NGPC USB Flash Cart project

[_SD_]

I've wanted a flash cart for my NGPC for a long time. I know that Bung made one years ago, but the software was crap and it used a parallel port connection.

Over the past couple of years I've seen USB flash carts for the ColecoVision, ADAM, Virtual Boy etc. Hell, everything except the Neo Geo Pocket it would seem.

Are there any other members here that would be interested in a project to create an open source USB NGPC flash cart?

[MoBoRoS]

ABSOLUTELY ME!
Count me in whatever it takes! NGPCs are my passion.

[Calpis]

If you wanna do it, do it :nod: NGP carts are very simple, just a linear 1-4M x 8 ROM, 512K-2M x 8 Flash and an address decoder; the cart might not even need programmable logic if you program it out of system.

[karsten]

if you are interested in having moderate sales you might consider SD/micro SD card compatibility... it might bring some homebrew games too.

in any case keep us informed, it's an interesting project even tought i don't have a NGPC :D

[neogeocdworld]

very interesting project because the linker of the NGPC are "rare"

[_SD_]

Thing is, I have no idea whatsoever about address decoders and very little knowledge about RAM/ROM chips :( This is why I'd like to do a group project so people who do know about this stuff can hopefully contribute. I'm not expecting everyone else to do all the work, I will help as much as I can and possibly even learn something.

I'd like it so that the schematics and parts lists were freely available for everyone to download. If it did get to a point where it was worth getting a small run of PCBs pressed I'd be more than happy to pay for that. I have no interest on making any profit, just getting my cash back and enabling everyone to play Card Fighters Clash 2 in English on real hardware.

[Calpis]

I think the first step will be to determine the hardware in 32M and save cartridges. Do you have Densha de Go! 2, Metal Slug 2nd Mission, SVC: Match of the Millennium or any games with save memory (I presume any Card Fighters)? Nobody is biting at my PCB scan thread: http://assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19622

[_SD_]

I think the first step will be to determine the hardware in 32M and save cartridges. Do you have Densha de Go! 2, Metal Slug 2nd Mission, SVC: Match of the Millennium or any games with save memory (I presume any Card Fighters)? Nobody is biting at my PCB scan thread: http://assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19622

I have Metal Slug 2 and the incredible MotM. The cartridges use the tiniest torx bit that I've ever seen iirc. I'll see if I can get my hands on one over the next day or two and crack a couple of games open.

Thanks to the ever useful GamesX, we have a cart pinout diagram (http://www.gamesx.com/grafx/neocart1.gif) too.

[Calpis]

PCB pics are still needed to determine which of the last two signals is A21 and the different hardware necessary for saving. I suspect the last pin is a flashrom select signal, but since the Pocket Flash cart contains a CPLD.. well, it could be a bit more complicated than that.

[ASSEMbler]

ABSOLUTELY ME!
Count me in whatever it takes! NGPCs are my passion.
haha! Just WAITING all these years huh?
Nice to see some enthusiasm.

the tiny toerx can be found at a lowes
pretty cheaply.

[MoBoRoS]

Yo! I got Some pix for you...

Motm front:
http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/3424/16062009319.jpg (http://img37.imageshack.us/i/16062009319.jpg/) http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/16062009319.jpg/1/w635.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img37/16062009319.jpg/1/)
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/7798/16062009321.jpg (http://img31.imageshack.us/i/16062009321.jpg/) http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/16062009321.jpg/1/w898.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img31/16062009321.jpg/1/)


Motm back:
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/1983/16062009326.jpg (http://img7.imageshack.us/i/16062009326.jpg/) http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/16062009326.jpg/1/w697.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img7/16062009326.jpg/1/)

Hope this helps..

[ASSEMbler]

goddamn that's a simple design

[MoBoRoS]

OMG!!!!
Denzetsu no Ogre Battle has an EVEN simpler structure!
Front:
http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/9383/16062009329.jpg (http://img196.imageshack.us/i/16062009329.jpg/) http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/16062009329.jpg/1/w778.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img196/16062009329.jpg/1/)

Back:

http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/1959/16062009330.jpg (http://img44.imageshack.us/i/16062009330.jpg/) http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/16062009330.jpg/1/w1037.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img44/16062009330.jpg/1/)

[MoBoRoS]

