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Hi everyone,

I was wondering if someone on this forum could point me in the right direction I have just finished building the SMSReader, including the extra 2 resistors and 2 capacitors.

I have tested the voltage all ok as per the test, but when I connect the SMSReader to my computer and run the SMSReader software to test the board with some carts I have, the software throws up unknown dump I've tried a few game carts.

I tried changing the ports on the computer I am using XP so I'm in your hands for advice where to look what the problem is and thanks in advance.

how does it differ from what it should be?
do you have some bits always set / all FFs / the first bank repeated N times?

The software tries to detect that stuff and warn about it. Best is to show us a dump so we can compare it to what it should be. Also, the log text when you dump it.

Hi guys

Thanks for trying to help me, you said show you a dump I'm not quite sure how to do that ?

Shall I upload it to this post or where is the log.

This is the first time I have embarked on a big project like this, so a newbie at this.

Thanks

Upload here, the log is the box that fills with text as you do stuff.

My smspage tool (I have just updated the .exe) may help give you a quick overview of the content of your rom files, if pages are duplicate, etc.
http://www.smspower.org/Development/SMSPage
You can also use an hex editor.

Hi Guys

Just an update I got the log and also have taken pictures as well, when you click on read cartridge it comes up with the following.

it was not possible to detect size, Do you want to try to dump this as a 1 meg file. Also I enclose the log.

image.jpeg (1.79 MB)

Sorry guys forgot to say heres a log of a cart as well, and i have tried 10 different carts and 3 different parallel ports on laptops and computers.

log.txt (2.49 KB)

Hi Guys

here is another dump i just done same problem ?

thanks for your help in advance

Unknowndump.zip (146.93 KB)

reading it too fast? It's full of duplicated bytes...

If it's reading it to fast how do i slow it down, all the computers i have tried are not very fast old school compared to the new modern computers i have ?

thanks

Repeated bytes would be caused by the counters not incrementing reliably. The code sends a clock signal followed by a read, on timescales much larger than the cartridge response time. There's no mechanism to validate the current address. I suggest you try checking the connection from the connector to the counter input pin, I think it should be low resistance. What counter chips are you using?

... and that's surely not the only problem (I mean the doubles), because otherwise I would find some sort of "TTMMRR" or "SSEEGGAA" or similar, which is absolutely missing (even without some doubles) :|

Im sorry as a newbie to the making of these devices im not sure which pin is the input pin ?

The chips im using M74HC404081 & SN74NC00N chips

thanks

sverx wrote

... and that's surely not the only problem (I mean the doubles), because otherwise I would find some sort of "TTMMRR" or "SSEEGGAA" or similar, which is absolutely missing (even without some doubles) :|

It will never get near enough the end of a bank to find that.

I need some electronics person to say whether your 4040s are suitable, I'm no expert.

If I read the schematic properly, the address clock pin is pin 1 of the connector (hopefully they're labelled) and goes directly to pin 10 of one of the 4040s. Pin 13 of that chip goes to pin 10 of the other 4040 and between them they generate the address lines for the cartridge.

The data you dumped doesn't seem valid either, can you confirm what game it was supposed to be? Most games start with f3 ed 56 (from memory), but they don't have to. All those 7fs are weird.

Maxim wrote

sverx wrote

... and that's surely not the only problem (I mean the doubles), because otherwise I would find some sort of "TTMMRR" or "SSEEGGAA" or similar, which is absolutely missing (even without some doubles) :|

It will never get near enough the end of a bank to find that.

I need some electronics person to say whether your 4040s are suitable, I'm no expert.

If I read the schematic properly, the address clock pin is pin 1 of the connector (hopefully they're labelled) and goes directly to pin 10 of one of the 4040s. Pin 13 of that chip goes to pin 10 of the other 4040 and between them they generate the address lines for the cartridge.

The data you dumped doesn't seem valid either, can you confirm what game it was supposed to be? Most games start with f3 ed 56 (from memory), but they don't have to. All those 7fs are weird.

The game was Action Fighter but I've tried other games, when I get my multimeter back today I'll test the pins on the connector and post back the reply here thanks.

Hi guys got my multimeter and checked the required pins you said and there is a connection I even changed the 4040 to the proper requirement but still reading it and I get unknown dump so stumped I've uploaded pictures to see if any one can see any thing

Thanks

image.jpg (2.3 MB)

image.jpg (3.07 MB)

Guys I have just finished testing the connections with a multimeter and still the same result, I was wondering if any one in the UK wouldn't mind testing this board or help me get this working.

Thanks for your help so far.

Hi every one I've spent loads more man hours going over this board and still I cannot get this working, I was wondering if any one in the world would look over this board for me please.

