Can't believe some things...

Like, how bad was your storage container or area did you keep your stuff in? I just cleaned a SNES Game Genie that had a faded label, dirt and misc. crap all over it and a DEAD FREAKING SPIDER INSIDE?

I'm so glad that I'm anal retentive. I clean up any and all games before I let it even be near my systems. The contacts were well worked, dusted the board off. I also managed to de-gunk the cartridge slot on the Game Genie. Just freaking filthy.

I did manage to test it, and glad to say that it works well. I only have a handful of SNES carts that would work with it.

I just now finished scrubbing the case down. Letting it dry before I do another repair on it. Seem the plastic cartridge lock thing snapped on one side. I'm just gonna Gorilla Glue it in and call it good.

Also, managed to find The Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening DX and Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge for Gameboy. Awesome. Cleaned those out and they work perfectly! Batter on the LoZ cart seemed to be OK since there were still game saves on it.

Gameboy revisited...

I've had this Bung Doctor GBXchanger forever. I've since written several games to it when I was back on Maui. This was in the Windows 98 era and parallel ports were the preferred method of "hacking".

...hate parallel ports...

Anyway, the last game I've ever flashed on my GB flashcard was Beatmania GB 3...that was almost 15 years or so ago! I have been reluctant on getting it to work, just because it seemed like a chore.

Fast forward to now. A couple of weeks ago, I found a Gameboy Color while digging at Goodwill. Now I wanted to get newer games on the card!

Searched and searched on where to get the software so I can do it. Ended up using GBX Tool. I also used an old notebook computer that an in-law had laying around, not being used, with a parallel port on it. PERFECT for just this sort of thing.

Installed WinXP on the notebook, installed GBX Tool, got the GBXchanger primed, ran the program:

Cannot read card

...f**k!...

Tried another program:

Cannot find giveio.sys

searched again, tried another program:

Error windows galore!

Searching again out of frustration sent me here:
http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?33610-write-and-dump-a-Doctor-GB-Card-with-an-XG-Writer&p=582522&viewfull=1#post582522

I'm saving it for future reference just so I can build the USB reader they show there. But it did send me to another card flashing program. Downloaded, installed, ran it:

Cannot find giveio.sys.

...

I thought I had this file properly installed...But I guess not. Searches lead me to this site:
http://www.cs.ucr.edu/~eblock/pages/pictools/giveio.html

I did as it showed.

Ran FlashMaster...read the card perfectly! But it kept giving me the "Shareware" popup. I figured that now I have that file properly installed, I could try running GBX Tool again...success!

I was able to read the card, taking the old game off, and put on some new games that I've been wanting to play.

....I'm exhausted. Sorry if things look all over the place. My brain's not here, ATM.

While I was gone...

We got a new car. Rather, a minivan. Low miles for an 07, pretty clean title. I'm happy with it.

Payments, however, will be painful.

I'm getting much digging done while I can. So far, I picked up from forums/FB groups:

A modifed and hashed AES joystick.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for SNES
Final Fantasy for NES

From Goodwill digs:

A complete Wavebird controller for the Gamecube (I usually find these either missing the battery cover, the dongle, or both)
Mario Paint for SNES
A complete teal Gameboy Color (the ones I find usually are missing the battery cover)

The next mod I'm planning will be for the Neo Geo. I have a V-smile controller that I plan on hacking. It has 4 buttons that are perfect for the NG. The one I got also has one huge button that I'm sure I can reroute to be used for puzzle or shooting games. This'll be fun!

I may or may not do the Xbox arcade mini cab project this year. I have to make sure our funds align.

Not VG related, but...

My car died. I had it since I moved here in 2001...wow, if it survived until September, it would've been 12 years in my possession. And since it was a '97, it's roughly 16 years old.

I guess my April challenge couldn't have started at a better time.

I've (rather, we've; my wife and I) decided to not attempt repairs on it since I feel it's past its prime. We COULD just break down and get all the necessary repair work done on it, but we feel it best to move on to another, hopefully more reliable, vehicle. Time to start looking, I guess.

April Challenges...

As I mentioned before, I implemented monthly challenges instead of doing New Year's Resolutions, since you can break resolutions and you fail challenges. Anywho, my February challenges carried over to March, which now carried over to April (I gotta stop failing). I added to the challenge this month to not spend any more money on games or anything game related. Trading is ok, postage is just a formality on both sides of the trade.

So, no more hacking parts, no more games, no more thrift store digging...here we go.

To hold me over, I finally got the Everdrive N8 for the Famicom. I already got it set up and running, but since the mapper support isn't all that great, some of the games sound cruddy. Support, however, still goes strong since KRIKzz (creator of the Everdrive series) works on them personally and usually turns out quick and proper fixes....and no, I technically bought it last month. It takes time for stuff to come to the US from Ukraine.

Famicom A/V mod...sans Jail Bars!

Thanks to some forum peeps @ Neo-Geo.com, I figured out my jail bar problem.

According to one of the guides @ FamicomWorld.com, it said, coming from one of the "gurus" of the scene, that only a .01uF cap was needed to filter the bars. Turns out, it wasn't.

I upped the filter first to 32uF, then to 47uF. Like magic, the lines were a lot more faint.

...F**K!...

I just used some caps I had available. I'll have to swap it out in the very near future.

So, yay! I'm happy it's much clearer now.

Famicom...modified...

I done did it. I don't like playing games through RF, and I don't think I can ever go back to that. So what do I do?

I A/V modded the Famicom I got last week.

Was it easy? Kinda, but I'm used to crap like this.

Here's the mod itself. I took instructions from various sites.

It still gives me the "jail bar" effect when I'm playing, but it took a while to get to a decent point. What's not shown is the modifications I did to the RF box itself, since it's built together with the power circuit on the same board. I may go back in and try to use the mod I did with my TL NES...but at a later time. I'll live with the bars for now.

All buttoned up, primed and ready. I (brutally) removed the original RF jack and used a standard gold plated RCA jack for video. I removed the channel selector switch and added a 3.5 jack to use for sound. So yeah, I made it just like I did with the TL NES. I'm happy with the results.

I also broke down and got the Famicom version of the Everdrive N8 (a flash cart that uses SD cards). I can't wait to use it in this machine!