Opened up almost all of my games (13 are remaining)
till now:
Simple Structure:
Densetsu no Ogre Battle
Azteca
Party Mail
Ward of Lights
Fatal Fury
Biomotor Unitron
Dark Arms
Sonic Pocket Adventure
Faselei!
Megaman: Battle And Fighters
Metal Slug 1st mission
King of Fighters R-2
Samuraii Shodown 2
Gals Fighters Clash
Last Blade

"Dual Structure" till now:

Motm
Metal Slug 2nd Mission

[ElBarto]

PCB pics are still needed to determine which of the last two signals is A21 and the different hardware necessary for saving. I suspect the last pin is a flashrom select signal, but since the Wonder Magic cart contains a CPLD.. well, it could be a bit more complicated than that.

NGP cart use flash chip.
The save is in the flash.
That's why you find dump on the web with save inside and it's a big problem for getting clean dumps cause some game write some data at first boot.

[karsten]

incredibly easy structure and i would guess incredibly easy to reproduce too!

[Calpis]

NGP cart use flash chip.
The save is in the flash.
That's why you find dump on the web with save inside and it's a big problem for getting clean dumps cause some game write some data at first boot.
If the games are entirely flash, then well, there's no need to make a flash cart, you could just reprogram commercial games with a "linker". So I guess the last signal is not A21 but rather a second ROM select used for 32M games. I really don't understand the CPLD now, unless the flash commands have to be faked.

[ElBarto]

If you just want to make a single game cart yes.
But if you want to put more than one 32M game.

The best will be to have a 1M chip for bootmenu and a 128M flash chip(or more).

[Calpis]

Is having multiple games worth a power-draining CPLD, having to manufacture new boards/cases, buy flash? I'd just get a cheap game nobody likes and write over it. Heh with a CPLD and 1G flash you could have a multicart of the entire library with room to spare!

[karsten]

mmh so if someone makes a flasher, you can change you game into another one just by flashing over? and what would happen if both games have save feature? overwrite at boot?

in any case this is a thing that might create some kind of homebrew community for the NGPC!

[Calpis]

I guess so. If saves are in the ROM itself, overwriting the ROM will overwrite the save when programming.

So as for the hardware, well it couldn't be more straight forward:

D0-7
A0-20
Low ROM /CE
High ROM /CE
/RD
/WR
------------------
8 I/O, 25 outputs = big microcontroller or small microcontroller with discrete latches/registers for multiplexed outputs.

[_SD_]

I guess so. If saves are in the ROM itself, overwriting the ROM will overwrite the save when programming.

Would there be a way for the device to dump the save ROM so that you wouldn't loose them when reprogramming the cart? Or would that make the programmer much more complicated to build?

[Calpis]

Well if the save is in the ROM, dumping the ROM would also dump the save, they're apparently a package deal.

[MoBoRoS]

Yeah but the shitty part will be that the save will be intergrated in the game... right?
How can we avoid that?

[Calpis]

You can only avoid it by dumping new games and then writing those. Depending on the content written it would probably be legal to distribute the initial data in the save area which would allow people to restore their used games too.

[NTM]

Would it help if I took a photo of the Bung cart PCB?

[MoBoRoS]

Please do so. It may help in a way.

[NTM]

http://2dlives.com/bunghole.jpg

[DiamondDave]

Does anyone have one of the dual-game kiosk PCBs?

[karsten]

any news on this interesting topic?

[NTM]

any news on this interesting topic?

Maybe its time to start a bounty :nod:

[_SD_]

Ok, so what do we need to build a programmer to test this then? Obviously we're gonna have to pull apart a (preferably dead) NGP/C to get a cart socket. I assume we need some sort of USB controller chip and another chip to handle the logic of sending the data to the cart?

[Calpis]

Either a USB microcontroller with 33 or 34 general purpose I/O or just 3x 8-bit latches for a parallel port interface.

[cdoty]

You could probably attach a NGPC cart slot to a DIP socket, and use a Willem programmer to dump/reflash the cart.

[xmog123x]

Using an atmega with a sd card would be a great idea. I was thinking doing this for the snes a while ago, but meh, got no time. It would be fairly simple.

[splith]

ATMega connected to all address lines of flash chips, and the other side to a PC programmer, and then use the spare I/O lines to control the power and write enable to each chip I'm guessing?

