The truth about Atomiswave to Naomi Project

I have heard some rumours that arcademodbios.com (AMB) says that he is the one converting the games and that this is all his work. THIS IS FALSE!

AMB converted the first games, that means the games that had NO PROTECTION, ZERO PROTECTION, LITLLE COMPLEXITY. When he noticed that newer games had lots of protections and were more complex then he didn't like the project so much, but the real reason why he left the project is another one.


To start with, I agreed with him on helping him on the project to make sure it will become a reality. We discussed how to publish the converted games and get some reward for it. We decided to go for donation mode.
I wanted to make sure this project will become a reality and here is shocking news, I agreed on giving him ALL the donations that we achived. All for him. Zero for me. Even with that when he saw that the level of donations was not the one he expected, well, he just quitted and let me alone with this. How do you like it? Obviously he won't get a cent.

It is true that when we started this project, AMB had already done some code that will read the game content from DIMM instead of AW cartridge and will translate JVS Input to Maple Input. The trasnfer routine uses some lame PIO mode that is quite slow and is the reason why some games still lag.
These parts of code were created by him and I'll be using them until I have succesfully converted all games, so I can concentrate on the conversions itself and avoid introducing new bugs. This will be replaced by real DMA transfers, once I finished converting the games as this code is not the best and I had problems with it as it changes too many registers which are later on used.

I have spent hundreds of hours (literally) in this project and  removed a lot of protections related to HW differences between AW and Naomi like:
* Checking for the Content of the BIOS
* Use the BIOS code for calculations.
* Flashing areas of memory that in Naomi aren't there and checking if they are really flashed.
* Trying to read from the programm code again, once the program has been loaded into RAM
* Etc.

The worst of all is that I forwarded him all the contacts of people who wanted to get their CPS 3 BIOS updated with MY Cps3 BIOS (maybe now it's also his Bios :) and when people complained that they don't have the latest ISO, you know what he did, he said he couldn't help and he forwarded them to me!

If he has done all conversions already, I challenge him first of all to prove it and second to release here and before the end of the year Metal Slug 6, KOFNW, KOF XI and all the driving games. I know he won't do it, because it won't bring him any money.

Happy 2014!

Driving Games on Atomiswave

I bewlieve I have some issues with  my Sega I/O and can't test driving games properly. If someone has a driving NAOMI cabinet and would like to test some conversions, please let me know!!

The King Of Fighters XI

This game is 99% completed now. I just gave it a try on the real Naomi and....what do you think? The same black screen hang just as the beggining when initializing video. Brrrrr.

Status of the Project (UPDATE 4)

STATUS OF ATOMISWAVE ROMS (With MAME v0151)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Animal Basket --> Not working on MAME.
Demolish Fist --> Working and released.
Dirty Pigskin Football --> Not working on MAME.
Dolphin Blue --> Working and released.
Extreme Hunting --> Not started working on it.
Extreme Hunting 2 --> Not started working on it.
Faster Than Speed --> Converted and boots fine. Working on analog controls.
Fist Of The North Star -->  Working and released to donors.
Guilty Gear Isuka --> Working and released to donors.
Guilty Gear X ver. 1.5 --> Working and released.
Knights of Valour - The Seven Spirits --> Working and released.
Maximum Speed --> Converted and boots fine. Working on analog controls.
Metal Slug 6 --> Working on MAME but not on the real thing.
Neo-Geo Battle Coliseum --> Not working on MAME.
Net Select Keiba Victory Furlong --> Not started working on it.
Ranger Mission --> Converted and boots fine. Working on analog controls.
Salary Man Kintarou --> Not working on MAME.
Samurai Spirits Tenkaichi Kenkakuden --> Not working on MAME.
Sega Bass Fishing Challenge --> Converted and boots fine.Working on MAME but not on the real thing.
Sega Clay Challenge --> Converted and boots fine.Working on MAME but not on the real thing.
Sports Shooting USA --> Converted and boots fine. Working on gun controls.
The King of Fighters Neowave --> Not started working on it.
The King of Fighters Neowave (Japan) --> Working on MAME but not on the real thing.
The King of Fighters XI --> Not working on MAME.
The Rumble Fish --> Working and released.
The Rumble Fish 2 --> Working on it.

* Green= Converted. May have some issues.
* Blue= Looks like can be converted.
* Red= Not working on MAME. Much harder to convert. In worst case will need to wait until MAME supports it.


Notice that converting the games is something that is already under control and this is not what is delaying new releases. Problem comes from the many protections that producers have inserted into the code, to avoid ports or bootlegs, so each game must be converted + fixed. Each protection can take up to 30 hours to fix!

Games from 2003 and some of 2004, have little or no protection, so they are much easier to port. After that companies started using multiple protections to try to stop bootlegers or conversions.
I've seen many tricks, like trying to write to the memory with typical ERASE commands. This has no effect on a Mask rom, but is the precise command to erase a Flash rom. You follow me, right.
Games also check using some complicated algorithms doing calculations with the values present in memory area 0x0-0xFFFF. If the AW BIOS isn't there, game won't boot. Solution is to copy at least part of the BIOS into Upper Naomi memory.

More  updates soon.

Sega Clay Challenge

I succesfully converted also this game (except analog) and again it works great on MAME and DEMUL, but doesn't even boot on the real thing.....this is making me angry now...

