3.0 Disclaimer

No information contained on this WWW page or CartDisk software was derived from any confidential source.

You may legally make one copy or backup of a game cartridge that you currently own, although distribution of this copy is prohibited by law, and may be subject to where you live.

DiskDude accepts no liability for any damages whatsoever including direct, indirect or consequential even if he has been advised of the possibility of such damages from the use, misuse and/or construction of the CartDisk software and/or hardware. Furthermore, DiskDude doesn't make any warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, including without limitation, any warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose.

The CartDisk software is shareware and provided "as is". You may distribute the shareware version of CartDisk so long as all accompanying files are also distributed, no charge other than duplication costs are applied and none of the original files are modified in any way. You may use the shareware version of CartDisk for upto thirty days on a trial basis after which you must register or delete all copies of the software in your possession. It is a crime to distribute any registered version(s) of the CartDisk software and/or hardware.

In no way shall CartDisk be used for acts of piracy. CartDisk was designed for backup and/or development of console games that you own.

All copyrights and trademarks are owned by their respective owners, even if not acknowledged. No infringements are intended.

CartDisk ISA card (double sided PCB)

U1 and U2	8255a IC's
U3	74LS139 IC
U4	74HC688 IC
C1-C4	0.1uF capacitors
R1-2	4.7k ohm resistors
Fuse1	500mA fuse
J1-J2	Jumper pins
CN1	50pin IDC

CartDisk ECP/EPP interface (double sided PCB)

U1 and U2	8255a IC's
U3	74LS373 IC
C1-C4	0.1uF capacitors
R1-8	100 ohm resistors
CN1	50pin IDC

Test adapter (single sided PCB)

R1	390 ohm resistor
LED1	LED :)
C1	0.1uF capacitor
CN1	50pin IDC

SNES adapter (single sided PCB)

C1	0.1uF capacitor
L1	A piece of insulated wire to connect between the pads.
CN1	50pin IDC

MegaDrive/Genesis adapter (double sided PCB)

C1	0.1uF capacitor
L1-4	Pieces of insulated wire to connect between the pads.
CN1	50pin IDC

PCB files are named as follows:

CDSK_ISA.PCB	CartDisk ISA card.
CDSK_LPT.PCB	CartDisk ECP/EPP interface.
SUPERNES.PCB	Super Nintendo Entertainment System adapter.
GENESIS.PCB	SEGA MegaDrive/Genesis adapter.
GAMEBOY.PCB	Nintendo GameBoy adapter.
TEST.PCB	CartDisk test adapter.

4.0.4 How to make the hardware

The only tip I can offer when making the double sided PCBs is as follows. If you use film and ultraviolet light to define your tracks on the copperclad, then sticky-tape the two films together, one on top of the other, at the top of the films. Use three pieces of tape. Get a long thin strip of PCB material the same thickness of your double sided PCB and place it at the top (horizontally) where you have the three pieces of tape. This will ensure that when you line up the films properly, they will be over each other when you slide the double sided PCB in. Once the two films are lined up exactly with the strip of PCB at the top, slide in your double sided copperclad, and tape it to the films (the piece of PCB material at the top remains where it is). You may now expose both sides of the board and the pads should line up. If you use the laser-print-to-plastic-sheet method, it might work if you replace "film" with "plastic" and "expose" with "iron". :)

Make sure you print a copy of the PCB's overlay. This will show you where the parts are placed. Refer to section 4.0.2 Description of component identifiers on overlays to see which identifier relates to which part. Before you solder any components into place, make sure you solder the pads which don't belong to a part (you can tell from the overlay). These pads act as a link between the two sides of the PCB - simply solder a wire between the two sides to make the connection.

When assembling boards with two layers, and your PCBs are not plated through, make sure you solder the top side! It's is advisable not to use IC sockets in this case, as you cannot solder underneath them. In such a case, try not to overheat the ICs, as you might damage them. For the IDC connector, it may possible to solder the top layer if you follow these steps:

1. Process the IDC pins two at a time (they come in pairs - break each pair off the strip individually).
2. Place the IDC pin in its place, through the holes in the PCB (the pair should sit in two holes side by side. i.e. you should use 25 pairs side by side in total for the IDC connection on the PCB).
3. Solder the bottom layer pads.
4. Carefully slide the black plastic of the IDC pin pair near the top of the pins (i.e. leave a gap between the plastic and PCB - but don't remove the plastic cover).
5. Carefully solder the top pads, not using too much heat otherwise the solder underneath will melt and the pin will slide out of place. Also try not to use too much solder or you might create a solder bridge between the tracks.
6. Remove the black cover alltogether. Forget about replacing the black cover to its original position - usually there is too much solder for the cover to be replaced. I had all my top sided pins without black covers, so long as other pins (which do not require to be soldered on the top) have the cover, it will keep the connector in place when the board is complete.

With regards to the Genesis adapter, it is possible to solder the top side of the board underneath the edge connector if you leave a gap on the top between PCB and where the plastic starts on the connector. Before attempting to solder the connector you should tin (apply a bit of solder to) each of the pads on the top side of the PCB. This will make soldering the top side much easier.

