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Thread: Info on Genesis game SRAM sizes

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    Default Info on Genesis game SRAM sizes

    I posted previously in the Jazzmarazz thread, but my question has become a bit off of that topic so I'm starting my own thread.

    Does anyone have a list of genesis games with how much SRAM each of them has? I've been able to find lists that say whether or not the game has SRAM, but not a list of the size of each game's SRAM. I want to know because apparently the size varies and a reproduction will not be able to save if it uses a donor cart with the wrong amount of SRAM.

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    Easiest way to check is to use an emulator and save a game ..Most is 8kb to 16kb. None verify size tho, so you could use 32k and up without issue Fusion saves for the size it requires. If you use second dimension boards, you will have more than enough space http://www.second-dimension.com/shop/product/14

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    Huh, this should be working. Using the donors I'm using in Fusion, they're creating SRMs (is this the correct type of save file? This is the SRAM save, not a save state?) of 16-19k, and the games I want to replace them with are 16k. But when I try to save on my test cart I get an error. I'm not sure why that is.

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    Two types of them. You have quick saves and regular save states. SRM are SRAM or save RAM both gens and zsnes use them ... You took base ROM an told you 16-19k? Game works? What game? and do have pic's? mybe pinout of SRAM? prolly not it ... IDK mybe up SRAM to 32k? if game works it's something minor check soldier job on SRAM
    Save States Vs. Saved RAM

    https://fantasyanime.com/game-saves-...al#save-vs-ram SNES SRM https://fileinfo.com/extension/srm Genesis SRM http://filext.com/file-extension/SRM
    Last edited by killapinke; 26th-July-2018 at 22:35.

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    The game I made was Warsong/Langrisser. I put it on my test board which is NBA Live 96. The game works, but when I try to save it says "correct ram error" sometimes, and other times it appears to say it saved, but when I try to load there is no file.

    The emulator I'm using to test the ram size is Fusion. Looking at the site, it looks like this is the right kind of save.

    I have one pic of my test board setup which I'll post but I'm not sure how helpful it will be. I can get a better pic of the board in a bit.n3BTLpz.jpg

    Ok, so I've found a pic of the official warsong PCB, and it looks like the ram chip is functionally the same as the one on the nba 96 (same size, same pinout).

    I'm really not sure why this is not working.
    Last edited by shion arita; 4th-August-2018 at 05:21. Reason: merged posts

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    Got pic of front of PCB? both them games are 16k sram ... warsong PCB has same pinout as nba 96? ..im not sure what kinda test board that is lol did pinout eprom? or try different game with same PCB
    Last edited by killapinke; 27th-July-2018 at 07:41.

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    It appears that both games are actually 8k sram based on the chip datasheets despite what the emulator saves as. Either that or i'm reading the sheet wrong. Here are pics of the front of each pcb:

    Warsong (from internet)
    warsong cartridge.jpg

    NBA (from ME)
    nba pcb resized.jpg

    The test board is basically female headers going to a breadboard where I put the eprom. I did it this way because putting the eprom directly into the headers resulted in a poor connection
    Last edited by shion arita; 27th-July-2018 at 08:07.

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    Likely has a check for SRAM size
    8k SRAM usually time's it by 8 ..so 8kb x8= 64k .....32k x8= 256k ....try 64k sram ? it has both spot's for both sizes small and wide.. Possibly a bad trace? ...I thought Genesis carts are pretty much all the same SRAM
    Last edited by killapinke; 27th-July-2018 at 14:37.

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    Hey pal, sorry for missing your post in my thread - Its hard to keep track of with so many posts and questions.
    First things first, emulators are a little innacurate if you're looking for exact info such as the precise number of bits of RAM. Download uCON64 as well as the frontend for it found here:
    Download Links:
    Links are hidden from guests. Please register to be able to view these links. Its a little tough to set up at first, but is incredibly useful. Lunch the frontend and go to the settings button in the frontend and browse for the exe as well as a folder for the config file. I like to put a ucon64 folder in my x86 program files.