Link here for the ones who wanna try it.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/bcyol26xxaynpd1/claychallenge.7z

Sega Bass Fishing Challenge

I succesfully converted Sega Bass Fishing Challenge (except analog controls) to Naomi and it works well in MAME and DEMUL (In noami mode) but as happens with MSLUG 6 and KOFNW it won't boot on the real thing....This is now pissing me off! It seems to be the same problem in all 3 games. Probably video related...

I guess I'll need to take care of that as 1st priority now.

Here is the link to Bass Fishing for the ones who want to try it:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/wb3ntnx36u1blss/basschanllenge.7z

Guilty Gear ISUKA. Converted!!

Guilty Gear was succesfully converted and will be released today to donors. Please give your feedback on how it works for you.

ST-V Multi Game Cartridge.

When I get saturated doing AW2Naomi I like to change topic so I can come back to the current problem with a different perspective. In that time I've been working on the design of a ST-V multigame cartridge that reads games from SD Card and transfers them to cartridge own RAM and then will run like a normal ST-V cartridge.

The idea is to make it independent, so no change is needed in the BIOS. It will run transparently and will support most (if not all) games like Soukyugurentai, Golden Axe, Radiant Silvergun,etc. I still haven't decided it it will just run a fixed file name on bootup or it will have some buttons on the cartridge (LEFT, RIGHT, ENTER) so you can sort of navigate on the files of the SD Card. In the second case I should accomodate a small display listing the current filename.

I've been runing some numbers and in order to make sense at least 50 units should be made. Selling price would be around $200. This is a complete new PCB, not a conversion of ST-V cartridges.

I'm just checking what is the interest of the people on this. If I go ahead, I'll make a list of people interested and I expect them to get one :)))

Please avoid comments like I don't think it's a good idea, or I don't think people will buy it. Only comment if you'd be  interested on getting one and what is your point of view about how it should look like.

Looking forward to your comments.

Knights of Valour - The Seven Spirits AND Fist of The North Star. Naomi 2 Fixed!!

Unless I introduced a last minute bug, this version should also work on Naomi 2, what would hopefully lead us very soon  to a.....Naomi 2 working version of FOTNS!

Can you please test it both on Naomi 1 and 2 and let me know how it works for you?

http://www.mediafire.com/download/d0yn5cs4xomxn17/kov7spirits_Naomi2_Fixed.7z

First of the North Star Released to donors. Fully working on Naomi 2 :))

Status of the Project (UPDATE 3)

STATUS OF ATOMISWAVE ROMS (With MAME v0151)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Animal Basket --> Not working on MAME.
Demolish Fist --> Working and released.
Dirty Pigskin Football --> Not working on MAME.
Dolphin Blue --> Working and released.
Extreme Hunting --> Not started working on it.
Extreme Hunting 2 --> Not started working on it.
Faster Than Speed --> Converted and boots fine. Working on analog controls.
Fist Of The North Star -->  Working and released to donors.
Guilty Gear Isuka --> Working and released to donors.
Guilty Gear X ver. 1.5 --> Working and released.
Knights of Valour - The Seven Spirits --> Working and released.
Maximum Speed --> Converted and boots fine. Working on analog controls.
Metal Slug 6 --> Working on MAME but not on the real thing.
Neo-Geo Battle Coliseum --> Not working on MAME.
Net Select Keiba Victory Furlong --> Not started working on it.
Ranger Mission --> Converted and boots fine. Working on analog controls.
Salary Man Kintarou --> Not working on MAME.
Samurai Spirits Tenkaichi Kenkakuden --> Not working on MAME.
Sega Bass Fishing Challenge --> Not started working on it.
Sega Clay Challenge --> Not started working on it.
Sports Shooting USA --> Converted and boots fine. Working on gun controls.
The King of Fighters Neowave --> Not started working on it.
The King of Fighters Neowave (Japan) --> Working on MAME but not on the real thing.
The King of Fighters XI --> Not started working on it.
The Rumble Fish --> Working and released.
The Rumble Fish 2 --> Working on it.

* Green= Converted. May have some issues.
* Blue= Looks like can be converted.
* Red= Not working on MAME. Much harder to convert. Will try all possible anti-bootlegging known tricks.


Notice that converting the games is something that is already under control and this is not what is delaying new releases. Problem comes from the many protections that producers have inserted into the code, to avoid ports or bootlegs, so each game must be converted + fixed. Each protection can take up to 30 hours to fix!

Games from 2003 and some of 2004, have little or no protection, so they are much easier to port. After that companies started using multiple protections to try to stop bootlegers or conversions.
I've seen many tricks, like trying to write to the memory with typical ERASE commands. This has no effect on a Mask rom, but is the precise command to erase a Flash rom. You follow me, right.
Games also check using some complicated algorithms doing calculations with the values present in memory area 0x0-0xFFFF. If the AW BIOS isn't there, game won't boot. Solution is to copy at least part of the BIOS into Upper Naomi memory.

More  updates soon.

Naomi Emulators

I tried running the Atomiswave convertions and they run both on DEMUL and Makraon Naomi.


This leads me to believe that the reason why some games still don't boot on the real Naomi, but boot on the emulators is related to the way in which video is initialized. Maybe they use another trick to fool Naomi or DC.

