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Omar,

I just tried SMS Boot Loader on a 27C256B EPROM in a Master System game cartridge PCB. I was amazed by how "professional" the program is. Great work!

This is also the first homebrew image I've ever tried on a real Master System at all. I used it to run the Mark III Hang On card I bought a while back, and it plays fine. Curiously it gives a Mark III intro screen on my European Master System.

Now I need to write some more ROMs so I can try SG1000 modes, etc.

And build that FM synthesizer adaptor, of course ;)

Richard

Quote

> I just tried SMS Boot Loader on a 27C256B EPROM in a Master System game cartridge PCB. I was amazed by how "professional" the program is. Great work!

Thanks. I might have ended desesperate thinking noone give it a try beside Mike :)
Glad it works. It wasn't particularly difficult to make, technically wise, but I spent much more time on the menu than on the actual "boot loading" code.

Quote

> This is also the first homebrew image I've ever tried on a real Master System at all. I used it to run the Mark III Hang On card I bought a while back, and it plays fine. Curiously it gives a Mark III intro screen on my European Master System.

Well, that's how the original Japanese game behave (it display a Mark III logo in all cases).

Quote

> And build that FM synthesizer adaptor, of course ;)

Would be great. Thanks for the schematic, they're pretty interesting. I hope this would work as is. Then I guess that I'll have to consider buying a FM-PAC cartridge. How much are they, nowadays ?

Quote

> > I just tried SMS Boot Loader on a 27C256B EPROM in a Master System game cartridge PCB. I was amazed by how "professional" the program is. Great work!

> Thanks. I might have ended desesperate thinking noone give it a try beside Mike :)

This is an incredibly useful program. What is the order of normal Master System BIOS boot? When I have Hang On (Jap) in the card slot, something European in the expansion slot and Boot Loader in the cartridge slot, it always runs Boot Loader. Then I can choose between the card and the cartridge in the expansion slot.

Quote

> Glad it works. It wasn't particularly difficult to make, technically wise, but I spent much more time on the menu than on the actual "boot loading" code.

Possible feedback for the menu - to give the user an indication that his button press has been received, when he lets go of the button, why not clear the screen then? I notice there is a small delay after pressing the button before it boots the next ROM; presumably because clearing the screen straight away would not look good. But waiting for the user to let go of the button might work.

Quote

> > And build that FM synthesizer adaptor, of course ;)

> Would be great. Thanks for the schematic, they're pretty interesting. I hope this would work as is. Then I guess that I'll have to consider buying a FM-PAC cartridge. How much are they, nowadays ?

I'll be building it today, assuming the electronics store has the parts I ordered in stock.

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

I just tried Boot Loader with the Flash ROM cartridge I built a while back out of a Monopoly cartridge. Guess what - it works!!

I've never seen that Flash cartridge working before; it always gave Software Errors. Now it is running fine. I wonder if the BIOS has some means of working out how large the cartridge ROM is, by reading mapper chip registers rather than the ROM itself. Otherwise, I can't work out why it doesn't work with the normal BIOS, but does with Boot Loader.

Awesome utility, Omar!!

Richard

Quote

>> Thanks. I might have ended desesperate thinking noone give it a try beside Mike :)
> This is an incredibly useful program. What is the order of normal Master System BIOS boot? When I have Hang On (Jap) in the card slot, something European in the expansion slot and Boot Loader in the cartridge slot, it always runs Boot Loader. Then I can choose between the card and the cartridge in the expansion slot.

Judging on BIOS 1.3 disassembly, it's CARD, CARTRIDGE, EXPANSION.
But since it can't find something it wants to boot on on the Hang On Japanese mycard, it executes the boot loader on Cartridge slot.

Quote

> Possible feedback for the menu - to give the user an indication that his button press has been received, when he lets go of the button, why not clear the screen then?

Well, if you can't move the cursor anymore, it means that the Boot Loader program isn't running anymore, so that's an indication. But I may have some more informations in the future. I'll like to make a more generic program, to be able to look at data on the three slots, see if there's a right checksum/'TMR SEGA' magic string and execute anything.

