yeah.. i dont know shit.. 
lol
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Plymouth, UK
arfink wrote:
low-gain wrote:all this stuff should work on all platforms since it's pre-video conversion.
but that's assuming i understand it correctly.Actually, not quite right Low-Gain. I believe we can make it PAL compatible, but since we're using the NES as a UART it's very cycle-dependent, which is different if you have an NTSC or PAL NES. However, I have reason to believe it's just a matter of retiming some things to make a special PAL version. I'll need to check that with Blargg though, since he's the code junky. As far as the hardware goes, there will almost certainly be carts with PAL CIC chips onboard.
Fingers crossed ;D
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Yeah, the PC cable works fine on a PAL NES, and fortunately I have one for testing. I've been using it for years. As arfink said, it's just an adjustment to the timing loops, since the PAL CPU runs slightly slower than the NTSC one. Ideally the cart would have a Ciclone chip in it, so that it would work on NTSC or PAL NES, but we probably won't put that in the first version, which will be NTSC/PAL depending on the original cart we start with. The alternative is to use a NES with the CIC disabled by cutting a pin, or the redesigned one which I hear doesn't even have a CIC.
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Seattle, WA
Psst...you dudes heard of Arto's NESFunkyFlash?
Also I guess he did Super Pakpak which is hella rad
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GNV / FL / USA
Flit wrote:
Psst...you dudes heard of Arto's NESFunkyFlash?
Also I guess he did Super Pakpak which is hella rad
Oh, cool - I didn't make the connection between Super Pakpak and the FunkyFlash! Super Pakpak is so cool, btw - like Solar Jetman mixed with Worms or something! 
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Minneapolis
Yeah, Super PakPak is great indeed. The Funky Flash was a pretty cool concept, but sadly unfinished. It's been eclipsed by the PowerPak, which can do everything the FunkyFlash wasn't going to be able to do. The Munchausen Cart, by comparison, will be doing even less than FunkyFlash, but it'll be cheap and easy to build. And it'll play Super Pakpak, since that game is NROM. Yay!
By the way, I found the absolute best Flash chip provider, who got me exactly what I wanted (AMD AT29F040B chips) at the price I wanted too. (extra cheap!) So now I have Flash chips coming to me all the way from Hong Kong. Oh yeah!
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Minneapolis
Wow, we are making some real progress today. Blargg helped me debug my serial link and gave me a bunch of test code which seems to be working perfectly. I'll take some pictures which will maybe (or maybe not) be interesting!
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Plymouth, UK
blargg wrote:
Yeah, the PC cable works fine on a PAL NES, and fortunately I have one for testing. I've been using it for years. As arfink said, it's just an adjustment to the timing loops, since the PAL CPU runs slightly slower than the NTSC one. Ideally the cart would have a Ciclone chip in it, so that it would work on NTSC or PAL NES, but we probably won't put that in the first version, which will be NTSC/PAL depending on the original cart we start with. The alternative is to use a NES with the CIC disabled by cutting a pin, or the redesigned one which I hear doesn't even have a CIC.
Oh oh oh!
Start with PAL xD
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Minneapolis
2XAA wrote:
blargg wrote:Yeah, the PC cable works fine on a PAL NES, and fortunately I have one for testing. I've been using it for years. As arfink said, it's just an adjustment to the timing loops, since the PAL CPU runs slightly slower than the NTSC one. Ideally the cart would have a Ciclone chip in it, so that it would work on NTSC or PAL NES, but we probably won't put that in the first version, which will be NTSC/PAL depending on the original cart we start with. The alternative is to use a NES with the CIC disabled by cutting a pin, or the redesigned one which I hear doesn't even have a CIC.
Oh oh oh!
Start with PAL xD
I can only test in NTSC, but Blargg can test either. So obviously the first hardware I build will be NTSC. What Blargg means is what donor cartridge I rip up. The first prototypes will be NTSC, since it's what I can get here in the US, and I'll move to PAL when I can get some PAL donors lined up.
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Carbondale, IL
arfink wrote:
By the way, I found the absolute best Flash chip provider, who got me exactly what I wanted (AMD AT29F040B chips) at the price I wanted too. (extra cheap!) So now I have Flash chips coming to me all the way from Hong Kong. Oh yeah!
I hate to be a killjoy, but...
Not to say that you will be victim of the same scam, but do keep in mind that there are less than scrupulous people out there who will sell you ICs and ship you fishing weights.
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Minneapolis
Thanks for the tip, but I have used this provider before, they are reputable.
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Minneapolis
OK, since I've promised pictures, here are some pictures:
First a picture of some random things. My NROM test cart is there (loaded with Blargg's CRC32 test code) along with the USB to NES adapter, which is built on a breadboard at the moment. To the right of the image you can see some MMC1 donor boards which are being stripped for further testing once the Flash chips come in. 
This second shot is a closeup of the breadboard. The astute viewer will notice that this closeup shot was taken before handshaking was added to the adapter. 
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This is just a little note to let you guys know you are made of win and this project will be awesome. 
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Minneapolis
This is the primary ingredient of a Munchausen Cartridge:
Also known as the SNROM-05, this particular circuit board contains almost everything needed for the Munchausen design. There is, of course, the MMC1B mapper chip and the CIC chip (top-middle), 8kb of battery backed SRAM (upper right), another 8kb of CHR RAM (bottom left), and the ability to handle up to 256kb of PRG data. With some minor modifications (a few jumper wires, diodes, etc.) we will increase this to 512kb and add the ability to not only read, but write and erase the Flash chip which will occupy the open space on the bottom-right of this cartridge. A few MMC1 registers will be sacrificed in order to accomplish this, but otherwise the cartridge will remain mostly the same.
Curious what NES games contain this board? Look HERE
Last edited by arfink (Aug 5, 2010 8:48 pm)
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These are most likely the game boards we can use to build versions for these systems:
Most-likely eligible NES games
Most-likely eligible PAL games
Most-likely eligible Famicom games
If your NES has the CIC disabled internally, it will be able to use the NTSC or PAL versions interchangeably.
Regarding MMC1 support, I believe we can provide support for some MMC1 programs, especially if they are written with the limitations in mind. Mainly it'll be that it's 256K or smaller, uses CHR RAM, and doesn't try to change the CHR bank to anything other than 0 (which a CHR RAM program would have no reason to do anyway).
The main goal is to support NROM with 32K PRG and 8K CHR ROM (or RAM), with optional battery RAM. Given the 512K Flash and 64K internal segment size, there should be room for at least 6 NROMs at once, with a menu to select which one to run.
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Milwaukee, WI
Would we get a discount on a cartridge if we sent in our own board for this? I have one I wouldn't mind, Munchausefied. 