Also, if your GameBoy connector doesn't fit to the GameBoy adapter PCB (plastic bits stick out of the connector), then simply file them down with a bit of sandpaper.

Position of LED on the "Test Adapter"

Make sure you connect the LED the right way around (it is polarised!) on the "Test Adapter". The anode of the LED connects to the pad which is connected to the resistor, the cathode connecting directly to the IDC connector (The cathode is the pin next to the "flat" part on the base of the LED).

Printer port connections on the ECP/EPP printed circuit board

There are 13 pads at the bottom of the ECP/EPP PCB, 11 of these which connect to the printer port (ECP/EPP), and another two which are used for power. Starting from the left side of the board (away from the copyright information), the pads are as follows:

GND  +5v    pin#16  pin#14  pin#1  pin#2  pin#3  pin#4  pin#5  pin#6  pin#7  pin#8  pin#9
--POWER--   -------------------------------PRINTER PORT----------------------------------

Instead of making an adapter cable, you can use a standard 50 wire SCSI cable instead if you wish, but it must have the 50 pin IDC connectors on each end.

To make the cable, get your two IDC50 connectors and a piece of 1 metre 50-way ribbon cable (if you make it too long, the wire will act as a capacitor, giving you error in data) for the ISA version, or a 10-15 centimetre 50-way ribbon cable for the ECP/EPP version. Open one of the connectors and attach it to the ribbon cable making sure you line up the teeth of the connector with the individual wires of the ribbon cable (you do not need to remove the plastic on the ribbon cable - the teeth bite through it to make the connection). You somehow need to make the teeth cut through the wire - I used the end of a pair of scissors and banged it (very hard!) into place on top of a piece of wood... Replace the cover that holds the ribbon cable in place. Do the same for the other side making sure they both face downwards as in Figure 4.3 below:

       //|                                                 //|     
      ++--------------------------------------------------++ |     
      ++--------------------------------------------------++ |     
      ++]-------------------------------------------------++]]     
      ++--------------------------------------------------++ |     
      ++--------------------------------------------------++ |     
      +x==================================================+x/      
  connector #1                                       connector #2  

Make sure the wires on the ribbon cable line up with the metal teeth on the IDC socket! The power pins are right next to each other (I was going to put one on each end, but didn't) so if the cable isn't aligned, you will short your power supply. If you made the ISA card, the fuse should protect your PC's power supply if something goes wrong, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Test the cable with a multimeter to make sure it has no shorts to be absolutely sure.

Your cable is now complete.

How the cable connects between ISA card and adapters

 +----------------------+        //    +--------+                       
 |                     x|=======//=====|x    || | <- SNES adapter       
 | CartDisk ISA Card   x|======//======|x    || |    front of cartridge 
 |                     x|=====//=======|x    || |                       
 |                     x|====//========|x    || |                       
 +--------||||||||||||--+   //(cable)  +--------+                       

As a general rule of thumb, the IDC connector on all adapters are on the left when the board is the right way up, and the IDC connector on the ISA card on the right (back of PC) - if you simply line up the capacitors next to the connectors, then you have them connected the right way around. Do not have a twist in the cable between the ISA card and adapter (Figure 4.4).

ISA version

Usage: cdsk_isa [tool] [system] [port] [delay]

Tools:                                     System:
 -v          View cartridge information     -snes Super Nintendo (SNES)
 -t          Test the CartDisk interface    -sega SEGA MegaDrive/Genesis
 -c:[file]   Copy a cartridge               -gb   Nintendo GameBoy (GB)
 -l:[file]   Load a cartridge
 -s:[file]   Save SRAM on cartridge  *     Port:  (optional; 310 hex defualt)
 -o:[file]   Load SRAM on cartridge  *      -p:1  ISA base address 110 hex
 -e          Clear SRAM on cartridge *      -p:2  ISA base address 210 hex
 * Not avaliable for MegaDrive/Genesis.     -p:3  ISA base address 310 hex
Delay: (optional; 0 default)
 -d:[number] Slow down port I/O to reduce noise

ECP/EPP version

Usage: cdsk_lpt [tool] [system] [port] [delay]

Tools:                                     System:
 -v          View cartridge information     -snes Super Nintendo (SNES)
 -t          Test the CartDisk interface    -sega SEGA MegaDrive/Genesis
 -c:[file]   Copy a cartridge               -gb   Nintendo GameBoy (GB)
 -l:[file]   Load a cartridge
 -s:[file]   Save SRAM on cartridge  *     Port:  (optional; LPT1: defualt)
 -o:[file]   Load SRAM on cartridge  *      -p:1  LPT1: (address 378 hex)
 -e          Clear SRAM on cartridge *      -p:2  LPT2: (address 278 hex)
 * Not avaliable for MegaDrive/Genesis.     -p:3  LPT3: (address 3BC hex)
Delay: (optional; 0 default)
 -d:[number] Slow down port I/O to reduce noise

Please note that the functions which deal with the cartridge SRAM (or Battery backed up RAM) only work with the Super Nintendo and GameBoy adapters so far. The file format of saved backup-RAM are just raw copies of the RAM, which is the same format the Game Doctor copier uses, and most SNES, Genesis and GameBoy emulators.

