backing up and emulating

[matttail]

forgive me if this is a stupid question, but I'm looking for a little advise. I'm planning on building a coders cable. Then I'd like to create a full backup of two games that I own and then be able to play them on my PC. Is this possible? And can someone direct me to a tutorial or give me an idea of the steps? Thanks!

[Zach]

I don't think anyone here has that kind of knowledge.. Sorry

[matttail]

Thanks, I guess I'm a little old school here. If anyone knows, or knows a place I might look I'd appreciate the links/suggestions.

--Matttail

[Ryanfaescotland]

What console are you thinking of?

I've been looking into this as well and this site may interest you http://supermagi.com/list.php?c=articles (http://supermagi.com/list.php?c=articles) for some reason it doesn't let you in to anything other than the Mega Drive section without signing up (I presume signing up will allow you in to the others I haven't tried though)

Also here has some brief info http://www.emucamp.com/red/index3.shtml

There is also another site for making your own cart reader/writter for the Master System and how to convert old carts to blank re-writtables here http://www.smspower.org/smsreader/

Hope these helped!!!

If you can find a page similar to the SMS Reader one but for the Mega Drive I would be greatful for the link.

Same goes to all the Mods on here anyone know of any similar pages?

[Zach]

I really don't have a lot of time to verify, but hopefully the link I'm about to drop doesn't violate any of our rules :bow::bow::bow::bow:

http://gendev.spritesmind.net/

It appears at least ONE of the links on there goes to a site that displays pictures of home-kit including technical diagrams

http://www.spritesmind.net/_GenDev/mirror_MDreader/MDreader_gb.html

[Ryanfaescotland]

Nice one Zach thanks for those hope you don't get the sack hehe

After some chat with a French Sega fan I got this link which shows some very interesting information

http://www.retrodev.com/transfer.html

Aparently using a homebrew cable made from a parrell cable and a Sega controller you can plug the sega to your computer. Then using software on a Mega CD you dump from carts across that wire.

Can anyone verify this? I think it sounds far-fetch but would someone really go to the effort of writting schematics for something made up? Well I'm watching 2 Mega CD's on Ebay just now so hopefully we'll know soon if it works or no.

[Zach]

You would be surprised at the attention to detail a hoax can possess.
That being said, the only way to know is to try.

[Ryanfaescotland]

Some of the sites you refered me to also mention using the controller port although I've lost which sites exactly (just done a lot of reading) but I'm almost 100% sure that the control port is an I/O port (Input/Output) so it is possible to send stuff out aswell as in through it.

Trying to use some of the terminology there as you may have noticed :) Looks like I've got a lot of reading ahead though since there is a lot of terms and visual aids I really don't understand.

I did have a wee chuckle at this line though:

"Now, as you've built this ROM copier, it might be a good idea to use it.
However, if you built this ROM copier purely so that you could burn yourself on the soldering iron, then you may skip this section."

:D Nice touch lol

I don't think Matttail is coming back so I'm jacking this thread and declaring it my own!

[Zach]

I was actually pretty surprised to see the levels of humor present in Steven Hawking's books myself..

It pops up in the oddest places sometimes

[Ryanfaescotland]

Ok I'm going to give it a bash.

Currently got my eye on 2 Mega Cd's which end in 1Day 2Hrs so I'll give the wire method a try but also interested in the homebrew dumper method detailed on one of the sites above.

Thankfully the instructions are UK based and not US which makes getting parts a lot easier, infact the instructions tell you to go to Maplin so that's what I've done. All together the total cost for parts is around £10* although tools like soldering iron, volt meter will set you back a bit more if you don't already have them.

The instructions say that they are so easy even someone with no previous electronics knowledge can follow them. Good. Although I hope to make them even easier so I'm going to try and document my expodition but I may give this up if it is too troublesome.

I'll keep things posted here incase anyone else is interested and if there is any questions feel free to ask :D

EDIT *Actually it's nearer £20

[Ryanfaescotland]

Sorry for the double post but I think it makes more sense here than an edit.

So I've done my shopping on Maplin.co.uk ("www.maplin.co.uk) although I haven't actually went through the checkout. There is a Maplin about 10 min drive from my house so I'll go there to buy the stuff however I wanted to post this first to see if anyone notices any mistakes I might have made.

I've pasted the items described in the instruction into the picture on the 'remove' collum:

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Null_n_V01d/list1.jpg

The only ones I'm not too sure about are the 74 Series Logic items partticularly the 74 HC 4051 N which I have instead of the 4512B since Maplin says there is no such thing as a 4512B and searching on the net hasn't shown any.

Please comment on any mistakes I've made.

[Zach]

Dude..

If it's not too late.
Take pics and document your progress. Maybe it's something I can publish as a cool how-to or project or something.

