Has anyone ever heard about the HONGKONG2.52 ? It seems to be an adapter to dump Famicom, Super Famicom and Game Boy carts (Famicom and GB carts require separate adapters though). It's connected via a parallel cable and requires a Computer with an EPP compatible printer port. official website: http://www.codename-hongkong.org/ Quite interesting device if you want to backup cartridges and/or SRAM. However I'm not sure if it's possible to restore SRAM. But overall it's a bit pricey
Yea, the Hong Kong is a lot like/related to the Pasofami hardware, originating from DIY projects in the late 90s.
I'd like to dump some of my Famicom Pirate carts. Is it worth to buy the Hongkong 2.52 or are there some better alternatives?
Buy a USB CopyNES and 60 pin adapter. Your cart's mapper may not be implemented, but there's a far better chance with CopyNES than other projects.
unfortunately I don't have a NES. I only own a Famicom and currently I have no intentions in buying a NES.
FC/NES games aren't dumpable like other consoles, the complication comes from the mapper chips which cannot be auto detected, and all work differently. To dump a game it's necessary for the hardware to control all of the cartridge's signals and for the software side to implement that specific game board's algorithm. Because of this there aren't many DIY projects, and the few that are out cannot handle many boards, you're pretty much stuck with CopyNES. CopyNES can be installed in a Famicom, but it's not exactly easy. Something to think about is that myself and others have come up with communication solutions using the controller port (or FC expansion port). My version uses the parallel port, but it looks like I'm going to be moving over to serial port (which will work with a USB adapter) soon since that's what everyone else is using and someone might soon sell professionalish cables. How it works is you insert a boot cartridge that runs from the system RAM, you remove that cart and insert the game to dump, then run software PC-side that contains the dumping algorithms, the NES program just relays data. A benefit to this kind of dumping is that you don't need to modify anything, just buy a cart and cable. Can't say if or when someone will sell this though as a package.
Seems all you'd have to do is remove the CPU, change a part and cut a hole in the case according to the manual. Through hole soldering on that CPU makes it easy to remove actually.
I have the Japanese New AV Famicom. Rewiring the CPU wouldn't be a problem for me, but I wonder if the CopyNES would fit into the case of the AV Famicom. Does anyone know the measurements of the CopyNES board?