[Calpis]

Using an atmega with a sd card would be a great idea. I was thinking doing this for the snes a while ago, but meh, got no time. It would be fairly simple.
With a SD card you'd need a display, buttons and crap to know what you're programming... not great/cheap for such a basic programmer! A USB MCU is far better suited.

If you mean EMULATE the flash via ATmega (or any MCU) a la DS flash card, that's not happening lol; just the setup times of a SD card exceed a CPU fetch much less seeking ahead for random access. DS flash work because they use FPGA with hardware reading/buffering, not MCU, and the game cards don't run nearly at the CPU speed.


ATMega connected to all address lines of flash chips, and the other side to a PC programmer, and then use the spare I/O lines to control the power and write enable to each chip I'm guessing?
PC programmer? Isn't the idea for such a device to BE the programmer?

Address and control signals (and data) are a given when using any memory :P One thing you don't do though is power a chip with an I/O (?? wtf), just use the power supply.

[splith]

If you've got 4*32Mbit flash chips, to save on I/O lines, you have all address lines from all chips connected together, and I'd assume 4 enable pins connected to AND gates that go into each chips power line.

And sort-of.

[Calpis]

Nope, that is why chips on a multiplexed bus ALWAYS have enable inputs, they serve as secondary write and output enables and also typically put memory chips into a low-power mode by gating the row decoder.

Yes all common address lines are typically connected together, but the bus' more significant address lines are decoded to separate chip enables, NOT supply rails. It's done not to save on I/O lines but because the processor/chip only has so many memory spaces (often 1). If it can't access multiple buses simultaneously, it makes no sense to have multiple buses in parallel unless speed/noise is an issue (which it's not for old systems) and even that would only apply to the data lines which could conflict. Right now in computers with the high speed serial trend, each end-point has a separate bus (very necessary), but in reality there is a whole host on each bus, it's not time-multiplexed.

Chip decoding is typically done with significant address lines, so in your example you would use a 2:4 decoder since there are 4 states (4 chips) in 2 binary bits (higher address lines). On the NGP the two ROMs are predecoded within the ASIC to make the carts as cheap as possible. You just need to connect each ROM to a /CE. The reason there isn't one /CE and a higher address line (how it'd be on most other systems) is because the two ROMs aren't contiguous in memory.

You never disable a chip via power because it does not isolate the chip from the bus (and it really doesn't make any sense to since it'd be more costly too). Chips will still do wacky stuff from leakage current.

[Xian Xi]

In case you guys need it, gamesx has the cart pinout:

http://www.gamesx.com/grafx/neocart1.gif

[splith]

Ah. Thanks for that info, interesting stuff!
Might be doing electrical engineering soon, so hopefully this stuff will become easy!

[xmog123x]

With a SD card you'd need a display, buttons and crap to know what you're programming... not great/cheap for such a basic programmer! A USB MCU is far better suited.

If you mean EMULATE the flash via ATmega (or any MCU) a la DS flash card, that's not happening lol; just the setup times of a SD card exceed a CPU fetch much less seeking ahead for random access. DS flash work because they use FPGA with hardware reading/buffering, not MCU, and the game cards don't run nearly at the CPU speed.


PC programmer? Isn't the idea for such a device to BE the programmer?

Address and control signals (and data) are a given when using any memory :P One thing you don't do though is power a chip with an I/O (?? wtf), just use the power supply.

Not if you do an app handling it all on the ngpc - in short do a quick loader menu for the ngpc. I was basically thinking about having the game loaded to an sram chip on selection from the sd card and the atmega mediating between the console and sram chip.

[Calpis]

A microcontroller isn't fast enough to arbitrate access to the RAM, you would have to use logic in addition. 32M of SRAM isn't cheap either (at least $20) or really available off the shelf (you'd have to order production). Since games writeback to the Flash, that'd have to be emulated in the logic too...

Just imagine performing a read through a MCU lol:

interrupt on /ce
read r/w strobes and decode
read cpu_address_low
write ram_address_low
read cpu_address_mid
write ram_address_mid
read cpu_address_high
write ram_address_high
read ram_data
write cpu_data (really you'd need a MCU with a slave parallel port)

All that within 150ns or less

[marshallh]

Even if you had the best case scenario (50mhz microcontroller, with one instruction per cycle (ha! not likely)) each instruction will take 20ns. This means the above sequence consumes 300ns. A more likely scenario is that each instruction takes 3-4 cycles. Then you are looking at around 1000ns. Ouch.

