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Hello. I am new to the forum and tried searching for an answer but was unable to do so. Thus, I decided to make a quick post to see if anyone could point me in the right direction. I have a TL866II Plus EEPROM programmer. I am trying to get Sylvan Tale (English translation) rom, which has a ".gg" file extension, flashed to SST39SF040. I found a site Mortoff Games that sell a Sega Game Gear PCB and I have one.

What I need help with is understanding if there is anything special in taking the .gg game ROM and flashing the chip with it.

I appreciate any help.

Looking at the instructions for the PCB you bought the creator says "no expanding or padding the rom is needed" so I guess you don't have to worry about that.

It looks like you have to bend the pins after programming the chip to solder it in place. You won't be able to bend the pins back (they'll very likely break off) if you made a mistake and have to reprogram the chip, so I'd be careful. Unless you have a few more SST39SF040's to spare.

In the TL866 software you can do this:

1. Select the SST39SF040 device
2. Load the game gear ROM file
3. Program the flash chip
4. Verify the flash chip
5. Take the chip out, and place it back in, and verify it again

If it still verifies OK both times then you're probably good to go.

I'd definitely read through the instructions for the PCB a few times to be sure you've done all the configuration steps necessary.

Thank you for the reply, I'll give it a shot.

My suggestion would be to buy a bag of cheap 32 pin DIP sockets and bend and solder the legs on that to the board.

That way you can just plug the IC in once you've mucked around with getting the socket mounted.

It also means you can reprogram the chip easily in case it doesn't work!

That's unless you want to put it in an (SMS) cartridge enclosure in which case the height of the socket and IC might foul the enclosure. But since this is for the GG I assume you're not bothering with an enclosure.

Author	Message
CDR_TUVOK Joined: 26 Mar 2022 Posts: 2	How to Program Sega Game Gear Rom flash to Chip SST39SF040 Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2022 1:52 am
CDR_TUVOK Joined: 26 Mar 2022 Posts: 2	Hello. I am new to the forum and tried searching for an answer but was unable to do so. Thus, I decided to make a quick post to see if anyone could point me in the right direction. I have a TL866II Plus EEPROM programmer. I am trying to get Sylvan Tale (English translation) rom, which has a ".gg" file extension, flashed to SST39SF040. I found a site Mortoff Games that sell a Sega Game Gear PCB and I have one. What I need help with is understanding if there is anything special in taking the .gg game ROM and flashing the chip with it. I appreciate any help.

Charles MacDonald Joined: 28 Sep 1999 Posts: 1197	Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2022 9:03 pm
Charles MacDonald Joined: 28 Sep 1999 Posts: 1197	Looking at the instructions for the PCB you bought the creator says "no expanding or padding the rom is needed" so I guess you don't have to worry about that. It looks like you have to bend the pins after programming the chip to solder it in place. You won't be able to bend the pins back (they'll very likely break off) if you made a mistake and have to reprogram the chip, so I'd be careful. Unless you have a few more SST39SF040's to spare. In the TL866 software you can do this: 1. Select the SST39SF040 device 2. Load the game gear ROM file 3. Program the flash chip 4. Verify the flash chip 5. Take the chip out, and place it back in, and verify it again If it still verifies OK both times then you're probably good to go. I'd definitely read through the instructions for the PCB a few times to be sure you've done all the configuration steps necessary.

CDR_TUVOK Joined: 26 Mar 2022 Posts: 2	Thanks Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2022 10:09 pm
CDR_TUVOK Joined: 26 Mar 2022 Posts: 2	Thank you for the reply, I'll give it a shot.

willbritton Joined: 06 Mar 2022 Posts: 670 Location: London, UK	Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2022 11:16 am
	My suggestion would be to buy a bag of cheap 32 pin DIP sockets and bend and solder the legs on that to the board. That way you can just plug the IC in once you've mucked around with getting the socket mounted. It also means you can reprogram the chip easily in case it doesn't work! That's unless you want to put it in an (SMS) cartridge enclosure in which case the height of the socket and IC might foul the enclosure. But since this is for the GG I assume you're not bothering with an enclosure.

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