Dual slot NES take one...

[CrazyImpmon]

http://personalpages.tds.net/~wilykat/nes-fc.html (honest, this is not a hidden perverted link! May God strike and destroy my rarest of the rare game cart if I'm lying!)

Just the pinout diagram. It's mostly straightforward when connecting FC 60 pin connector to NES' 72 pin connector.

I'll probably blow one of my gabillion NES decks and see if I can make a working proto dual slot NES to eliminate the need of adapters and to make it so the 72 pin connector won't go blink-blink like the classic front loading deck always do. Killing 2 birds with one stone's always fun.

Now where did I leave those pile of leftover IDE cables... I sure could use instant wire collections for the connector connection. ...ah yes, found 'em. About 20 of the obsolete 40 conductor cables (I wouldn't cut up an 80 conductor, they're like $20 just for a short one :P)

[omnedon]

Whoah.

That is a cool idea. It's worth possibly sacrificing a crapped out NES or two.

[CrazyImpmon]

It's progressing nicely. The daunting task of stripping and separating 250 ends is done and I just got the first part soldered on the Famicom end. (I decided to use a spare NES to FC converter as I don't have any 60 pin connector handy anyway)

Once I'm done with that, I'll use the 72 pin connector I swiped out of a Game genie and then solder the other end from both FC and NES connector to the NES main board.

Yes I'm taking pictures along with my work. I really could use a better soldering station with a fine tipo to go with it. Mine's a cheap $10 solder wand and a $10 spring station to hold the wand up with a sponge for wiping tip.

[Keir]

I'm sorry but I don't understand what you're doing. What is the advantage of a dual slot NES?

[NESCollector75]

Its a personal page of wilykat isn't that the person who didn't send DP a SS gift last year? I could be wrong, just the name looks familure.

[CrazyImpmon]

I'm sorry but I don't understand what you're doing. What is the advantage of a dual slot NES?

#1 to eliminate the need of adapters or a separate console, and the fuss of getting Famicom to show up on your TV or a touchy adapter that might reset your game at the slightest touch.

#2 to offer a cheaper solution to top loading NES by eliminating the blinky problem. A new 72 pin connector may be faster but they do eventually wear out because the contacts in those kind of connector flexes a lot more than a regular connector.

#3 be able to use your favorite NES pad as Famicom console's typically hard wired.

#4 because I have way too much time!

@NESCollector: you're thinking of wi1ykat. Slight difference.

[kainemaxwell]

Got any pics of this project so far?

[CrazyImpmon]

I'm not quite done yet but here's a page of what I got so far:
http://personalpages.tds.net/~wilyka...nes/index.html
(I just uploaded it)

[ventrra]

Pretty interesting so far. I have a spare NES board around here somewhere that I'll eventually have to try something like this on.

BTW: Do you know if disabeling the lockout that way has any effect on unlicenced US software?

[CrazyImpmon]

I have not found any unlicensed game that has trouble but I hadn't tried all of the unlicensed copies I have. (And what I have is probably half of all unlicensed games released in USA)

One to watch for: Camerica games. When I get done with my hack and it works (*praying*) I'll dig all the unlicensed copies and check it out. Unless someone already have a list of unlicensed games known not to work on modded front loading NES or any top loading NES (it doesn't use lockout chip BTW)

[Bratwurst]

I commend this effort Mr. Impmon, though I have always wondered if the original zero insertion force connector could have been 'recycled' by hacking it with a dremel. You know, the part that connects to the NES motherboard. Never looked at it close enough though.

What will prove interesting to me is the modification of the NES housing so the carts can be inserted through the top without it looking like crap. (Something that has prevented me from jumping right into this sort of project.)

What I was thinking was along the lines of somehow suspending a 72-pin connector parallel to the original slot of the NES, removing the springboard nonsense. Then, it would function like a top-loader, BUT retain the aesthetics of the good old toaster and how it loaded, sort of.

You have inspired me to pick up a broken NES deck nontheless.