This is where programmable logic shines. CPLD will probably do it for you here.

[xmog123x]

Then how about just loading the game to the sram and just "shut off" the atmega on completion?:p Yeah, maybe this is a dead end idea. A flash chip + usb communication would be best, anywhoo you'd need a microcontroller with uart and a ft232rl chip.

[NTM]

Is there any existing flash cart we can modify to work?

[Calpis]

Why would you if retail carts are programmable?


Then how about just loading the game to the sram and just "shut off" the atmega on completion?:p Yeah, maybe this is a dead end idea. A flash chip + usb communication would be best, anywhoo you'd need a microcontroller with uart and a ft232rl chip.Not a very good approach because you couldn't program it in-system. If you use a FTDI chip a microcontroller isn't even necessary in the mix, just logic would be suitable. Almost every application is more elegant without a microcontroller.

I really don't see what the problem is with a base-programmer unit; that way you'd A) neither have a CPLD nor MCU in the cart to drain the battery B) not have to manufacture carts. The only complication could be that the flash aren't fully programmable. In that case you'd need standard flash, and either patch the games to expect standard flash signatures or add logic to return the SNK signature.

[karsten]

maybe we should ask krizz to make a flasher/dumper? i gues it would be REALLY cheap to be made and lovely to homebrewers too

[syoyumiso]

Hi
Please look over these material.
It wishes a useful thing.

There is a report that challenges making Flashcart using cart of Crush Roller.

http://www.personal.triticom.com/~erm/NGPC/CRoller_Cart.txt

http://www.devrs.com/ngp/files/DoNotLink/

Cart of NGPC uses FLASHROM, and seems to be able to release protection by applying the voltage of 12V to the RESET pin according to it.


I'm sorry in strange English. :redface:

[fro]

So we know writing to flash is going to be straight forward, however i was just thinking about how to create working carts. Am i right in thinking the protection method is that the pocket BIOS strobes a generic (to all FLASH memory anyway) request to the flash and it returns it manufacturer id? e.g.

0x98 Toshiba
0xEC Samsung
0xB0 Sharp

If something else is returned i assume pocket holts. Looking at the scan posted by NTM (http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=364895&postcount=28) am i correct in thinking that the ALTERA EPM3032A provides the logic to detect the read of manufacturer and somehow spits out a valid manufacturer id?

Interesting.

[Calpis]

Yes but other unlock codes could be changed too, like for erasing. The CPLD doesn't have an oscillator so it can't be TOO complex.

[fro]

Looking at the source code for PokeLink (http://darkfader.net/ngpc/) the flash enable/unlock sequence seems to match the standard FLASH standard.



#define fx002AAA ((addr) & 0x200000 | 0x002AAA)
#define fx005555 ((addr) & 0x200000 | 0x005555)


Also after looking at a few emulator sources (http://svn.akop.org/diff.php?repname=psp&path=/tags/race/2.1/flash.cpp&rev=341&all=1) (seach for - void flashChipWrite()) they seem to indicate that the sequences match the FLASH standard. It would be great if the EPM3032A on the bung is only used to catch calls for the manufacturer id, but i guess that would be too easy, i would love to get my new logic sniffer on that thing and confirm.

I would love to pickup a cheat pocket and look into this more but they all seem to be going for silly prices on ebay :(

[NTM]

Looking at the source code for PokeLink (http://darkfader.net/ngpc/) the flash enable/unlock sequence seems to match the standard FLASH standard.



Also after looking at a few emulator sources (http://svn.akop.org/diff.php?repname=psp&path=/tags/race/2.1/flash.cpp&rev=341&all=1) (seach for - void flashChipWrite()) they seem to indicate that the sequences match the FLASH standard. It would be great if the EPM3032A on the bung is only used to catch calls for the manufacturer id, but i guess that would be too easy, i would love to get my new logic sniffer on that thing and confirm.

I would love to pickup a cheat pocket and look into this more but they all seem to be going for silly prices on ebay :(

Admittedly I'm not familiar with CPLD development. If dumping the data off the chip is possible and will help, I'm more than happy to do what I can.

Would something like this (http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Altera-CPLD-Development-Study-tool-ByteBlaster-/310241771528?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item483bd9c008) help me?

[fro]

Admittedly I'm not familiar with CPLD development. If dumping the data off the chip is possible and will help, I'm more than happy to do what I can.