Thanks

Brian

I haven't built one of these (yet) but is the reader dependant on the specific LPT settings in the BIOS (i.e. ECP mode, etc.)?

As far as I know the parallel port as to be EPP but I have tried all the different ones in the bios and different computers, and still the reader is not reading my carts properly and I can't figure out why.

So any help with this would be appreciated.

hi all i still need help getting this board to work i was wondering if there is any one that is willing to look over the board and help me out.

thanks

Hi All

I've been testing various parts of the smd reader, over the last few months in attempt to repair it.

1: when I test the blue points for the voltage I get 0.68 volts instead of 5v.

2; when I tested the voltage of the 7805 voltage regulator I get input 5v and output 0.68 volts shouldn't that be 5v as well.

3: and just another question when I checked the 1N4001 Rectifier Diode for voltage I'm getting 4.77v one end, and 5.10v is this right but should I get 9v like the green point of the testing picture.

And the other green point in the should that be 9v but mine shows 5v.

4: I've tried dumping action fighter and it says bad dump.

Sorry to keep asking I've spent months at this and being a pure novice at i just don't know what to try next.

Thanks

If you only have 5V going into the regulator then it won't work, it needs a bit of overhead to operate. What AC adaptor are you using?

Hi Maxim

It's the sega megadrive adaptor, its says 5 voltage when I test them should it say 10v etc....
What adaptor would you recommend use, I have tested it with my Japanese mega drive and also use it on my game gear.

Thanks

It should say what is written on the adaptor. The chips need a stable 5V to work, which means the regulator needs at least 7V going in (I think).

Author	Message
xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	SMSReader need help please Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2015 5:22 am
xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Hi everyone, I was wondering if someone on this forum could point me in the right direction I have just finished building the SMSReader, including the extra 2 resistors and 2 capacitors. I have tested the voltage all ok as per the test, but when I connect the SMSReader to my computer and run the SMSReader software to test the board with some carts I have, the software throws up unknown dump I've tried a few game carts. I tried changing the ports on the computer I am using XP so I'm in your hands for advice where to look what the problem is and thanks in advance.

kamillebidan Joined: 25 Feb 2013 Posts: 384 Location: Osaka	Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2015 6:24 am
	how does it differ from what it should be? do you have some bits always set / all FFs / the first bank repeated N times?

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14751 Location: London	Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2015 10:58 am
	The software tries to detect that stuff and warn about it. Best is to show us a dump so we can compare it to what it should be. Also, the log text when you dump it.

xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2015 7:37 pm
xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Hi guys Thanks for trying to help me, you said show you a dump I'm not quite sure how to do that ? Shall I upload it to this post or where is the log. This is the first time I have embarked on a big project like this, so a newbie at this. Thanks

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14751 Location: London	Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2015 8:08 pm
	Upload here, the log is the box that fills with text as you do stuff.

Bock Site Admin Joined: 08 Jul 2001 Posts: 8661 Location: Paris, France	Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2015 8:22 pm
	My smspage tool (I have just updated the .exe) may help give you a quick overview of the content of your rom files, if pages are duplicate, etc. http://www.smspower.org/Development/SMSPage You can also use an hex editor.

xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2015 10:48 pm Last edited by xybots on Sat Oct 17, 2015 10:56 pm; edited 1 time in total
xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Hi Guys Just an update I got the log and also have taken pictures as well, when you click on read cartridge it comes up with the following. it was not possible to detect size, Do you want to try to dump this as a 1 meg file. Also I enclose the log. image.jpeg (1.79 MB)

xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2015 10:52 pm
xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Sorry guys forgot to say heres a log of a cart as well, and i have tried 10 different carts and 3 different parallel ports on laptops and computers. log.txt (2.49 KB)

xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2015 11:01 pm
xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Hi Guys here is another dump i just done same problem ? thanks for your help in advance Unknowndump.zip (146.93 KB)

sverx Joined: 05 Sep 2013 Posts: 3841 Location: Stockholm, Sweden	Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 9:04 am
	reading it too fast? It's full of duplicated bytes...

xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 11:50 am
xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	If it's reading it to fast how do i slow it down, all the computers i have tried are not very fast old school compared to the new modern computers i have ? thanks

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14751 Location: London	Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 2:41 pm
	Repeated bytes would be caused by the counters not incrementing reliably. The code sends a clock signal followed by a read, on timescales much larger than the cartridge response time. There's no mechanism to validate the current address. I suggest you try checking the connection from the connector to the counter input pin, I think it should be low resistance. What counter chips are you using?

