I'm honestly surprised this isn't shared already, but whatever. Quite the interesting ROM. The NUS-64 cartridge requires a special hardware called the NUS Checker. I have looked for information on this, but this is all I can find. This isn't on TCRF either. - DOWNLOAD - (this includes the rom, patched rom to run on emulators, and others!) Spoiler: Internal ROM Info (cred. eludevisibility) The .rar linked has three roms; NUS-64.sfc (original), test.sfc (unknown, possibly bad dump), and patched.sfc (patched so that it runs on emulators, more information in the rar.) This came from the file 'NUS-64.info' It has been modified for easier reading. Internal ROM Info: NUS-64.sfc File: NUS-64.sfc Name: _______Qw__[_________.....Company: Athena Header: None.....................................Bank: HiROM Interleaved: None...............................SRAM: 536870912 Kb Type: Normal......................................ROM: 8 Mb Country: Unknown..............................Video: NTSC ROM Speed: 120ns (FastROM).........Revision: 1.0 Checksum: Corrupt, Bad 0x0F4D.......Game Code: SHVC-D(F)PV7R-01 (cred. superfamicom.org) Hashes CRC32: 2B92DC3C MD5: 445AB9E4D7EEBF997D55B5C5DF2B8058 SHA-1: 854B9FB625584AC454AE1A9F0B15A42062E9AB73 Database ROM wasn't found in the database (possible bad dump). Internal ROM Info: test.sfc File: test.sfc Name: _____________________....Company: ? - Code: F7 Header: None....................................Bank: HiROM Interleaved: None..............................SRAM: 0 Kb Type: Normal.....................................ROM: 8 Mb Country: Unknown.............................Video: NTSC ROM Speed: 120ns (FastROM)........Revision: 1.0 Checksum: Corrupt, Bad 0x686D......Game Code: Unknown Hashes CRC32: 5245FE52 MD5: E01913789DEBE7B522C78441733F679F SHA-1: 59DC279F8B4B6DA2A4FDBB3E4237F6C5FCA27957 Database ROM wasn't found in the database (possible bad dump). Spoiler: Cheats to actually use it (cred. eludevisibility.org) Note: Insert the cheat, then reset the game. This will make it so the cheats run on bootup. 008E1380: Skips 'AD CONVERTER ERROR.' 008E9780: Skips 'NUS POWER-ON ERROR.' 008EBB80: Skips 'START SIGNAL ERROR.' 0087B8XX: Cheat #1 to load a menu. Requires the below cheat aswell. 0087B9YY: Cheat #2 to load a menu. Requires the cheat above aswell. XXYY F8A3: Clear all data sheets in SHVC cassette ADA5: Cassette Check* A5B3: Data Sheet Set 29B8: Data Sheet Copy 54BF: EEPROM Copy CDC2: Stand Alone BAC9: Dump List B2CC: Data Sheet Check 85D1: Cassette Check* E2D4: Cassette Check* *When screen is loaded, enter Action Replay code 00A5F380 to proceed to the next screen (won’t work if error “Cannot check this cassette” is displayed). From eludevisibility.org (linkaroonie, you should definitely check it out. they have pictures on the page in which im going to be talking about below.); "The NUS software on the cart is designed to work ONLY on the special NUS Checker hardware system. While the physical flash cart can technically run on a standard SNES, the NUS test software programmed on it MUST be used in combination with the Checker hardware to use its functions. All those red Caution messages you see when booting the cart is errors where the program is trying to communicate with the special hardware and not receiving the responses it expects. Standard controllers aren’t supported by the software at all, further proof that it’s not meant for regular systems. All user input goes through a special register instead. Apparently, the NUS Checker hardware has its own kind of controller (or more likely, has buttons or a keypad located on the front panel) that must be used to navigate the menus. It’s possible to create fake input by using cheat codes to navigate through the menus. But there’s not much to explore or do as it’s not running on the correct system. As its name suggests, it just checks the hardware and vice versa and that’s about it" From what it sounds like, it was a developer system for the SFC, but I haven't seen any other documentation or pictures on it. Interestingly enough, the cartridge shows a picture of an N64 cartridge, and its even named NUS-64. Maybe a prototype N64? And would you look at that, a string of games in the SRAM, that are all for... the n64... Spoiler: Not even joking. (cred. eludevisibility) TE16 TE16 NSWP Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire Japan NSHJ Saikyou Haniu Shogi NSMJ ShinDou Super Mario 64 NPWJ Pilotwings 64 Japan NSME makerom - NSME (Nintendo Super Mario English) NPWE Pilotwings 64 USA NWRJ Shindou Wave Race 64 Kawasaki Jet Ski Rumble Japan NMKE Mortal Kombat Trilogy (USA) NWRE Wave Race 64 