FDS Expansion Port Discovery

Started by FamiForever, July 19, 2015, 12:53:21 pm

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80sFREAK

Quote from: HokusaiXL on July 21, 2015, 10:18:45 am
Someone should probe the expansion port to see what comes out of it.  I know someone here has to have electronic lab equipment.
Nothing will come out until you try to drive pins by writing something to registers. Which registers i should write and what to see changes on this port?
I don't buy, sell or trade at moment.
But my question is how hackers at that time were able to hack those games?(c)krzy

FamiForever

3 months later...  Anybody got anything?

Jedi Master Baiter

Quote from: FamiForever on November 09, 2015, 07:27:20 pm
3 months later...  Anybody got anything?


...

...

...  :diskkun: There's an expansion port on the RAM Adapter? ??? Hold on a sec,



Whoa! You're right--I never noticed that there. :-[

P

It seems writing to $4026 bits 0-6 is used for writing data to the expansion port output, and reading $4033 bits 0-6 is for reading the port. Bit 7 on both registers are for battery control setting (0/1=OFF/ON) and reading battery status (0/1=NG/OK voltage) respective.

We need a pinout of the port though...

aguerrero810

I would imagine it would be used as a connector for connecting peripherals to the FDS, but seeing as nothing has been made for it, i can understand the lack of support. Would you have to write your own protocols for data transfer or control? Where's ground? This is an interesting port and there isn't much documentation on it. :(

P

Yeah depending on what you want to do with it.

I googled a bit and there's a PasoFami thing for it that allows writing and reading disks from/to a computer, so there should be a pinout out there somewhere...

FamiForever

So I guess it's just a port that that was never used, much like other Nintendo consoles.  I just thought it was interesting that Nintendo reused the proprietary port from this expansion port and used in in the French NES.

famifan

Quote from: FamiForever on November 25, 2015, 09:14:52 pm
So I guess it's just a port that that was never used, much like other Nintendo consoles.  I just thought it was interesting that Nintendo reused the proprietary port from this expansion port and used in in the French NES.

i believe you're talking not about port. But about a connector/socket itself.

FamiGamer86

Could you attach another floppy drive through this port? (not necessarily a FDS drive.)
So I once shipped an item with SAK (Below Economy Airmail) instead of SAL or EMS. I had to retrieve the package from the Amazon rainforest. The system was a bit dirty, but still worked. Never ship anything with SAK, because they ship packages from JOS.

80sFREAK

Quote from: P on November 11, 2015, 01:00:02 am
Yeah depending on what you want to do with it.

I googled a bit and there's a PasoFami thing for it that allows writing and reading disks from/to a computer, so there should be a pinout out there somewhere...
Some sort of PClink?
I don't buy, sell or trade at moment.
But my question is how hackers at that time were able to hack those games?(c)krzy

FamiForever

Quote from: famifan on November 27, 2015, 08:59:55 am
i believe you're talking not about port. But about a connector/socket itself.


Yeah that's why I started the whole thread.  I guess word choice really does matter!  Oh well it's still an interesting discussion.