    Once you've done that, you can browse to the Genesis tab and click on show info. then browse to the ROM files. In this case, Langrisser.
    Heres the output:
    Spoiler warning:

    uCON64 2.1.0 Win32 (Visual C++) 1999-2017
    Uses code from various people. See 'developers.html' for more!
    This may be freely redistributed under the terms of the GNU Public License

    C:\Users\jazzmarazz\Saved Games\Sega Genesis\Langrisser (Japan).md

    Magicom/BIN/RAW

    00000100 53 45 47 41 20 4d 45 47 41 20 44 52 49 56 45 20 SEGA MEGA DRIVE
    00000110 28 43 29 54 2d 32 35 20 31 39 39 31 2e 4a 41 4e (C)T-25 1991.JAN
    00000120 83 89 83 93 83 4f 83 8a 83 62 83 54 81 5b 20 20 .....O...b.T.[
    00000130 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20
    00000140 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20
    00000150 4c 55 4e 47 52 49 53 53 45 52 20 20 20 20 20 20 LUNGRISSER
    00000160 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20
    00000170 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20
    00000180 47 4d 20 54 2d 32 35 31 30 33 20 2d 30 30 f8 27 GM T-25103 -00.'
    00000190 4a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 J
    000001a0 00 00 00 00 00 07 ff ff 00 ff 00 00 00 ff ff ff ................
    000001b0 52 41 f8 20 00 20 00 01 00 20 3f ff 20 20 20 20 RA. . ... ?.
    000001c0 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20
    000001d0 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20
    000001e0 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20
    000001f0 4a 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 J

    Genesis/Sega Mega Drive/Sega CD/32X/Nomad
    LUNGRISSER
    NCS
    Japan
    524288 Bytes (4.0000 Mb)

    Padded: Maybe, 27 Bytes (0.0002 Mb)
    Interleaved/Swapped: No
    Backup unit/emulator header: No
    Japanese game name: .....O...b.T.[
    Date: 1991.JAN
    Internal size: 4.0000 Mb
    ROM start: 00000000
    ROM end: 0007ffff
    Cartridge RAM: Yes, 15 kBytes (backup)
    RAM start: 00200001
    RAM end: 00203fff
    Product type: Game
    I/O device(s): 3 Button Pad
    Modem data:
    Memo:
    Product code: T-25103
    Version: 1.00
    Checksum: OK, 0xf827 (calculated) == 0xf827 (internal)
    Checksum (CRC32): 0xb6ea5016



    The info you want from this is ROM start, end, Ram start and end as well as ram size.
    So the cart has 15kBytes of RAM and it is located 'after' the ROM space. The ROM space being 0-0007FFFF and the ROM space being 200001-203FFF. This is good because some games have the RAM inside of the ROM space and those carts require extra hardware on the cart. But thats another story for another time.
    In any case, what you need is a 16kByte SRAM chip (or larger) such as the CY62256. the fact that the picture of Warsong has a CY6264 is very strange. I really cant explain that.
    I ran NBA live 96 and 95 through uCON and got the same info on the RAM (RAM start: 00200001, RAM end: 00203fff) which is good because they do need to match down to the very last bit.

    My suggestion is that you locate a 62256 and get back with us. Make sure that all of the address pins are connected properly as well, since the extra pins (A14-A15) will probably be hanging.

  10. #10
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    So, I have gotten it working. I switched it to the board of NFL 95, which has a larger SRAM chip (a CXK58257AP) which is four times as large as the one in NBA 96. This is larger than necessary, but too large apparently is not a problem in this case(some of the SNES games have copy protection that reads the SRAM size and will halt the game if it detects it's not the right size).

    For the record, NFL 95 has ram from 200001 to 20FFFF.

    Thanks a lot!

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    Awesome

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    Want test a game out? Sonic II dont use SRAM 1mb ROM Try with SRAM? see if crashes ?
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