So, originaly the N64 was (maybe) gonna be CD based. And all was good. :smt023 Then they made it cart based, at a time when developers really needed cheap large storage (i.e a CD). And all was bad. :smt009 So, would it be possible to make a CD based N64? These CD based back-up units obviously hold the required technology. And the CD Gamestation (SNES clone with a CD drive) must use the same principal. I'd like to completely remove the cart slot and have a top loading CD drive in it's place. Like it should have been to start with. Obviously this isn't an easy thing to do. Gonna need CD drive, CD controller, 256mb RAM to load the game into?? etc... Yes, it is a crazy thing to want to do. But it would be damn cool. Maybe an N64CD does exist, along with SuperMarioCD to play on it. But it's in Miyamoto-san's office, along with his 64DD and SuperMarioDD.
Gamestation is a SNES clone with a backup unit clone directly connected to it's cartridge bus. When you turn it on, you see a SF7 menu, not a "Gamestation -Insert CD" splash. It'll take a little more than a CD controller, RAM and a CDROM to make this happen. The CD64 uses the N64's processor to do the job, with external logic for memory management, the V64 uses a ASIC with custom 6502 core (for menu, other ASIC for memory management), the Z64 uses a 386 (for management and LCD with a N64 program frontend.) Anyways, this idea is crazy. No backup unit can start without a Nintendo security chip, there HAS to be a cartridge for saving/CIC. That is, unless you crack the security chips or somehow build them into your console. This is not an impossible project to do but it's improbable ANYONE would attempt this due to the difficulty. Things your board will need: Hareware: 300K+ gate FPGA Serial Flash/EEPROM for FPGA Flash for BIOS Slot for CIC chip 512M SRAM OR DRAM (but DRAM will require refreshing logic) 4M NVRAM for save emulation Power supply 5V laptop CDROM or something Things to be implemented in the BIOS: IDE controller emulation CIC Boot emulation SRAM/Flash/EEPROM save emulation 512M ROM emulation Things you'll have to learn: FPGA design w/ VHDL N64 ASM/C Whatevers required for the circuitry
Some of the earlier Silicon Graphics Ultra 64(Ultra Family Computer, Nintendo 64, Ultra Famicom, Project Reality) dev kits allowed you to use CD rom as the media for loading and checking games as the exact cart format had not been decided on yet.These dev kits are extremely hard to come by nowadays though. As "DA Doctor Kyuusaku" says you have to bypass the checks of the cart stuff before you could load from another media and this is how all the backup units work, so unless you can drastically alter the innards of the n64 and find a way past this.......I wouldn't bother ruining your machine. As they say...listen to the Doctor. :smt045
This talk about lockout chips got me thinking, can't one just hardwire a pin on the N64's lockout chip to a set value so that it always boots? Kind of like the NES.
I don't know exactly what N64 lockouts do but they're far more complex every generation. N64's CICs are actually serial ROMs or something, they contain some sort of boot code. The actual game needs to check with the chip before it is run. There are 5 or 6 chips and none are compatible with eachother. The majority of the games use the 6102 chip. I believe games are actually somehow "encoded" (word used loosely). It's possible to emulate bootcodes with "LaC's Bootemu" of course you still need an original CIC to boot in the first place. I don't think you can just disable the chip and get around it like you can on NES/SNES.
True, but for the tools he had, that thing looks very nice. He should've made the controller ports lower, and the thing is out of proportion, but it ain't bad. Hell, I think it looks pretty nice. I was planning to do some sorty of ghetto combined N64/SNES system, but I'd rather not murder any more of my innocent game consoles. :smt083 :smt042
I don't think it's a bad idea. If I had a unrepairable but mint 64DD, I'd gladly convert that into a heavily modified V64.