It works faster and with better sound in Makaron for Naomi, but maybe emulation is not so accurate as with DEMUL.

In Demul Choose in the Menu--> Run Naomi (don't Run Atomiswave!) --> Load Decrypted rom --> choose any of the converted games I've released.

Unfortunately afaik none of them has a debugger, so they can't help me much.

For the non-believers, you can try yourself the not finished conversions of Metal Slug and KOFNW in any of the emulators that I mentioned befor. The links here:

http://www.mediafire.com/download/28terwx7hk2wk7v/mslug6.7z

http://www.mediafire.com/download/z08w0gebdjeg70g/KOFNWJapan.rar

More updates coming soon.

King of Fighters NeoWave

I've successfully converted also King of Fighters NeoWave!!

Unfortunately, has the same problem as Metal Slug 6 and shows black screen on real Naomi but works great on MAME.

Hopefully the problem/protection that is causing this is the same in both games, and even with more luck the same one that is causing the games not to works on Naomi 2.

With the Naomi Development kit I could do a lot more and faster....if someone heard from someone where it could be downloaded please PM at the neogeo forum.

Stay tuned for more.

METAL SLUG 6

I have successfully converted METAL SLUG 6 which works great on MAME but shows black screen on Real Naomi. I will start finding out why and release it ASAP.

I have also found that the first Atommiswave games had almost or no protection. The conversion process was "quite simple". The problem I'm facing now and that's the reason for lower pace in releases is that I found out that the new games have LOTS of protections inserted in the code in order to avoid games from AW being ported to DC or Naomi.

To give one example:

In memory region 0x10000-20000, Atomiswave has a flash rom and Naomi a ROM, so the AW game will try to erase part of that flash rom, everytime we boot (which btw decreases the life of our flash) and write some values there. Then it will read back from that part of memory. If we read the same, then we are good, if it doesn't read the same because Naomi has a ROM there, then it will crash or go to endless loop.
Another trick is to try to send weird commands to the GDROM, which AW doesn't have. You follow me right? In a Naomi will make the whole DMA, PIO pointers go crazy but will be ignored by AW.
Another one is to try to write to the extra ram that the Naomi has. If we read back the same, then we have extra memory that shouldn't be there and it will crash.

To put in short, Sammy, Sega and SNK probably faced a problem of piracy and started putting anti-copy measures quite sofisticated. Conversion of games from AW to Naomi is already quite a challenge, but that it's now clear to me, problem are all those anti-copying/anti-porting measures.

Just in Metal Slug 6 I had to modify the code in 47 places!!!

Hopefully I'll release something very soon!

CPS3 Update

As you know arcademodbios is not supporting this project anymore. If you need a cartridge converted or a BIOS changed you can contact either Mitsurugi-w or Darksoft in the NeoGeo Forums.

Release!!

We reached 10 donations, so I'm releasing Rumble Fish and Dolphin Blue!!

I'm working right now on KOFN and MSLUG6.

Enjoy!

http://www.mediafire.com/download/vi70cxulchmc3dx/dolphinblue.rar
http://www.mediafire.com/download/c3wicgn70hnwd1l/gdrom-rumblefish.rar

Sports Shooting USA

I converted Sports Shooting USA. Controls are OK except gun, which I can't test as I don't have a gun for Naomi. Hopefully soon....

You can test if you want here: http://www.mediafire.com/download/3aoqf9io2jv2hyn/gdrom_sprtshot.rar

I just Updated status table on previous posts.

Fist of the North Star!!!

I converted FOTNS and consider it fully working. This game is really good and the music is just awesome. This game is one of the reasons why I decided to convert AW games to Naomi!

You can see a video here: http://youtu.be/yJzZ9s0Pzv4

The donors will get their link in a couple of minutes.

If you'd like to try this game earlier than anyone else or show your support to this project please donate!.

$20/€15 will make you donor. If  you donate €40/$50 you'll also get the DVD with all converted games.

Status of the Project.

I'm currently working on FOTNS, MS6 and GG Isuka.

Here is the status of the project.

STATUS OF ATOMISWAVE ROMS
Maximum Speed --> Converted and boots fine and accepts credits and buttons. Working on analog controls.
Sports Shooting USA --> Converted and boots fine and accepts credits and buttons. Working on gun controls.
Guilty Gear X ver. 1.5 --> Working and released.
Demolish Fist --> Working and released.
Dolphin Blue --> Working and released to donors.
Guilty Gear Isuka --> Working on it.
Dirty Pigskin Football --> Not working on MAME.
The Rumble Fish --> Working and released to donors.
Ranger Mission --> Not started working on it.
Salary Man Kintarou --> Not started working on it.
Faster Than Speed --> Converted and boots fine and accepts credits and buttons. Working on analog controls.
Knights of Valour - The Seven Spirits --> Working and released.
Net Select Keiba Victory Furlong --> Not started working on it.
The Rumble Fish 2 --> Not working on MAME.
Animal Basket --> Not working on MAME.
Neo-Geo Battle Coliseum --> Not started working on it.
Samurai Spirits Tenkaichi Kenkakuden --> Not started working on it.
The King of Fighters XI --> Not started working on it.
Fist Of The North Star -->  Working and released to donors.
The King of Fighters Neowave --> Not started working on it.
The King of Fighters Neowave (Japan) --> Not started working on it.
Extreme Hunting --> Not started working on it.
Metal Slug 6 --> Working on it.
Extreme Hunting 2 --> Not started working on it.
Sega Clay Challenge --> Not started working on it.
Sega Bass Fishing Challenge --> Not started working on it.

