Nintendo Service Manuals Query

[link83]

Hi all,
Recently I came across a few threads that mentioned that there are Nintendo Service Center Manuals available for the NES and SNES (and possibly more?) that have schematics inside for each console, and I just wondered if these have ever been released online? Apparently there was even some available on eBay last year according to these two threads:-
http://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=3208.0
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=116648

I have had a good search myself but have only ever been able to find the blurry 'reverse engineered' schematics, which seem to have quite alot of errors :-(

If they havent been released may I ask why not? I would imagine that anybody who owned one of these Service Manuals would likely be a huge fan of the respective console, and surely would want to see more mods/developments made for them? - Which would likely only happen if they were released.

The only reason I can see for not releasing them is that it might lower their value, but couldnt some sort of agreement be reached if say the community raised a certain amount of money for some scans of them?

I just think its a shame that this knowledge may never be public, or could even be lost forever considering how few are probably left, and that if anything were to happen to them (house fire, tornado, etc) the knowledge could be gone forever.

I have this image of all this potential knowledge just being stored away in a cupboard/box somewhere gathering dust....:crying:

[retro]

The Electronix scans that are online are of the only official schematics that were released outside Nintendo's service centres. They are perfectly clear. They are accurate. They are everything you need for modding or whatever.

http://www.freeinfosociety.com/elect...ew.php?id=2405
http://www.caitsith2.com/snes/index.htm


If anyone owns official service manuals (which shouldn't have seen the light of day outside a Nintendo service centre), I wouldn't blame them for not wanting to distribute them. I would never give out copies of my Sega manuals.

[link83]

Thanks, I must admit that those NES Schematics are much clearer than the scans I have seen previously :icon_bigg

Unfortunately the SNES ones do have quite a number of errors, one I noticed is the the RGB encoder is shown as using pin 6 for Luma and Chroma signals which isnt correct! and according to this thread:-
http://board.zsnes.com/phpBB2/viewto...4515858a0f2fc9
It doesnt use an '18 bit' data bus either :-(

Please dont misunderstand, im certainly not implying that anybody who owns Service Manuals 'owes it to the community' to release them, I just think its abit of a loss is all, especially if there just being stored away some place. Personally if I had the money I would release them (probably anonomously) As I would love to read forum threads and see what people could figure out/learn by studying them :nod:

Also, I hope no-one thinks theres any 'piracy' reasons for wanting the schematics - these consoles are long dead now. Im purely interested in understanding more about how the consoles worked.

To me releasing these Service Manuals would be very different from releasing a piece of software. With software you know that somebody somewhere will more than likely try and profit from it (Propeller Arena springs to mind) but these documents are all about knowledge and understanding. They are not something that every person would want - but those that do would surely appreciate them.

If you dont mind me asking why would you never consider releasing your Sega manuals?

[retro]

The SNES schematic isn't the clearest scan - I could have sworn I had a better copy at one point.

I always assumed that minor errors were down to them reverse engineering a US SNES, being an American company. Perhaps not, then? I wonder if they had a different revision board.... curious!

There's nothing wrong with releasing old manuals per se if you want to. However, it does affect the value dramatically. I remember how much Atari service manuals were selling for when they closed. Then someone scanned them, and the price crashed. It also led to another dubious activity - printing the service manuals and selling them off - either as originals or in a misleading fashion. Even the most honest sellers seem to sell them as:

Original Atari 2600 Service Manual binder
(copy of service documentation included)

Yup - they had a load of spare binders, so they thought they'd sell them for a lot, but throw in a photocopy of the manual to keep the buyer happy.

That's part of my reasoning for not distributing the manuals - I don't want to see reproductions being sold. Why should someone else profit from something I put a large amount of money into? I bought them from a Sega employee and promised to keep it quiet, so he wouldn't get in trouble, and intend to honour my promise. Technically speaking, I shouldn't have them - whilst Sega in all probability won't care, they could be arsey about it and demand them back. Yes, there is the fact that it would devalue them - although it isn't much of an issue as I'd never sell them. There are a LOT of pages - I really couldn't be bothered to spend a week scanning them all in! Oh, and then there's collector's pride. This is mine - I bought it. Noone else that I know of have copies (there are very few about, anyway) so there's a status attached. Oh, and from a business point of view, I could say that I was the only person capable of repairing these units to Sega's standards ;-) That would be silly, though - there's not enough money in such repairs.

[oldengineer]

I could say that I was the only person capable of repairing these units to Sega's standards ;-) That would be silly, though - there's not enough money in such repairs.

I would hope that you could do better than SEGA's Standards. :110:

[c_rpg]

At one point I started redrawing some of the snes schematics, but it's alot of work. And I didn't even consider the fact that there are numeral differences between the US/JAP/EU versions of these consoles. Not to mention the Mini Snes!

If anyone needs information about the snes apu module schematics, I was busy documenting that and have a temporary schematic of the connections.