Quote

> I notice there is a small delay after pressing the button before it boots the next ROM;
> presumably because clearing the screen straight away would not look good. But waiting for the user to let go of the button might work.

Actually, there's no delay. But 99% of the SMS/MarkIII softs have an intentionnal delay on booting. This is how it stays on the normal boot up screen when loading a game.

Quote

> I'll be building it today, assuming the electronics store has the parts I ordered in stock.

Good, let us know how it works :)

My question about the FM-PAC, any guess ?

Quote

> UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
> I just tried Boot Loader with the Flash ROM cartridge I built a while back out of a Monopoly cartridge. Guess what - it works!!
> I've never seen that Flash cartridge working before; it always gave Software Errors. Now it is running fine. I wonder if the BIOS has some means of working out how large the cartridge ROM is, by reading mapper chip registers rather than the ROM itself. Otherwise, I can't work out why it doesn't work with the normal BIOS, but does with Boot Loader.

Maybe there's minor garbage upcoming from your Flash ROM cartridge, and it cause problems when calculating a checksum..
What's the header you have in the ROM you flashed ? There's an indication in the header to tells the data range checksum is applied to. You can try reducing it to 32 kb, altering the checksum accordingly, and see if it runs as is (without Boot Loader).

Quote

> Judging on BIOS 1.3 disassembly, it's CARD, CARTRIDGE, EXPANSION.
> But since it can't find something it wants to boot on on the Hang On Japanese mycard, it executes the boot loader on Cartridge slot.

Thanks. If the FM adaptor works, I'm going to add an EPROM socket for Boot Loader, so that I can run Japanese Phantasy Star on my European late model SMS1 (SMS2 VDP - most SMS1 sold in England are like this)

Quote

> > Possible feedback for the menu - to give the user an indication that his button press has been received, when he lets go of the button, why not clear the screen then?

> Well, if you can't move the cursor anymore, it means that the Boot Loader program isn't running anymore, so that's an indication. But I may have some more informations in the future. I'll like to make a more generic program, to be able to look at data on the three slots, see if there's a right checksum/'TMR SEGA' magic string and execute anything.

Is there a name string in the header? Country codes etc? What does Meka read from in the file selection screen?

Quote

> > I notice there is a small delay after pressing the button before it boots the next ROM;
> > presumably because clearing the screen straight away would not look good. But waiting for the user to let go of the button might work.

> Actually, there's no delay. But 99% of the SMS/MarkIII softs have an intentionnal delay on booting. This is how it stays on the normal boot up screen when loading a game.

I see...

Quote

> My question about the FM-PAC, any guess ?

I just bought a Panasonic FM-PAC for 21 EUR on ebay.de, but it still has to be shipped.

Quote

> Maybe there's minor garbage upcoming from your Flash ROM cartridge, and it cause problems when calculating a checksum..
> What's the header you have in the ROM you flashed ? There's an indication in the header to tells the data range checksum is applied to. You can try reducing it to 32 kb, altering the checksum accordingly, and see if it runs as is (without Boot Loader).

I tried several ROMs; some Japanese and some European. I wasn't expecting the Japanese ones to work, but I was hoping the European ones would.

I now need to program more flash ROMs...

Richard

Quote

> Thanks. If the FM adaptor works, I'm going to add an EPROM socket for Boot Loader, so that I can run Japanese Phantasy Star on my European late model SMS1 (SMS2 VDP - most SMS1 sold in England are like this)

Notice that if you can write Flash/EPROM from a file, then you can modify the file to add an header and let the game run without a Boot Loader. :)
Boot Loader is useful for original/unmodified data.

Quote

>> Well, if you can't move the cursor anymore, it means that the Boot Loader program isn't running anymore, so that's an indication. But I may have some more informations in the future. I'll like to make a more generic program, to be able to look at data on the three slots, see if there's a right checksum/'TMR SEGA' magic string and execute anything.
> Is there a name string in the header? Country codes etc? What does Meka read from in the file selection screen?

