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- | ====== | + | ====== |
+ | {{wst> | ||
+ | **//[copied from Google Doc - needs polishing]// | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{wst> | ||
===== Introduction ===== | ===== Introduction ===== | ||
+ | {{wst> | ||
- | Short description, | ||
- | |||
- | Dumping System X carts is fairly easy, and if you already have Hardware X, there are only a few small modification you need to do. | ||
- | |||
- | or | ||
- | |||
- | Dumping System Y discs is quite involved, and requires specialized hardware and software. | ||
===== Methods ===== | ===== Methods ===== | ||
- | - Numbered list of methods, with the top one being the most preferred/ | + | - [[#Method 1 - Virtual Boy Cart Programmer by RetroOnyx|Virtual Boy Cart Programmer by RetroOnyx]] |
- | + | ||
- | | + | |
- | ==== Method 1 ==== | + | ==== Method 1 - Virtual Boy Cart Programmer by RetroOnyx==== |
Required materials | Required materials | ||
- | * [[https:// | + | * [[https:// |
- | | + | * MicroSD Card (FAT32 formatted) |
- | | + | * USB-A male to USB-B male cable (Easy to find. Usually used with printers.) (Note: another serial cable with one end being USB-B male may work, but that is not documented in this guide.) (Additional note: if the USB port and/or cable cannot send enough voltage or current to power the device, the device can be modified to accept power from an external source. Some more details can be found [[https:// |
- | * [[https:// | + | * [[https:// |
- | | + | * This guide will show how to dump Virtual Boy Carts with Windows tools, if you are using another OS and would like to add your setup to the guide please |
Notes before starting | Notes before starting | ||
- | * This guide is for firmware version 1.9. As firmware updates happen, the instructions in this guide may need slight alteration for different firmware versions. You can check your firmware version at the top of the startup text, accessed via the < | + | * This guide is for firmware version 1.9. As firmware updates happen, the instructions in this guide may need slight alteration for different firmware versions. You can check your firmware version at the top of the startup text, accessed via the < |
- | * The “Mellot Programmer” GUI program by thunderstruck does not currently work with this method. That may change in the future, but this Method of the guide will only focus on use of an alternate | + | * The “Mellot Programmer” GUI program by thunderstruck does not currently work with this method. That may change in the future, but this guide will only focus on use of an alternate |
- | * The MicroSD card must have enough storage space for the given Virtual Boy ROM file. (This is kind of a given but worth mentioning I think.) | + | |
* It is much preferred but not required to have a way to directly connect to the MicroSD card, via a PC or other device able to access the filesystem. (There are functions in the Programmer that seem to allow copying files from the SD card to PC over Serial, but that will not be detailed in this guide.) | * It is much preferred but not required to have a way to directly connect to the MicroSD card, via a PC or other device able to access the filesystem. (There are functions in the Programmer that seem to allow copying files from the SD card to PC over Serial, but that will not be detailed in this guide.) | ||
* Please remember to take basic safety precautions. Things like working with dry hands and not reaching into the ports while the device is powered will suffice 99% of the time. Use this device and guide at your own risk. | * Please remember to take basic safety precautions. Things like working with dry hands and not reaching into the ports while the device is powered will suffice 99% of the time. Use this device and guide at your own risk. | ||
- | ==== Step 1: Safely plugging in the device ==== | + | ==== Section |
Line 42: | Line 37: | ||
This safe plugging and unplugging practice is strongly recommended even when dumping multiple cartridges in one sitting. | This safe plugging and unplugging practice is strongly recommended even when dumping multiple cartridges in one sitting. | ||
- | < | + | < |
^ The MicroSD slot is located on the back of the dumper of the basic design, or on the side opposite the USB-B port on the VB-based design. In the basic design, the MicroSD card faces outwards. | ^ The MicroSD slot is located on the back of the dumper of the basic design, or on the side opposite the USB-B port on the VB-based design. In the basic design, the MicroSD card faces outwards. | ||
- | < | + | < |
^ The cartridge slot is located on the front of the dumper of the basic design, or on the bottom for the VB-based design. Note that, at least for the basic design, the cartridge slot is “keyed” so the cartridge can’t possibly fit facing the wrong direction. In the basic design, the cartridge faces inward (while looking at the display, you see the back of the cartridge). In the VB-based design, the cartridge faces up. | ^ The cartridge slot is located on the front of the dumper of the basic design, or on the bottom for the VB-based design. Note that, at least for the basic design, the cartridge slot is “keyed” so the cartridge can’t possibly fit facing the wrong direction. In the basic design, the cartridge faces inward (while looking at the display, you see the back of the cartridge). In the VB-based design, the cartridge faces up. | ||