Load a cartridge will not be supported until a rewritable cartridge design is finalised.

During a Copy Cartridge, or Load Cartridge, you may press Escape (Esc) to cancel the operation and return to DOS.

The [number] used in the delay option can be anywhere between 0 and 65535, however I doubt if is necessary to use values over 1000.

Examples

Note that it does not matter in which order you specify any command line switches.

• To copy your SNES cartridge "Super Mario World" with ISA card using a base address of 210h type:

  C:\CARTDISK>cdsk_isa -c:mario.gd -snes -p:2

  If your ISA card was using base address 310h, the port switch is not needed and it is default (because no jumpers are needed on the card), as shown in the next example.

• To copy your MegaDrive cartridge "Sonic the Hedgehog" with your ISA card using a base address of 310h type:

  C:\CARTDISK>cdsk_isa -c:sonic.bin -sega

• To erase your SNES cartridge backup-RAM with your ECP/EPP interface on LPT2: type:

  C:\CARTDISK>cdsk_lpt -e -snes -p:2

  If the cartridge does not have any backup-RAM, then you will be warned; you will not destroy your cartridge.

C:\CARTDISK>cdsk_isa -t
C:\CARTDISK>cdsk_lpt -t

To save a log of all errors encountered during the test, simply redirect the output of the CartDisk program to a file as follows:

C:\CARTDISK>cdsk_isa -t > log.txt
C:\CARTDISK>cdsk_lpt -t > log.txt

C:\CARTDISK>cdsk_isa -t -p:2
C:\CARTDISK>cdsk_isa -t -p:2 > log.txt

C:\CARTDISK>cdsk_lpt -t -p:2
C:\CARTDISK>cdsk_lpt -t -p:2 > log.txt

If you have an error prone interface, try adding more capacitors between +5v and GND on every IC to minimise the noise or shorten your ribbon cable between interface and adapter (which I had to do). However, this assumes that you made no mistake in your soldering/wiring. If you do get errors, check this first (I also had a wiring error - one of the pads was cut from its track).

An example error message is: "Error reading U1 port A: read 0 (00000000) expected 1 (00000001)". In this case, the most significant bit was missing when reading U1 port A. This may be a result of wiring errors on the interface at pin 1 of the 50 pin IDC connector, OR it may be a result of a wiring error on the interface at pin 48 of the IDC connector (which pin 1 is connected to on the test adapter - U2 Port C).

The 50 pin IDC connector is mapped into 6 different "ports", each with 8bits. The key is as follows:

Note: IDC pin # 49 is +5v and pin # 50 is GND. Pin numbers start from 1 at the bottom left corner when viewing the PCB in it's ISA slot in the PC (from the component side) - ISA version. For the ECP/EPP version, pin 1 is in the same position when viewing the PCB so the copyright information appears upright. Pin # 2 is directly to the right of pin 1 (bottom right corner of the IDC connector) and pin 3 is above pin 1, etc, etc. On the adapters, the pin numbers are exactly the same as the interface assuming you have them the right way up (Figure 4.4). Figure 5.1 below should help understand the pin numbering:

Figure 5.1 - IDC connector pin diagram on ISA card and ECP/EPP interface.

Please make the cheque payable to "John Pappas" (bank/cashiers cheques only) in Australian dollars. I cannot accept any funds other than Australian currency in a cheque. If you cannot get a cheque in Australian currency, then please enclose either $US15.00+ or $AUS15.00+ CASH in an envelope, wedged between two postcards (so the cash isn't visible) - no coins though. Why two postcards? If a postman, or anyone else, sees cash in a letter, they will take it (for themselves) and the letter won't be delivered.

A note about donations

Some people were not clear about this so here goes... Up until the first beta version was released, a minimum donation of $US10.00 applied. Currently, a minimum of $US15.00 (or quivalent in Australian Dollars) applies, and finally once playback hardware is established, a minimum donation of $US20.00-25.00 will apply. Money isn't too important to me at this stage; minimum donations are set in place to reduce one's urge to "lend" his/her copy to someone else. Honestly, I am more interested in the PostCards!

CartDisk has been in development for a few years now which has meant many hours of hard work refining the code/hardware. The donation is to keep the Post Office Box alive, fund any hardware I need to purchase (like IC's and copper clad), and purchase any console systems which I can do a little "hacking" on (hmmm... maybe the N64 even heh).

Registration motivates me to continue work heading for CartDisk release '97. Anyone who registers will get the following:

• Unlimited on-line technical support in getting CartDisk to work
• All future registered versions of CartDisk which are released
• A warm fuzzy feeling knowing that you did something good in that I get to see a picture of your city and add to my very thin collection!
• "DiskDude's Ultra" console utility for Windows '95 when released

7.0 Acknowledgments

8.0 Information required

• Format of the NES, Game Gear and Master System Game Genie codes
• How to properly access the save RAM on the MegaDrive/Genesis
• Any other hardware info regarding consoles, especially N64 information!

9.0 Known bugs

• GameBoy Read/Write/Clear for battery-backed-up SRAM may not work 100%