Would something like this (http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Altera-CPLD-Development-Study-tool-ByteBlaster-/310241771528?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item483bd9c008) help me?

From the datasheet (http://www.datasheetdir.com/EPM3032A+download):

- Programmable security bit for protection of proprietary designs

We can be fairly sure the bung device does indeed 'emulate' a Toshiba chip, its any other logic hackary that remains a mystery.

[NTM]

From the datasheet (http://www.datasheetdir.com/EPM3032A+download):

- Programmable security bit for protection of proprietary designs



How likely is it they didn't enable the security bit? It still may be worth a try to dump it. No?

[Calpis]

Very little chance it isn't protected, and even if it weren't you wouldn't be able to do anything with the fusemap but make a clone using the same discontinued part. It couldn't really be analyzed.

[bazzman]

Hi
... and seems to be able to release protection by applying the voltage of 12V to the RESET pin according to it.
:
nah he said he tried that and it destroyed his flash chip...

ok guys, first I apologize for re-igniting the thread, but my search for a means of flashing code to my NGPC has brought me here, and it seems a lot of great discussion took place with no conclusion. so whats up?! :Rock:

[_SD_]

Yeah, I'd still like to see this come to fruition.

So, do you reckon we can re-flash retail carts, or are we back to building a flash cart? If it means purchasing a Bung Linker to examine next time one shows up, that can be done.

[fro]

I could do sitting down with a bung linker to confirm the logic i have sketched out, it would be nice to confirm that the CPLD isn't doing more than just patching in the correct manufacturer id.

As for the hardware, still waiting on a set of 16MB flash chips to arrive from the US. 4 weeks and counting.

[NTM]

Looks like we may have someone working on it:
http://www.digital-circuitry.com/index.htm

From what I understand Flavor is working with him on making one.

[bazzman]

Looks like we may have someone working on it:
http://www.digital-circuitry.com/index.htm

From what I understand Flavor is working with him on making one.

Yeah I've seen this! I feel so teased with the non-functional Neo Geo pocket button!! XX_X_X_X haha, but i hope their project goes well!! I'm looking forward to hearing good news on this! I would really love to find a way to flash the commercial carts, cause I have 1 or 2 I could test with.

[Flavor]

Looks like we may have someone working on it:
http://www.digital-circuitry.com/index.htm

From what I understand Flavor is working with him on making one.

Interesting. What else can you tell us about this?

[fro]

Too early to share any good news but I've been working on this for a few weeks now, sadly my shiny new pocket packed in (think i shorted something messing with the clock) anyway today i picked up another from Ebay as well as a 6-1 one cart which should prove interesting to reverse.

Stay tuned.

edit: sorry 12 in 1 not 6, added pictures.

http://i56.tinypic.com/2ilne9x.jpg
http://i53.tinypic.com/icvdbd.jpg

[Flavor]

Too early to share any good news but I've been working on this for a few weeks now, sadly my shiny new pocket packed in (think i shorted something messing with the clock) anyway today i picked up another from Ebay as well as a 6-1 one cart which should prove interesting to reverse.

Is that one of the ones that are like double long? They are interesting. I believe that they have both ROM and battery-backed RAM with custom code that handles the save-game writes and the game switching. It's quite the innovation, actually.

[fro]

Yeah from the picture it is a double sized cart; that really does sound quite interesting!

[Flavor]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8VS1bsmNQA

[_SD_]

That multi-cart looks very interesting, be nice to see what's inside.

So will there be a new flash cart made available to accompany the new linker, or is it capable of reprogramming retail carts?

[Flavor]

I assume they look like this.

http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=45&pictureid=345



http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=45&pictureid=344

The USB linker can write to retail carts, but not in any way more useful than backing-up and restoring save-game data.

[fro]

Yeah Flavor its 100% the same. Stupid epoxy :(

The chips for those interested:

RAM:

LH52D1000 - CMOS 1M (128K x 8) - Sharp Electrionic Components
http://html.alldatasheet.com/html-pdf/42989/SHARP/LH52D1000/394/3/LH52D1000.html

CPLD:

XC9536XL High Performance CPLD - Xilinx
http://www.xilinx.com/support/documentation/data_sheets/ds058.pdf

[Flavor]

Actually, I was told that there is a wafer-fab'd component under that epoxy. I don't know how that works, but from what I understand it's not just a normal off-the-shelf chip.

