nes earthbound nightmare.

thepandaofnomthepandaofnom
in The Brewery
I am trying to make an eathrbound nes repro. I have followed the January 2008 eZine guide.  The first time I set this up and had it running I ran into the evil anti piracy crap. I used a rom that had the first earthbound zero hack. That one crashes. Then I used a rom with the demiforce hack on it and that one crashes. Lastly and with much hope that was destroyed I used a rom that was hopefully labeled right and all earthbound proto. All the roms i have used will have the same symptoms. The game will ether have graphical erors form about two to three minutes into game play till it locks up or if i get into the battle with lamp( I love lamp) it will freeze most times at the screen that says you win. For my hardware I am using an original mother famicom cart using 27c2001 eproms. If anyone can offer me some help I would be grateful because this game is driving me nuts.
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Comments

  • GuntzGuntz
    What speed are those EPROMs at? Were the burns verified good?
  • thepandaofnomthepandaofnom
    They were nec D27C2001D-15. I believe the 15 is the speed. As for the verification my programming software does a verification after the burn and then I do one before installing. Both times come up a ok.
  • GorillazeroGorillazero
    This is the one I used with success. I just finished the Zoo.



    earthbound zero demiforce v1.01 hack-2



    I made my own cart a year ago, and never played it up until a few months ago and I received graphical glitches after finding the girl in the grave yard. I did some research and found this to be the best one.



    My only thought is that the demiforce hack might not like your famicom board. Mine is on a Nintendo PCB.
  • thepandaofnomthepandaofnom
    i ave decided to scrape tee attempt on a famicom card. I have used every version of the rom. proto first hack and the fll ap hack. none work on my famicom cart. just sucks that i wasted 2 eproms in the proses. i got a copy of deja vu coming and some more erproms. I am no expert but I think their may be some hardware ap on the famicom cart because for all my searching i have never seen a famicom mother cart repro. When i get it all in im going to use the same rom you used. What rom virsion gave you the graphical glitch and was it a bad glitch that locks the game up or one you can work around.
  • GorillazeroGorillazero
    Use the one I mentioned above, the graphical glitch was when I first met a gangster zombie right after finding the girl in the graveyard. I thought maybe it was like a poisoning effect or something, because the screen went weird, but they it froze. Restarting the game made me loose my save, so I just said screw it. I did some research and found that the copy with the DOT in the Zero of Zero on the title screen was the way to avoid any issues. v1.01 hack-2 seemed to work the best. No issues yet.
  • thepandaofnomthepandaofnom
    Thanks. I go hulk when i lose a save file. I am just trying to get this sorted out. at least my problems occurred before i even finished the first fight.
  • removed04092017removed04092017
    Just use the one with NO ZERO On the screen. The zero hack garbage should have never happened, it's not the right one to put on a cart at all, especially 50% being bad versions. Still, main thing is to just make sure you wired it up right.



    Is it time to make an NROM test cart that loads program in to RAM, then you insert your cart and it will verify the wiring is correct by checksumming each bank? Would anybody use that?
  • LincolnLincoln

    Originally posted by: 3GenGames



    Just use the one with NO ZERO On the screen. The zero hack garbage should have never happened, it's not the right one to put on a cart at all, especially 50% being bad versions. Still, main thing is to just make sure you wired it up right.



    Is it time to make an NROM test cart that loads program in to RAM, then you insert your cart and it will verify the wiring is correct by checksumming each bank? Would anybody use that?



    It would be an iteresting concept item, although it might be hard to identify where the wiring is failing if it comes up wrong. 



    Is that something you could do with a modified game genie?




  • SnoopKattSnoopKatt

    Originally posted by: Lincoln




    Originally posted by: 3GenGames



    Just use the one with NO ZERO On the screen. The zero hack garbage should have never happened, it's not the right one to put on a cart at all, especially 50% being bad versions. Still, main thing is to just make sure you wired it up right.



    Is it time to make an NROM test cart that loads program in to RAM, then you insert your cart and it will verify the wiring is correct by checksumming each bank? Would anybody use that?



    It would be an iteresting concept item, although it might be hard to identify where the wiring is failing if it comes up wrong. 



    Is that something you could do with a modified game genie?



     

    The Game Genie is a bit difficult to modify, as it uses blobs instead of regular ROMs. [SOME USE ROMs, SOME USE BLOBS, SORRY FOR THE MISTAKE]. You could do a swap while the NES is on, kind of like this Tape Dump program that converts data to binary audio: http://www.chrismcovell.com/TapeDump_Controls.html



    Is it safe for the games/consoles to do so though?
  • thepandaofnomthepandaofnom

    Originally posted by: SnoopKatt




    Originally posted by: Lincoln




    Originally posted by: 3GenGames



    Just use the one with NO ZERO On the screen. The zero hack garbage should have never happened, it's not the right one to put on a cart at all, especially 50% being bad versions. Still, main thing is to just make sure you wired it up right.



    Is it time to make an NROM test cart that loads program in to RAM, then you insert your cart and it will verify the wiring is correct by checksumming each bank? Would anybody use that?



    It would be an iteresting concept item, although it might be hard to identify where the wiring is failing if it comes up wrong. 



    Is that something you could do with a modified game genie?



     

    The Game Genie is a bit difficult to modify, as it uses blobs instead of regular ROMs. You could do a swap while the NES is on, kind of like this Tape Dump program that converts data to binary audio: http://www.chrismcovell.com/TapeDump_Controls.html



    Is it safe for the games/consoles to do so though?





    i have had two game genies. one that is blob that came in a black casing and one that had one dip on it. as for my wiring I know its was corect. I tryed every virsion of the rom i could find. proto, zero, and zero demiforce1.01 hack-2. all give the same freeze and lok ups. i already ordered parts to make a nes repro insted of fami but its still nagging at me the fact that i had to give up on it without finding the cause.