Below a small teaser of faster than speed: http://www.mediafire.com/?6uz71a4uwlfg7t2

Fist of the North Star

This game is converted and works great in MAME but not in the real Naomi. I'm trying to find out why. Probably some Video mode setting issue. Any help from Dreamcast programmers would be welcome.

Update and Clarification (UPDATE 1)

This week I'll send the two CPS3 ISOS (custom and SH2) to all the donors that wanted to have the CPS3 CD.

When I get their feedback then I feel comfortable to order printing the final CDs. This should happen in two weeks.

Following with Atomiswave to Naomi Project, I've seen a lot of misinformation and wrong assumptions that I'll try to clarify. I'm working on converting all the games, this is the final goal of this proejct, even the racing and shoting ones.

I'm going to release the games publicly in bundles of 3-4 games as soon as I can. Games will be release when 10 donations of over $20 have been achieved. Please notice that the meter on the right is manually updated. It's not automatic. If you donated €40/$50 then you'll get a DVD with all games and design by Alex once all the games have been converted.

I will release however the games as soon as they are ready to the donnors so they can test it in advance and to thank them for their support. If they want to have the DVD earlier I can send it to them, but I think it makes little sense if it's not ready.

Hope this clarifies everything.


* UPDATE 1: I have sent Dolphin Blue and Rumble Fish for Naomi to the donors.
* UPDATE 2: I have sent Final (hopefully) ISOS of CPS3 for standard and custom sh2. If you have donated or have reported at least 1 bug (which means you are interested on this and are not a rom collector) and you haven't received the email with the links, let me know. I won't print the CDs until I get general approval.

Next Game Rumble Fish

I have 99% ready Rumble Fish, however given the little number of both donations and feedback, I've decided to set a donation meter on the right. When it reaches 10 donations, I'll release Rumble Fish. After that Dolphin Blue will follow again after 10 donations. Next game??? You can make suggestions on this entry or vote in the poll on the right.

I know some people will not be happy about this as they want to have everything for free, they give no feedback and ask "Why it's taking you so long to fix this?", so that's the approach I've decided to go.

Nothing else changes, I plan to release all games, only that the pace will be set by the people interested on this.

Releasing Guilty Gear X Ver. 1.5

You can find in the link below the file for Guilty Gear X Ver. 1.5 for Naomi.

Please report if you find any bug.

Donations are VERY low, so if you enjoyed this consider donating towards the DVD. Sorry guys to insist, but it's very frustating to get little reports and little donations, looks like no one is interested.

and now Enjoy!

http://www.mediafire.com/?uodpaxis5uph5l4
 

 

NEW! CD set of CPS3 for *CUSTOM* SH2 cartridges!!!

All pending ISOS for cartridges with Custom SH2 are now COMPLETE!!!!

That includes JOJO, JOJOBA and Warzard!

Now all games are available also for Custom SH2!!! You need to have the SuperBIOS installed for this CD to work.

To get a CD just donate $40/30€ on the right side of the blog.

Everybody who donates should specify which version they want if Standard SH2 or Custom SH2.

NEW! CD set of CPS3 for Standard SH2 cartridges

Hi,

The latest ISO of SFIII-2I is now in final, ready to be used with Standard SH2 cartridges. I have decided to release it with a CD. If you are enjoying CPS3 Project and would like to have a CD with design by Alex that includes:

* STREET FIGHTER III - NEW GENERATION (9 7 0 2 0 4)* WARZARD (9 6 1 1 2 1)
* JOJO'S ADVENTURE (9 8 0 6 2 4)
* JOJO (9 8 1 2 0 2)
* STREET FIGHTER III - 3rd STRIKE (9 9 0 6 0 8)
* STREET FIGHTER III - 3rd STRIKE (9 9 0 5 1 2)
* STREET FIGHTER III - 2nd IMPACT (9 7 0 9 3 0)

you can get it making a donation of $40/30€ on the right side of the blog. Please send as donation.

Below you can see the (still not final) CD Design.

2nd IMPACT for Standard SH2 Cartridges (UPDATE 4)

Two more bugs were reported and fixed in this version.

Please feedback!!!!!!

Here the ISO:   http://www.mediafire.com/?jv40va57dyyly46

If this version is FINAL, I will release a CD Image with all 6 Games perfectly working for the standard SH2 version.

2nd IMPACT for Standard SH2 Cartridges (UPDATE 3)

New Release of the SFIII-2I Iso for Standard SH2 cartridges.

Please test it and report! All known bugs should be gone now.

http://www.mediafire.com/?ke7df3o2f3w3a2o

Atomiswage to Naomi (UPDATE 5) - Releasing Knights Of Valour : The Seven Spirits !!!!

Hello!!

I'm realeasing Knights of Valout for Naomi, just in the weekend so you can all enjoy.

