Dumped entire collection EXCEPT for The Legend of Zelda on NES

[RJDoran93]

Hello. I was able to dump my entire cartridge collection using the OSCR with minimal issue. Some games needed me to manually pick their name from the directory, but after the checksum happened it was all good. That is except for my copy of The Legend of Zelda for the NES. I have been testing all of my games on emulators to make sure that they have all transferred properly. Zelda is the only one I'm still having an issue with. It isn't auto detected, when I dump it the checksum never says its name, and the emulator (fceux-2.6.4) won't launch the game only leaving me on a gray screen. I have tested another version of the Zelda ROM on the emulator just to make sure it works and the borrowed ROM does launch without an issue. I have cleaned the cartridge (white eraser and 91% IPA) over and over. The game works on my actual console. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong at this point. If anyone has any idea what I could do to remedy this, that help would be very much appreciated. Thank you and have a nice day :)

There are some pictures of the actual cartridge PCB if that helps at all:
https://imgur.com/a/WzB9d6Z
https://imgur.com/NjlbJ7Q

EDIT:
Here is that the LCD shows during the process of dumping the ROM
https://imgur.com/a/94fPOxH

[7ank0v1c]

I had a very similar issue a few weeks back with Zelda 1. My issues though was a couple of things, first it was I needed to clean it even more (which it seems you have done), and second I thought it was the wrong region, so that affected my choices when choosing which settings to dump it with.

Make sure you are following this guide; and check out the different links which point you to which settings to use for different games
https://github.com/sanni/cartreader/wiki/Dumping-NES-Games

Beyond that, it’s maybe better for someone else to help 🤷‍♂️

[sanni]

Can you post the last entries(multiple Zelda dump logs would be best) of the OSCR_LOG.txt found in the root of the SD card?

Example:

OSCR HW5 V12.1

[+] NES/Famicom

Searching database
for 4AD01697 or 433706F0...

NES CART READER
CURRENT SETTINGS
MAPPER:   0
PRG SIZE: 32K
CHR SIZE: 8K
RAM SIZE: 0K

Press Button...

[+] Read iNES Rom

Saving to NES/ROM/SuperMarioBros/6/...
[*******************]
CRC32... 9A2DB086 -> Super Mario Bros. (Europe).nes

Press Button...

[RJDoran93]

Yes I can. I can't find in the wiki on how to update it, just to flash it. Do I need to remove the Arduino from the unit to flash it? I hope not. That'd be annoying.

[sanni]

No need to disassemble it, just plug it into PC, turn it on, start arduino.exe from the latest portable release and upload code. https://github.com/sanni/cartreader/wiki/How-to-flash-the-Arduino

[RJDoran93]

Awesome! And one last dumb question before I try updating it. Do I need to turn on the Arduino board itself, or can I turn on the whole unit with it's power switch?

[sanni]

Whole unit.

[RJDoran93]

I flashed it to 12.1 and it still won't rip properly. Now the emulator that I use (fceux) doesn't even recognize it as a NES ROM. The old rips would load into a gray screen, but this one now throws an error. I have two dump logs from rip attempts after the update. I cleaned the pins before the second dump. I can't see a difference between the two, but I'll post both just in case:

OSCR HW5 V12.1

[+] NES/Famicom

Searching database
for 584E57A6 or 18843011...

CRC not found in database
Using manual selection

Select Mapping from List

NES CART READER

CURRENT SETTINGS

MAPPER: 1
PRG SIZE: 128K
CHR SIZE: 0K
RAM SIZE: 8K

Press Button...

[+] Read iNES Rom

Saving to NES/ROM/LegendofZeldaTh/78/...
[*******************]
CHR SIZE 0K
CRC32... 50597A85 -> Not found

Press Button...

Here is the second dump:

OSCR HW5 V12.1

[+] NES/Famicom

Searching database
for 584E57A6 or 18843011...

CRC not found in database
Using manual selection

Select Mapping from List

NES CART READER

CURRENT SETTINGS

MAPPER: 1
PRG SIZE: 128K
CHR SIZE: 0K
RAM SIZE: 8K

Press Button...

[+] Read iNES Rom

Saving to NES/ROM/LegendofZeldaTh/79/...
[*******************]
CHR SIZE 0K
CRC32... 50597A85 -> Not found

Press Button...

