XBAND, Mega Net 2, and Mega Drive Keyboards
Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2016 7:05 pm
Hello, we are doing some research, and investigating if it would be possible to be able to acquire a keyboard and a ROM to verify it works, write few test ROMs and documentation, and in the end get it emulated on emulators that are currently being worked on (GPGX comes to mind first). The cool thing is, we found a repo for what appears to be XBAND source code(!), which would help a lot after we have acquired the keyboard, to write code to interact with it. However, after analyzing the JP BIOS (because US does not seem to be dumped), it does not appear to match the source. (Because of few interesting strings that are supposed to exist in it, and some basic disassembly I did) I can not verify this 100%, because I know nothing about compiling C code for Genny. Also, newer tools may not help, but I believe this page may have download with appropriate tools. I would appreciate if someone would help compiling it into a binary for comparisons. Furthermore, if indeed the JP XBAND does not match, I would want to know if anyone can dump an US version. My friend told he can help in getting one. If we can dump the ROM, and verify the source code in fact is from XBAND, we can be sure a keyboard accessory exists or should exist. It is also likely, that the Tectoy's keyboard in Brazil is same or similar in nature! So next, is the hard part; getting a keyboard and compatible cart to test on, and of course writing code to read the keyboard stats, write to it, etc. When I can get enough money, I am willing to either borrow, or buy one in order to write code, test, and document it. We have located one Mega Net 2 unit with the keyboard, however this is from a collector and we are yet unaware if he is willing to help us.
So, based on the knowledge I have atm, the plan of action is as follows:
*Compile this source code and compare it with available dumps of XBAND
*Dump US XBAND (or XBAND 2 if it makes a difference)
*Compare the US XBAND dumps with the compiled source
*Acquire a keyboard that is meant for Mega Net 2 or XBAND, and a cart that the keyboard will work with
*Poke at the bastard thing to find out how it works, write sample code and documentation
*Annoy emu authors about this until they implement it in their emulators >=)
Now, any additional information about this would be appreciated as well'
(Oh, on a side note, the source code is hilarious and you should read it. It makes me feel it was non-professionals work though which makes me question it a bit)
So, based on the knowledge I have atm, the plan of action is as follows:
*Compile this source code and compare it with available dumps of XBAND
*Dump US XBAND (or XBAND 2 if it makes a difference)
*Compare the US XBAND dumps with the compiled source
*Acquire a keyboard that is meant for Mega Net 2 or XBAND, and a cart that the keyboard will work with
*Poke at the bastard thing to find out how it works, write sample code and documentation
*Annoy emu authors about this until they implement it in their emulators >=)
Now, any additional information about this would be appreciated as well'
(Oh, on a side note, the source code is hilarious and you should read it. It makes me feel it was non-professionals work though which makes me question it a bit)