NWGE Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey (USA) NKIE Killer Instinct Gold NJ2J Wonder Project J2 Japan NCUE Cruis'N USA NSWE Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire USA NSTJ St Andrews Old Course Japan NJPJ Japanese Jikkyou J League Perfect Striker NPKJ King of Pro Baseball Yakyuu NMMJ Mahjong Master NKTJ Mario Kart 64 Japan NXGE NBA Hang Time NPWP Pilotwings 64 Europe NSMP Super Mario 64 Europe NWGE Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey (USA) NSWP Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire Japan NTUD Turok: Dinosaur Hunter Europe NJPP International Superstar Soccer 64 NTUP Turok: Dinosaur Hunter Europe NKTP Mario Kart 64 Europe NGEP GoldenEye 007 Europe NWGP Virtual Pro Wrestling 64 NFXP Star Fox 64 Europe NKIP Killer Instinct Gold Europe NDMP Doom 64 Europe NMRP Multi Racing Championship Europe NBMP Bomberman 64 Europe NTRP Top Gear Rally UK NCFP ClayFighter 63 1/3 Europe NQ8P NFL Quarterback Club 98 Europe NTMP Mischief Makers Europe NLCP Automobili Lamborghini Scandinavia NHGP F1 Pole Position 64 Europe NDYP Diddy Kong Racing Europe N8IP FIFA 98 UK NCUP World Cup 98 USA NH5P Winter Olympics '98 NQKP Quake Nintendo 64 NMYP Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub Zero France NDHP Dual Heroes PAL N8WP World Cup 98 Europe NTUD Turok: Dinosaur Hunter Europe NFOD Forsaken 64 (Germany) NGCP GT 64: Championship Edition Europe NBKE Top Gear Hyper-Bike USA NKAF Fighters Destiny France NKAD Fighters Destiny Europe NBKP Banjo Kazooie Europe SRAM TE16 Does anyone have any information on this SFC/N64 frankenstein? Thanks. EDIT: I have tried this on my sd2snes. Patched one gives an error, the other two dont run. When cheats come out for it, ill run it again but with the codes on the page that allow me to get past the menus. EDIT 1/11/17: Sorry for not adding this before. The cartridge has dip switches that allow to chose some SRAM configurations, and to change between LoROM and HiROM. Dont know why this is. Thanks to friends over at NintendoAge!
So, if I read this correctly...there is a SNES based machine that runs this code to checksum retail N64 carts? Who / why would need that?
Yep. Its just mysterious, is all. Theres no information of it out there except for the release of NUS-64. Besides, why would Nintendo checksum N64 software on SFC hardware? and also this fourm is for the rare and obscure sooo
Maybe it's part of a game copier style device that uses SNES hardware to feed roms to an N64 used in early developing.
Because SFC hardware was readily available at the time of early N64 development? It seems quite plausible that Nintendo would build a utility machine like this out of whatever technology they already had, and I'm sure they had SFC hardware and competent SFC developers on staff. Essentially, you build the next generation of tools out of the tools you currently have. My question is...what is the primary purpose of this machine? I initially thought of it as a dev cart copier like @sanni , but then again it's called a "checker". While the "EEPROM Copy" option #5 on the menu may make some think it might be a full cart copier, I think this is only referring to the EEPROM save chip as some N64 carts have instead of Battery+SRAM. My question is more about how did such a checksum verification + save game distribution machine work into the development workflow. I'm not questioning it's value as a utility, but rather trying to understand why someone would have built a standalone machine for functions that could be done on a standard devkit.
Assuming it's like the Famicom and SFC cart checkers then it's got nothing to do with development. They were used as part of the IQC process to verify that newly assembled cartridges were operating correctly and also by the service department to check carts that were returned by customers. The machine was just a rather boring looking box with 2 cart slots and a little control panel. The test cart (which is what I assume this is dumped from) went into the top slot and the cart you wanted to verify went into the lower one. My guess is that they took the hardware and software they had already designed for the SFC cart checker and modified it to verify N64 carts. Most of it would be the same anyway, just the interfaces to the cartridge would need to be re engineered.
Small bump adding some info before I go to bed. Dont know if were allowed to do this, seems feasable though.
I have nothing useful to add to this conversation. Just wanted to mention that from previous menu where you see the title of this thread, due to your avatar being the generic "A"... It makes it look like the thread title is "ANUS checker hardware".