I consider this version 100%, but please test it, report and if you enjoyed it...donate and get your DVD!

http://www.mediafire.com/?yruahklahubg1ux

Speeding up CPS3 rewrite process

I was checking with MAME experts about how to speed up the process of rewritting a game in CPS3 and I couldn't find any part of the code where this happened, so they told me that the problem is that the WD33c93 is a programmable SCSI controller and the code to read the CD is being transfered from BIOS to this SCSI controller.

The code is so shit that that's the reason why it takes ages....I'm quoting:

"On the real board it takes just as long and [...] it isn't caused by the FLASH being slow, it's caused by the CPS-3 BIOS code reading the CD very slowly. It isn't MAME's code you'd have to hack - it's the CPS-3 BIOS code itself that causes the slowness."

That means room for improveness of the rewrite process with a new BIOS. Anyone wants to try ;)

Atomiswave to Naomi (UPDATE 4)

As many of you know, arcademodbios.com left the project due to lack of motivation and interest (It's true that feedback, test reports and donations have been real low), so now this is a one-man-project.


I'm working on fixing some bugs on some games and I'll release something asap.

I created a poll on the right side. Please let me know your opinion!!!

2nd IMPACT for Standard SH2 Cartridges (UPDATE 2 RELEASE)

Here is the first pre-release of SFIII-2I for Standard SH2 cartridges.

This version is only working in cartridges with a Standard SH2 CPU.

This is not the final version yet. So please test it and report.

I know not everybody has a Standard SH2 cartridge, so if you do have one, your help is apreciated.

If you don't have one, you can get them from Mitusrugi-w as usual.

Here the ISO and table: http://www.mediafire.com/?ke7df3o2f3w3a2o

2nd IMPACT for Standard SH2 Cartridges.

I continued working on the tables for 2nd Impact which is the only game missing for Standard SH2 cartridges.

See picture.

Notice the header in which you can see that this game is running under 3rdStrike setup.

New Atomiswave to Naomi DVD Design by Alex

What do you think about it?

Please comment!

http://tinypic.com/m/hs59qt/1

http://tinypic.com/m/hs59tu/1

Atomiswage to Naomi (UPDATE 3) - Releasing Demolish FIST

We have successfully converted Demolish Fist free of errors (we hope) for the Naomi.

Most of the work has been done by www.arcademodbios.com and credit belongs to him.

We are trying to convert some other games, but we found they have been compiled with different libs, so for every new lib it's like starting over again. We have also converted Dolphin Blue and it's being tested now!

We have decided to share for free all the roms that we convert, as soon as we feel they are reasonably free of errors.
It will take us hopefully between one and two months to learn how these libs work, then we'll be able to release the rest of the games much quicker.
 
In order to support this project we are going to ask for donations. If you donate $50 or more, you'll get a DVD with all Atomiswave games available converted to Naomi. Do you like this project? Would you like to support us? Then donate ! The donate button is on the right of this page. Provide us with your contact data. Alex is making the design of the DVD with a nice Atomiswave motive, pics coming soon.

Now......enjoy!

http://www.mediafire.com/?lk28i8z13z8wvri

Please test this game and report any errors.

Atomiswage to Naomi (UPDATE 2)

After more than 20 hours of debuggging and code patching.....Dolphin Blue is converted!!!

See here: http://youtu.be/kdMgcGfdy0I

New CPS3 Stickers!

I just got the new official stickers Batch designed and paid by Alex.

This labels will come now with every cartridge that we send.

If you'd like to have your cartridge converted. Let us know.

If you'd like to have a set of stickers, contact Alex here.

CPS2 and CPS3 SIMMS Batch (UPDATE 1)

I'm planning to make a batch of SIMMS for CPS2 and/or CPS3 given the little supply available for them.

Before moving forward, I'd like to know how many people would be interested on that. This is non binding, but will help me decide to go/no go

If you are one of those, please reply how many of each SIMMS (32Mb, 64Mb and 128Mb) you'd be willing to buy. This will be produced in China so prices should be reasonable. However just a single flash chip cost $8. Multiply that by 4 + PCB + Shipping + Taxes and we will end up easily with over $60 per 128Mb SIMM.

Let me know your thoughts.

UPDATE1: There is a poll on the right. Use it.

No more Saturns, 32X and STV will be sacrified. We care.

Following a very well based hunch, I outsourced some SH2 widely available at Alibaba.

I got mine as: "HD6417604SF28 HITACHI QFP-144 08+ 10pcs $10.0/pcs new and original, part in stock, with one year for warranty" from a seller called WillamsViv​ian (luolanchenou@hotmail.com)

Master Mitusrugi-w, made a nice video showing that it works! See here:


http://youtu.be/Id04mpkol5E

If you'd like to have your SH2 replaced (it's fine precision work) contact him. If you'd like to have your eprom replaced, contact him or contact www.arcademodbios.com

Atomiswave to Naomi (UPDATE 1)

There is a big progress on the Atomiswave to Naomi conversion. A project in which I'm IN with arcademodbios.com.

See pictures!!!

Please notice that this project will be available from arcademodbios.com where you can get a NaomiCF kit with many games.

