Super Mario Game & Watch Hacking

thebeaver · Apr 18, 2021

subcon959 said:
I managed to successfully unlock my G&W firmware using an STM32 programmer.

Once unlocked, it's possible to compile and flash a port of the retro-go emulator collection and a handful of roms.

The emulation is surprisingly good, making the games fully playable at 60fps with sound.

Currently supports Game Boy, NES, SMS and Game Gear.

The G&W only has 1MB of storage available, but it's possible to solder a 16MB replacement instead which should allow for a good selection of roms.

Be very careful de-soldering the SPI flash chip as it's easy to lift pads and break traces. Then solder in the new 16MB chip.

Now when you re-flash the chip you can fit all the larger roms easily.. 16MB is a lot for NES games, mine isn't even half full with 24.

** All credit to stacksmashing for figuring out how to break the device open, and kbeckmann for porting the emulator.

1) Did you connect the pin without welds?

2) Is there any way to use an arduino to program it?

thx

subcon959 · Apr 18, 2021

thebeaver said:
1) Did you connect the pin without welds?

2) Is there any way to use an arduino to program it?

thx

1. Yes but I recommend to solder as it's more reliable connection
2. I only know about stm32 programmer but I think people have used rPi so maybe?

hippy dave · Apr 18, 2021

thebeaver said:
2) Is there any way to use an arduino to program it?

I've only seen programming code for debug probes (eg STM32) and the Raspberry Pi, available here.
You could ask on the reddit or the discord if anyone has done it with arduino.

aerios169 · Apr 26, 2021

Uh mm proably is not right for the end user I bought one for my brother for xmas

PaperTwinkies · Apr 26, 2021

Imma wait until its a more friendly way to do it because I'm not taking apart my Game & Watch :wacko:

WiiHomebrew+Snes · Apr 26, 2021

I honestly doubt things are gonna get any easier then this, but who knows

PaperTwinkies · Apr 26, 2021

WiiHomebrew+Snes said:
I honestly doubt things are gonna get any easier then this, but who knows

I hope it does though, I'm thinking about just plugging it in to a PC and running an .exe file.

BlazeMasterBM · Apr 26, 2021

wow. Well, this just shows that anything and everything will be hacked.

KleinesSinchen · Apr 26, 2021

Oofios said:
I hope it does though, I'm thinking about just plugging it in to a PC and running an .exe file.

The method described here is how you "plug it into a PC". Since there are no data lines from the Game&Watch USB-C port to the CPU and/or the flash, a simple USB-cable will not do the trick (unless I'm completely missing something or misunderstood the talk on rC3 "remote Chaos Experience").

Sadly I didn't have any luck. I connected the Game&Watch to a Raspberry Pi with probes, set up the software until the first script told me everything was good and only got "check debug connection" error (connection was good and verified with a multimeter – I have no plans to solder wires to the console). This goes beyond my skills without further instructions which are supposedly only available on Discord. Maybe I do have to buy a debugger and try it that way, because this is better documented on freely available sources.

mike031 · May 1, 2021

Hey guys, i should received my G&W soon and was looking about its hack.
I tried to have a look on the memory extension by replacing the original one with MX25U12835FM2I-10G but was really surprised to see that it is out of stock everywhere....
I am also looking for the STM32 programmer and was not sure about the exact type needed?
Soldering is not a problem for me so i will directly solder wiring on the board and maybe found a way to build an external connector idk (new 0.3mm soldering iron at work will be useful

)

Edit: I was finally able to flash my GW not without any issues^^
Maybe because i used a cheap ST clone: https://www.amazon.fr/Youmile-St-Link-Programme-téléchargement-Programmation/dp/B07QBLNDPM/ref=sr_1_8?__mk_fr_FR=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&dchild=1&keywords=stlink&qid=1620509153&sr=8-8
And despite soldered wiring i still have bad connections, but i built a cable first with proper connector and then, i used cabling delivered with STLink. I had to play a little bit with connection/disconnection of the STLink on Windows too to install the homebrew launcher.
I just saw that sometimes GW goes in blank screen after reloading games on retro-go.
Here a complete video for homebrew launcher + retro go installation:

Paccc · Jun 15, 2021

Got in an order for a G&W for €20 so I'm all in.