[CrazyImpmon]

Someone already has tried a pair of 72 pin connectors and a board: http://www.classicgaming.com/nestable/
(more specifically under Sept. '01 news: http://www.classicgaming.com/nestabl...ber_2001.shtml)
I should try this one when I do get the 2x 72 pin and one 60 pin connectors. Should make the next revision proto much cleaner and neater looking. The only drawback is I'd need to reinforce the back side of the board so it won't snap when you insert the cart, and to make sure the board is not so deep inside the NES you can't use a standard Famicom cart. This version's probably a lot easier than my hand wired version.

Also someone else did try the recycled connector bit using a dremel to cut off the 2 good ends and mounted it at a 90 degree angle, making his NES a top loader.
http://www.geocities.com/mattf73/Connector.htm
Do keep in mind if you do it that way, the NES cart label would face away. This version's probably the cheapest as you only need one blinky NES and one extra 72 pin connector that would have been thrown away.

As long as I'm posting link to other hacked NES, I'd thought I'd post this one:
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/flagon500/

Shoehorning a PC inside the NES case and setting the software to run NES emulator. Probably the cheapest way to make a true 2,000 in 1* NES system. Disadvantage: probably won't work with Zapper, Power Pad, or Arkanoid controller.

*2,000 is approximate number of unique non pirated titles in the world and does not count game variations like easy and hard setting or language variations.

And now the moment of truth hads come: my wiring's all done! I'll post back soon. If I'm not back, it means I fucked up something really badly and plunged my neighbor into a power blackout.

EDIT: I asked for a spell checker on this forum and I got one hell of typo demon! :P

[CrazyImpmon]

Good news and bad news...

The good news is that both NES and Famicom port worked! The game's playable!

*screams like a 1955 Doc Brown on first seeing the Flux Capacitor*

The bad news is the graphic's garbled. > :P I know there isn't a short or loose connection but it's possible the combined length of 24" is too much for any signal to travel even if only one connector's used (it's 12" from one connector to the mainboard and another 12" from another connector..)

I'm going to have to double-check every connections (hears the ohm meter whining) and if there's nothing wrong than I may need to add capacitors to reduce the noise.

[CrazyImpmon]

Aother update: I did find a few loose wires. i think they broke loose when I movied the parts over. Tapes weren't enough at all :P resoldered them, rechecked the connection, used epoxy to lock down wires. Now I'm getting cleaner pictures!

I also uploaded an updated NES/FC pinout Pin #58 and #65 was wrong (got it from NESDev site! you'd think an expert there would know better... )

58 is not A13 but actually VRAM enable. It could be used as A13 but it's not officially listed as that.
pin 65 is also not pin A13 (that's why I checked schematic, there is no reason to have 2 same address line) It's actually system clock.

[CrazyImpmon]

Final update on this one: I did a very through checkout of the wiring, found 2 crossed wires (CHR A10 and CHR A11 was backward) and found CHR A4 was not getting through at all so I added another wire to bypass the existing wire and I finally get a picture clear enough to tell what game it is. It's still a bit scrambled and some of the mess cleared up when I put the entire gut inside the original RF shield. Defiantly long cable issue. I'll make a final update with the last picture of the NES (ugly looking I might add).

Once I get a better soldering iron and some more materials, I'd have a proto mark 2 started on. But probably no sooner than a week from now as I may not have a lot of free time.

[Bratwurst]

Someone already has tried a pair of 72 pin connectors and a board: http://www.classicgaming.com/nestable/
(more specifically under Sept. '01 news: http://www.classicgaming.com/nestabl...ber_2001.shtml)

Yeah, I've seen those. However, those designs were meant for his NESp portable which goes in an entirely different casing. The implementation is the same though- I'd just raise the height of the breadboard backing until it was flush with the flap-covered entrance. Come to think of it, he has a listing of where you can get those 72 pin connectors..

[ventrra]

@CrazyImpmon: Nice set of pics there and helpful, too, but...Is that a couple of disassembled hard drives in the last NES pic?