Country code and checksum mainly. There's no name string, MEKA is based on a database I made (open MEKA.NAM to see ) with game names and various informations.
I'll suggest that you look at the code of my smscheck.c, it has header described.

Quote

>> My question about the FM-PAC, any guess ?
> I just bought a Panasonic FM-PAC for 21 EUR on ebay.de, but it still has to be shipped.

It is reasonnable. I'll look for one in the future.

Quote

> I now need to program more flash ROMs...

How fast it is, for, say, a 512 kb ROM ?

Quote

> Notice that if you can write Flash/EPROM from a file, then you can modify the file to add an header and let the game run without a Boot Loader. :)

Yes... there seem to be modified files out there already (see latest post). Is this done using a standard S8 utility?

Quote

> Boot Loader is useful for original/unmodified data.

Long term, my eventual aim is to find an SC-3000H computer and connect it to the Master System expansion port, thereby adding a keyboard and Mark III style cartridge port to a European Master System. Obviously I'd have to desolder the SC-3000H's own Z80 and probably some other chips, but it's the easiest way I can think of to add keyboard capability to the SMS. It would also be possible to play Japanese cartridges using the SC-3000H cartridge port (might have to play around with slot selection lines a bit) and experiment with the SMS2 VDP from the BASIC environment.

Quote

> > I now need to program more flash ROMs...

> How fast it is, for, say, a 512 kb ROM ?

The Dataman S4 I am using takes about half a minute to program the 512K flash ROMs I bought, including verification time. RS232 transfer from the PC to the programmer takes a little longer, however.

Author	Message
Richard Atkinson Guest	Message for Bock Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2002 8:24 pm
Richard Atkinson Guest	Omar, I just tried SMS Boot Loader on a 27C256B EPROM in a Master System game cartridge PCB. I was amazed by how "professional" the program is. Great work! This is also the first homebrew image I've ever tried on a real Master System at all. I used it to run the Mark III Hang On card I bought a while back, and it plays fine. Curiously it gives a Mark III intro screen on my European Master System. Now I need to write some more ROMs so I can try SG1000 modes, etc. And build that FM synthesizer adaptor, of course ;) Richard

Bock Site Admin Joined: 08 Jul 2001 Posts: 8652 Location: Paris, France	Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2002 9:19 pm
	Quote > I just tried SMS Boot Loader on a 27C256B EPROM in a Master System game cartridge PCB. I was amazed by how "professional" the program is. Great work! Thanks. I might have ended desesperate thinking noone give it a try beside Mike :) Glad it works. It wasn't particularly difficult to make, technically wise, but I spent much more time on the menu than on the actual "boot loading" code. Quote > This is also the first homebrew image I've ever tried on a real Master System at all. I used it to run the Mark III Hang On card I bought a while back, and it plays fine. Curiously it gives a Mark III intro screen on my European Master System. Well, that's how the original Japanese game behave (it display a Mark III logo in all cases). Quote > And build that FM synthesizer adaptor, of course ;) Would be great. Thanks for the schematic, they're pretty interesting. I hope this would work as is. Then I guess that I'll have to consider buying a FM-PAC cartridge. How much are they, nowadays ?