More news soon.

two more pics of new games running:

Benefits of the SuperBIOS (UPDATE 2)

BENEFIT #1
----------------
Mitsurugi-w compiled a CD with original sets that can be used by the people that have working NOCD CPS3 sets and can't make an update if a SIMM erases or if they want to change game. This can be done, by using a 2nd cartridge with SuperBios and updating the SIMMS. It can be taken even a step further and with the proper CD could be used to change the Game even in NOCD sets. You all have the tool, right?

The version that he compiled has Revision A of JOJO1, JOJO2, Warzard, NG, 2I and 3S.  Also, Revison B of 3S.

https://mega.co.nz/#!jNpXiIaS!PZjWpEGULJqyC0L8IGR0yBxSIKBjgqdArjcttmwHRBY

A explanatory video:   http://youtu.be/rsxBRwqAe6k


And here are the instructions: http://www.mediafire.com/?htx6mgw64h3howk


Enjoy and thank Mitsurugi-w for his contribution.

BENEFIT #2
----------------
It can write CPS2 Black SIMMS, so you can recover your dead games now or change the game inside your Black CPS2.

If you need such a service, contact Mitsurugi-w in the forums.

And here a video:  

http://youtu.be/NW-kbKJRuGY

One BIOS to rule them all .....and One CD......to play them on and on. (UPDATE 7)

It's a new BIOS that allows choosing country code and can load all 6 games from one single CD.

This his the link for custom SH2 (the one that comes with any cartridge): https://mega.co.nz/#!ZRVjka6a!De8dDjhHHat2-62M36jzpXQ4B_NwktP6OSlc9uza9vY


And this is the link for cartridges with a standard SH2:  https://mega.co.nz/#!dQsCVBTJ!P9XzayPNvv3IK9spD-nyOl_1x1F798KB5do5eRg97ns

Or you can use this mirror  privded by idc/Team Avalaunch: http://pcbotaku.net/cps3/

If you need to get your BIOS changed you can ask Mitsurugi-w here:
You can also contact Joerg from www.arcademodbios.com he is not changing the CPUs but he will change your eprom as usual.

Again, if you need to get your SH2 replaced with a standard one, Contact mitsurugi-w.


Please notice that you can only use it for the games that you own.

And If you like this, consider donating every donation will motivate me to continue with this and new projects.

Also if you can get a system24 for me, It will probably be my next project after DECO.

P.S. One small note. The CPS3-Super-Bios for custom SH2 support the same games as battery free cartridges, which are: SFIII-3S, SFIII-2I, SFIII-NG. To be added are JOJO, JOJOBA and Warzard.
On the other side the CPS3-Super-Bios for standard SH2 will support ALL games except SFIII-2I. The reason for that is that the one with custom sh2 needs the tables for all games except SFIII-2I and the one of standard SH2 only needs them for SFIII-2I.

UPDATE 2: the guy  from arcademodbios.com won't be doing the SH2 change but he will happily change your bios. For the SH2 So your only option here is Mitsurugi-w, who is the iron master !

UPDATE 3: corrected information on update 2 and this little explanation:
Regarding the CPU on the cartridge, the best is that now we know exactly which CPU it is and therefore we can do more things.

You have two options:
A) you keep the custom CPU which you already have and replace the bios with the new one
B) you replace the CPU and the bios

In case A we need the tables to play games and currently we only have tables for 4 games (2 versions of 3S, 2I and NG ). Missing are warzard, jojo and jojoba. It is possible that the tables are not 100% perfect and you may get some hangs, although to day all 4 games sewm to work 100%

In case B, we don't need tables and all games except 2I will work always 100% error free.

UPDATE 4: I have ready the BIOS and ISO for the cartridges using standard SH2 (the ones of the Saturn). They've been released only to testers and donnors. If you are a donnor and would like to have it, drop me a mail. I have 2 spare cartridges with the new Super BIOS. If you'd like to have one, drop me a message at arcadeotaku. I also ordered some HD6417604SF28 which I believe will also work in the CPS3 cartridges. We'll see....

UPDATE 5: Two cool videos made by Mitsurugi-w here:
http://youtu.be/46kWjaXvd7Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNwOW3-eFz8&feature=youtu.be

UPDATE 6: Super BIOS and ISO for cartridges with standard SH2!! We can consider now CPS3 saved!
https://mega.co.nz/#!dQsCVBTJ!P9XzayPNvv3IK9spD-nyOl_1x1F798KB5do5eRg97ns

UPDATE 7: Replaced wrong link for custom SH2 on top of this entry. Also added for convenience link for standard SH2.

Who needs a custom SH2? Mitsurugi-w and I don't

Why do you need a Custom SH2 when you can run games from a standard SH2!!!!!

Proof of concept here:  http://youtu.be/TkziJzE-baQ

Thanks to Mitsu-w who made all the soldering, testing shild I was working on the BIOS. He is the best supporter ever.

I have 95% ready the new multi-game BIOS that will run all 6 games from 1 single CD (yes all 6 inside one unique CD).

I will adapt this BIOS so it will run also from standard SH2.

This opens the door to many features:
The most important one, no tables are needed anymore and the games will be working 100% as in the original.
The second, we can easily edit or modify the SH2 code directly.
The third one, for the purists, we can include a routine to decrypt 'on the go' the games using original CDs.

More ideas?