[Cephiros]

since you already have the pcb removed, you can try something slightly more abrasive for cleaning than IPA, maybe hit it with a pink eraser, then IPA again. It might just be the lighting but the front contacts still look a bit iffy.

[RJDoran93]

https://imgur.com/NjlbJ7Q

The pins look fine to me, but here are some more pictures with the pins getting better lighting. Couldn't get the lighting even so i just have 4 pics (one for each side of the pins)

[PsyK0p4T]

You're not giving us the most important info ;)
What settings are applied when you dump it ? (should be PRG0 = 128KB and CHR = 0)
What file size do you have at the end ? (should be 128KB)
Do you always get the same ROM CRC, or always different ? (different often means reading difficulties)

[RJDoran93]

https://imgur.com/a/94fPOxH
This is the LCD of each step and all the settings I use. The ROM is always 129KB after a dump. The ROM CRC it looks for is always the same.

[ApanApane]

I am having the exact same problem with The Legend of Zelda.
CRC32... 50597A85 -> Not found

Interestingly enough for me the reader identifies the cartridge as the European release, despite it being the NES-ZL-USA (Rev A) version I have.

I am using Version 13.1 of the Sanni software.

[nsx0r]

Could you send me the file (CRC 50597A85) so I can investigate?

[starlightknight]

I found this issue after experiencing the same as @ApanApane above.

NES-ZL-USA Rev-A detected as European version, dumps as hash 50597A85 -> Not found. My cart reliably detects this way and I get this behavior 100% of the time if I keep retrying

Did anyone ever find a solution to this?

[RJDoran93]

Unfortunately, I don't believe so. At least not that I've seen.

[sakman55]

A request for those experiencing problems:

Please open your cart and list all of the text on the MMC1 chip. I think the US Rev 1 should be using a MMC1B2 chip. Might be either NEC or Sharp. Include the date code and anything else that might be written on there.

[RJDoran93]

Mine is from a Gold Cartridge. The MMC1 chip reads: NINTENDO N MMC1B2 8949B3012. Below is a link to what my PCB looks like and the error that the cart reader gets after a dump. I've also attached a link to the .txt the dump makes. Hopefully this is all the info you need/want.

https://imgur.com/a/legend-of-zelda-cartridge-board-YLcxN7e

[sakman55]

One last thing, does the problem cart have the gold shell or is it a late production grey shell?

[RJDoran93]

Mine is from a Gold Cartridge. The MMC1 chip reads: NINTENDO N MMC1B2 8949B3012. Below is a link to what my PCB looks like and the error that the cart reader gets after a dump. I've also attached a link to the .txt the dump makes. Hopefully this is all the info you need/want.

https://imgur.com/a/legend-of-zelda-cartridge-board-YLcxN7e

[sakman55]

Thanks for all of the information. The MMC1 bankswitch code is not working. The dumped ROM repeats the last bank across the entire ROM space. The attached iNES header is also bad but that's not the main problem.

It might be that the subject MMC1B2 is bad. I also read about differences between versions of the MMC1 chips so there may something related to that specific type (NEC MMC1B2).

We could write a different mapper 1 bankswitch to test the register. Possibly change the register to use one of the other banking options.

I'll post some test code later.

[RJDoran93]

Sounds great! Thank you for taking the time to look into this 😄

[sakman55]

Let's try different register settings to see if the MMC1B2 responds.

Added 32K Bankswitch and 16KB Bankswitch with flipped order. You can comment out sections to test. If you leave the code as is then you'll get 3 copies of the ROM using the different register settings.

Change readPRG() at line 1789:

  case 1:
  case 155:  // 32K/64K/128K/256K/512K
    banks = int_pow(2, prgsize) - 1;
    for (size_t i = 0; i < banks; i++) {  // 16K Banks ($8000-$BFFF)
      write_prg_byte(0x8000, 0x80);       // Clear Register
      write_mmc1_byte(0x8000, 0x0C);      // Switch 16K Bank ($8000-$BFFF) + Fixed Last Bank ($C000-$FFFF)
      if (prgsize > 4)                    // 512K
        write_mmc1_byte(0xA000, 0x00);    // Reset 512K Flag for Lower 256K
      if (i > 15)                         // Switch Upper 256K
        write_mmc1_byte(0xA000, 0x10);    // Set 512K Flag
      write_mmc1_byte(0xE000, i);
      dumpBankPRG(0x0, 0x4000, base);
    }
    dumpBankPRG(0x4000, 0x8000, base);  // Final Bank ($C000-$FFFF)

