Gameboy Development Forum

goolash · 2018-07-17 12:29:39

Hello everyone, that will be my first post here

I got some spare cards based on HuC1a controller that I would love to turn into a DIY flash cardridges.
First issue that I see, is that I cannot trace the reset pin on HUC1a controller.

So her's the question, is it possible to create DIY flashcard based on HUC1a?

JS7777 · 2018-08-06 01:42:32

The HuC1 is made by Hudson Soft. It's very similar to a mbc1 but it supports infared LED input/output.

So the pinout could be the same.

Tauwasser · 2018-08-09 13:23:59

No, the pinout is completely different:

The reset pin should be 28, which is marked #RESET?#WP in the schematic, because of conflicting information, but it should be reset.

Good luck with your project

goolash · 2018-09-05 11:28:17

OMG !!! What a great news I actually gave up any thoughts om my HuC1 flashcards and came here without any hopes !
Ok I need to order flash memories and sort that out !
Tauwasser I look for any info on Huc1 for a log time, thank you so much!

If I got this right (from the scheme above), HUC1 can handle only 512kB (4Mbit) flash ? I canot see the A19 pinout
However oryginaly on my HUC1 cartridges was mounted with 1MB (8Mbit) ROM - KM23C8000DG.
Acording to spec ,this ROM has the A19 in PIN1. This goes straight to Huc's PIN22.
So in theory Huc1 should be OK with 1MB (8Mbit) ROMs .... ?

Last edited by goolash (2018-09-05 16:25:37)

Tauwasser · 2018-09-07 14:50:28

Sorry, I just didn't update the schematic symbol in a long time. Pin 22 is EA19 as seen on DMG-TFDN PCBs.

I wanted to update the schematic when I finally got around to testing what each of the other pins is as well.

EDIT: Just to clarify: HuC1A can deal with 8MBit ROMs, but potentially even more can be addressed. That's part of my hardware research, but I'm somewhat stuck on MMM01 still xD

Last edited by Tauwasser (2018-09-07 14:53:51)

goolash · 2018-09-14 04:31:30

So I'v done the mod. I used AM29F016B with SOP44. The idea was to do it just like on reinerziegler's page.
As a base I used Japan Pokemon Cart https://gbhwdb.gekkio.fi/cartridges/DMG … kio-1.html
It is tricky. If you want to close the card you need to move the RAM protector or cut the cover lid.
Temporary I soldier the flash chip like on the PDF guide https://gb-archive.github.io/reinerzieg … 5_Cart.pdf

It fits the programmer just about right. The downside I cannot close the lid. But that is just temporary.
I use this DIY programmer and the software that comes along https://gb-archive.github.io/reinerzieg … GB_Flasher
In the software that goes along with programmer there is no Huc1a as a RAM controller.
Programming it self goes soothly up to 1mb ROMs. Unfortunately games that requires RAM, will not start, or will hang at some point.
However games that dont use RAM seems to work just fine.

So now I'm wondering if there's some sort of solution here.
I'm not in to coding so I wont be able to add the Huc1a option just by my self (the source is avalible here https://sourceforge.net/projects/gbcf/).
or maybe there is some hardware solution here ?

Tauwasser · 2018-09-20 13:21:58

I actually maintain a copy of the software on github: https://github.com/Tauwasser/GBCartFlasher

The reason that there is no HuC1 option in the tool is that for reading it behaves very much like the other MBCs.
I'm not sure if the HuC1 actually activates RAM differently than the rest of the mappers.

However, on your cartridge, there is 256 kBit of SRAM. Some games might work differently than expected if they try to change RAM banks or if they don't expect RAM banks to change, since that is possible with HuC1.
Maybe you should test games that are known to only use 64kBit of SRAM and go from there.

goolash · 2018-11-07 01:47:53

OK, so yesterday I decided to perform this mod again (it was second attempt and I'v lost few pins while doing it).
It was a bit fuss, but eventually ..... IT IS ALIVE!!!!
I did not find any pictures or information on Huc1 flash cartridge in internets , so there you go, the world first public presentation
(yes, I had to drill the flash chip in order to get to the broken pins)
http://oi65.tinypic.com/296je6x.jpg

btw no issues with programming the cart, everything works great!

I still need to perform more test. If there will be any issues I'l update that post.

Thankyou Tauwasser for support!

Last edited by goolash (2018-11-07 02:00:00)

Tauwasser · 2018-11-07 17:58:57

Congratulations! I like how you didn't give up after the pins broke off and instead drilled into the chip.

goolash · 2018-11-12 13:20:51

Tauwasser wrote:
Congratulations! I like how you didn't give up after the pins broke off and instead drilled into the chip.

yes, not relay cleanest job but it works.
apropos, test results are great, everything works great.
Just wondering, the original ROM does not work on this cart. So unfortunately no going back to Huc1 games

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#1 2018-07-17 12:29:39

Flashcard based on HUC1a

#2 2018-08-06 01:42:32

Re: Flashcard based on HUC1a

#3 2018-08-09 13:23:59

Re: Flashcard based on HUC1a

#4 2018-09-05 11:28:17

Re: Flashcard based on HUC1a

#5 2018-09-07 14:50:28

Re: Flashcard based on HUC1a

#6 2018-09-14 04:31:30

Re: Flashcard based on HUC1a

#7 2018-09-20 13:21:58

Re: Flashcard based on HUC1a

#8 2018-11-07 01:47:53

Re: Flashcard based on HUC1a

#9 2018-11-07 17:58:57

Re: Flashcard based on HUC1a

#10 2018-11-12 13:20:51

Re: Flashcard based on HUC1a

Tauwasser wrote:

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