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Hey Folks,

I Just wanted to start a post here for Codemasters cartridge PCB scans or Hi-Res Photos.

For starters I found the GG Codemasters cartridge: "DROPZONE"

I found that the cartridge enclosure for this one was a real pain to open.There are no screws at all, but in the center of the cartridge there was a plastic rod that snaps the two halves of the enclosure together.

Man! it was a tight little sucker to get apart. But it just snaps apart with controlled force.

Anyhow, If anyone has any other Codemasters Cartridges that they can add scans or Hi-res photos of, that would be awesome! :)

Regards,
-Gerry

Codemasters_GG_CART_001.jpg (134.46 KB)

Codemasters_GG_CART_004.jpg (70.04 KB)

Codemasters_GG_CART_003.jpg (116.1 KB)

Looks like the Codemasters cartridge mapper has been programmed onto a TI16R4 PAL chip.

I'm guessing this is the component Datasheet:
http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datasheets/166/34602_DS.pdf

Too bad we couldn't get a hold of the POF image for this sucker. :(

DIY mapper soon to be released.

-Gerry

Got "Micro Machines" and "Pete Sampras Tennis" here. I'll edit this post once I got to take a look at their guts. I hope I'll be doing it right - without breaking the cartridges themselves.

Well no worries if you're concerned at all. I'd rather that you not loose something of value.
My Dropzone cartridge was a bit banged up anyway and the sticker was peeling off at the bottom,
so I wasn't really concerned about the cartridge itself.

Use your own judgement of course.

Thanks !! :)
-Gerry

Quote

Too bad we couldn't get a hold of the POF image for this sucker. :(

I can dump read-protected 16R4 and related PALs, but don't have any Codemasters games myself.

Charles MacDonald wrote

Quote

Too bad we couldn't get a hold of the POF image for this sucker. :(

I can dump read-protected 16R4 and related PALs, but don't have any Codemasters games myself.

You just probe it deterministically? I suppose four flip flops doesn't leave much to the imagination.

Gerry man, Codemasters ROM paging is documented well enough to copy with modern hardware (GAL or better) already, isn't it?

I'm not really sure about the Codemaster Mapping, I haven't done that much research on them myself as of yet.
I just got curious when I got a hold of one at a garage sale.

So that would be cool if there is enough info to build one with discrete components or a CPLD.

Charles, how do you copy Protected PALs? What type of hardware do you use?

Very curious on that subject.

-Gerry

Quote

So that would be cool if there is enough info to build one with discrete components or a CPLD.

I tried making one with a 22V10 a few years ago, as I couldn't program 16V8s at the time:

http://smspower.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9334

I don't actually know what the Codemasters implementation looks like, but maybe it's similar.

Quote

Charles, how do you copy Protected PALs? What type of hardware do you use?

For combinatorial PALs you can dump them like an EPROM (address pins are inputs, data pins are outputs) and sift through the results trying to figure out how the outputs relate to the inputs. You end up building a lot of one-off adapters and analysis programs for each PAL.

This kind of work is tedious when you have to dump a high volume of chips like I do, so I made some custom hardware to automate the dumping process. It essentially does the same thing though, just more plug-n-play.

I've opened a codemaster cartridge to make a Dinobasher repro
(which was a loose cartridge ^^).

If you can dump the PAL16R4, it will be awesome !
I want to make my future repros with new parts.

Give me your adress in PM, I can send it to you (just tell me if you want all the parts desoldered or as the picture).

codemasters.jpeg (512.32 KB)

codemasters 2.jpeg (555.29 KB)

Photos courtesy of Alyssa Uisce who posted them in a FB group.

Note that Ernie Els Golf embeds 64 Kbit (8 kilobytes) of non-battery backed RAM.

GS's chip GM76C88ALFW-15 is indeed that RAM chip:
https://www.alldatasheet.com/view.jsp?Searchword=GM76C88ALFW-15&NBSP;

(EDIT: Added back side)

Ernie Els Golf - 01.jpg (305.64 KB)

Ernie Els Golf - 02.jpg (507.45 KB)

Ernis Els Golf - 03.jpg (193.94 KB)

Author	Message
Gerry_MAN Joined: 11 Dec 2009 Posts: 204 Location: Canada	Codemasters Cartridge PCB Scans Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 5:19 am
	Hey Folks, I Just wanted to start a post here for Codemasters cartridge PCB scans or Hi-Res Photos. For starters I found the GG Codemasters cartridge: "DROPZONE" I found that the cartridge enclosure for this one was a real pain to open.There are no screws at all, but in the center of the cartridge there was a plastic rod that snaps the two halves of the enclosure together. Man! it was a tight little sucker to get apart. But it just snaps apart with controlled force. Anyhow, If anyone has any other Codemasters Cartridges that they can add scans or Hi-res photos of, that would be awesome! :) Regards, -Gerry Codemasters_GG_CART_001.jpg (134.46 KB) Codemasters_GG_CART_004.jpg (70.04 KB) Codemasters_GG_CART_003.jpg (116.1 KB)