One BIOS to rule them all (UPDATE 2)

As requested by many of you, I'm releasing a special BIOS for the Battery Free cartridges that is based on the SF3-3rd STRIKE BIOS and therefore it only needs 1 CD for ANY Update.
I hope you lioke it.

This BIOS is very easy to update and In the future I may release an updated BIOS with:
* Cheats
* Country code selected on the go.
* Game Boot Selector (all 6 games in one CD and update can be made from menu)
* etc.

I'm releasing also V1.0 of the tool which was requested by many of you and now supports converting to SFIII-2nd Impact or battery free cartridges.

Notice that Officially only SF3-3rd Strike A and B, and SF3-NG are supposed to be final.
Warzard B is in a very advance state and JOJO/JOJOBA will follow soon (I will only support one version of Jojo, so please let me know which one you prefer).

As soon as JOJO and Warzard are ready, I may do some changes to the BIOS, but in general terms I'll consider this project over and I'll focus on the next one, which can be finding out how to put back keys to CPS3 cartridges or can be 246 dongle or adding CF support for Triforce or making a USB 2 JVS adapter or a Deco Multi-game Kit. A new poll will be soon on the site.

And now.....Enjoy!



 http://www.mediafire.com/download/0rxl76emyvzr4qr/OneRulingCPS3Bios.rar

http://www.mediafire.com/?ishfncinbbix91l

UPDATE 1: Eliminated all CRC checks, now you can change graphics, code or whatever you want from the ISOS and upload without problem. Bios will be released with Update 2.

UPDATE 2: will be to put all 6 Games in one CD, but before that, all games should be converted. So expect a release of Jojo/Jojoba/Warzard anytime soon.

UPDATE 3: 2 pics of the new BIOS that I'm working on.

Coming very soon!!!!


Small Note: I've been thinking how to speed up the updating process and where the bottleneck was. I tried with a 12X SCSI drive and it didn't improve anything the update process. Then I tried in MAME to make a DMA copy from SIMM2 to SIMM1 and THERE is when it took very long and where the bottleneck is coming from.
Then I though about replacing the SIMMS with regular DRAM SIMMS, so you'll need to update everytime that you power on the CPS3, but Update will only take 1 minute. Unfortunately, the pinout of the Capcom SIMMS is different to a normal DRAM. Also the address bus size is bigger with a Flash (21 address lines vs 11 address lines), also the reading process in the DRAM is  done in two steps (you select raw with 11 address lines and later select column with the same adress lines) what means that in order to replace Capcom SIMMS with DRAM, you need a custom made PCB + microcontroller. Too complicated :(

Next project? (UPDATE 4)

Hi Guys,

as this is project is approaching to its end and all games will be available hopefully soon., I'm opening a new thread to see what project would you like guys to see next.

Here are some ideas:

A) Convert all Sammsiwave games, so they can be played on a NAOMI
B) Make a ALL-in-ONE cartridge for ST-V
C) Improve your VHDL and make new drivers for FPGAArcade Board (www.fpgaarcade.com)
D) DECO Cassete Replacement
E) System24 disk replacement
F) Consoles Drive SD-Card replacement
G) USB2JVS converter
H) Namco 246/256 multi-dongle.
I) Irem M92 "conversion aid tool"
J) CPS1 "conversion aid tool" 
K) Decap a CPS3 Custom SH2 and find a way to reprogramm the keys. 
L) Naomi Universal Bios

Now make your propositions!

Please no crazy stuff, like make my Naomi control my domotic system or that kind of stuff :)))))

Cheers.

Warzard Revision B (Update 7)

Following the wish list of the poll that was on the page, I continued with Warzard :)

Just when I thought that I had a nice bot, then comes this game that looks like compiled with a different tool and doesnt work so well.

Anyway, I updated the bot (a lot) and here we have the newest version.
I tried the new bot with the already released games and not one single bit changed, which confirms that was a different compiler or programmer :)

But the most difficult here was the fact, that for some hardware related issue, the game froze at the beggining and I had to trace back why ( which is easier to say than to do).

After a VERY long analyse (3 days), I found out that the problem comes when in PC=06003ab6 reads from memory position 25000A00.
In the original it will read FFFFFFFF and in the conversion it will read 0. I patched this and works now OK, but I have no idea why that happens. I'll ask Hartenberger :)

Bottom line. Here is the ISO and the table. Notice that the table will work with v0.4 of the tool, but it wont apply the special patch that I did. I'll release v1.0 soon.

http://www.mediafire.com/?xpbzn8l7r8ibb89

Update 3: Fixed the bugs reported by Matt and some other bugs.
Update 4: I forgotto fix the Mai Long fix reported by Matt. I finished the game with 2 different players and worked great.
Update 5: I fixed some of the Matt reported errors + several more I found.
Update 6: Fixed the ASIA fixed ISO + NO CD Error+ some other fixes.
Update 7: NO CD Error fix. Apparently it looks first for the NOCD byte and if it finds it, it will show automatically ASIA NCD regardless of the Country code. Later this creates some problems as there are no USA NCD or JAPAN NCD.

JOJOBA Revision A (Update 3)

I removed the summary table to avoid any misunderstandings. Now each game will have its own post with the latest version being updated there.