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Additionally, | Additionally, | ||
- | < | + | < |
^ The USB-B port is located on the left side of the basic design, and on the side opposite to the MicroSD slot on the VB-based design. | ^ The USB-B port is located on the left side of the basic design, and on the side opposite to the MicroSD slot on the VB-based design. | ||
Line 64: | Line 59: | ||
After the Programmer is plugged in, and the USB-A side of the cable is plugged into the PC, it’s time for Step 2. | After the Programmer is plugged in, and the USB-A side of the cable is plugged into the PC, it’s time for Step 2. | ||
- | ==== Step 2: Dumping the ROM ==== | + | ==== Section |
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- | Basically… | + | * Under the " |
+ | * (Don't enable this unless you know what you're doing!) If you are debugging, enable “Half Duplex” to see outgoing text. This is useful for debugging a few possible issues, but will be a little more confusing for the user. | ||
+ | <image x2> | ||
+ | * Under the “Port” tab, set “Baud” to 500000 (yes, 500,000). Set “Parity” to none, “Data Bits” to 8, “Stop Bits” to 1, and “Hardware Flow Control” to none. | ||
+ | <image x1> | ||
+ | * Click the drop-down box next to the word " | ||
+ | <image x2> | ||
+ | * After setting these values, click “Change” to apply changes. | ||
+ | <image x1> | ||
+ | * Click “Open”, so now the button appears pressed-in. This means communication is open, you can start sending and receiving data. Yellow text may or may not appear in the black area of the window. | ||
+ | <image x2> | ||
+ | * Switch to the " | ||
+ | * As mentioned prior, yellow text should have appeared in the black area of the window. Additionally, | ||
+ | <image x1> | ||
+ | * Either earlier or just now, the display should have played a short animation, then stop and say “VB Cartridge Programmer”. | ||
+ | <image x1> | ||
+ | * And on the PC, the yellow text should tell you a bit about the hardware info. (You may have to resize the window!) This info includes the message “VB Programmer lives!” along with the device' | ||
+ | * If the cartridge info says “Unknown flashrom”, | ||
+ | <image x1> | ||
- | - (Not necessary, personal preference) Under the “Display” tab, enable “Half Duplex” | + | Optionally, to verify that the commands |
- | < | + | |
- | - Under the “Port” tab, set “Baud” to 500000 (yes, 500,000). Set “Parity” to none, “Data Bits” to 8, “Stop Bits” to 1, and “Hardware Flow Control” to none. | + | |
- | < | + | |
- | - Set the “Port” drop-down box to whichever COM port is to be used. To do this… click on the entry that says “(double click to scan ports)”. Then, click on the drop-down box again. Select the port which applies | + | |
- | < | + | |
- | - After setting these values, click “Change” to apply changes. | + | |
- | < | + | |
- | - Click “Open”, so now the button is depressed. This means communication is open. Switch to the “Send” tab. | + | |
- | <image> | + | |
- | - At this point, you can start receiving data! To send commands, click on the top left input-box (still under the “Send” tab), type the command, then click the button | + | |
- | - You may start receiving data from the Programmer. | + | |
- | - Either earlier or just now, the display should play a short animation, then stop and say “VB Cartridge Programmer”. | + | |
- | < | + | |
- | - And on the PC, it should | + | |
- | - If the cartridge info says “Unknown flashrom”, | + | |
- | < | + | |
- | To verify | + | Note that your list of commands may not perfectly match the list shown in this image. Namely |
- | < | + | <image x1> |
- | - First, it is required to set the size of the ROM. Find your game in the table below, and send the corresponding ROM Size Command. The commands | + | |
- | - In case you don’t know the ROM size of your cartridge, and/or your game isn’t in the list shown in this guide, you can set it to the maximum(?) size using the command | + | First, it is required to set the size of the ROM. Find the game on the [[https:// |
- | - Note: if the size is set incorrectly, | + | * If you don't know or can't determine |
- | - Note 2: If you happen to be dumping | + | * Note: if the size is set incorrectly, |
- | |**Game**|**ROM Size Command**|**ROM Size (bytes)**| | + | |
- | | | | | | + | |
- | | | | | | + | |
- | | | | | | + | |
+ | < | ||
+ | |**Command**|**Size (Bytes)**|**MB**|**Mbit**| **bits**|**Notes** | ||
+ | | < | ||
+ | | < | ||
+ | | < | ||
+ | | < | ||
+ | | < | ||
+ | | < | ||
+ | | < | ||
+ | </ | ||
- | - The PC should ask you to enter a number, either 0 or 1, and press Enter. At this point, our method of input will change. Click the bottom of the black area, below the yellow text. Make a choice: either 0 or 1. Choice 0 is to automatically name the file, based on text characters fetched from the cartridge/ | + | (Editor' |
