning strike.

[kedawa]

Bit rot is mostly an issue with magnetic and optical storage.
EEPROMs, and to a lesser extent EPROMs, are somewhat susceptible.
Data on mask ROMs should outlast the metal pins on the chip.