[fro]

Yeah you can see something when you hold the PCB up to the light, i guess it was cheaper to fab the game roms than to include onboard ROM.

[Gerry_MAN]

Hey Flavor,
Yet another Forum for us to take part in. :))
This Flash cart build is going to be fun!

What are the chances we get it to work before the summers end?
I'm optimistic.

-Gerry

[Flavor]

Hey Flavor,
Yet another Forum for us to take part in. :))
This Flash cart build is going to be fun!

What are the chances we get it to work before the summers end?
I'm optimistic.

I say high. There's a small chance it's already working. We just haven't tested it yet. :shrug:

[Gerry_MAN]

Just a small sneak peek at the latest developments on this project:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KtmNBI3SrU

-Gerry

[_SD_]

Awesome. Can't wait to see this come to fruition :thumbsup:

[n64coder]

Awesome. Can't wait to see this come to fruition :thumbsup:

Ditto for me. Hope it goes smoothly for you.

[derekb]

lookin good dudes

[Alchy]

Recent developments:
http://ngpc.freeplaytech.com/

[amptor]

Recent developments:
http://ngpc.freeplaytech.com/

Looks like some good stuff. I still have my recently acquired NGPC sitting here. I was about during the NGPC scene days but never ended up getting a kit from Bung nor a console. This unit is much nicer than a gameboy color in my opinion and the game I got for it is pretty decent for a fighter with 8-bit sprites.

[derekb]

nice

[Flavor]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYMb011mKKE

[_SD_]

:sexy2:
You Sir, are a fucking legend.

Please keep us updated as I'd like to get my hands on the flash cart and USB linker as soon as they're available. Out of interest, have you tested the English patched version of CFC2 with it?

:033:

[Flavor]

You Sir, are a fucking legend.

Please keep us updated as I'd like to get my hands on the flash cart and USB linker as soon as they're available. Out of interest, have you tested the English patched version of CFC2 with it?

:033:

I have not, but I can. I'm probably going to wait until the next set of PCBs arrives. The current PCB is difficult to test, because it won't fit in a cart shell. I HOPE that the next one will, and then I can really test easily instead of having the NGPC open and rigging it up and then things mess up if I slightly bump something or breathe or whatever.

CFC2 English is something I really want to test, but since it's a hassle, I figured I'd wait. If there's really a demand for it though, I'd probably be willing to make another video showing it off with CFC2english. And, just in case anyone doesn't know what we're talking about, see http://cfc2english.blogspot.com/

[wombat]

In one word: Awesome! Looking forward to the next progress update. This makes me want to fire up the NGPC again.... :-)

[Flavor]

I just figured I'd let you know that the carts are working well, and there are a few available at http://ngpc.freeplaytech.com/

[derekb]

good job on the carts

[icotech]

WOW I want to buy :-)

I have the Pocket Flash new in the box :-) :

http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/2125/fotoyi.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/834/fotoyi.jpg/) - http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/3505/foto1nbv.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/191/foto1nbv.jpg/)

[Flavor]

WOW I want to buy :-)

I have the Pocket Flash new in the box :-) :

http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/2125/fotoyi.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/834/fotoyi.jpg/) - http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/3505/foto1nbv.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/191/foto1nbv.jpg/)

Oooh. Pretty!

[genetik]

For anyone interested, I picked up one of the very few flash cart Flavor made and it's really sweet. Never picked up a Bung cart. The thought of having to keep an old PC around just to transfer files wasn't too appealing.

Apart from writing to the cart which is a tad slow (around 11min for 4MB...but apparently down to 8min with the latest update) once it's flashed it works great.

[Flavor]

Please check out this latest video of mine featuring the Flashmasta/Linkmasta. If you like it, please LIKE it. Also, please post the URL anywhere you think other like-minded guys might LIKE it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTkt11HlMa0

[takeshi385]

honestly if someone could take the mac binaries and turn it into a app file withn an okay user interface like some of the windows flash cart flashers have then i would see no reason in not buying this item.

[Flavor]

There is a nice GUI app in the works. I've just been busy with the hardware, and I haven't put much time into that piece, yet. It's all coming along, though, albeit a bit slower than I'd like.

By the way, that video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTkt11HlMa0) is entered in a contest. That's why I'm hoping to get people to hit the YouTube Thumbs Up LIKE button.