    // 32K BANKS TEST
    banks = int_pow(2, prgsize);
    for (size_t i = 0; i < banks; i += 2) { // 32K Banks ($8000-$FFFF)
      write_mmc1_byte(0x8000, 0x0);         // Switch 32K Bank ($8000-$FFFF)
      write_mmc1_byte(0xE000, i);
      dumpBankPRG(0x0, 0x8000, base);
    }

    // 16K BANKS FLIP ORDER TEST
    write_mmc1_byte(0x8000, 0x08);       // Fixed First Bank ($8000-$BFFF) + Switch 16K Banks ($C000-$FFFF)
    dumpBankPRG(0x0, 0x4000, base);      // First Bank ($8000-$BFFF)
    banks = int_pow(2, prgsize);
    for (size_t i = 1; i < banks; i++) { // 16K Banks ($C000-$FFFF)
      write_mmc1_byte(0x8000, 0x08);
      write_mmc1_byte(0xE000, i);
      dumpBankPRG(0x4000, 0x8000, base); // Switch 16K Bank ($C000-$FFFF)
    }
    break;

[RJDoran93]

I'm sorry. I'm not sure how to do this. I'm happy to implement this and give you an updated dump, but how to I add this code to my cart reader?

[RJDoran93]

I was able to figure it out (I hope). I edited the NES part of the Arduino code where you mentioned. Line 1771 has a similar piece of code that I blocked out and put the test code in. It read the cart and brought me to "Legend of Zelda, The (Europe)(Rev 1).nes even though this is an NTFS cart. I used "Legend of Zelda, The (USA)(Rev 1).nes for the dump.

[sakman55]

Thanks for testing! The MMC1 is responding but not in the expected way. I'll have to analyze the bank order closer to figure out what is happening. Hopefully there is a solution. It might take more test code to get right.

BTW, does the cart play normally on a console?

[RJDoran93]

The link below is from the official GitHub repository on how to flash the Arduino on your cart reader. It's very simple to follow.

https://github.com/sanni/cartreader/wiki/How-to-flash-the-Arduino

Edit: you will have to download the most recent release of the cart reader firmware, and then comment out the code that's in the official release with the code that @sakman55 posted in this threat on the "NES" section. While reflashing the Arduino isn't hard at all, if you've never looked at code before that part might be a little intimidating. If you follow the instructions @sakman55 gave me about a week ago on this tread you should be fine.

[sakman55]

@ApanApane - Are you able to open your cart and check the type of MMC1B2 chip? It would be helpful to confirm that it contains an NEC MMC1B2 chip.

Here's a NES.ino with the test code: https://www.mediafire.com/file/gdme3wroheril7e/NES-Legend+of+Zelda+(U)+(Rev+1)+Test+Code-20241209.zip

Replace the original NES.ino with this test code then update your Cart Reader. Test your Zelda cart to see if it dumps the proper ROM.

[ApanApane]

Hello again

I haven't had time to test the code yet, but here's a picture of the circuit board: https://imgur.com/a/s5iyBg1

Hope that is of use!

[sakman55]

Thanks for the picture. Confirmed another NEC MMC1B2 chip.

[sakman55]

I wanted to test further but I couldn't find a Zelda Rev A with an NEC MMC1B2 chip. I checked NesCartDB and found that Shingen the Ruler uses the same PCB NES-SNROM-05.

I found a couple Shingen carts that use the NEC MMC1B2 chip. Both Shingen carts dumped without a problem using the original NES.ino. Since one of the Zelda carts that I picked up had corrosion, I did a board swap and moved the Zelda Rev A ROM chip to a Shingen board with NEC MMC1B2 date coded 8949B3065. The swapped Zelda NEC MMC1B2 board dumped clean without a problem using the original NES.ino.

I'm wondering if the errors might be specific to those chips.
RJDoran93 NEC MMC1B2 8949B3012
ApanApane NEC MMC1B2 9012B3045