Super GameBoy like for PS1 !

General information to do with the PlayStation 1 Hardware. Including modchips, pinouts, rare or obscure development equipment, etc.
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Super GameBoy like for PS1 !

Post by Orion_ » October 3rd, 2014, 8:02 pm

I went to Japan recently and I got this "Super Gameboy" like for Ps1 ! (found in super potato shop)
It plugs on the parallel port and you can insert any gameboy cartridge.
Unfortunately, most of the games I tried aren't working :(
And the only one I got working is running a bit slow.
It seems like it only supports 32k games. (so even "super mario land" isn't working)
There is a list of the supported games, but it's all in japanese.

2018: I finally managed to dump the rom of this thing:
http://onorisoft.free.fr/psx/Karat_Game_Booster_JP.zip

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Last edited by Orion_ on January 29th, 2018, 4:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Shadow » October 3rd, 2014, 8:07 pm

I've seen this before, but I didn't know it was that bad. I have never owned one so I wouldn't know anyhow.
Would you be able to open it up and take photos of the PCB so we can see what it's doing?
I doubt it has a Z80 in there... if it did, the compatibility would be much higher.
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Post by Orion_ » October 3rd, 2014, 8:24 pm

well, not much to see, a 256k eeprom, and a PAL chip (?)
nothing on the other side.
I guess a much better emulator could be made, but well, who will put that much time in doing one today :/
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Post by Shadow » October 3rd, 2014, 9:25 pm

The 256K ROM will contain the emulation code and the background that comes up with the colourful gouraud (possibly flat) shaded background. The PAL ('Programmable Array Logic'. Not 'Phase Alternating Line' like the TV PAL/NTSC you're thinking of :P) would contain glue logic that links the Gameboy edge connector to the PSX's. Most likely, it copies the Gameboy ROM into the PSX's RAM (you can check this with a PSX memory editor) as well as copying the emulation PS-EXE. I can't make out what the little SOIC-8 package is. You say nothing is on the other side, but there should be more traces coming from the Gameboy edge connector.

Overall, it's a piece of shit junk I'm afraid. Very cheap build quality.
The source code behind it would be interesting to read though considering the R3000 should be good at interpreting the Z80. I bet NO$CASH with his assembly knowledge could pull it off overnight (also considering he made his own GB emulator) :praise

If the games are running slow, you could always try overclocking your PSX (don't do it to the Yaroze though. Use an old junk PSX) ;)
Development Console: SCPH-5502 with 8MB RAM, MM3 Modchip, PAL 60 Colour Modification (for NTSC), PSIO Switch Board, DB-9 breakout headers for both RGB and Serial output and an Xplorer with CAETLA 0.34.

PlayStation Development PC: Windows 98 SE, Pentium 3 at 400MHz, 128MB SDRAM, DTL-H2000, DTL-H2010, DTL-H201A, DTL-S2020 (with 4GB SCSI-2 HDD), 21" Sony G420, CD-R burner, 3.25" and 5.25" Floppy Diskette Drives, ZIP 100 Diskette Drive and an IBM Model M keyboard.

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Post by Spipis » October 3rd, 2014, 9:30 pm

Shadow wrote:The source code behind it would be interesting to read though...
I totally agree!If there is a way to read that 256K ROM eeprom, then we could make a working gb emulator!

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Post by Shadow » October 3rd, 2014, 9:32 pm

Spipis wrote:
Shadow wrote:The source code behind it would be interesting to read though...
I totally agree!If there is a way to read that 256K ROM eeprom, then we could make a working gb emulator!
The ROM would contain binary. Not source (unless they actually left it in there :lol:).
Development Console: SCPH-5502 with 8MB RAM, MM3 Modchip, PAL 60 Colour Modification (for NTSC), PSIO Switch Board, DB-9 breakout headers for both RGB and Serial output and an Xplorer with CAETLA 0.34.

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Post by Orion_ » October 3rd, 2014, 11:02 pm

if you have an utility I can run on the psx to dump the AR rom then I can do it.
the only problem is how to output the data... I have the yaroze serial cable, or maybe write it in multiples parts on memorycard...
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Post by Shendo » October 3rd, 2014, 11:34 pm

Funny. I always thought there would be more to it than what the cart contains...

I have an idea though.
If that cart only places PSX-EXE and GB ROM into RAM then after a reset it should still stay in memory.
I could modify my BIOS dumper to dump any part of the RAM to serial port and use BIOSGet to fetch that data.

