Famicom microphone troubleshooting

[Lum]

I'm curious if there's an idiot proof way to tell my mic works correct. I tried US Zelda 1 cart with a converter and Pols Voice did not die.

Isn't the English game supposed to have relevant code triggers left intact, or was that a rumor?
I suppose it's also plausible my converter is to blame. It hasn't been yet modified for Castlevania 3 or PowerPak sound.

[SeanOrange]

US carts are missing four pins present on the Famicom carts, so even with a converter you might be missing out.  I don't know if the relevant data is transmitted on the sound channel that's missing in the NES version, but that would be my best guess.  (i.e. the code might be there, but there's no way to electronically access it.)

[GohanX]

If it makes you feel better, I just played through the FDS Zelda and I couldn't get the damn Pols Voices to die either, even though I could plainly hear my voice very loudly through the speakers. Thankfully the Famicom isn't advanced enough for voice recognition as I hurled some very creative profanity at the controller.

[ulera]

US carts are missing four pins present on the Famicom carts, so even with a converter you might be missing out.  I don't know if the relevant data is transmitted on the sound channel that's missing in the NES version, but that would be my best guess.  (i.e. the code might be there, but there's no way to electronically access it.)

Emulation would be a good way to test that theory if you could find an emulator with microphone support. As someone who doesn't emulate I don't know if such a thing exists though.

[jpx72]

Isn't the English game supposed to have relevant code triggers left intact, or was that a rumor?

If I remember correctly, NES version doesn't have the "trigger code", even the re-released FC cartridge version was without it.
BTW Nestopia supports microphone and you can bind a key to activate it.

[P]

We discussed this in this thread http://www.famicomworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=6123.30 and I think we came to the conclusion that it does not work on any english version of the game.

As for the FC cartridge version I can now confirm that it does work in that version. I didn't get it to work at first but later when I played through the game I got it to work after a few tries. The problem is that it doesn't seem to work every time even if you hear you voice through the speakers so you might think it doesn't work even though it does. For some people it seems to work every time though.