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Australia

Hmmm pin3 as in Snd or /WE? (depends which end you count from)

In either case, it can be supported. My BennVenn carts operate with Flash WE tied to cart-bus WE. If that is the case then two birds with one stone.

I'll be detecting cart types via the Flash IC's CFI information. This will allow almost complete compatibility with any cart (assuming there is no /WE trickery or boot sectors need unlocking [nanoloop] in which case firmware updates will be necessary)

I'll post updates soon

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Michigan
BennVenn wrote:

Hmmm pin3 as in Snd or /WE? (depends which end you count from)

In either case, it can be supported. My BennVenn carts operate with Flash WE tied to cart-bus WE. If that is the case then two birds with one stone.

I'll be detecting cart types via the Flash IC's CFI information. This will allow almost complete compatibility with any cart (assuming there is no /WE trickery or boot sectors need unlocking [nanoloop] in which case firmware updates will be necessary)

I'll post updates soon

/we, not snd.

(psst, pin 3 from the other side is not snd. ;P)

Last edited by Jazzmarazz (Mar 30, 2015 8:43 pm)

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Australia

Haha, yeah just going from memory. Gnd, Snd, Rst?

Datasheet says 64Kbyte 'blocks' so that is easy enough to change, and the flash commands are different to the EMS but similar to the BennVenn. Looks easy enough

Thanks Jazz

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Michigan
BennVenn wrote:

Haha, yeah just going from memory. Gnd, Snd, Rst?

Datasheet says 64Kbyte 'blocks' so that is easy enough to change, and the flash commands are different to the EMS but similar to the BennVenn. Looks easy enough

Thanks Jazz

Sure. Have you got a mic yet?

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Australia

Just reading through that datasheet, That's a slow chip! 32second chip erase, 15second flash write time (excluding protocol overhead) and no bulk write mode. And only 2mbytes. Averaging 30seconds for an LSDJ transfer. Same protocol as the Bung carts, though bung tie /WE to SND.

Would anyone be interested in loaning me one?

Jazz - Yes, found a $5 webcam at my local supermarket. 320x240 - Might as well use my GBcamera :-)

Last edited by BennVenn (Mar 30, 2015 9:09 pm)

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Michigan
BennVenn wrote:

Just reading through that datasheet, That's a slow chip! 32second chip erase, 15second flash write time (excluding protocol overhead) and no bulk write mode. And only 2mbytes. Averaging 30seconds for an LSDJ transfer. Same protocol as the Bung carts, though bung tie /WE to SND.

Would anyone be interested in loaning me one?

Jazz - Yes, found a $5 webcam at my local supermarket. 320x240 - Might as well use my GBcamera :-)

Well the chip is from 1993 after all. Its older than most of our artists here! HAHAHA.....
I can loan you my cart on one condition. You have a look at this pirate cart I have. It claims that it is an MBC1 mapper as per the header, but uses a custom bank switching scheme. It is currently an undumped rom and I actually have to return it to an Ausi. So I figured you could have a crack at it first.

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Australia

Sounds like a deal. Headers really mean nothing, more so with a pirate cart. Is it a multi-cart?

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Michigan
BennVenn wrote:

Sounds like a deal. Headers really mean nothing, more so with a pirate cart. Is it a multi-cart?

No, just one hacked rom of metal slug.

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Australia

Update:

BennVenn flashing is supported. It may take some time to roll this firmware into v1.01 as it uses a new file system however I'll make the standalone BennVenn firmware available. Changing between the two takes only a few seconds - Drag the firmware file to the drive, it'll un-mount, relflash and re-mount with the new firmware running. Time ~3 seconds.

Flash write speed of an 8mbyte ROM is ~2min.

Edit: Improved my flash algorithm - now @ 55seconds for a 64mbit ROM.

Last edited by BennVenn (Apr 3, 2015 1:26 am)

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Helpful tip for bennvenn's awesome gen2 linker- if you've loaded his lsdj patch to an ems64 usb, you need to hold start while turning on the system in order to get to the transfer screen and be visible to the computer. It's the equivalent of pressing start from the boot menu on the bennvenn flash carts, which I'm also pretty stoked about.

Also, a huge thanks to benn in helping me get my setup sorted out, responding to my multiple/ annoying emails super fast for the better part of a day.

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Australia

Unfortunately, the latest Yosemite update (OSX) has broken compatibility with my Gen2 stuff!

The PC I borrowed for testing was running Mavericks but with the update it seems my devices are not recognised. It don't think this is a hardware/USB issue as my firmware strictly follows the USB + MSC spec, which leaves the Fat12 File system and OSX's interpretation of it.

I’m working through it now though without the latest Mac OS at my fingertips this could take some time.

If anyone reading this has a mac running Yosemite, is familiar and comfortable in the terminal and wants to score a free Gen2 device, post here!

Or if anyone has experienced USB device werid-ness with Yosemite, It would be good to hear from you too!

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NUMBSKULL

I have Yosemite and would love to help! Very comfortable at the command line.

The only thing that comes to mind is typical usb-ftdi adapters. The default driver doesn't work at all so you have to install them from the ftdi website. Even still, when flashing an arduino I have to hit reset right before it starts sending the data.

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Australia

There is no FTDI or anything similar in my Gen2 stuff, its all USB class Mass Storage. I'll email you the image (FAT12) my firmware uses, if you can write it to a usb flash drive to see if the problem is my Fat12 implementation that would be awesome!

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Australia

I'll install Yosemite in a VM and take a look at the packet requests on my analyser. Seems like the quickest way to get a fix out.

My first Yosemite customer sent me a dmesg dump and the device is not enumerating at the hardware level, so I'll need to look at the 'handshaking' osx does at device connect time.

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Australia

OK, I have Yosemite running in VM, Joey Squinson running BennVenn cart firmware and no issues at all... Just re-flashed with my EMS/Nintendo generic firmware and my VM threw all kinds of errors. Re-Flashed BennVenn firmware and all good again. The problem seems to be with my Fat12 file system which differs slightly to the BennVenn firmware Fat (Cluster/Sector&Disk size)

Now I know where the problem is, a fix will be available very soon.

Please contact me if you are running Yosemite and you need this fix

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Melbourne

Got my joey-squinson today, thanks! I had a bit of a hard time with it though, it doesn't show up at all on my mac (2009 macbook pro running 10.9.5). Works fine on my PC netbook for backing up sav files from (I think?) an EMS 32M flash cart, but I ran into some problems saving the new version of LSDJ on to it.

Admittedly, I tried overwriting the existing file rather than deleting it first, so maybe that was my problem. It seemed to work but then when I ejected it and added it again the file was 0 bytes.

Strangely though, after ejecting again and leaving it for a while it seemed to work properly in my DMG (and displays as the correct size in Explorer), so I guess I'll just leave it as it is for the time being. Any ideas? Did I get a dodgy unit, or am I not supposed to be using it with the old EMS carts?