[Shou]

I've purchased one as well. Looking forward to getting it!

[karsten]

corect me if i'm wrong, but this neogeo pocket flashcard costs over 120$? or i'm drunk?

[Flavor]

corect me if i'm wrong, but this neogeo pocket flashcard costs over 120$? or i'm drunk?

The flash card comes as a bundle with the USB linker device (so really two products together). After thinking about things, I changed the pricing. Previously, it included shipping (to anywhere), but I don't think people are used to seeing it that way. Now, the shipping is added to the price after you add it.

I'm starting to get some help from other guys, and when that happens, I'm hoping that I could drop the price a bit. I'm not sure how soon that will be, though.

I'm also thinking about making the devices available separately. Some people that already bought a bundle want another cartridge. Also, some people already have the old Bung cartridge (and just want the USB linker).

[Shou]

I received it today. Works great except that the app is all command line based. Not a problem except that I didn't get any documentation on commands nor any files. The driver and app are on the site but it could be more clearly labelled as to where the driver is.

I had to read a Japanese blog to get up to speed but no issues afterwards.

Here's a few pics in action on my RGB setup

http://a.yfrog.com/img614/8954/rtnck.jpg
http://a.yfrog.com/img807/6991/4kya.jpg

[Flavor]

I received it today. Works great except that the app is all command line based. Not a problem except that I didn't get any documentation on commands nor any files. The driver and app are on the site but it could be more clearly labelled as to where the driver is.

I had to read a Japanese blog to get up to speed but no issues afterwards.

Here's a few pics in action on my RGB setup

Yeah, I apologize about that. I hadn't really thought about it at all. I should at least put in a note about where to get the software and all that. That part is definitely still a work in progress.

If you have any other problems or comments, definitely let me know. I need feedback like this, otherwise I don't really get a view from a user perspective.

There is a GUI app in the works, but it's not ready yet. When that's ready, it should be a lot more intuitive. I'm hoping like a week or two for that, but I can't really say for sure.

Thanks for posting! The pics are great! I like the setup.

[nem]

http://a.yfrog.com/img807/6991/4kya.jpg

What's the story on that? Is it a dev unit?

Wireless add-on must get a lot of use ;)

[Shou]

What's the story on that? Is it a dev unit?

Wireless add-on must get a lot of use ;)

It's not a dev unit, just a modded NGPC to display NTSC signals including RGB. :)

I don't even have Dive Alert so it gets 0 use!

[nem]

Oh wow, I didn't know someone had cracked how to get video out from the NGP. Very cool

[st!]

It's not a dev unit, just a modded NGPC to display NTSC signals including RGB. :)

Awesome! :thumbsup: Is there any tutorial how to mod it that way?

[Shou]

Awesome! :thumbsup: Is there any tutorial how to mod it that way?

Nope, myself and a modder in Japan came up with it. It uses an FPGA so it's not straightforward in a sense. Version 2 of the mod will be to consolize it with AES controller ports and map 2 extra buttons that mimic holding the 2 buttons down for a few seconds so fighters are easier to play.

[dhau]

Woo!!! Flavor confirmed my flashmasta/linkmasta is on the way!!!1!

I already have Bung set with two 32mbit carts, but what the heck ;)

Yay! I got the package with linkmasta/flashmasta today. Excellent devices! I'm really surprised with how factory-like it all looks ;) If it was in a nice glossy carton box, it would totally be like from Bung or SuperUFO :)

[Flavor]

Yay! I got the package with linkmasta/flashmasta today. Excellent devices! I'm really surprised with how factory-like it all looks ;) If it was in a nice glossy carton box, it would totally be like from Bung or SuperUFO :)

That's great news! I know that you were anxious to get it, and I was hoping it would arrive soon for you. The shipping times can be a bit unpredictable.

Thanks for the update and the praise!

For anyone that's just tuning in, there are some still available at
http://ngpc.freeplaytech.com/

[dhau]

Hey Ed, please make some PDFs for box and manual. I would like to print them out at local copy shop on some nice think laminated paper and pretend that's the way it came to me ;)

[83skillz]

Hey Ed, please make some PDFs for box and manual. I would like to print them out at local copy shop on some nice think laminated paper and pretend that's the way it came to me ;)
That would be sweet. I too would like to do that!