- | - If you chose 0 and it gave an error, please try again from 12 and select 1. If option 0 worked, you can skip to step 15. | + | (Editor' |
- | - Also, the Programmer display will say “Reading” as it waits for your input. | + | After the correct ROM size is set, the device is ready to dump the ROM. |
- | <image> | + | * Send the command |
+ | * The PC should ask you to enter a number: either 0 or 1. At this point, our method of input will change. Click the bottom of the black area, below the yellow text. Now make a choice, either 0 or 1, then press Enter. Option 0 is to automatically name the file based on text characters fetched from the cartridge/ | ||
+ | * If you chose Option 0 and it gave an error, please try again, send the <RDF> command, and select Option 1. If Option 0 worked, you can skip down a few steps. | ||
- | - If you chose 1, you must now “Enter a short file name and press Enter.” You can type in a filename in the black area, then press Enter. | + | * The Programmer display will say “Reading” as it waits for your input. |
- | - If you enabled “Half Duplex” back in part 1, you should see both a red and a yellow text character | + | |
- | < | + | |
- | (Note! This is the part that the aforementioned GUI program by thunderstruck gets stuck on. I don’t know the solution.) | + | < |
- | - Now, after you hit Enter the ROM should begin dumping. It will take a few minutes. The terminal window will display dots to show it is still connected and receiving data, and the Programmer display will show a % completion bar. When it is finished, the Programmer will display “Read to SD Completed!” | + | |
- | < | + | |
- | < | + | |
- | < | + | |
- | - You can now unplug the USB cable from both the PC and the Programmer and safely remove both the Virtual Boy cartridge and the MicroSD card. Plug the MicroSD card into your PC, and the ROM file should be located in a folder titled “ROM_READ”.< | ||
- | Step 3: Dumping | + | * If you chose Option 1, you must now “Enter a short file name and press Enter.” You can type in a filename in the black area, then press Enter. The filename doesn’t matter, something simple like “dump.vb” works fine. File extension also does not matter, and can optionally be left off. (Note: the software used, both the Serial program and the Windows operating system for filesystem management, might run into errors if the filename contains a non-ASCII text character.) |
+ | * If, for debugging purposes, at the beginning you enabled “Half Duplex” in the Display tab, you will see both a red and a yellow text character for whatever you type. Don’t worry, it’s only doubled-up because of this option. If “Half Duplex” is disabled, those inputted text characters will appear yellow and not doubled. | ||
+ | <image x2> | ||
- | Not documented yet. | + | (Editor' |
- | When dumping | + | * After you hit Enter, the ROM should begin dumping. |
+ | <image x4> | ||
- | * Remember that the safe plugging | + | * You can now unplug the USB cable from both the PC and the Programmer, |
- | * Additionally, if the RealTerm software is already active when plugging | + | |
- | External Links | ||
- | - Virtual Boy Cart Programmer order page. [[https:// | + | When dumping more than one cartridge... |
- | - VB Cart Programmer Quick Start Guide. [[https:// | + | |
- | - VB Cart Programmer Build (DIY Build Guide including firmware and 3D print design files). [[https:// | + | |
- | - No-Intro DAT-o-MATIC list of dumped Virtual Boy cartridges. [[https:// | + | |
- | + | ||
- | + | ||
- | ==== Method 2 ==== | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Description, | + | |
- | + | ||
- | ===== Verification ===== | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Description of how to verify that is a dump is correct. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | ===== Gathering Dump Info ===== | + | |
- | + | ||
- | <code -> | + | |
- | Dumping tool: | + | |
- | Dumper: | + | |
- | Affiliation: | + | |
- | Dump creation date: | + | |
- | Dump release date: | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Title: | + | |
- | Region: | + | |
- | Edition: | + | |
- | Languages: | + | |
- | Language Select: | + | |
- | WikiData ID: | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Size: | + | |
- | CRC32: | + | |
- | MD5: | + | |
- | SHA-1: | + | |
- | SHA-256: | + | |
- | </ | + | |
- | * General Note: If you are submitting this info to a person/ | + | * Remember that the safe plugging and unplugging practice detailed |
+ | * Additionally, if the RealTerm software is already active (and communication Open) when plugging in the Programmer, glitchy undocumented behavior can occur. This probably won’t affect regular use, but if something unexpectedly doesn' | ||
- | ===== Submitting Dump Info ===== | + | ==== External Links ==== |
- | Point to external submission information for No-Intro/Redump. | + | * Virtual Boy Cart Programmer order page. [[https:// |
+ | * VB Cart Programmer Quick Start Guide. [[https:// | ||
+ | * VB Cart Programmer Build (DIY Build Guide including firmware and 3D print design files). [[https:// | ||
+ | * No-Intro | ||
+ | ===== Gathering and Submitting Dump Info ===== | ||
+ | See [[submission: |