Nestopia and Konami japanese games

Libretro Cores
#21

android? linux? create a headered one and load it in fceumm/mesen… see log details for rom info and paste here. crc probably off or something.

EDIT: anyways, i just loaded the patched version of wai wai world, and details should be this

[libretro INFO]  PRG ROM:    8 x 16KiB
[libretro INFO]  CHR ROM:   16 x  8KiB
[libretro INFO]  ROM CRC32:  0xa66a9aef
[libretro INFO]  ROM MD5:  0x5e3000f49a0161577ae253d2c0348497
[libretro INFO]  Mapper #:  23
[libretro INFO]  Mapper name: Konami VRC2/VRC4 C
[libretro INFO]  Mirroring: Horizontal
[libretro INFO]  Battery-backed: No
[libretro INFO]  Trained: No

use that crc and md5 in the database and it should work with that translation (softpatched or not)

added: use this database instead:

   <game>
        <cartridge system="Famicom" dump="translated" crc="A66A9AEF" sha1="DB25AD3ED44B95B7ADD54E58A53A63B1E76B5F63">
            <board type="KONAMI-VRC-2" mapper="23">
                <prg size="128k" />
                <chr size="128k" />
                <chip type="Konami VRC II">
                    <pin number="3" function="PRG A1" />
                    <pin number="4" function="PRG A0" />
                    <pin number="21" function="CHR A10" />
                    <pin number="22" function="CHR A16" />
                    <pin number="23" function="CHR A11" />
                    <pin number="24" function="CHR A13" />
                    <pin number="25" function="CHR A14" />
                    <pin number="26" function="CHR A12" />
                    <pin number="27" function="CHR A15" />
                    <pin number="28" function="NC" />
                </chip>
            </board>
        </cartridge>
    </game>

i think mapper 23 (and others) requires more than just the prg/chr size etc… another update: looks like you just probably got the chr size wrong too…you seem to have incomplere rom dump if thats the case.

1 Like
#22

I spotted two oversights on my part, one a hex number and that I had also applied the camera fix hack.

I’m on Linux. I’m not getting all that info from FCEUmm, barely the CRC. Your database entry did not work for me as you would expect, since you don’t have the camera fix patch.

By the way, where did you get all that info about pin numbers, and what about the mirroring, you made it work without that?.

But in the end I ran the headered rom with my CRC and SHA1 and the info you provided and what do you think it happened? It worked! :triumph:

Pretty cool, thank you :sunglasses:.

#23

-mapper 23 is mapper-controlled mirroring, so header does not need to have mirroring indicated

-the entry for the mapper 23 was a copy-paste of an existing mapper 23 entry, and just edited to match the rom im trying to add(well actually its a duplicate of existing Wai Wai world entry)

-the pin numbering are probably not needed(i retested without them and they seem to work) although im not 100% sure how nestopia is using the entries in that database

if it run with a header, then probably nestopia was never meant to run headerless roms(im not sure of this since ive always used headered roms)

#24

For future references, I ran the headered rom, but it only worked with the CRC and the SHA1 of the headerless rom in the database.

I can confirm it works without all the chip information. The trick was adding the board type along with the mapper number :).

Ok, so this problem is solved.

#25

the database entries are always headerless, based only on crc of prg+chr data… but the rom themselves should have header…

#26

You’re not following - There is a known problem with hacked/translated Konami games and Nestopia. There is a process to get them to work but it’s a bit annoying.

#27

That is not the correct process.

#28

wow! very good suggestion. that helped alot…

#29

I’ve been doing it for a while now and it’s working for me, but I gotta say it’s getting very tiresome fairly quickly :tired_face:, so much that I don’t think I’ll add all my patched roms, I’ll rather switch emulators if I just want to get some quick hacked-Super-C action, you know. But, I’m still interested in your method.

I found this topic where they talk about the problem. By the way, one of the comments briefly explains the origin of headers and why the need for the database along with some alternative proposals that didn’t make it.

#30

Can anybody please make a video tutorial? I have no ideas what you guys are talking about totally as a non-programmer(I believe mostly normal users can’t understand)

#31

I’m not a programmer either. I found it useful to get it working, but it’s not worth the effort if you have too many non-working roms, IMO.

#32

I can’t even get original japanese konami roms running,can you run Contra/Crisis Force/Ganbare Goemon 2 untouched japanese roms with nestopia?

#33

probably not without faking it…

#34

Wait, I just ran all those games out of the box. Maybe that’s a problem on your end. Try this:

  1. Go to the official database and save it as "NstDatabase.xml" (it must be named exactly that).
  2. Put it in your RetroArch "system" folder.
  3. Try running your japanese games.
#35

Not working,that’s the first one method i’ve tried .

#36

That’s the database that I use (the one they recommend it in the "nestopia_libretro.info" file), and that’s all what I did :confused:.

#37

I’ll try on my another android phone and report to you.

#38

It looks to me as if Nestopia is not finding your database. I would try to run some game that I know that works on it and verify in Information > Core Information if the line below "Firmware(s): reads "(!) Present, Required: NstDatabase.xml (...)"

#39

Yes,it shows ‘Present’,i guess it’s my end issue(android 4.4),i’m managing to boot my another android phone,but it seems dead,won’t boot at all :sweat:

#40

Ok, then maybe your rom dumps are not in the database :confused:? .

The thing with those CRCs is that it can get confusing at first like it happened to me before @wertz chimed in. Nestopia reports a CRC for your headered rom, but the database can only contain CRCs (and SHA1) for headerless roms. So you need to chop off that head, calculate CRC/SHA1 (of the headerless rom) and introduce them in the database filling the rest of the info by figuring out the header (for this you need to read some guide or ask me). For romhacks can be easier, if the original rom is already in the database as you don’t have to figure out that info, like @wertz did with my romhack. EDIT: Then you run your headered rom as always.

But I’d rather try some other dumps first.

EDIT: As I cannot provide you any roms of mine, all I can do is to give you my checksums:

Headered rom (you run this):
name="Contra (Japan).nes"
size="262160"
crc="8A96A3C4"
md5="0E40BC1B049C16C5D7246CC28399CB5D"
sha1="376836361F404C815D404E1D5903D5D11F4EFF0E"

Headerless rom (how it appears in the database):
name="Contra (Japan).nes"
size="262144"
crc="B27B8CF4"
md5="D306C54CCFDF5CB4F8EC588F19B3E33D"
sha1="BE9DD65BE8DB897978DD34533DD3A037784A8EE9"