SNES PowerPak

cybertron · Post by **cybertron** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 1:22 pm

Nah this one is way better then mine. Sexy red!

MottZilla · Post by **MottZilla** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 1:42 pm

Leon,

bunnyboy wrote:That is why some chips would be better in a PIC, and things like the FX are just out. Someone will eventually put them on a huge chip but not something affordable for general products.

So it sounds like no for Super FX, SA-1, but a "maybe" for simpler things like maybe Cx4. Having had a copier for such a long time, the lack of support for chip games other than DSP1 is really not a very big drawback.

FitzRoy · Post by **FitzRoy** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 2:09 pm

bunny, as someone who has bought multiple flash carts and used lots of emulators, I recommend testing sram save/load behavior on large lorom games like "Ys III" and "Umihara Kawase". Most beginner SNES mapper detection schemes fail to accommodate their mapper types.

MatthewCallis · Post by **MatthewCallis** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 3:09 pm

FitzRoy wrote:bunny, as someone who has bought multiple flash carts and used lots of emulators, I recommend testing sram save/load behavior on large lorom games like "Ys III" and "Umihara Kawase". Most beginner SNES mapper detection schemes fail to accommodate their mapper types.

This man knows his games, and speaks the truth.

Jagasian · Post by **Jagasian** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 3:57 pm

I just bought one SNES PowerPak with all of the upgrades (because I'm lazy). I have one question though. What version of the DSP1 chip are you using? Aren't there multiple versions? DSP1, DSP1a, and DSP1b?

Bregalad · Post by **Bregalad** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 4:16 pm

Is the SNES power pak without CIC confirmed to work when using a CIC re-reouter, where you put a cart with the corect CIC for the CIC lines, and another cart for the game ? I remember having some trouble with the super gameboy using that adaptator, as well as some other games such as Donkey Kong Country (all of them works fine without the adapter - and thanks all my US and Jap carts works fine with it).

Post by **Memblers** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 4:24 pm

Looks like a great product. Must have been tough with having to redo all those prototypes, but I'm glad to see it worked out in the end, congrats.

While it's true that the Quickdev16 should be better for development (it's designed for it primarily), the SNES PowerPak will do decently in that department. When I was developing my SNES NSF Player, I was using a floppy disc for small tests and a CD-RW for the full 32Mbit test (yeah, that was easier than having 4 reliable floppies). It kind of sucked to swap media all the time, but I got through it by testing with ZSNES most of the time.

kyuusaku · Post by **kyuusaku** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 4:48 pm

bunnyboy wrote:Yup xc2s15. I don't know if software multiplier would be good enough for the 16x16+ needed, but certainly something to look into in the future. Chip is around 60% full depending what you look at so space may be an issue. FPGA config is on the CF card so it can be added later.

Shame on you for not choosing the XC2S100! ;) By my calculation it would have been able to pull off all chips! A pipelined 16x16 multiplier (fast enough for DSP) might still fit in the 2S15, but definitely not with a CPU core.

I think you should start on the first update right now and give another case color option :) (really dig the flashy pink Xmas cart!) I think the 2S100 might even be pin compatible... Call it SNES PowerPak XL or something, I'd totally be willing to pay for the larger FPGA so I can tinker with expansion hardware.

bunnyboy · Post by **bunnyboy** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 5:39 pm

Looks like it would have to go up to the 208 pin XC2S200 because the 100 isn't really available. The XC2S50 is likely a drop in replacement.

bunnyboy · Post by **bunnyboy** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 5:41 pm

Bregalad wrote:Is the SNES power pak without CIC confirmed to work when using a CIC re-reouter, where you put a cart with the corect CIC for the CIC lines, and another cart for the game ?

If you mean a T-slot, none of the currently available ones have all the pins connected so it will not work. The 2 wings on the connector are needed for DMA. I haven't tried making a full connector so someone else will have to test it.

kyuusaku · Post by **kyuusaku** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 6:05 pm

bunnyboy wrote: Looks like it would have to go up to the 208 pin XC2S200 because the 100 isn't really available. The XC2S50 is likely a drop in replacement.

AVNet has a big supply in TQ144

Don't think the XC2S50 would fit SA-1 anyway.

Jagasian · Post by **Jagasian** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 6:38 pm

Does the SNES PowerPak's FPGA have enough room left for the PicoBlaze core?

mic_ · Post by **mic_** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 12:30 am

The xc2s15 has 192 slices (unless the info I found is incorrect). If those are what bunnyboy referred to when he said the chip is about 60% full, then you've got about 75 slices left. I don't know if PicoBlaze would fit in that - maybe it would.

RGB_Gamer · Post by **RGB_Gamer** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 4:20 am

This is pretty nice and I am glad this kind of thing is finally a reality. What is the largest CF card that can be used? I suppose I will just take the 2gb CF card out of my SWC DX2/Disk Dual

I ordered the SNES powerpak because I am slowly migrating towards flash carts (Neoflash PCE, Neoflash MD Myth Cart, Power Pak for NES), rather than console copiers (those will either be sold, or put on display). This totally makes the Tototek SNES carts obsolete.

Like another guy here said, as a guy who has used console copiers, I knew that special chips (FX, FX2, C3, C4, etc) weren't going to supported from launch, and all the special chip games I want, I already have the cartridges for.

I suppose N64 is next. Z64's are kind of hard to come by and are expensive.

Bregalad · Post by **Bregalad** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 6:54 am

bunnyboy wrote: If you mean a T-slot, none of the currently available ones have all the pins connected so it will not work. The 2 wings on the connector are needed for DMA. I haven't tried making a full connector so someone else will have to test it.

My "universal" AD-29 adapter has all pins for slot A. In fact even SGB works trough it, but with ocasional graphical issues (may be due to dirty pins ?).