From: vsuhocki@cbnewsm.cb.att.com (v.p.suhocki) Subject: Copier FAQ v1.15 THE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS LIST TO GAME COPIERS FOR THE SNES/GENESIS ver 1.15 (Last Revision 11/16/93) Credits: Maintained by: vsuhocki@cbnewsm.cb.att.com <------(send submissions here) Edited by : ratnuts@panix.com skleung@csd.hku.hk Contributors : drknight@garg.campbell.ca.us cw531@slc4.ins.cwru.edu coyote@mentor.cc.purdue.edu joss@asterix.grenoble.hp.com This is being maintained because there are always questions on rec.games.video.* about what a game copier is, where to get one, how much is it, how does it work, etc. I'll try to update this as I get new info or corrections, but no guarantees. Some information might be incorrect, so if you have the correct info, please mail it to me and I'll include it and list your name at the top as one of the contributors. Table Of Contents a) Preface (taken from the rec.games.video FAQ) 1) What is a Game Copier? 2) What are the different kinds? 3) How does it work? 4) Are all machines compatible? 5) Where can I get GoldFinger codes? 6) What are some problems? 7) Is this thing legal? 8) How much does it cost? 9) Where can I get one? 10) Will it become obsolete? 11) News Updates 12) User Tips 13) Mailing List 14) Final Notes a. Preface I think the short part from the r.g.video FAQ is good for starters. (maintained by Ken Arromdee (arromdee@jyusenkyou.cs.jhu.edu)) Yes, it is legal to copy games for your own private use. No, it is not legal to give away or sell the copies. No, it is not legal to give away or sell the original and keep the copy. No, there is no known cheap way to copy CD-ROMs yet. Yes, they have legal uses: to copy your own games for backup, and to directly modify the game code without a Game Genie-type device. New developments such as Real Time Saving and Slow Motion add to the versatility of these copiers. Backup RAM copying is one great feature, it allows multiple save games instead of the 3 you are limited to in a game. It's questionable how many copierowners actually use them mostly for this. 1) What is a Game Copier? A game copier is a machine that hooks into your game system and takes the game that is in the cartridge and copies it to a diskette. 2) What are the different kinds? (Note: there are more than this, this is just a sample list) For SNES: Super Wild Card, Super Magicom, UFO Super Drive, Super Pro Fighter Q, Supercom Pro, Game Doctor SF, Supercom Partner, Dragon Boy. For Genesis: Super Magic Drive, Interceptor, Mega Disk, Magic Drive Plus (SMD can be used for SNES with an optional adaptor called the Super Magicom Drive) For SNES and Genesis: Multi-Game Hunter, Multi-Game Hunter/ASIC. (Note:Check your systems RAM physically. It won't show the extra 8 meg on startup. You should have 6 rows of chips and no empty clusters.) For SFC,SNES,MD,GEN,PCE,TG16,SuperGrafx,GB,NeoGeo: Multi-Game Doctor II 3) How does it work? The game copier takes the game from the ROM in the cartridge and then copies it out to a file on the diskette in the drive. Then it is your backup copy; if you ever lose your original, you have a backup to replace it. To play the game, you put the diskette in the drive and it loads it into memory and the game is able to be played. Games larger than 12 megabits (like SF2) need more than one diskette. The copier breaks the game into 2 parts which are copied to 2 diskettes. Games that have battery saves (like Zelda 3) save the games to diskette in files, so they are still retrievable and usable. The disks are MS-DOS format. 4) Are all machines compatible? No, some machines write in to their own format. But most follow the SMC or SMD format. There are utilities to convert between formats. The most compatible machine is the SWC. It can read all HiRom formats created by backup copiers, and most file formats by other copiers. 5) Where can I get GoldFinger codes? There is a server called Email a message with the text send SNES/game_name or send Genesis/game_name quit For the game name you must use dashes as spaces. Like Final Fantasy 2 is Final_Fantasy_II. 6) What are some problems? Some cartridges require a DSP chip made by the company, or a RISC chip (aka FX chip) in the cartridge. An adaptor can be bought, or the cartridge must be seated at the top for the game to access the chip. Also HiRom games are problems if your copier doesn't support them. There are 2 decoders, one for <=16M and one for >16M, make sure you get both. Now games are using an SRAM check to check the amount of SRAM avaiailable. Most cards have 8k-16k, but a copier usually has 256k. Most copiers