[classico]

Hi im the new guy

want to tell u bout my system:

if thats ok guys

[Zach]

Well that depends.. As long as you don't post anything linking to ROMS, ISO's or other illegal materials then you don't have to worry about anything.

[Ryanfaescotland]

No it's not too late. Planned to go shopping today but a bit hung over so will probably go out tommorow instead. Was going to record my screen as I shopped but I think people will work out how to buy the parts online!

If I can't record I'll take pics as I go and with a bit of luck it'll lead to a working unit :)

[alcoatjez]

I don't think anyone here has that kind of knowledge.. Sorry

Or perhaps...
Since he's talking about using a coders cable: this is the way 99% of the Sega Dreamcast scene releases are done.
There is a guide on how to do this available here (http://www.cdrom-guide.com/forums/showpost.php?p=377&postcount=9).

[Zach]

And you're only what... Two weeks late?

My point still stands.. I haven't seen anyone here personally display this kind of knowledge.

[Ryanfaescotland]

Ok didn't go out the house to get the parts today cause I really couldn't be bothered from my bed so instead I done some EBay-ing instead.

Got a Mega CD 2 and a MegaDrive 2 for £23 have a look here (http://my.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MyeBay&CurrentPage=MyeBayAllBuying&ssPageName=STRK:ME:LNLK) if you wanna see.

So I'll try the cable method next week at some point.

[Ryanfaescotland]

So far things are off to a rough start. I ordered the wrong board so had to go to Maplin to change it then I came home and was away to get started but my soldering iron has decided to leave home without telling me. Can't find it anywhere so it's back to Maplin once the traffic dies down to buy another one >_<

Other than that I've started documenting what I'm doing so with a bit of luck it'll be a half deceint guide once I'm finished.

Still haven't got my Mega CD since I'm waiting to find out how much recorded delivery costs.

[Zach]

Cool.. You taking pics too? And, are you gonna want to see your guide published like I mentioned? If it turns out to be a good guide it would definitely make a cool How To article for my readers.

You'd get full credit naturally, and have the right to republish it anywhere you want to.

[Ryanfaescotland]

Yeah mate that'd be awesome not sure how good the pics are going to be though there looking pretty blurry so far. I'll post one up later if you want to see an example.

[Zach]

I use a tripod for my pics.. Or when I can't I find some other way to set it ontop of something and set the timer.

Also make sure you are taking your picture with sufficient lighting and with the flash on. On my camera turning the flash off totally kills the focus for some reason (cheap POS), and having extra lighting also helps keep it clear.

[Ryanfaescotland]

Problem is I'm working on the floor and taking photo's from above so can't really rest the camera on anything. I'll try propping things up and sitting the cam on the floor instead or if that fails I can always try using the video camera and grabbing stills from that although it's quite a hassle and I'd rather avoid that.

Anyways here's a couple of pics.

This is a pretty good one (so imagin what the bad ones are like)
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Null_n_V01d/FZ49D1.jpg

Here is a bad one

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Null_n_V01d/KQ70M1.jpg

Here's the worst one!

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Null_n_V01d/QL73Q.jpg

[Zach]

You DEFINITELY need more lighting in those pictures regardless of the blurring. The pics are gonna "make" the Article - unless you are proficient enough to actually draw technical diagrams, in which case that would be OK.

[Ryanfaescotland]

I can draw a basic circut as in a power source, a resistor and a bulb but I doubt I can draw it properly and I really doubt I could draw this circut. Anyways I'd rather avoid that since this guide is meant to be as simple as possible.

Here are the new pics taken using my camcorder instead and with the items put on a white piece of paper. I also changed my bulb from an energy effiecint one to a 100W one so if the world bursts into flames blame Zach.

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Null_n_V01d/Newpic1.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Null_n_V01d/Newpic2.jpg

They are alot better IMHO but could probably be lighter still I'll prob try using a table light next to where I'm filming see what difference that makes.

EDIT - I've tested it and the bulb next to it makes no difference so that's as light as it gets least without photoshop which I don't have.

[Zach]

When photographing things in a room you usually want back-lighting or foreground lighting. a light source from behind the camera may work better to your advantage. Or behind the object you are filming.

Putting it next to it won't do much as the light source is hitting it from the side and not hitting the proper area to illuminate the whole object...

Hell you could always go down to a local druggers and get a disposable Kodak with flash or something cheap like that, and have it developed digitally onto a CD or something... (disks are evil - horrible compressed images)

All that aside, whatever the case I will probably clean the pictures up when you send them to me anyhow.