I fixed all the errors I could in JOJOBA. The problem with the fu'ed text is due to something very weird. At the begining of the game, when it should initialize the colour RAM, it takes the data to put on this ram from the cartridge! and the cartridge found is no more the Jojoba one. I guess I can make a patch, but let's have it working first.
Gameplay of Jojoba is REALLY Bizarre, we need the expert players here :)
This JOJOBA vesion was in demo mode for 48 hours without any problem.

Feedback please on JOJOBA!

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?c6xi97yypaib81d

New version of the Tool (April's fools)

I'm working on a new version of the tool that will allow you to play Spectrum 48k games on a CPS3 board. Given the high computing requirements of this system, it's possible that you need to connect two CPS3 board in parallel so you can properly show the graphics without any frameskip. Stay tuned for more.

SFIII-3rd Strike Revision A (UPDATE 2)

Using what I learnt from the other two games released I created in less than 24hours a new table...


This is a prerelease so for sure there are some bugs, but for those who want to test it, there you go. I was playing it for 20 minutes and I only made it crash when doing that thing of starting 2p while 1p is entering high score.

Newest ISO here: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?3nic04twj5b2oq9

Feedback please!

Which game next?

Hi!

I have inserted a poll on the right side of the blog, so people can vote for the next ISO they'd like to see.

Please notice that Warzard, Jojo and SF3-3S have 2 versions.

And don't forget to report the problems you find.

Cheers.

SFIII-New Generation ISO (UPDATE 6)

New ISO uploaded. All known errors fixed and was working in Demo mode for couple of hours. I completed the game with several players and all good.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?2szcdw349kpakjj

Looking forward to your feedback!

Battery Free Tutorial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXQp7ReaD68

VERY IMPORTANT, this will allow you to have a battery free cartridge, but will work only as a SFIII-2nd Impact.

New SFIII-3rd Strike Revision B ISO (UPDATE 6)

Newest ISOS and decryption table. Includes more fixes learnt thanks to latest bot. This version was tested for several hours and works great.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?xbr8ad7bqzxj492

I look forward to your feedback. No new problems have been so far reported on Update 3, so Update for should be even better :)

SFIII-3rd Strike ISOS for Battery Free cartridges

Do I need to elaborate more??

Go try it!

What you need to do is the following:

A) Download this:
https://mega.co.nz/#!EMlAESAY!L83jNWnisbEMXzNJzXpSt2LfELkw3hkMIVKcVMROfMk

B) Make a REWRITE ALL with CD number 2 (REWRITE CHARACTER probably also works and takes less time but is not confirmed) . When it's done it should start SF3-2nd Impact with corrupted graphics.

C) Remove the SIMM number 5 and put the one in SIMM6 in its place (both should be 128mb size).

D) REWRITE ALL with CD number 1. When it's done it should show SF3-3rd STRIKE with corrupted graphics.

E) Turn the CPS3 off, place on SIMM6 the SIMM that you removed after 1st update

F) Play!

Please comment how it works for you but I believe it's final.

I'm not sure if rewritting with any other game will also erase the content of SIMM6, but to avoid wasting time, remove SIMM6 during any update and put it only if you want to play SF3.3rd Strike.


Cheers.

It's done!

I could put in many, ways, but the simpliest one is to see the video below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kihjG2gjDQE&feature=youtu.be

The Isos should be floating around before the end of the month.

Hacking from Dammam

Unfortunately I'm on a business trip and couldn't bring with me the real thing.

I identified together with Joerg Hartenberger, a new set of interrupts not emulated by MAME that happen in the real thing. This is most probably where the error is coming from.

Bottom line, as soon as  I can grab my setup back home, I'll test it on the real thing and I'm quite confident it's going to work. If that's the case, before the end of the month all tables for all games can be released...

Stay tuned.

The Hartenberger effect

Looking at the title, you may thing I'm talking about a film about secret weapons in the second world war, but no.

I've been regularly discussing with Joerg Hartenberger, a Mame expert and creator of the site: http://www.arcademodbios.com/ with lots of interesting hacks that has been very supportive and has given me many ideas, so I wanted to make sure his support was recognised.

The status of the tables for the tool is the following:

As I mentioned before, I'm able to create an ISO that will change any system with battery free SFIII-2 to any other game and that works great on MAME....but not on the real thing.

In order to locate where the problem was I've been working the last weeks in an interesting approach, which is the following:

I create a hacked version of a game and after updating the SIMMs it will run code from the game ONLY until instruction X where I force it to JUMP to the BIOS to show something on the screen (the Game Update menu for instance). If we can see the BIOS code, it means that my hacked version was able to run code until adress X, so I will go further some more thousands of instruccions and check again with a new CD if the hacked version is able to arrive now to address Y. If it doesn't then I have to look for a new address Z somewhere between X and Y.

This might sound like something that can be sorted out with 2-3 tries, but the reality is that after 20 tries (and 20 CDs burnt) I have managed to narrow it down to only 4000 instructions executed.

This is now much easier to read and handle (vs a 500Mb file created with an execution dump). You can get an idea of the process by starting mame in debugging mode ( -debug )and type in any moment the command "trace", the game will run about 20-30 times slower than usual and will generate a file of hundreds of Mb.

I'm analysing the code and I hope to have some conclusions soon, but as I travel very frequently it might still take some weeks as I can't take my MAK and CPS3 real board with me :((.

Stay tuned for more :)