sverx Joined: 05 Sep 2013 Posts: 3841 Location: Stockholm, Sweden	Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 5:21 pm
	... and that's surely not the only problem (I mean the doubles), because otherwise I would find some sort of "TTMMRR" or "SSEEGGAA" or similar, which is absolutely missing (even without some doubles) :\|

xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 5:32 pm
xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Im sorry as a newbie to the making of these devices im not sure which pin is the input pin ? The chips im using M74HC404081 & SN74NC00N chips thanks

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14751 Location: London	Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 9:08 pm
	sverx wrote ... and that's surely not the only problem (I mean the doubles), because otherwise I would find some sort of "TTMMRR" or "SSEEGGAA" or similar, which is absolutely missing (even without some doubles) :\| It will never get near enough the end of a bank to find that. I need some electronics person to say whether your 4040s are suitable, I'm no expert. If I read the schematic properly, the address clock pin is pin 1 of the connector (hopefully they're labelled) and goes directly to pin 10 of one of the 4040s. Pin 13 of that chip goes to pin 10 of the other 4040 and between them they generate the address lines for the cartridge. The data you dumped doesn't seem valid either, can you confirm what game it was supposed to be? Most games start with f3 ed 56 (from memory), but they don't have to. All those 7fs are weird.

xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2015 12:48 pm
xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Maxim wrote sverx wrote ... and that's surely not the only problem (I mean the doubles), because otherwise I would find some sort of "TTMMRR" or "SSEEGGAA" or similar, which is absolutely missing (even without some doubles) :\| It will never get near enough the end of a bank to find that. I need some electronics person to say whether your 4040s are suitable, I'm no expert. If I read the schematic properly, the address clock pin is pin 1 of the connector (hopefully they're labelled) and goes directly to pin 10 of one of the 4040s. Pin 13 of that chip goes to pin 10 of the other 4040 and between them they generate the address lines for the cartridge. The data you dumped doesn't seem valid either, can you confirm what game it was supposed to be? Most games start with f3 ed 56 (from memory), but they don't have to. All those 7fs are weird. The game was Action Fighter but I've tried other games, when I get my multimeter back today I'll test the pins on the connector and post back the reply here thanks.

xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2015 12:10 am
xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Hi guys got my multimeter and checked the required pins you said and there is a connection I even changed the 4040 to the proper requirement but still reading it and I get unknown dump so stumped I've uploaded pictures to see if any one can see any thing Thanks image.jpg (2.3 MB) image.jpg (3.07 MB)

xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2015 1:12 am
xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Guys I have just finished testing the connections with a multimeter and still the same result, I was wondering if any one in the UK wouldn't mind testing this board or help me get this working. Thanks for your help so far.

xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 5:26 am
xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Hi every one I've spent loads more man hours going over this board and still I cannot get this working, I was wondering if any one in the world would look over this board for me please. Thanks Brian

Maraakate Joined: 05 Jun 2010 Posts: 757 Location: Pennsylvania, USA	Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 5:32 pm
	I haven't built one of these (yet) but is the reader dependant on the specific LPT settings in the BIOS (i.e. ECP mode, etc.)?

xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2015 9:33 am
xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	As far as I know the parallel port as to be EPP but I have tried all the different ones in the bios and different computers, and still the reader is not reading my carts properly and I can't figure out why. So any help with this would be appreciated.

xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	still need help Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 7:20 pm
xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	hi all i still need help getting this board to work i was wondering if there is any one that is willing to look over the board and help me out. thanks

xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Still need help Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 1:22 pm
xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Hi All I've been testing various parts of the smd reader, over the last few months in attempt to repair it. 1: when I test the blue points for the voltage I get 0.68 volts instead of 5v. 2; when I tested the voltage of the 7805 voltage regulator I get input 5v and output 0.68 volts shouldn't that be 5v as well. 3: and just another question when I checked the 1N4001 Rectifier Diode for voltage I'm getting 4.77v one end, and 5.10v is this right but should I get 9v like the green point of the testing picture. And the other green point in the should that be 9v but mine shows 5v. 4: I've tried dumping action fighter and it says bad dump. Sorry to keep asking I've spent months at this and being a pure novice at i just don't know what to try next. Thanks

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14751 Location: London	Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 6:51 pm
	If you only have 5V going into the regulator then it won't work, it needs a bit of overhead to operate. What AC adaptor are you using?

xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 4:16 am
xybots Joined: 17 Oct 2015 Posts: 17	Hi Maxim It's the sega megadrive adaptor, its says 5 voltage when I test them should it say 10v etc.... What adaptor would you recommend use, I have tested it with my Japanese mega drive and also use it on my game gear. Thanks

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14751 Location: London	Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 9:22 pm
	It should say what is written on the adaptor. The chips need a stable 5V to work, which means the regulator needs at least 7V going in (I think).

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