Gerry_MAN Joined: 11 Dec 2009 Posts: 204 Location: Canada	Codemasters PAL Mapper Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 5:29 am
	Looks like the Codemasters cartridge mapper has been programmed onto a TI16R4 PAL chip. I'm guessing this is the component Datasheet: http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datasheets/166/34602_DS.pdf Too bad we couldn't get a hold of the POF image for this sucker. :( DIY mapper soon to be released. -Gerry

mk1995 Joined: 11 Jan 2009 Posts: 116 Location: Germany	Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 6:52 am
mk1995 Joined: 11 Jan 2009 Posts: 116 Location: Germany	Got "Micro Machines" and "Pete Sampras Tennis" here. I'll edit this post once I got to take a look at their guts. I hope I'll be doing it right - without breaking the cartridges themselves.

Gerry_MAN Joined: 11 Dec 2009 Posts: 204 Location: Canada	Cartridge damage Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 3:37 pm
	Well no worries if you're concerned at all. I'd rather that you not loose something of value. My Dropzone cartridge was a bit banged up anyway and the sticker was peeling off at the bottom, so I wasn't really concerned about the cartridge itself. Use your own judgement of course. Thanks !! :) -Gerry

Charles MacDonald Joined: 28 Sep 1999 Posts: 1197	Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 5:17 pm
Charles MacDonald Joined: 28 Sep 1999 Posts: 1197	Quote Too bad we couldn't get a hold of the POF image for this sucker. :( I can dump read-protected 16R4 and related PALs, but don't have any Codemasters games myself.

viletim Joined: 24 Sep 2006 Posts: 191 Location: Sydney, Australia	Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:05 pm
	Charles MacDonald wrote Quote Too bad we couldn't get a hold of the POF image for this sucker. :( I can dump read-protected 16R4 and related PALs, but don't have any Codemasters games myself. You just probe it deterministically? I suppose four flip flops doesn't leave much to the imagination. Gerry man, Codemasters ROM paging is documented well enough to copy with modern hardware (GAL or better) already, isn't it?

Gerry_MAN Joined: 11 Dec 2009 Posts: 204 Location: Canada	Codemasters Mapping Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:29 pm
	I'm not really sure about the Codemaster Mapping, I haven't done that much research on them myself as of yet. I just got curious when I got a hold of one at a garage sale. So that would be cool if there is enough info to build one with discrete components or a CPLD. Charles, how do you copy Protected PALs? What type of hardware do you use? Very curious on that subject. -Gerry

Charles MacDonald Joined: 28 Sep 1999 Posts: 1197	Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 12:14 am
Charles MacDonald Joined: 28 Sep 1999 Posts: 1197	Quote So that would be cool if there is enough info to build one with discrete components or a CPLD. I tried making one with a 22V10 a few years ago, as I couldn't program 16V8s at the time: http://smspower.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9334 I don't actually know what the Codemasters implementation looks like, but maybe it's similar. Quote Charles, how do you copy Protected PALs? What type of hardware do you use? For combinatorial PALs you can dump them like an EPROM (address pins are inputs, data pins are outputs) and sift through the results trying to figure out how the outputs relate to the inputs. You end up building a lot of one-off adapters and analysis programs for each PAL. This kind of work is tedious when you have to dump a high volume of chips like I do, so I made some custom hardware to automate the dumping process. It essentially does the same thing though, just more plug-n-play.

ichigobankai Joined: 04 Jul 2010 Posts: 540 Location: Angers, France	Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 3:12 pm
	I've opened a codemaster cartridge to make a Dinobasher repro (which was a loose cartridge ^^). If you can dump the PAL16R4, it will be awesome ! I want to make my future repros with new parts. Give me your adress in PM, I can send it to you (just tell me if you want all the parts desoldered or as the picture). codemasters.jpeg (512.32 KB) codemasters 2.jpeg (555.29 KB)

Bock Site Admin Joined: 08 Jul 2001 Posts: 8648 Location: Paris, France	Ernie Els Golf board Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2021 4:48 pm
	Photos courtesy of Alyssa Uisce who posted them in a FB group. Note that Ernie Els Golf embeds 64 Kbit (8 kilobytes) of non-battery backed RAM. GS's chip GM76C88ALFW-15 is indeed that RAM chip: https://www.alldatasheet.com/view.jsp?Searchword=GM76C88ALFW-15&NBSP; (EDIT: Added back side) Ernie Els Golf - 01.jpg (305.64 KB) Ernie Els Golf - 02.jpg (507.45 KB) Ernis Els Golf - 03.jpg (193.94 KB)

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