[Ryanfaescotland]

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Null_n_V01d/YQ48C.jpg
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Null_n_V01d/UF06G.jpg
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Null_n_V01d/UF02C.jpg
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Null_n_V01d/SolderingIron.jpg
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Null_n_V01d/Solder.jpg
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Null_n_V01d/QL73Q-1.jpg
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Null_n_V01d/FZ49D.jpg
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Null_n_V01d/CH35Q.jpg
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Null_n_V01d/BL88V.jpg
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Null_n_V01d/L46AL.jpg
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Null_n_V01d/KQ70M.jpg
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Null_n_V01d/JP51F.jpg
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u241/Null_n_V01d/JC03D.jpg

[Zach]

Those are pretty decent pictures if that's your camcorder, I would think they'd work

[Ryanfaescotland]

Yeah that's from the camcorder. I'll keep a copy of the unedited ones from now on for you but it's not a digital camcorder so it's quite a scutter hence I can't be assed going back and redoing all the ones I've already done!

Making a start on the construction now and already I've found I'm not listening to my own advice of 'read the instructions right through before begining" since it says to by a 62-pin connector then tells you later on if you've bought a 64-pin you can skip this step.... so my instructions are for the 62-pin extra step way but I'll probably mention it.

[Ryanfaescotland]

It's finished!!

Got a problem though. I've set up an old computer to test it on since my laptop doesn't have a parallel port but inorder to get it to work I need the software needed onto the old computer. Laptop doesn't have floppy discs.

Only way I can see is burning it to CD-R which should work since the old comp has a CD-Rewritter so should be able to read the CD's burnt from the laptop. Apparently not.

I burn the software on the laptop but when I open the CD in the old computer nothing appears. I am using CD-R's and not DVDs. Anyone know where I'm going wrong or what I need to do??

Old Computer - Windows 98, CD-ReWritter
Laptop - Windows Vista, DVD-ReWritter

[Zach]

VIsta may be writing it in a file format older versions of windows don't recognize.

Why don't you just email the files to yourself ?

[Ryanfaescotland]

The older computer doesn't have an internet connection.

[insanemaniak]

You got an mp3 player? Or a portable storage device?

You put the files onto it and then put it on the other comp?

[Ryanfaescotland]

No can do as the laptop only has USB connectors and the old pc doesn't have any......hmmm it does have a USB mouse with an adaptor to plug it into it's PS/2 port wonder if I could do something with that....

[Ryanfaescotland]

Ok you useless lot here is the answer :p http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/2af64e60-60aa-4d79-ab6c-3a5db5806cbe1033.mspx and that's it going now!!!

I'll know in about 5 min if it works or no unless I faint from excitment!!

EDIT 1 - ok attempt 2!! come on it'll work !!

EDIT 2 - ok had a couple of stabs at reading roms ( 8 I think ) 2 attempts at Fifa 95 and 6 at Super Hang On (SHO). 2 Fifa's were done in windows and I have a fifa.bin which is 4meg in size. The SHO were done in windows 2 at full speed, 1 at medium, 2 in dos at full, 1 at medium and all have came out 4 meg in size. Comparing the files as suggested in the trouble shooting shows no differences between any of them, even between the fifa.bin and the sho.bin so something must be wrong. Sadly even if the device isn't plugged in if the software is run it creates a .bin file with size 4 meg which makes me think all the files created are the same junk.

I'm in the middle of installing a hex editor on the old comp to compare files and thankfully I have some roms on there so I can compare it against them.

My only thought on it's reason for not working is that I had to substitute 2 of the chips for what I believed to be the same thing under different codes and maybe I got it wrong. All my soldering looks fine and I checked constantly that everything was in the right place.

Well it's taking ages to open the hex editors maybe cause the CD im using is 1000years old so that might not happen. I might try another cd to transfer the editors....

Any thoughts anyone??

EDIT 3 - Got the Hex Editor working and as I thought the files are just full of 00's

[Zach]

I have one... Get a fucking LAN card... You rold PC has what... ISA slots ?? I think they're $5, LOL... ISA :biglaugh:

[Ryanfaescotland]

I've got the hex editor going now think it was just a bad CD or something and it shows that my rom dumps are empty which means the dumper isn't working :(

Can't think what it is I've looked over the board and all solders look good with no short circuts so the only thing I can think is problems with the chips which I can't check without replacing and that means more online shopping which I ain't going to do.

I'm afriad that means game over for now I might revist the project at a later date but no breath holding...

[Zach]

Hey, at least you tried and learned something new

[Ryanfaescotland]

That won't dry my tears though....

Just kidding would have been cool if it worked but ultimatly it would have been pointless since they can easily be obtained through other, faster means.

Still yeah I learnt some useful things.

Sorry by the way for not being able to complete the guide for your article Zach.

[viperassasin]

i have the playstation emulator on my PC but i cannot get it to work even using the cd. When go to start the mission I get stuck in my items shed. It works fine in my playstation but will not work on my PC help.