Richard Atkinson Guest	Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2002 10:54 am
Richard Atkinson Guest	Quote > > I just tried SMS Boot Loader on a 27C256B EPROM in a Master System game cartridge PCB. I was amazed by how "professional" the program is. Great work! > Thanks. I might have ended desesperate thinking noone give it a try beside Mike :) This is an incredibly useful program. What is the order of normal Master System BIOS boot? When I have Hang On (Jap) in the card slot, something European in the expansion slot and Boot Loader in the cartridge slot, it always runs Boot Loader. Then I can choose between the card and the cartridge in the expansion slot. Quote > Glad it works. It wasn't particularly difficult to make, technically wise, but I spent much more time on the menu than on the actual "boot loading" code. Possible feedback for the menu - to give the user an indication that his button press has been received, when he lets go of the button, why not clear the screen then? I notice there is a small delay after pressing the button before it boots the next ROM; presumably because clearing the screen straight away would not look good. But waiting for the user to let go of the button might work. Quote > > And build that FM synthesizer adaptor, of course ;) > Would be great. Thanks for the schematic, they're pretty interesting. I hope this would work as is. Then I guess that I'll have to consider buying a FM-PAC cartridge. How much are they, nowadays ? I'll be building it today, assuming the electronics store has the parts I ordered in stock. UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE I just tried Boot Loader with the Flash ROM cartridge I built a while back out of a Monopoly cartridge. Guess what - it works!! I've never seen that Flash cartridge working before; it always gave Software Errors. Now it is running fine. I wonder if the BIOS has some means of working out how large the cartridge ROM is, by reading mapper chip registers rather than the ROM itself. Otherwise, I can't work out why it doesn't work with the normal BIOS, but does with Boot Loader. Awesome utility, Omar!! Richard

Bock Site Admin Joined: 08 Jul 2001 Posts: 8652 Location: Paris, France	Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2002 11:06 am
	Quote >> Thanks. I might have ended desesperate thinking noone give it a try beside Mike :) > This is an incredibly useful program. What is the order of normal Master System BIOS boot? When I have Hang On (Jap) in the card slot, something European in the expansion slot and Boot Loader in the cartridge slot, it always runs Boot Loader. Then I can choose between the card and the cartridge in the expansion slot. Judging on BIOS 1.3 disassembly, it's CARD, CARTRIDGE, EXPANSION. But since it can't find something it wants to boot on on the Hang On Japanese mycard, it executes the boot loader on Cartridge slot. Quote > Possible feedback for the menu - to give the user an indication that his button press has been received, when he lets go of the button, why not clear the screen then? Well, if you can't move the cursor anymore, it means that the Boot Loader program isn't running anymore, so that's an indication. But I may have some more informations in the future. I'll like to make a more generic program, to be able to look at data on the three slots, see if there's a right checksum/'TMR SEGA' magic string and execute anything. Quote > I notice there is a small delay after pressing the button before it boots the next ROM; > presumably because clearing the screen straight away would not look good. But waiting for the user to let go of the button might work. Actually, there's no delay. But 99% of the SMS/MarkIII softs have an intentionnal delay on booting. This is how it stays on the normal boot up screen when loading a game. Quote > I'll be building it today, assuming the electronics store has the parts I ordered in stock. Good, let us know how it works :) My question about the FM-PAC, any guess ? Quote > UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE > I just tried Boot Loader with the Flash ROM cartridge I built a while back out of a Monopoly cartridge. Guess what - it works!! > I've never seen that Flash cartridge working before; it always gave Software Errors. Now it is running fine. I wonder if the BIOS has some means of working out how large the cartridge ROM is, by reading mapper chip registers rather than the ROM itself. Otherwise, I can't work out why it doesn't work with the normal BIOS, but does with Boot Loader. Maybe there's minor garbage upcoming from your Flash ROM cartridge, and it cause problems when calculating a checksum.. What's the header you have in the ROM you flashed ? There's an indication in the header to tells the data range checksum is applied to. You can try reducing it to 32 kb, altering the checksum accordingly, and see if it runs as is (without Boot Loader).

