<![CDATA[Freeplaytech Forum - Other Development Hardware]]> https://forum.freeplaytech.com/ Mon, 25 May 2026 07:46:58 +0000 MyBB <![CDATA[New* flash cart - gamebank retrodamper]]> https://forum.freeplaytech.com/showthread.php?tid=5506 Thu, 05 Feb 2026 12:29:04 +0000 Ahchay]]> https://forum.freeplaytech.com/showthread.php?tid=5506
Similar to the older style bung carts I think - a proper dump/flash one game at a time, so not as flexible as either the flashmasta or the retroHQ gamedrive, but they're cheap and easily available. Hand made by the looks of things, but the quality is decent and support excellent. I had trouble flashing roms at first, but they patched the software within a couple of days

Main website: ゲームバンクウェブドットコム Gamebank-web.com レトロダンパー 吸い出し レミュレータ DIY ツクール 魑魅魍魎

Available on amazon.co.jp - they ship internationally, but obviously shipping charges are quite high
https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/%E3%83%AC%...B0CWF2K39Z

And the dumper itself https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/dp/B0D53G4FWS

I bought the dumper and two carts for just shy of £90, so even with shipping it's a reasonably cost effective way of getting games running on the real consoles - there is a maximum order quantity of 2 though]]>
Similar to the older style bung carts I think - a proper dump/flash one game at a time, so not as flexible as either the flashmasta or the retroHQ gamedrive, but they're cheap and easily available. Hand made by the looks of things, but the quality is decent and support excellent. I had trouble flashing roms at first, but they patched the software within a couple of days

Main website: ゲームバンクウェブドットコム Gamebank-web.com レトロダンパー 吸い出し レミュレータ DIY ツクール 魑魅魍魎

Available on amazon.co.jp - they ship internationally, but obviously shipping charges are quite high
https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/%E3%83%AC%...B0CWF2K39Z

And the dumper itself https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/dp/B0D53G4FWS

I bought the dumper and two carts for just shy of £90, so even with shipping it's a reasonably cost effective way of getting games running on the real consoles - there is a maximum order quantity of 2 though]]> <![CDATA[My crazy project - Modern hardware in a NGPC cart]]> https://forum.freeplaytech.com/showthread.php?tid=5478 Fri, 30 Aug 2024 16:43:41 +0000 winteriscoming]]> https://forum.freeplaytech.com/showthread.php?tid=5478 https://github.com/sanni/cartreader/blob...er/NGP.ino

I then got to wondering how I could condense the hardware down into just a NGPC cart reader/writer.  I threw together a quick adapter and wired it to an Arduino Due which is a 3.3v board, so no level shifters needed.  In fact, no other hardware beyond a means of connecting wires from the cartridge to the Due are needed.  I got it dumping carts and started playing with erasing/flashing the unprotected sectors with the idea that I could dump and restore save data.  I plan to migrate to a smaller Teensy4.1 and put together a NGPC board for it.

After learning more about the flash memory and protocol, I got to thinking how I might be able to come up with my own dev cart.  I understand the few requirements the NGPC bios has for booting flash chips and how that is spoofed in existing solutions, so I got to work exploring options.  Finding compatible flash chips (40 pin or other form factor with 21 address lines and 8 data lines) ended up proving difficult if I didn't want to order pricey old stock from eBay.  I noticed NEO POCKET GD uses different flash chips with more pins.

At any rate, had I found compatible flash chips, I was also going to have to come up with some additional hardware to manage the spoofing.

I then got to wondering, "Can it all be handled in one package?"

That comes down to 4 sets of requirements:
1. It has to have enough GPIO.
2. It has to be fast enough.
3. It has to have enough onboard storage.
4. Low power use.

1. GPIO:
Ok, so I need 21 address lines, 8 data lines, and pins for Write Enable, Output Enable, Chip Enable for the first bank and Chip Enable for the 2nd bank if I want to go up to 32M flash.  We're talking 33 lines needing to be managed.

