Discovery: SFX2+ DEV SYSTEM with Super FX 2

[ASSEMbler]

SFX2 DEV SYSTEM
http://assemblergames.com/images/sfx2dev/sfx2a.jpg (http://assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8931)

SUPER NINTENDO DEV SYSTEM + Super FX 1 and 2

[1080Peter]

Nintendo Super FX 2? Any more info about this nice set-up you can tell us? An incredible find among finds I see.

[ASSEMbler]

The Super Nintendo SFX2+ development system.

SFX2+ was Sculptured Software Inc.'s advanced development system for the Super Nintendo. SFX2+ has basic capabilities such as software breakpoints and Cartridge emulation. SFX2+ is self contained in the PC. No PIC interface card or external SNES is required. The SFX2+ fits in a slot within a PC. SFX2+ is a high-speed development platform for the Super Nintendo. DSP, mode 21, mode 20 and advance mode 20 are all supported. SFX2+ includes a AV-SNES and four megabytes of emulation ROM (SRAM).


This unit has been modified to provide an environment for SFX1 and SFX2 development.

A lot of things have gone through my mind, as it's fragile, and handmade.
So before I attempt to install it in a working pc, I would need a good
reason to risk using it.

There's a lot of loose SFX 2 ends. Among them is of course Starfox 2.
I've heard of people making Yoshi 2 carts into Starfox 2 carts.

So before I try to hook it up, does anyone have Starfox 2 code for me to run an play around with?
I assume I would need source (yes, feel free to laugh).

Oh yeah, here's some porn for you nintendo fans.

http://assemblergames.com/images/sfx2dev/SFX2dev.jpg

http://assemblergames.com/images/sfx2dev/fx1.jpg

http://assemblergames.com/images/sfx2dev/fx2.jpg

http://assemblergames.com/images/sfx2dev/fx3.jpg

http://assemblergames.com/images/sfx2dev/fx4.jpg

http://assemblergames.com/images/sfx2dev/fx5.jpg

[Kittyhawk]

Awesome! ^_^

[Mr. Rare]

Oh that is sweet!

[kholdfuzion]

Thats beautiful, you said handmade, hmm... hand make your own to play with and keepthis one pristine :P

[1080Peter]

That 3x3 SNES square would surely make Ben Heck soil himself. Just think of the possibilities.

[sayin999]

so did the comp that star fox 2 leak from use this board?

[ASSEMbler]

I believe starfox 2 came from a stolen ces cart?

[Topic Archive]

...Nice pics, thanks for sharing, I love homemade pcb work :)

[babu]

now you made me drool all over myself. http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/images/smilies/118.gif
you lucky man. http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/images/smilies/icon_pray.gif
just awesome man. http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/images/smilies/eusasmiles/eusasmiles/clap.gif

[XerdoPwerko]

Assembler, this is just TOO incredible to be put into words. The 3X3 Snes part, as well. Man, this is just... too much to bear. Awesomosity +100, man.

You, sir, are my idol.

[Perkunas]

Nice man, didn't Argonaut have something to do with SFX?

[liquitt]

wow thats an awesome find you got there!! thx for posting the pics

[Calpis]

Wait, where's the Super FX2? It doesn't sound or look as if it has one. Hidden under the SNES?

If it does have one, it's possible this was for Dirt Trax FX (by Sculptured)

Also, you certainly don't need the Star Fox 2 source to play, a de-interleaved headerless ROM will probably work.

Also, Super FX 2 essentially is a Super FX 1, only difference is how much ROM they can address. Since SFOX2 is 8M, you can use a SFX1 chip set to the high speed mode.

[karsten]

mmmmmmmhhhhh that microsnes.... what incredible possibilies wasted by ninty....

[sayin999]

I believe starfox 2 came from a stolen ces cart?

not from what i read, they said the guy who stole it got caught and arrested pretty fast. Sites that have talked about it and even a faq on it state that it was compiled from a computre that use to belong to agranougt. Not only that, but wasn't the ces cart in english already?

[RyanGamerGoneGrazy]

bloody hell......

is it possible to clean drool from a keyboard?

Ryan

[g_sepp]

nothing to say already been said before other than i seen a sf2 fake once before and this isn't it at all.

[d4s]

i think we have a slight misconception here.
this devkit was called sfx/sfx2, but that doesnt necessarily mean that it is related to the super fx in any way.
the manual copyright date indicates it was called sfx before the super fx appeared.
its working title was mario chip(as indicated on most retail starfox pcbs).
it was also called gsu (for Graphic Support processing Unit) internally.
the specs you posted dont mention anything like that.
i dont think the name super fx popped up before 1993.

what you can see on the picture is the dram (for rom emulation), a dsp1 and one of the ppus with its working ram. that means the cpu, wram, ppu2, spc, sound dsp and sound ram must be located below the small add-on board.

it may be possible that the super fx hides under that board or that you could plug another board in to add super fx support, but i somehow doubt you could run super fx games on it as it is.

a look "under the hood" would be nice. ;)

oh, and the starfox 2 picture you posted isnt from the original game. i made that logo for the english translation patch by gideon zhi and me, because i thought the original logo looked quite ugly.
old logo: http://www.keeper.novomapa.com/download/gaimu/starfox2.png

[madhatter256]

Nice Discovery. So I guess this means you own all SNES dev equipment now, right? On to Sega Genesis!

