TylerBarnes wrote:I have one major and a couple minor questions to you Jazz. Will you have to desolder or deconstruct the Midines in order to properly rip the rom and make this clone happen?
I want to preface this next statement with the request that no one get there hopes up just yet based on my next statements. but I have two Midines carts and would possibly, I repeat, possibly contribute one if I could get my cart back in the same working condition that it was originally.
My supplementary questions are:
How long would be your best guess on the time it would take? I understand you won't definitively know till you have your hands on it.
And also if I lend my cart could I get a free clone? :3
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You guys try to keep in mind that I want to help, but I'm really attached to my midines carts and have invested some serious money in them especially considering the first time I tried to buy one was from the jerk face wayfar himself. So I'm naturally going to be very iffy about giving one away for a while, even if it's for science. So for now I just want the details on how healthy the donor cart will be after all the surgery is over.
I suspect that I may have to remove components, but can do so with the very best of proficiency. I have now viewed some of your pictures and there are a lot less components than I had first thought. I am positive that I can replace any components that I have to remove and you should receive the cartridge(s) in the same state that you had sent them.
nitro2k01 wrote:I can try to answer these questions to some degree.
ROM image: Easy, using a NES copier or desoldering the chip and putting it in a ROM reader.
CPLD and possible microcontroller: Between difficult and impossible to do non-destructively, if the read protect bits are set.
Then there's the question of whether a full board scan is desired. That means taking off all of the components, while otherwise you might get away with only removing the ROM chip, as the other chips likely have a programming header available that can be used. Again, assuming the read protect bits aren't set.
Tyler, could you open it up and take a photo and/or note which chips are being used?
What I note from his photos (in no particular order):
MIDINES 1:
1x Nintendo 6113B1 CIC
1x CY7C199-15VC 32k x 8 SRAM
1x 74HTC00D
1x PIC18F4410
1x 29f040
1x 6N139, 8-pin optocoupler
1x 74ACT139
And various headers, passive components, jumpers and non-populated footprints.
MIDINES 2:
1x Nintendo 6113B1
1x CY7C199-20VC
1x PIC18F4410
1x TI HC00
1x TI HC139
1x 29F040
1x H11L2, 6-pin optocoupler
And various headers, passive components, jumpers and non-populated footprints.
I do NOT see a PLD anywhere, luckily. The cartridges seem to be the same functionally, but have been changed for aesthetics between revisions.
Looking at some of the silkscreening and empty footprints, it would seem that he intended on adding MIDI output and FRAM. Unfortunately he still chose to keep that flimsy MIDI-IN connection... That will change.
TylerBarnes wrote:Ok I took a large amount of pictures of both my midines carts. One was a MidiNES 1 RevB. and the other is a MidiNES 2. All the pics can be downloaded here: https://app.box.com/s/fjxbkyff21l5k9w7e7u2
I tried to be as thorough as possible. I figured more than enough pictures was better then not enough.
Thank you. Downloading NOW!
...
Holy crap, these are good photos! Again, nothing would be harmed in deconstruction. Worse case scenario is that I cannot read the PIC, in which I can still design a PCB and allow for someone else to read it in the future. I will also see what I can do about compensation seeing as the parts list is quite affordable. Everything is available from Mouser aside from the ciclone, which is still commercially available. Im getting pretty excited already! I will be PM'ing you now...