Did anyone find any alternative chips or sources where you can buy the extended flash?
It's out of stock everywhere. Less than 16M should work aswell.

hippy dave · Jun 15, 2021

Paccc said:
Got in an order for a G&W for €20 so I'm all in.

Did anyone find any alternative chips or sources where you can buy the extended flash?
It's out of stock everywhere. Less than 16M should work aswell.

ebay seemed best for individual chips when I was looking.

MikaDubbz · Jun 16, 2021

The new Zelda one is just begging for Link's Awakening to be swapped out with Link's Awakening DX and for Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons to be added.

hippy dave · Jun 16, 2021

MikaDubbz said:
The new Zelda one is just begging for Link's Awakening to be swapped out with Link's Awakening DX and for Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons to be added.

Yeah, Link's Awakening but not DX is a weird choice - I guess it could just be to go with the green colour scheme?

MikaDubbz · Jun 17, 2021

hippy dave said:
Yeah, Link's Awakening but not DX is a weird choice - I guess it could just be to go with the green colour scheme?

My thought was that they didn't want this device to have one of it's 3 games mention a feature that you can't actually utilize with the device, and that is connecting with a Game Boy Printer to print the photos you collect in DX.

musashisenkun · Jun 20, 2021

I just got my G&W SMB. I have a Raspberry Pi 3B. I have my tri-wing screwdriver and a bunch of jumper wires. I can solder.

Can someone help point me to a guide or tutorial on how to hack my G&W just using the Raspi and what I have on hand?

I found this video, he makes it seem easy but it's in Chinese and there's zero information.

Vendo232 · Jun 25, 2021

Hello Folks: here is a guide how to use Raspberry pi only and no soldering to add more game on Game and Watch.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kGac4ohnkP8rjvv0B2MbsQpdZBbfyIty/view?usp=sharing

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

musashisenkun said:
I just got my G&W SMB. I have a Raspberry Pi 3B. I have my tri-wing screwdriver and a bunch of jumper wires. I can solder.

Can someone help point me to a guide or tutorial on how to hack my G&W just using the Raspi and what I have on hand?

I found this video, he makes it seem easy but it's in Chinese and there's zero information.

see my guide to do that

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kGac4ohnkP8rjvv0B2MbsQpdZBbfyIty/view?usp=sharing

musashisenkun · Jun 30, 2021

Thank you you the guide! It's a great step by step, I see that there's a lot of typing (or cut and paste) for the different scripts. Would you know where to find this "Backup and Restore Tools" GUI that combines all the scripts? It's the one used in the video above. That would make it easier without needing to ssh from a PC.

Vendo232 said:
Hello Folks: here is a guide how to use Raspberry pi only and no soldering to add more game on Game and Watch.

thebeaver · Jul 3, 2021

I'm looking for roms, I'd likes to upload all Game & Watch Roms and maybe all Hasbro Tiger Electronic-like game... Which extension do I have to find?

thebeaver · Jul 3, 2021

Vendo232 said:
Hello Folks: here is a guide how to use Raspberry pi only and no soldering to add more game on Game and Watch.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kGac4ohnkP8rjvv0B2MbsQpdZBbfyIty/view?usp=sharing

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

see my guide to do that

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kGac4ohnkP8rjvv0B2MbsQpdZBbfyIty/view?usp=sharing

I didn't understand a thing.
I stucked on point 15. Do I have to connect the battery on G&W?

Edit.
On point 14:
14. cd game-and-watch-backup

The terminal open opt/game-and-watch-backup folder

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