need a patch to fix this, but the GDSF3, SWC, and SPF-Q automatically protect this problem. A list of games with DSP/FX/HiRom/SRAM is at the end of this section. Also, if Nintendo comes out with a hardware protection scheme, a new copier might be needed (or just another adaptor) but this is not likely because it adds to the cost of producing the cart, and not many software companies will spend the extra money just for the sake of stopping these backup devices when they will sell at least their expected number of units anyway. Game Size Extra Lord Monarch 4M HiRom Super Mario Kart 4M DSP Pilotwings 4M DSP F1 ROC 2 8M DSP Super Bomberman 4M HiRom StarFox 8M FX/RISC FX Trax 8M FX/RISC SF2 Turbo 20M HiRom Super Air Dual 4M DSP Exaust Heat II 8M DSP 3D Baseball 8M DSP Suzuka 8 Hours 8M DSP Votoms 8M DSP Barcode Battle 4M HiRom Dungeon Master 8M DSP Psycho Dream 8M HiRom SD Battle Soccer 8M HiRom Dragon Knight Group 8M HiRom Romance/3 Kingdoms 2 12M HiRom Ramna 1/2 Part 2 12M HiRom Europe Sensen 12M HiRom F1 GrandPrix 2 12M HiRom Super Baseball 2020 12M HiRom Wolf/Wild Deer 12M HiRom Taikon Rissiden 12M HiRom Elnard 12M HiRom Dragon Slayer 2 12M HiRom Final Fantasy 5 16M HiRom Castle Wolfenstein 8M HiRom World Heroes 16M HiRom Seventh Saga 12M HiRom Secret of Mana 16M HiRom Shooting Macross 8M HiRom Aladdin 10M SRAM R-Type III 16M SRAM Madden 94 8M SRAM Super Mario All-Stars 16M SRAM Art Of Fighting 16M HiRom Another problem with copiers (usually old ones) is FastRom. Fast rom refers to cartridges which require DRAM that run at speeds of at least 70ns. Many of the older backup systems used 80ns DRAM boards. The reason why these older backup systems will not run the crop of FastRom games is because the memory is too slow to handle the FastRom routines in the cartridge, and thus you will get black screens or glitches during a game. These FastRom routines are beings used because the SNES is a slow machine, and so to speed up the the newer games, FastRom is used to eliminate any potential slowdown of the system. The first FastRom game was Super Star Wars, since then there have been many games FastRom games released. All current backup systems can handle them, and you can get an upgrade chip or software patch if you don't have a FastRom decoder. 7) Is this thing legal? Technically, yes. You are within your rights to make an archival copy of your games for safekeeping in the event your original breaks. Piracy is an awful side-effect of these, but if you pirate the games, the companies will lose money, and then games will begin to suck, and then there will be no point of using game systems anymore. 8) How much does one cost? This is the bad part. They usually cost $300 and up, the lowest I've seen so far was $280 for a Super Wild Card 16MB from some guy who said he was going to get them at cost on a trip to Hong Kong. But usually expect to pay a higher price for a system that supports more, like the Super Wild Card 24MB is about $355, but for the MultiGame Hunter 24MB which supports SNES and Genesis is $370. The Multi-Game Doctor II which supports every known system (including Neo-Geo) costs $650. Check your company for what adaptors you get with the MGD2. 9) Where can I get one? The best place I know of is National Console Support. They sell all of the above systems, at decent prices. They also have lifetime support of the system, and a monthly newsletter. They can be reached at: Voice: (718) 523-5774 (9-6 weekdays) Mail: (917) 788-0699 Fax: (718) 523-8414 BBS: PRIVATE (If your are a NCS customer, email ratnuts for the #) You can also email ratnuts@panix.com for an info-pak with color pictures of their most popular systems from NCS about their systems and prices. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ skleung@csd.hku.hk sells systems at cost prices and mails them to you from Hong Kong. His prices are cheaper than NCS. Some prices include the Super Wild Card 24MB for $330, the MGH/ASIC 24MB $330, and the Magic Drive Plus 24MB $345. No power adaptors are shipped with his products, and to pay you must use direct/wild money transfer. If you have more questions, please email him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Console Connection sells MGH's and parts only. They are available at (214)306-3640. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beyond Computers sells consoles for most systems. Info: 212-832-0078 Mail: 917-462-5071 Order: 800-851-9176 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Console Repairs repairs ALL console systems at reasonable prices. Call for more information on prices for each individual system repairs. (312)947-0107 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 10) Will it become obsolete? Well, all things do become obsolete, but these new systems will last as long as the Genesis and SNES do. All current systems are upgradeable to 24 meg and 32 meg to support the new games. The MGH is a good example of an upgradeable system. For example, the first batch of MGHs released in the spring of '92 are able to run high rom games with the use of the high rom adaptor. On the Super Magicom, you had to replace the mother board with The Super Magicom+ or Super Wild Card upgrade board in order to backup and run the high rom games. But the system was still upgradeable though the upgrade path was not as simple as the MGH. 11) News Updates ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Game Doctor SF3 was released recently. It now occupies about 50% of the copier market in Hong Kong. It has 24MB or 32MB, supports all DSP/HiRom games, and can play StarFox. It is MultiLingual, has advanced OS, and superior backup features. It is the most user-friendly system. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Magic Drive Plus has been released from the creators of the Super Magic Drive. Also known as the Super Magic Drive 2, this has 24 megs and can copy all Genesis games, including SF2:SCE. But it can't play SF2:SCE from a backup. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Super Pro Fighter now has a Turbo cart which when plugged in, along with a 24MB ram upgrade, will let users backup and play SF2:Turbo. Also there have been similar upgrades released for the UFO and MGH. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A new dummy cart with 8MB of ram will be released for current MGH systems so they can backup 20-24MB games. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- FFe (the makers of the SWC) has released the "Turbo Upgrade Kit" for current SWC systems. It consists of a 24MB ram board, DOS 2.6CC, and a U12 18CV8 Peel. Estimated costs are between $135-$150. Check with your dealer for possible trade-in's of current 16MB ram boards for credit. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The MGH/ASIC has been released. This is just an update of the current MGH and has an ASIC chip and a new SNES decoder chip. It is fully compatible with the MGH. All current accesories for the MGH work with the MGH/A. 2 bases were released: A grey one, and a black one. The black one includes both hirom decoders and can play all games, while the grey one only includes the one for <=16MB games. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) User Tips a) skleung@csd.hku.hk (Michael Klauser) writes that the UFO Super Drive reads slowly, and to make it faster you should use the internal format command, but that is not MS-DOS compatible. To attain a maximum of 29 seconds for an 8M file, you should use FDFORMAT and make the following batch file called f144.bat: fdformat b:/u d16 g100 x1 y3 For the MGH: fdformat b: g42 t82 n20 d16 x1 y3 b) ratnuts@panix.com (Peter Mui) writes on how to make the cable to transfer files between a PC and a SWC. Get a RS232 DB M/M 25 pin cable. Remove pins 12, 14, 15, and 16. This removes the volts sent by the computer when it is turned off. For an Amiga to SWC cable, get an assembled RS232 DB 25 M/M and switch the wires from pin 1 to 13 on one end. You will have to connect the modified end to the Amiga and the unmodified end to the SWC. For more information on proper assembly, contact Peter. 13) Mailing List A new mailing list has started for the Copier FAQ. If you want to get each new version as it comes out, please send email to me with the subject: Copier Mailing List (your.email@address.here) Then you will be added and get each new revision as it comes out. 14) Final Notes Thanks for reading this. If you have any suggestions, corrections, tips, additional questions, etc, please e-mail them to the address at the top of the FAQ. DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM ADVOCATE OR SUPPORT PIRACY. GAME COPIERS ARE FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES ONLY. NO ONE WILL BE HELD LIABLE FOR WHAT OWNERS DO IN THE PRIVACY OF THEIR OWN HOMES. SOFTWARE PIRACY IS A CRIME. I WILL NOT AID OR ABET ANYONE WITH THE INTENT TO PIRATE SOFTWARE. THIS FILE IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. Thank you, and have a nice day. -- /vsuhocki@cbnewsm.cb.att.com|Disclaimer: My opinions are my own, and \ |attbl!cbnewsm!vsuhocki |not affiliated, or related to my employer's| \PGP key available by finger|-------------------------------------v1.4--/