Applying rom patches to carts?

[VenomMacbeth]

I'm very inexperienced with this sort of thing, so bear with me here.  Is there a way you can apply patches to roms that are on a cartridge?  I ask because I just got a copy of Gun Hazard for the SFC & I wanted to know if the English translation patch could be used on it.

[SuperDeadite]

You don't patch the original chips.  You burn new ones with the hacked roms.  If you want to do this, no point in using original cartridges really.  You are basically destroying the original and turning it into a bootleg.

[SignOfZeta]

The mask ROMs on carts from back then are read-only in every way so, no, this isn't possible.

On newer systems like the Neo Geo Pocket which uses flash it's technically possible, but still kind of pointless.

[Drakon]

And certain arcade pcbs.

The mask ROMs on carts from back then are read-only in every way so, no, this isn't possible.

On newer systems like the Neo Geo Pocket which uses flash it's technically possible, but still kind of pointless.

[VenomMacbeth]

The mask ROMs on carts from back then are read-only in every way so, no, this isn't possible.

On newer systems like the Neo Geo Pocket which uses flash it's technically possible, but still kind of pointless.

So is what SuperDeadite said applicable?  Can you burn the patched rom to another chip & put it on the cartridge?  I may have to go that route.  I'm also thinking of doing the same thing with Assault Suits Valken.

[SignOfZeta]

Or you could just buy a flash cart and put all the translated games you want on that instead of jacking up the originals.

[VenomMacbeth]

Why's everyone getting so bent out of shape about this?  I don't see any protest at bartre or anyone else for making reproduction carts, which "jack up" original carts.  It's not like I'm fucking up a copy of Metal Warriors or Chrono Trigger or something.  Cybernator is a $5 game, and I spent $11 total with shipping for Gun Hazard. And I'm sorry, but I'm not spending $100+ for a flash cartridge when I'd rather just have the originals, even if they are modified.

[PunkCryborg]

You can do just that, burn an eprom and solder it in, but it's a complicated process. Genesis carts are supposed to be easier then SNES carts. I've never done it myself but read into it as I'd like to do the same thing. The eprom writer is about $100 though and you have to buy new chips and know how write them. That whole process might be more complicated then it'd be worth to make a couple games for personal use.

[bust3dstr8]

Snes carts are a bitch to do and just the eproms will be $20-$25.  When you see how many traces and wire jumpers
you need to do...you'll just want to get the flash cart.

[VenomMacbeth]

You can do just that, burn an eprom and solder it in, but it's a complicated process. Genesis carts are supposed to be easier then SNES carts. I've never done it myself but read into it as I'd like to do the same thing. The eprom writer is about $100 though and you have to buy new chips and know how write them. That whole process might be more complicated then it'd be worth to make a couple games for personal use.

Well, I had planned on trying to find someone I could pay to do it for me, but I did also do a bit of reading into how to do it myself.  I think I'd need a little bit more experience with programming & circuit-bending and whatnot before I took on that task...

[Tatsujin]

If you will ask someone to do that for you, the total costs
will exceed the purchase of a flashcard instantly. 
And we are talking here about one game only.

[SignOfZeta]

If you will ask someone to do that for you, the total costs
will exceed the purchase of a flashcard instantly. 
And we are talking here about one game only.

Yeah, that was my thinking. Probably close to two games.

As for the cart destroying thing, I don't care what stuff is worth. Ruining good games is dumb. Most SNES repros can be made from almost any sac cart. If somebody can turn Home Improvement or Madden or Mortal Kombat or whatever junk into a good game then more power to them. They'd be doing everyone a favor. There is no need to pollute an already good games though.

Plus, you can do cool things with flash carts! My friend brought one over the other day (not sure which brand) that had extra DSPs in it allowing some crazy fucks to run a port of Road Buster/Road Avenger/Road Prosecutor. The result was pretty great!

[Drakon]

That would be the sd2snes you're thinking of.  The only repros I've been making are superfx ones because to overclock superfx games properly I need to burn the rom and install it into the more powerful gsu 2 superfx chip that nintendo never advertised even existed.

Yeah, that was my thinking. Probably close to two games.

As for the cart destroying thing, I don't care what stuff is worth. Ruining good games is dumb. Most SNES repros can be made from almost any sac cart. If somebody can turn Home Improvement or Madden or Mortal Kombat or whatever junk into a good game then more power to them. They'd be doing everyone a favor. There is no need to pollute an already good games though.

Plus, you can do cool things with flash carts! My friend brought one over the other day (not sure which brand) that had extra DSPs in it allowing some crazy fucks to run a port of Road Buster/Road Avenger/Road Prosecutor. The result was pretty great!

[DejahThoris]

Snes carts are a bitch to do and just the eproms will be $20-$25.  When you see how many traces and wire jumpers
you need to do...you'll just want to get the flash cart.

$20-25?  Where the hell are you buying eproms?

If you can solder well, and will have other uses for the eprom programmer afterward, I'd say go for it.  It's time-consuming, both in research, and in actual work, but it's not difficult.

[bust3dstr8]

27c801 are about three times the price of other common eproms. Of course they are cheaper in bulk, but if he wanted to buy the three to do one game it would be in the $20-25 range.


http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=27c801&_sop=15

[DejahThoris]

27c801 are about three times the price of other common eproms. Of course they are cheaper in bulk, but if he wanted to buy the three to do one game it would be in the $20-25 range.


http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=27c801&_sop=15

There are far better resources than eBay.  Regardless, he's doing games for what, $7 each?  How can you complain about that?

[Drakon]

Now that I think of it I also burned eproms for an arcade hack I made.  But there's no such thing as arcade flash carts.

[SignOfZeta]

There isn't much need for them since you can buy MAME and FPGA based multi-carts and PCBs.

[bartre]

alright, i'll weigh in here, in COST, including label, donor, and eproms, SNES repros run from $15-30
thing is, there's a lot of extra work, trimming wires, rerouting, etc.
if you want to do it via TSOP, the cost is pretty much set at $20, with no rewiring, depending on how you do it.
thing is, that way is actually quite a bit more difficult, as TSOP chips are a pain.

so either way, it's a lot of work, but i'd tell ya to just go back and change something like SNES Super Scope 6 or madden 95 into the game, rather than messing with the SFC carts, that way if you screw up your first couple (chances are you will) then it won't be a big deal.

here's the basic way of doing a 4 eprom SNES repro:
photobucket.com/albums/rr241/admin_of_all/som2diagramv2_zps709b1c23.png

[bust3dstr8]

If my programmer supported 29F032 I would have switched to that a while ago. I would rather solder one SMD
TSOP onto a DIP adapter than do the rat nest of wires for a 32Mbit cart.


There are some upfront costs to switch to TSOP. A adapter will be $75ish and you need to design a print your own
TSOP40 to SNES DIP 36 pcbs. Having proto pcbs made can be expensive if you only make 1 or 2 boards.
When I looked into it, it was about $175 each for a 12x16 snap away pcb.

[Drakon]

Smeh.  It's an authentic capcom street fighter 2 turbo arcade pcb I got off of ebay for 45$ shipped.  Since I already had a cheap willem with the right adapter (I think the willem plus adapter was something stupidly cheap like 25-35$ shipped) I just bought the right eproms, burned, plugged in, and payed.

There isn't much need for them since you can buy MAME and FPGA based multi-carts and PCBs.