  • GorillazeroGorillazero
    you checked to make sure the famicom game worked right? I did a gimmick, where I didn't test the board and that's what happened, the cart mapper didn't work.
  • thepandaofnomthepandaofnom

    Originally posted by: Gorillazero



    you checked to make sure the famicom game worked right? I did a gimmick, where I didn't test the board and that's what happened, the cart mapper didn't work.







    Yea. thats the first thing I do before i even open it up. When i got it it booted up and had two saves. One was at like level 13 i think and the other was at level 38.  i also played the game in japanese for a few battles. Might be thats why the guy was selling it though. i got the cart cheap for $20 when all the others were $30-36.  When testing I never started a new game and got through the opening battles. That is when it is freezing and i cant test with the original save files becase they got erased.
  • SnoopKattSnoopKatt
    It's also possible something got nicked while soldering, or as you said the cart was broken from the beginning.
  • goldendark007goldendark007
    nvm.
  • thepandaofnomthepandaofnom
    Ok so i took a deja vu cart and made earthbound. it works perfect. Thanks for the help and pointers. now to sit my butt down and play this game.
  • GorillazeroGorillazero
    I'm happy you got it to work. What rom did you end up using?
  • thepandaofnomthepandaofnom
    I ended up using the demiforce 1.01 hack-2. now I just need to get a better printer or find a site that can print game labels. I know gamereprodctions.com sells them but lats time i emailed them about a simple question it took him nearly a month and a half to get back to me. Im thinking of investing in a modern printer(mine is from 2000) and some label paper. Then i wont have to wait for shipping. Have any of you bought labels from gamereproductions.com? if so how is the print quality and speed of delivery?
  • thepandaofnomthepandaofnom
    I'm not sure if this is how earthbond plays or not but i am getting a lot of 1-3 step battles.
  • removed04092017removed04092017
    Probably used the shit ZERO ROM. Use the UNMODIFIED ROM!
  • SnoopKattSnoopKatt

    Originally posted by: thepandaofnom



    Have any of you bought labels from gamereproductions.com? if so how is the print quality and speed of delivery?

    The labels aren't bad. No bubbles or anything in the laminate, but the print quality leaves a little bit to be desired. Considering it's $2.50 shipped, it's pretty fair.




  • GorillazeroGorillazero
    Honestly, vladictivo does great work. I usually do my own labels, but he ended up convincing me to purchase some, as I couldn't find good artwork myself. They were better than my labels as the lamination was great. I usually only do photo water resistant sticky paper.
  • thepandaofnomthepandaofnom
    My current label making setup is standard printer paper and packing tape... its a real gheto setup.
  • GuntzGuntz

    Originally posted by: thepandaofnom



    I'm not sure if this is how earthbond plays or not but i am getting a lot of 1-3 step battles.



    I've never played the Demiforce version, but the original prototype does tend to have frequent battles.
  • thepandaofnomthepandaofnom
    i figured it was normal. i will get 3-5 battles in a row then ill go like 100 steps with out a battle. so it balances out. so far i got past the magical land place without a hitch. i used the demiforce version cause it takes out all ap protection and i don't want to get to the last battle and lose my save. i would go hulk then and kill everyone in a 10 mile radius.
  • removed04092017removed04092017
    The demiforce one with the white will trigger it 100% of the time. The ORIGINAL ROM will also NEVER copy protect you, because making it on a cart is 100% unnoticeable. Using a demihack gives you a chance of it not working, because we know the original will not do that, it was modified for bad emulators in the day so it wouldn't do it, and the first hack they released, the easy to get ROM, will always trigger it. The blue one has it "right" but it's still not the original. I wish people making EB's would stop using that zero crap, really. It does more harm than good, for sure.
  • thepandaofnomthepandaofnom
    the one i used has the blue lettering that fades to white. it is the one gorillazero used and he said he has not had a problem. To my knowledge the only difference between demiforce 1.01 hack-2 and proto is that demiforce took all the ap out so it cant trigger even on an off shot and the proto still has it but wont trigger. other than that they are identical. i don't feel like ripping up the eproms and reprogramming just to change the title screen. The one im making for my friend im going to use the proto.
  • removed04092017removed04092017
    They took it out because when they hacked the title screen to add 4 letters, they fucked up the checksum routine. Still, the zero rom sucks. But whatever pleases you, I guess.
  • thepandaofnomthepandaofnom
    the proto vs demiforce 1.01 hack-2 is preferential. i understand wanting the proto cause it is the full untouched version. what i would do to get my hands on an actual proto cart......I'm sure we would all kill for one.
  • GuntzGuntz

    Originally posted by: thepandaofnom



    i figured it was normal. i will get 3-5 battles in a row then ill go like 100 steps with out a battle. so it balances out. so far i got past the magical land place without a hitch. i used the demiforce version cause it takes out all ap protection and i don't want to get to the last battle and lose my save. i would go hulk then and kill everyone in a 10 mile radius.



    You're confusing NES Earth Bound with SNES EarthBound. In the latter, the game will freeze and delete your save file before the final battle. The NES game doesn't have that. It just has copy protection check points at certain intervals during the game.



    And I completely agree with 3Gen, always use the original prototype. Look at it this way, it's easier to abide by the copy protection (which doesn't harm repros) than it is to remove the copy protection. If the prototype has not been tampered with and has been burned correctly, the copy protection will not be tripped.
  • thepandaofnomthepandaofnom
    Well I can say from experience now that if you use the demiforce 1.01 hack-2 their is no problem. I just finished the game. not one glitch or hiccup. I think for the gigles Ill make another coppy with the unaltered dump.
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