For missing columns, I can vouch for this method being at least a temporary fix.
2 Jul 2, 2012 1:00 am
Re: xchanger/transferer programming details? (7 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
nitro2k01 wrote:
Check the datasheet for the specific flash chip on the cartridge I believe most EMS carts are usin Intel flash, like 28F320.You write a certain byte sequence to erase, enter programming mode etc. If you still need help, asl.
I have the datasheet for the flash chip. The problem is that, as far as I know, I don't have raw enough access to the flash chip via the cart pins to be able to program the chip just from the datasheet information. (I could be wrong here; I'm not an electronics expert.) I am assuming I would need some knowledge about the firmware on the MACH 4 chip to know whether it does some of the work in erasing/writing the flash chip or there is raw access to the flash chip. (Pictures of the cart PCB are here.)
3 Jul 1, 2012 11:34 pm
Topic: xchanger/transferer programming details? (7 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Does anyone know the details of how the xchanger/transferer programs carts? (Beyond "it pulls pin 31 low to activate write-enable on the flash chip".) For example, how does it erase the cart? As I understand flash chips, there is an explicit block-erasing step, which I'm assuming the xchanger/transferer controls.
The reason I ask is that I have one of these cart-dumper boards in the mail, and I'd like to modify the firmware so that I can flash my GB Smart 32M cart. Unfortunately, I have never owned a programmer, so I can't experiment to find out how it works, and I can't analyze the circuitry of the cart because some of the traces go under the chips where I can't follow them (though I'm not sure I could analyze it even if they didn't.)