Richard Atkinson Guest	Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2002 11:56 am
Richard Atkinson Guest	Quote > Judging on BIOS 1.3 disassembly, it's CARD, CARTRIDGE, EXPANSION. > But since it can't find something it wants to boot on on the Hang On Japanese mycard, it executes the boot loader on Cartridge slot. Thanks. If the FM adaptor works, I'm going to add an EPROM socket for Boot Loader, so that I can run Japanese Phantasy Star on my European late model SMS1 (SMS2 VDP - most SMS1 sold in England are like this) Quote > > Possible feedback for the menu - to give the user an indication that his button press has been received, when he lets go of the button, why not clear the screen then? > Well, if you can't move the cursor anymore, it means that the Boot Loader program isn't running anymore, so that's an indication. But I may have some more informations in the future. I'll like to make a more generic program, to be able to look at data on the three slots, see if there's a right checksum/'TMR SEGA' magic string and execute anything. Is there a name string in the header? Country codes etc? What does Meka read from in the file selection screen? Quote > > I notice there is a small delay after pressing the button before it boots the next ROM; > > presumably because clearing the screen straight away would not look good. But waiting for the user to let go of the button might work. > Actually, there's no delay. But 99% of the SMS/MarkIII softs have an intentionnal delay on booting. This is how it stays on the normal boot up screen when loading a game. I see... Quote > My question about the FM-PAC, any guess ? I just bought a Panasonic FM-PAC for 21 EUR on ebay.de, but it still has to be shipped. Quote > Maybe there's minor garbage upcoming from your Flash ROM cartridge, and it cause problems when calculating a checksum.. > What's the header you have in the ROM you flashed ? There's an indication in the header to tells the data range checksum is applied to. You can try reducing it to 32 kb, altering the checksum accordingly, and see if it runs as is (without Boot Loader). I tried several ROMs; some Japanese and some European. I wasn't expecting the Japanese ones to work, but I was hoping the European ones would. I now need to program more flash ROMs... Richard

Bock Site Admin Joined: 08 Jul 2001 Posts: 8652 Location: Paris, France	Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2002 12:13 pm
	Quote > Thanks. If the FM adaptor works, I'm going to add an EPROM socket for Boot Loader, so that I can run Japanese Phantasy Star on my European late model SMS1 (SMS2 VDP - most SMS1 sold in England are like this) Notice that if you can write Flash/EPROM from a file, then you can modify the file to add an header and let the game run without a Boot Loader. :) Boot Loader is useful for original/unmodified data. Quote >> Well, if you can't move the cursor anymore, it means that the Boot Loader program isn't running anymore, so that's an indication. But I may have some more informations in the future. I'll like to make a more generic program, to be able to look at data on the three slots, see if there's a right checksum/'TMR SEGA' magic string and execute anything. > Is there a name string in the header? Country codes etc? What does Meka read from in the file selection screen? Country code and checksum mainly. There's no name string, MEKA is based on a database I made (open MEKA.NAM to see ) with game names and various informations. I'll suggest that you look at the code of my smscheck.c, it has header described. Quote >> My question about the FM-PAC, any guess ? > I just bought a Panasonic FM-PAC for 21 EUR on ebay.de, but it still has to be shipped. It is reasonnable. I'll look for one in the future. Quote > I now need to program more flash ROMs... How fast it is, for, say, a 512 kb ROM ?

Richard Atkinson Guest	Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2002 5:58 pm
Richard Atkinson Guest	Quote > Notice that if you can write Flash/EPROM from a file, then you can modify the file to add an header and let the game run without a Boot Loader. :) Yes... there seem to be modified files out there already (see latest post). Is this done using a standard S8 utility? Quote > Boot Loader is useful for original/unmodified data. Long term, my eventual aim is to find an SC-3000H computer and connect it to the Master System expansion port, thereby adding a keyboard and Mark III style cartridge port to a European Master System. Obviously I'd have to desolder the SC-3000H's own Z80 and probably some other chips, but it's the easiest way I can think of to add keyboard capability to the SMS. It would also be possible to play Japanese cartridges using the SC-3000H cartridge port (might have to play around with slot selection lines a bit) and experiment with the SMS2 VDP from the BASIC environment. Quote > > I now need to program more flash ROMs... > How fast it is, for, say, a 512 kb ROM ? The Dataman S4 I am using takes about half a minute to program the 512K flash ROMs I bought, including verification time. RS232 transfer from the PC to the programmer takes a little longer, however.

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