[subbie]

Anybody know how many ninja's it would take to raid assembler's house? I've only got enough cash to by 1/2 a ninja or a midget ninja. :)

[ASSEMbler]

It's a FX2+ with Super FX 2 to clarify. Someday when I work up the courage to, I will pry the mini snes off again and take a pic of the rest of the chips.

[madhatter256]

It's a FX2+ with Super FX 2 to clarify. Someday when I work up the courage to, I will pry the mini snes off again and take a pic of the rest of the chips.

What's the manufactured date on the card?

[MegaKitsune]

Wow, that thing is awesome! 0_0

[d4s]

It's a FX2+ with Super FX 2 to clarify. Someday when I work up the courage to, I will pry the mini snes off again and take a pic of the rest of the chips.

i'm looking forward to that. ;)
at any rate, awesome find.

[Borman]

Amazing, simply amazing

As for a raid on Assembler HQ, im in, 3 or 4 AK47s ready too lmao. Kidding, of course ;) Id be honored if Assembler had a get together like he had wanted to do but sickness kept him away.

[ASSEMbler]

What's the manufactured date on the card?

No serials, no nothing. I can go by the docs is all.

[Sally]

Damn thats nice... you couldn't pay me to install that in a pc tho...

[Jagasian]

Please work with emulation authors to help reverse engineer and document that piece of hardware. Don't let it waste away in your closet as a collector's item. It can be much more than that. It could be a Rosetta Stone for emulating various aspects of the SNES system and carts.

[ASSEMbler]

I thought snes was pretty well emulated already.

[Borman]

I thought snes was pretty well emulated already.

So did I. Even starfox 2 seems to work fine now.

[Flyinghigh]

the snes emulation is far from perfect...
SFX emulation still has many bugs same for DSP and so on.
The emu authors should know exactly what is not perfect at the moment.

[ASSEMbler]

There's what? Less than ten fx games?

[Mark30001]

I thought snes was pretty well emulated already.

I know for a fact that emulation of the SPC-700 sound chip is "good" but not near perfect while having a conversation with the author of SPCTool (http://www.alpha-ii.com/).

Maybe reverse-engineering of the SNES Emulator-SE dev could bridge the gap in the sound coding...

[ASSEMbler]

I just found the starfox 2 pic on the net, it was the only one that came up on google.
If you read the title, it says Fx2+ with Super FX 1 and 2. I know the distinction.
The docs and config are for SuperFX 2 as it was pulled from the dirt trax dev machine that is currently in my basement.

[Topic Archive]

you could argue whether snes emulation is good, ie. properly done

and as stated, the sf2 rom release claimed it was compiled from actual source and patched to work, though validity of that statement is unknown

[Jagasian]

SNES emulation is nowhere near the level of perfection that NES emulation has reached. There is still tons of room for improvement. Compare emulated SNES to a real SNES. As long as you can notice a difference, emulation still has to be improved.

[Calpis]

I don't know much about the SNES scene but I don't think Assembler's SNES hardware (especially this) would really help anybody with the SNES emulation kinks. Better low level documentation from N would (as well as time for authors to rewrite all the emu WITHOUT the hacks, that seems to be how SNES scene gets things done unlike NES) Since the SFX2 is capable of simply ROM emulation and debugging, I don't have a feeling any emulator author would have a use for it other than a mantle piece as well, unless they want to verify other people's findings against real hardware. I'd think all emulators now have perfect CPU cores, and I'm sure they can emulate all ROM now, with accuracy greater than any external hardware debugger is capable of. I believe that the only hardware that could help out the emulation scene (as far as the core system goes) is early hardware with off the shelf parts and programmable logic (which could possibly be reversed.) If the SFX2 could debug DSP or Super FX, which probably isn't possible externally, then that might be a different story.

[Shadowlayer]

Amazing find assembler!

About snes emulation, well I know is better than Genesis.

About the 3x3 Snes, even if nintendo made it into portable at the time, it wouldnt be smaller than the Nomad, plus we dont know the power consuption, and that coupled with backlite screens and the crappy batteries of the time makes the portable snes more of a desktop console replacement (like those small SMS from brazil).

[karsten]

Amazing, simply amazing

As for a raid on Assembler HQ, im in, 3 or 4 AK47s ready too lmao. Kidding, of course ;) Id be honored if Assembler had a get together like he had wanted to do but sickness kept him away.

we could have a phone chat with those guys at BLACKWATER :D

[Gamefan]

Very nice find! Congrats!