2. Speed:
I posed some questions to ChatGPT about this, and got these answers:
  • Access times for flash memory chips from the 90s typically ranged from 70 ns to 150 ns
  • Data throughput was limited by the access time and the width of the data bus, typically an 8-bit or 16-bit bus. This resulted in relatively low data transfer rates by modern standards.
  • Write speeds were much slower compared to read speeds, with typical write times for a single byte or word taking anywhere from 10 µs to 1 ms. Erase times for sectors could take several seconds.

3. Onboard Storage:
The max size of a NGPC cart is 32MiB which is 4MB.

4. Power usage:
I posed some questions to ChatGPT about this, and got these answers:
  • During read operations, power consumption was relatively low, often in the range of a few tens of milliwatts. Write and erase operations, however, consumed more power, typically up to 200 mW or so, but this was still quite modest.
  • In idle mode, where the chip is not actively reading or writing, power consumption was very low, often in the range of a few milliwatts or even less.
  • Standby currents were typically in the range of microamps to milliamps, depending on the chip.

A stand-out option to meet the requirements is the ESP32-S3-WROOM-1.
1. GPIO: More than 33 GPIO available.
2. Speed: Likely to be more than sufficient to quickly read the address lines and output the byte on the data lines.
3: Onboard storage:  There are options with 16MB onboard flash.
4: Power usage: This is an area where it maybe unavoidable to use more power than the stock chips.  There are some low power modes to enable when idle, and I should be able to rely on just the CE pins to activate the device.

The chips are pretty cheap, and board manufacturing is, too, so I'm throwing together a test.
We'll see how it goes.

.png   dev-cart-rendering.png (Size: 37.44 KB / Downloads: 15) ]]> https://github.com/sanni/cartreader/blob...er/NGP.ino

I then got to wondering how I could condense the hardware down into just a NGPC cart reader/writer.  I threw together a quick adapter and wired it to an Arduino Due which is a 3.3v board, so no level shifters needed.  In fact, no other hardware beyond a means of connecting wires from the cartridge to the Due are needed.  I got it dumping carts and started playing with erasing/flashing the unprotected sectors with the idea that I could dump and restore save data.  I plan to migrate to a smaller Teensy4.1 and put together a NGPC board for it.

After learning more about the flash memory and protocol, I got to thinking how I might be able to come up with my own dev cart.  I understand the few requirements the NGPC bios has for booting flash chips and how that is spoofed in existing solutions, so I got to work exploring options.  Finding compatible flash chips (40 pin or other form factor with 21 address lines and 8 data lines) ended up proving difficult if I didn't want to order pricey old stock from eBay.  I noticed NEO POCKET GD uses different flash chips with more pins.

At any rate, had I found compatible flash chips, I was also going to have to come up with some additional hardware to manage the spoofing.

I then got to wondering, "Can it all be handled in one package?"

That comes down to 4 sets of requirements:
1. It has to have enough GPIO.
2. It has to be fast enough.
3. It has to have enough onboard storage.
4. Low power use.

1. GPIO:
Ok, so I need 21 address lines, 8 data lines, and pins for Write Enable, Output Enable, Chip Enable for the first bank and Chip Enable for the 2nd bank if I want to go up to 32M flash.  We're talking 33 lines needing to be managed.

2. Speed:
I posed some questions to ChatGPT about this, and got these answers:
  • Access times for flash memory chips from the 90s typically ranged from 70 ns to 150 ns
  • Data throughput was limited by the access time and the width of the data bus, typically an 8-bit or 16-bit bus. This resulted in relatively low data transfer rates by modern standards.
  • Write speeds were much slower compared to read speeds, with typical write times for a single byte or word taking anywhere from 10 µs to 1 ms. Erase times for sectors could take several seconds.

