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TurboGrafx-16 / PC Engine
Check the dumping hardware overview for a list of known preservation hardware.
If you need help, please come chat with us on the VGPC or No-Intro discord servers.
Introduction
Important Notes
- Unopened games should have their ROM and save data dumped before attempting to play them. This avoids inadvertent modification of the data and helps preserve the game in its unused/“factory” state. Note in your submission whether the physical media was sealed and include a photo of the cart/packaging in its sealed state, if possible.
- You should clean the physical media's electrical contacts before trying to dump it, and dump it twice, checking if both dumps match using a file comparison tool or calculating the SHA256 of each file and comparing those values.
The specialized wafer-thin carts for the TurboGrafx-16 and PC Engine can be dumped with multiple different tools, some readily available although perhaps a bit expensive.
Methods
Method 1 - SSDS3
If you have an SSDS3, you can follow this method for dumping PC Engine HuCards / TurboGrafx TurboChips (archive link).
Method 2 - RetroFreak
See instructions here for NES / Famicom dumping using the RetroFreak, the same setup applies to dumping TurboGrafx-16 and PC Engine cards.
Method 3 - Tototek USB Tengu PC Engine Flash Cart and Dumper
This neat package (archive link) comes with both a dumper and a flash cart, and uses a super simple Windows application to show information about the cart, dump the cart, and flash the flash cart.
Gathering and Submitting Dump Info
Once you've dumped your games, it's time to generate and submit metadata to a preservation project for validating and cataloging. See the dump submission instructions for more information.