todo:carts:bandai:wonderswan [dumping.guide]

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====== WonderSwan ======
{{wst>see_hardware_page}}

{{wst>vgpc_help}}

from Hit Save discord:
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asie — 29/03/2024 12:11
I'd like to provide some information regarding WonderSwan dumping, if anyone's interested 
First of all, there are three components people are interested in dumping. They are not to be confused:

The boot ROM (referred to as IPL or BIOS by some) - 4KB on Mono, 8KB on Color; it is well-preserved, but I know users of the Analogue Pocket, MiSTer and similar devices are interested in acquiring it from their own consoles.
The internal EEPROM - it consists of 96 bytes of game-accessible shared save data (used for transferring information between different game cartridges), 32 bytes of user configuration, and on WonderSwan Color an additional 1920 bytes for a customizable splash screen; that last part is what there's a preservation push for, as limited edition consoles would typically come with distinct splashes.
The game cartridges themselves, of course.
 
For cartridge dumping; there's a few hardware-based solutions, but almost all of them require sacrificing a WonderSwan console for its cartridge connector to be built new:

The Save the Hero cart reader has a WonderSwan adapter, and is probably the most user-friendly option, if you can build one, that is.
Byemu's "Tengu" dumper. While it is no longer sold, there are clones on AliExpress which replaced the WonderSwan cartridge connector with a different sort-of-electrically-compatible connector. This option appears to work, but I'm not sure if it doesn't require removing the cartridge PCB from its case or something like that.
The cartridge reader/writer bundled with the WonderMagic Color back in its contemporary heyday in the early 00s. You don't own it. You won't own it. The demoscene group TITAN tried to secure them as early as 2011-2012, and managed to find one, singular, unit for their demoscene project.
 
There is also a software solution which I have developed, which requires a soft-modded WonderSwan Color and a serial port adapter. (The latter also has a DIY option available.) This allows (slowly) dumping a cartridge with just the console.
For internal EEPROM dumping: https://github.com/asiekierka/ws-ieepview allows doing it with a flashcart, https://github.com/up-n-atom/wsceepdump allows doing it using hardware (this is important for preserving the unmodified state of the internal EEPROM for unopened consoles, as merely the act of turning on a console will modify the EEPROM's contents)
asie — 29/03/2024 12:18
For boot ROM dumping: the soft-mod solution above allows dumping the Color boot ROM; there's also a hardware modification+flashcart method for the mono WonderSwan; the Pocket Challenge V2 has a theoretical way to dump the mono WonderSwan boot ROM (they're identical) without hardware modification, but nobody has developed a tool for it yet 😉
asie — 29/03/2024 12:19
Regarding this: It uses the tools from https://wonderful.asie.pl/ws/bootfriend/ - the BootFriend installer is the mod, while the WS Backup Tool executable is the backup/restore tool. Port Zero has written a good step-by-step tutorial in Japanese to explain the process of dumping the boot ROM, but dumping/flashing anything else is similar: https://twitter.com/peca_port0/status/1631559299750334464 
The process could be made a little friendlier, but that's the status quo
[...]
asie — 31/03/2024 09:36
https://wiki.asie.pl/doku.php?id=project:homebrew:wsbootfriend BootFriend for WS guide, as promised
[...]
asie — 31/03/2024 15:10
https://wiki.asie.pl/doku.php?id=project:homebrew:wsbackuptool is the backup program
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