3. Onboard Storage:
The max size of a NGPC cart is 32MiB which is 4MB.

4. Power usage:
I posed some questions to ChatGPT about this, and got these answers:
  • During read operations, power consumption was relatively low, often in the range of a few tens of milliwatts. Write and erase operations, however, consumed more power, typically up to 200 mW or so, but this was still quite modest.
  • In idle mode, where the chip is not actively reading or writing, power consumption was very low, often in the range of a few milliwatts or even less.
  • Standby currents were typically in the range of microamps to milliamps, depending on the chip.

A stand-out option to meet the requirements is the ESP32-S3-WROOM-1.
1. GPIO: More than 33 GPIO available.
2. Speed: Likely to be more than sufficient to quickly read the address lines and output the byte on the data lines.
3: Onboard storage:  There are options with 16MB onboard flash.
4: Power usage: This is an area where it maybe unavoidable to use more power than the stock chips.  There are some low power modes to enable when idle, and I should be able to rely on just the CE pins to activate the device.

The chips are pretty cheap, and board manufacturing is, too, so I'm throwing together a test.
We'll see how it goes.

.png   dev-cart-rendering.png (Size: 37.44 KB / Downloads: 15) ]]> <![CDATA[Moder mother boards and parallel port for POCKET LINKER]]> https://forum.freeplaytech.com/showthread.php?tid=5396 Tue, 16 Aug 2022 11:58:29 +0000 KeiDash]]> https://forum.freeplaytech.com/showthread.php?tid=5396
I'm an old Pocket Linker for Neo Geo Pocket user, to transfer data from/to flash cart. In case anyone doesn't know, it works with old mother boards with parallel port and Win98 O.S. The years has gone and it's unconfortable has an old computer only to do this process.

I tryed to use in my modern PC a PCIe parallel port board and connect it with a O.S emulator like VMWare or VirtualBox, but none of these software detects the Pocket Linker before instaling the drivers, etc.

I know that exists modern flash carts like FlashMasta but I don't want to stop using the Pocket Linker because it still works and works perfect (in Win98 xDD).

So my question is, someone know if in 2022 it's possible to connect this PocketLinker in a modern motherboards?

Many thanks]]>
I'm an old Pocket Linker for Neo Geo Pocket user, to transfer data from/to flash cart. In case anyone doesn't know, it works with old mother boards with parallel port and Win98 O.S. The years has gone and it's unconfortable has an old computer only to do this process.

I tryed to use in my modern PC a PCIe parallel port board and connect it with a O.S emulator like VMWare or VirtualBox, but none of these software detects the Pocket Linker before instaling the drivers, etc.

I know that exists modern flash carts like FlashMasta but I don't want to stop using the Pocket Linker because it still works and works perfect (in Win98 xDD).

So my question is, someone know if in 2022 it's possible to connect this PocketLinker in a modern motherboards?

Many thanks]]> <![CDATA[NGP Backlight]]> https://forum.freeplaytech.com/showthread.php?tid=4403 Sat, 24 Oct 2015 23:29:50 +0000 xylkz]]> https://forum.freeplaytech.com/showthread.php?tid=4403
A little message to share with you my work.
I'm trying to backlight a NeoGeo Pocket with this kind of thing:
http://nonelectronics.com/v5
It actualy works fine.
I'm just looking for more space now to put all the things inside the console.

[Image: 1445709826-img-2348.png]
[Image: 1445709823-img-2349.png]]]>
A little message to share with you my work.
I'm trying to backlight a NeoGeo Pocket with this kind of thing:
http://nonelectronics.com/v5
It actualy works fine.
I'm just looking for more space now to put all the things inside the console.

[Image: 1445709826-img-2348.png]
[Image: 1445709823-img-2349.png]]]> <![CDATA[32M Pocket Linker]]> https://forum.freeplaytech.com/showthread.php?tid=4388 Mon, 05 Jan 2015 18:32:24 +0000 bill55]]> https://forum.freeplaytech.com/showthread.php?tid=4388
Thanks so much!


.jpg   NGPC Kit Bill.jpg (Size: 153.81 KB / Downloads: 11)
More hi-res pics at http://imgur.com/a/9vPRf]]>
Thanks so much!


