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+--- Thread: Feature Requests (/showthread.php?tid=4)
RE: Feature Requests - fpcreator2000 - 06-20-2012
(05-28-2012, 05:58 PM)Morden Wrote: ......We're not talking about Casio Loopy here......
I don't know, there might be some guys who want to play girl dress-up games on the low.
RE: Feature Requests - mic_ - 06-20-2012
Quote:Is anyone out there interested in hacking on the NeoLinkmasta.exe code?
Does it compile with Visual Studio? If so it might be interesting.
Perhaps some kind of delta writing could be done (excuse my total ignorance regarding how flash ROMs work)? I.e. if the file already exists on the flash ROM you only write the differences. That could speed things up greatly when you work on a project and write it to the cart frequently to test modifications that you've made.
RE: Feature Requests - Flavor - 06-20-2012
(06-20-2012, 06:57 PM)mic_ Wrote:Quote:Is anyone out there interested in hacking on the NeoLinkmasta.exe code?
Does it compile with Visual Studio? If so it might be interesting.
Perhaps some kind of delta writing could be done (excuse my total ignorance regarding how flash ROMs work)? I.e. if the file already exists on the flash ROM you only write the differences. That could speed things up greatly when you work on a project and write it to the cart frequently to test modifications that you've made.
It compiles with GCC, actually. The GUI portion comes from FLTK FLUID. It's all done with free tools.
The delta writing can work in a way, but not quite how you think.
Programming Flash memory can only turn 1s to 0s. So, first you have to erase (turns it all to 1s). Then you can program the 0 bits (a byte at a time).
The memory is sectored, though. If you knew that the changes only existed in a certain sector, you could erase that sector and reprogram just that sector. The sectors aren't tiny, so homebrew games may not span many sectors. Because of this, you may not see a great speedup from this technique.
RE: Feature Requests - mic_ - 06-21-2012
How much are we talking about for one sector? 512 bytes? 4 kB..?
RE: Feature Requests - Flavor - 06-21-2012
(06-21-2012, 12:21 AM)mic_ Wrote: How much are we talking about for one sector? 512 bytes? 4 kB..?
Almost all of the sectors are 64Kbyte.
There is a section of "boot" sectors at the top of each chip. Instead of the final 64Kbyte sector, that top sector is broken into a 16Kbyte, 8Kbyte, 8Kbyte, and 32Kbyte.
RE: Feature Requests - mic_ - 08-29-2012
Here's a feature I'd find handy (maybe it's been mentioned before; I didn't go back a read through the entire thread): Make the Linkmasta program remember the directory of the last ROM you flashed and use that as the inital directory the next time. That would simplify the whole change->build->flash cycle a little bit.
RE: Feature Requests - Flavor - 08-29-2012
I've thought about open-sourcing the Linkmasta program. I don't have a great reason not to. It's just a time issue, I guess.
Would anyone care to hack on this thing at all?
RE: Feature Requests - Senk - 09-04-2012
Just wanted to say that I'd be interested in taking a look at the Linkmasta source, if you do open-source it.
RE: Feature Requests - Flavor - 11-10-2012
Cotton News: http://www.flashmasta.com/2012/11/06/neo-geo-pocket-cartridge-protection-information-database/#comment-7363
Thanks again to loïc. He gave me a new outlook on the situation. Previously, I was assuming it was protection-related. I think that's not the case.