Rom Hunter mkII

Hero (651)

05-07-2019, 03:08

Manuel wrote:

Takamichi: can you try to dump ROMs with different mappers with the tool? You already tried a Konami mapper. What about a game with ASCII8 mapper and a game with ASCII16 mapper?

Dumped Valis (ASCII 8) and Xevious Fardrout Saga (ASCII 16) on WebMSX, both successful. Result PIN: solbikini
About the RAM, the box says "* If you are skilled enough to code in assembly you can use this as a 256 kilobyte expansion ram using ascii mapper". My guesstimate is "mapped RAM" type

Van gdx

Enlighted (6429)

05-07-2019, 02:40

Takamichi,
How do you start a dump on the ROM hunter?

Van Takamichi

Hero (651)

05-07-2019, 03:04

@RetroTechie: The Rom Hunter mkII rom was dumped by me the day I started this thread, Jun 29 2019. The cart must be 30+ yrs old by now. Sorry about missing &H100, did I make mistake with SHEM? I can also try dumping the RH cart as one big ASCII 8/16/Konami 4/5 when I get home.

About donating the cart, you do seem to be a reliable man, but this cart is traded at no less than 12000 yen. If you promise me to return when you're done, I will lend you.

Van Takamichi

Hero (651)

05-07-2019, 02:53

gdx wrote:

Takamichi,
How do you start a dump on the ROM hunter?

Pretty self evident.
1. Rom Hunter in slot 1, game cart in slot 2 (opposite works fine)
Tape 2. [2} ROM -> TAPE 3. PUSH ANY KEY 4. Dump is saved automatically
Disk 2. Insert the utility disk 3. [6] SKIP CARTRIDGE 4. Disk utility boots 5. [5] ROM -> DISK 6. PUSH ANY KEY 7. INPUT FILE NAME= file name, no .*** extension 8. Dump saved, extension added automatically

Van gdx

Enlighted (6429)

05-07-2019, 03:19

I ask "How do you start a dump on the ROM hunter?" not "How do you make a dump?"

In the menu from the ROM I see "TAPE -> START" but not "DISK -> START" in the menu from the disk. It seems that dumps can be executed only from tape.

Van Takamichi

Hero (651)

05-07-2019, 05:12

[1] LOAD -> START obviously is the only option. But as I wrote before, I never managed the MSX to run the dumped .RH* file, neither on the emulator nor real MSX (turboR). .cas file doesn't work, after choosing [1] TAPE -> START on the emu MSX shows LOADING! message but instead of playing the game the Rom Hunter quits to the initial menu.

Van Manuel

Ascended (19677)

05-07-2019, 07:31

It's not starting the game because the ram is not emulated.

Van Takamichi

Hero (651)

05-07-2019, 13:14

I know that, but it doesn't explain why RH fails PLAYing on real MSX.

Whatever I tried dumping the Rom Hunter mkii cart with Rom Xtractor starting from h0000 and size 256KB with every sort of mapper; 8K, 16K, Konami, Ascii 8K and 16K. Result was a utter failure. Results PIN: sorrywedontwork ASCII 8 and 16 starting from 4000 at least contain 8KB/16KB repetitions of strange string, and after that all 00s. Konami one is filled with strings. Others including those starting from 4000 are entirely 00s.

Here I must say tomorrow I am going to send MSX to repair. I cannot use the FDD if I have to use an expansion drive therefore I can't dump real game cart using the utility disk.
@RetroTechie: I am ready to pay you if you really would like to. Forgive me if it sounds assaulting.

Van RetroTechie

Paragon (1563)

05-07-2019, 20:21

Takamichi wrote:

About donating the cart, you do seem to be a reliable man, but this cart is traded at no less than 12000 yen.

Ah ok, I understand. Must be rarity value then. Not that special a cartridge otherwise (RAM mapper + ROM).

Quote:

If you promise me to return when you're done, I will lend you. (..) I am ready to pay you if you really would like to. Forgive me if it sounds assaulting.

No that's fine! It's just like I said: it would be quite a job to map out all connections, draw a nice circuit diagram, figure out what (the circuit) does, and do a write-up of that. And since as a non-owner I have no direct interest in it, I'd just want something out of it for the effort (not necessarily money, although that'd be nice). And sure as hell not pay for shipping...

Let me rephrase then: throw in some goodie(s?), or some money (+ shipping!), then I'm your man! And yes return afterwards is okay. Just email me if you want! Shipping JP <-> NL could be expensive though.

Van Manuel

Ascended (19677)

05-07-2019, 23:26

Valis: ASCII 8, extension RHA, is the same as the GoodMSX ROM dump.
Xevious: ASCII16, extension RHD, is the same as the GoodMSX ROM dump.
Ganbare Goemon, Konami, extension RHK, is the same as the GoodMSX ROM dump.
Contra, Konami SCC, extension RHA, is changed to ASCII8 mapper.
Samander, Konami SCC, extension RHA, is changed to ASCII8 mapper.
Space Manbow, Konami SCC, extension RHC, is changed to ASCII8 mapper.
Quarth, Konami SCC, extension RHT, failed.
Game Master 2, GM2 mapper, extension RHT, failed
Moon Landing, 16kB plain ROM, extension RHT, OK, but overdumped.

So, it looks like the RAM supports at least 3 mapper types: ASCII8, ASCII16 and Konami. ROMs using Konami SCC mappers are patched to use ASCII8 mapper.

As for the extensions: RHA means ASCII8? But what is RHC? And RHK means Konami? And RHD ASCII16?
(What about RHT?? Failed? Or does it just mean "plain ROM"? And the mapper type was misdetected?)

Perhaps someone can disassemble the 4kB or so of the programs on the disk and see how the extensions are determined?
I could only find this string: ????????RH? (matching what we exepcted) and ????????RHT (so, RHT in specific).