.jpg   NGPC Kit Bill.jpg (Size: 153.81 KB / Downloads: 11)
More hi-res pics at http://imgur.com/a/9vPRf]]> <![CDATA[New NGPC cart fro homebrew]]> https://forum.freeplaytech.com/showthread.php?tid=4323 Tue, 17 Jun 2014 16:54:24 +0000 sodthor]]> https://forum.freeplaytech.com/showthread.php?tid=4323 http://www.yaronet.com/posts.php?sl=424&...=164956#13]]> http://www.yaronet.com/posts.php?sl=424&...=164956#13]]> <![CDATA[Super NeoGeo Pocket]]> https://forum.freeplaytech.com/showthread.php?tid=1772 Fri, 15 Mar 2013 18:30:23 +0000 Flavor]]> https://forum.freeplaytech.com/showthread.php?tid=1772 http://furrtek.free.fr/?a=superngpc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCA_g2Df3_s

Do you know what the Super Gameboy is? Imagine such a thing for the Neo Geo Pocket to plug into a MVS/AES system.

Wow!]]> http://furrtek.free.fr/?a=superngpc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCA_g2Df3_s

Do you know what the Super Gameboy is? Imagine such a thing for the Neo Geo Pocket to plug into a MVS/AES system.

Wow!]]> <![CDATA[Bung Neo Geo Pocket Linker Software (UFO, MrFlash, etc.)]]> https://forum.freeplaytech.com/showthread.php?tid=47 Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:40:31 +0000 Flavor]]> https://forum.freeplaytech.com/showthread.php?tid=47
Bung's Original NGPC_WIN.exe
NGPC_WIN
NGPC_WIN v1.2
NGPC_WIN v1.3

PocketSend with MultiROM Menu (original PocketSend page here)
PocketSend v1.0 with separate MultiRom Menu
PocketSend v2.0 Beta
PocketSend v2.5beta
PocketSend v2.5

DarkFader's PokeLink and JeffF's port (original DarkFader.net and Devrs.com)
PokeLink v1.1
PokeLink Source
PokeLink v1.01j2 (modified by JeffF for Linux)]]>
Bung's Original NGPC_WIN.exe
NGPC_WIN
NGPC_WIN v1.2
NGPC_WIN v1.3

PocketSend with MultiROM Menu (original PocketSend page here)
PocketSend v1.0 with separate MultiRom Menu
PocketSend v2.0 Beta
PocketSend v2.5beta
PocketSend v2.5

DarkFader's PokeLink and JeffF's port (original DarkFader.net and Devrs.com)
PokeLink v1.1
PokeLink Source
PokeLink v1.01j2 (modified by JeffF for Linux)]]> <![CDATA[NGPC video output, screen improvement?]]> https://forum.freeplaytech.com/showthread.php?tid=44 Fri, 02 Mar 2012 18:11:31 +0000 GERA]]> https://forum.freeplaytech.com/showthread.php?tid=44
The other thing is the screen itself, does anybody figured out the ribbon connections? I was looking at those gameboy advance ones that have back light or some other new one that they sell for cheap on ebay. If there was a way to make it work on the NGPC would be great!

Also with the existing front light mod provided by Xian Xi, has someone worked on how to get more or less contrast or color?

I am very limited in my technical skills but I can distinguish components and do soldering. I do have some boards that display pic but not sound. I can collaborate with somebody who knows more about it to do trials or whatever to make it a nice upgrade for the NGPC community.
Thanks.]]>
The other thing is the screen itself, does anybody figured out the ribbon connections? I was looking at those gameboy advance ones that have back light or some other new one that they sell for cheap on ebay. If there was a way to make it work on the NGPC would be great!

Also with the existing front light mod provided by Xian Xi, has someone worked on how to get more or less contrast or color?

I am very limited in my technical skills but I can distinguish components and do soldering. I do have some boards that display pic but not sound. I can collaborate with somebody who knows more about it to do trials or whatever to make it a nice upgrade for the NGPC community.
Thanks.]]>