GAMEFAN

[Jackhead]

Hi,
i find this thread when i searching for more infos about the SFX Dev System.
http://i.ebayimg.com/04/!BN-GCpgBmk~$(KGrHgoH-EEEjlLlyOEvBJs(bWjTFg~~_1.JPG

i buy this on ebay last Time. I think is the first Rev of the SFX ? Anyone more Infos about it? Thanks!

[karsten]

damn too small pic... can you take a bigger one?

[Jackhead]

Sure, but it take some days. Its the Pic from the Seller. Soon as it arrive i make better Pics from it.
I find this interface on Shiggsys site too.
PC I/O for SFX Development stands on it.

[ASSEMbler]

After gamesniped posted the snasm box for the card I have I was outbid. I guess it's destined to never be used again.

[MatthewCallis]

After gamesniped posted the snasm box for the card I have I was outbid. I guess it's destined to never be used again.

Unless you ever decide to sell it or die and your family sells it.

[ASSEMbler]

Unless you ever decide to sell it or die and your family sells it.

Everything gets put in a pyre and my corpse burned upon it.

[null2]

Everything gets put in a pyre and my corpse burned upon it.
no. don't do that. :( so much would be lost...

[Barc0de]

I hope you do remember that post you made a few years back concerning saving it all up for your grand-children Kevin:P

[Jackhead]

Here some better Pics from PC I/O SFX Board
http://www.squaresoft-fan.com/SFXFront.jpg
http://www.squaresoft-fan.com/SFXBack.jpg

[Calpis]

Can you confirm the chips?

All that's really clear is that it's an 8-bit card.

IC1 - 684 - ISA decoding w/ hexadecimal switches
IC2 - 132 - probably also address decoding
IC3 - ?
IC4 - 125 - probably data input
IC5 - 74 - probably control output
IC6 - 374 - probably data output
IC7 - ?
IC8 - ?
IC9 - 125?

[karsten]

is that one an eide connector?

[bob]

That Is SO Freakin Awesome

[Jackhead]

Can you confirm the chips?

All that's really clear is that it's an 8-bit card.

IC1 - 684 - ISA decoding w/ hexadecimal switches
IC2 - 132 - probably also address decoding
IC3 - ?
IC4 - 125 - probably data input
IC5 - 74 - probably control output
IC6 - 374 - probably data output
IC7 - ?
IC8 - ?
IC9 - 125?

Sure, np

IC1 - SN74LS684N
IC2 - SN74LS138N
IC3 - SN74LS32N
IC4 - SN74LS125AN
IC5 - SN74LS74AN
IC6 - T74S37481 99205N ?
IC7 - SN74HC541N
IC8 - SN74HC541N
IC9 - SN74LS125AN

[Calpis]

Hmm, I thought it was half of an "EPROM emulator" (in-circuit programmable SRAM) as to be expected, with the rest on the cart, but without seeing the cartridge or tracing out the circuit, not certain. Now I'm not so sure since it only uses 10 ISA address bits, some of which must be used for decoding... There aren't enough register bits to page a full MB of memory now... With the 10-register bits and 10 address bits it would be if control was address decoded (PC address output/SNES data isolation vs SNES address output/PC data isolation). It's VERY unlikely this is just for software communication with a SNES, maybe another register is on the cart.. Very convoluted design!

[link83]

It's a FX2+ with Super FX 2 to clarify. Someday when I work up the courage to, I will pry the mini snes off again and take a pic of the rest of the chips.
Assembler, do you feel that you have might have worked up the courage to pry it off now? ;-) I am sure we would all love to see some closer picture of both sides of the mini snes and mainboard if its not too much trouble :icon_bigg

[TriMesh]

That's a really cool find - incidentally, that 3x3 inch PCB is a "Super Nintendo Gateway System" - they were used in the seatback units in aircraft inflight entertainment systems so the passengers could play SNES games. It's also got RAM for loading the cart image into (but only about 16 megabits, IIRC). I have a box of them somewhere that I grabbed with the intention of making a SNES devbox, but I never get round to doing anything with them.

[ASSEMbler]

Assembler, do you feel that you have might have worked up the courage to pry it off now? ;-) I am sure we would all love to see some closer picture of both sides of the mini snes and mainboard if its not too much trouble :icon_bigg

I don't see why not. I'll take some shots before I pack it for the move.

[c_rpg]

That's a really cool find - incidentally, that 3x3 inch PCB is a "Super Nintendo Gateway System" - they were used in the seatback units in aircraft inflight entertainment systems so the passengers could play SNES games. It's also got RAM for loading the cart image into (but only about 16 megabits, IIRC). I have a box of them somewhere that I grabbed with the intention of making a SNES devbox, but I never get round to doing anything with them.

I've never heard of that before, sounds kinda similiar to the Sega Megajet... Any chance you could upload some pictures of that?

[Dr.Wily]

I don't think that is a Super FX dev board. Official SFX dev system uses a SGI workstation and power annimator. Maybe it's a third party devkit ?..

[Borman]

Id wager it was a development kit. SGI kits were probably used for graphics, just drawing from old memories, and then they had to test the game somehow so.