Then we can check out and see if we can find the EXE. I'll assume they use a standard initial address
so I'll place my dumper near the end of the address space...
You will probably need to hot unplug that cartridge on reset so it doesn't auto start, I hope that it doesn't bether you.

Let me know if you are interested.
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Post by Davide_G » October 10th, 2014, 10:46 am

I found it on Amazon for a low price. I'm curious to try it.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000MV3S3 ... ot_redir=1

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Post by DD-Indeed » October 10th, 2014, 5:56 pm

Is there anything similar, that could handle NES or SNES-games ?

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Post by Shendo » October 11th, 2014, 2:52 am

Yes. For NES games you can use "It Might Be Nes".
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Post by DD-Indeed » October 11th, 2014, 6:41 pm

Shendo wrote:Yes. For NES games you can use "It Might Be Nes".
Okay, good to know. I did find some emulators for PS1 to play NES-games, but it would be a jackpot to get SNES-emulator for PS1. Been a big fan of the SNES since childhood.

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Post by Davide_G » October 11th, 2014, 9:13 pm

DD-Indeed wrote:
Shendo wrote:Yes. For NES games you can use "It Might Be Nes".
Okay, good to know. I did find some emulators for PS1 to play NES-games, but it would be a jackpot to get SNES-emulator for PS1. Been a big fan of the SNES since childhood.
The Snes roms are at the limit of the RAM of the playstation . I think it's hard work.

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Post by DD-Indeed » October 12th, 2014, 6:27 pm

Davide_G wrote:
The Snes roms are at the limit of the RAM of the playstation . I think it's hard work.
How about adding more RAM for Playstation ? Or is it more complicated than that ?

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Post by Shadow » October 12th, 2014, 6:53 pm

It's already been done and it provides a maximum of 8MB.
Though, it's actually possible to get 16MB with some BIOS hacks.

http://www.psxdev.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=488
http://www.psxdev.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=660
Development Console: SCPH-5502 with 8MB RAM, MM3 Modchip, PAL 60 Colour Modification (for NTSC), PSIO Switch Board, DB-9 breakout headers for both RGB and Serial output and an Xplorer with CAETLA 0.34.

PlayStation Development PC: Windows 98 SE, Pentium 3 at 400MHz, 128MB SDRAM, DTL-H2000, DTL-H2010, DTL-H201A, DTL-S2020 (with 4GB SCSI-2 HDD), 21" Sony G420, CD-R burner, 3.25" and 5.25" Floppy Diskette Drives, ZIP 100 Diskette Drive and an IBM Model M keyboard.

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Post by Spipis » November 7th, 2014, 10:22 pm

Orion_ wrote:if you have an utility I can run on the psx to dump the AR rom then I can do it.
the only problem is how to output the data... I have the yaroze serial cable, or maybe write it in multiples parts on memorycard...
Any news? Did you managed to get out fo the chip the executable files?

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Post by pepe » January 28th, 2018, 3:57 am

Testing gb roms
I discovered that adding the game to the end of the rom works
using copy /b command

i tested in no$psx emulator,32 kb games work fine
but games with bigger 32 kb not work,some using real cartridge work
for example the game Game & Watch Gallery 1 (262 kb) work fine on the real cartridge + psx console
using this method does not work in no$psx

Image

About of Rebound Mission:
the internal game Rebound Mission is based on the game Poke Mission 97
Poke Mission 97 is a 32 kb game
It would be interesting to replace this gb rom with another better game for example tetrix or dr mario

Credits of the emulator (i found this text in the rom):

CREDITS
PSX Code: Alex Edge
Damon Barwin
Hardware: Roy Harding
Resource: Pascal Felber
Rebound: Anders Granlund
Help: Anonymous 2

Thanks goes out to all the people
who have helped in the creation of
the Gameboy and emulator scenes.
Lookout for new and better things
from us in the near future...

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Post by kHn » January 28th, 2018, 6:34 am

Spipis wrote: November 7th, 2014, 10:22 pmAny news? Did you managed to get out fo the chip the executable files?
UK version of that thing : Game_Booster_UK.zip

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Post by pepe » January 28th, 2018, 7:12 am

Does anyone know how to change the internal images and game booster logo ?
first is necessary to extract the images to modify

Image

the images from super game boy are better:

Image

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Post by Spipis » January 28th, 2018, 7:36 am

WOW!
After two years what an unexpected surprise!
Thank you guys for sharing all these informations and files!

I think we should better find a way for the emulator to load files straight from a folder.

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