I can be your US guy. It was late when I responded last time, but I'll create a quick list of good translations and try to make a multirom of musical software. There are simple utilities that will do this for me.
1,057 Nov 3, 2013 4:19 pm
Re: EOI Re-manufactured Games/Cart Manufacturing - Any Rom You Want (76 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
1,058 Nov 3, 2013 5:40 am
Re: EOI Re-manufactured Games/Cart Manufacturing - Any Rom You Want (76 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Mother 3 is a good gba option. Shantae is something I would never get hold of.
1,059 Nov 3, 2013 2:46 am
Re: EOI Re-manufactured Games/Cart Manufacturing - Any Rom You Want (76 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Are mask roms even produced anymore?
1,060 Nov 3, 2013 2:41 am
Re: EOI Re-manufactured Games/Cart Manufacturing - Any Rom You Want (76 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Has no one created a multi rom menu for the smaller musical software's?
In any case, you're right. What's a good homebrew or translation rom?
1,061 Nov 3, 2013 2:28 am
Re: EOI Re-manufactured Games/Cart Manufacturing - Any Rom You Want (76 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Let's begin with a group purchase. Once Darko has all five peoples 7dollars, he can ship individually I'm sure.
Who wants an LSDj? I couldn't care less for it (can't wrote music) but I want to jump start this.
1,062 Oct 31, 2013 4:11 am
Re: Sustainable Cart Flasher Project (41 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
katsumbhong wrote:
Z-Axis tape will be amazing for SGB CPU swaps.
I really only see a use for it in prototyping. What kind of adhesive strength are they claiming? Some of our GB performers get a little wild with the thrashing...
1,063 Oct 31, 2013 3:21 am
Re: multi-RF switcher (3 replies, posted in Other Hardware)
Both of those are well over priced. You should be able to find one at a Save-A-Lot or similar convenience store.
1,064 Oct 31, 2013 3:16 am
Re: Sustainable Cart Flasher Project (41 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
katsumbhong wrote:
Maybe some Z-Axis conductive tape action?
lol wat? Poor multimeter. Thats how I take things apart while drunk. 
1,065 Oct 30, 2013 2:44 pm
Re: Another weird EMS problem (7 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Nitro just posted so urgently, he went back in time. 
1,066 Oct 30, 2013 2:31 pm
Re: Chip maestro and midi controller (122 replies, posted in Nintendo Consoles)
Ness wrote:
Still, I'm wondering why I haven't seen a midi->SNES on the internet yet while searching for a midines/chip maestro replacement...
If I remember correctly the SNES used entirely Sound sample playback rather than and designated synth chip, however I could be wrong. Creating a musical cartridge would require a huge amount of samples to be loaded onto a cartridge if we planned on making varied music. It is still something I have been dreaming about for years though.
TylerBarnes wrote:
nordloef wrote:Where did you get the midines 2? Didn't even know that it was released.
The Electronic Bay. eBay
I'm guessing that it's not technically a "MidiNES 2" cause the missing chips like ciclone and functionality like midi out. It's just the name of the PCB board revision. As always I could be wrong.
I believe that the majority of circulating cartridges have the labelling "MIDINES 2" which may refer only to the board revision and not the ROM revision. The CICLONE is not an improvement nor does it add functionality. It is a replacement for the 6113B CIC chip that was being cannibalized from official NES cartridges. I do however suspect that there is another unreleased version that utilized the rest of the IC's since one such public photograph shows the "MIDINES 2009" board with all chips populated, including the second 62256 or FRAM. "DJ Mode" as mentioned above could potentially be an alternate booting ROM which requires the buffered inputs to switch between ROM banks.
1,067 Oct 29, 2013 11:58 pm
Re: Chip maestro and midi controller (122 replies, posted in Nintendo Consoles)
Batsly Adams wrote:
I wasn't trying to cause frustration. I thought that the attitude about the clone was a bit lousy and that the energy could be better spent elsewhere if it's motivated by revenge (isn't the PCB Membler's Squeedo design anyway?). I couldn't stop you even if I wanted to.
I did some digging and you sir, are correct. The very early MIDINES cartridges used the Squeedo flash cartridge; "squeedo" of course referring to the custom memory mapper and circuit board by Memblers Industries. The content of the above mentioned PIC happens to belong to Memblers, not Wayfar. There is little information on the Squeedo cartridge besides some changelogs from Memblers himself and some sample mp3s. Memblers is not wayfar (by far) and I suppose I ought to contact him about Squeedo.
Thanks to TylerBarnes and his photos, it would seem that MIDINES 1 RevB uses "Squeedo the Flash Cart - 2005 Memblers" whereas the MIDIDNES 2 R1 uses a new board which offers no claim to Squeedo or memblers whatsoever. It does however contain the same PIC and nearly the same layout as Squeedo. So unless I am mistaken, it would seem that Wayfar took Squeedo for his own. At this point, "MIDINES" refers only to the contents of that 29F040.
I never intended to walk away a richer man if you were under this assumption. My goal is not to take from Memblers, nor is it to take from wayfar. My only goal is to give back to the community where another has let them down.
stargazer wrote:
What even happened to x|k? He was such a talented member of the community. I always assumed that he got busy/bored with making midines but left his site up (presumably accidentally) and now even if he wanted to get back into it his name is tarnished and he has several years worth of backorders.
It doesn't seem to me like he intended to rip people off, just maybe got involved in a project bigger than he could support and maybe some depression/poverty set in as well.
Jose seemed like more of a sociopath that got corrupted by power and position.
Then again, I don't know anything.
I do know that jazz has given this community a huge chunk of enthusiasm and talent that its been lacking. Particularly in the last year. So I'll say thanks to you!
1,068 Oct 29, 2013 7:34 pm
Re: Chip maestro and midi controller (122 replies, posted in Nintendo Consoles)
I do not see how I am a hypocrite; I am a pirate, extending a hand to the community.
1,069 Oct 29, 2013 6:33 pm
Re: Chip maestro and midi controller (122 replies, posted in Nintendo Consoles)
Ness wrote:
Yay... Could I help in anyway?
Could I buy a real midines clone+added functionality?
How much time will it take?
Creating the board on the PC will not take more than a day or two (depending on my real-job schedule). Dumping the software will take only minutes for the ROM but 'if' the PIC is locked, I will have to enlist another party to assist with it. Depending on the PIC, this shouldn't take more than a month I think. If there is large interest once I figure out cost, I may even be able to expedite the process.
As for "extra-functionality" I don't really know what I can add. I could locate a faster optocoupler and socket the ROM chip for switching in custom samples, but I am not really a software guy.
---
I really appreciate the interest you guys are sharing, but lets keep the other ideas mentioned above in mind. we came up with some really great concepts and none of them should be overlooked.
1,070 Oct 29, 2013 6:21 pm
Re: Chip maestro and midi controller (122 replies, posted in Nintendo Consoles)
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› Show Spoiler
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...
1,071 Oct 29, 2013 1:14 am
Re: Chip maestro and midi controller (122 replies, posted in Nintendo Consoles)
Quick post for the curious: I blogged about a few cartridges that I have "reverse engineered." They are all Genesis carts, but I have done others as well;
http://jazz-disassemblies.blogspot.com/ … aving.html