Mister FPGA

[Retr0Dref]

Hello everyone, is it possible to read game cartridges directly from a Mister FPGA in order to have a physical experience?
Similarly, is reading a CDROM possible? Thanks in advance.

 

[esmith13]

[Sorta] Yes and yes.
You would find more info about that more easily on the MiSTer FPGA Forum though.

 

[Retr0Dref]

Excuse my ignorance but where is the FPGA forum?

 

[esmith13]

https://misterfpga.org/

 

[Retr0Dref]

Thanks

 

[AkikoKumagara]

I don't think it's technically possible exactly, it would be more like this process:

Insert cartridge -> Cartridge is dumped to Storage or to RAM -> ROM is accessed from Storage/RAM. Only very small ROMs would be feasible to load from RAM, though, because RAM is already limited.

This is how the SuperStation one from TakiUdon/Retro Remake is being made to work, too.

Functionally, it'd be the same experience after dumping the game the first time as inserting a cartridge/disc on real hardware, but the cartridge/disc wouldn't actually be, or need to be, read in real-time.

 

[esmith13]

I don't think it's technically possible exactly, it would be more like this process:

Insert cartridge -> Cartridge is dumped to Storage or to RAM -> ROM is accessed from Storage/RAM. Only very small ROMs would be feasible to load from RAM, though, because RAM is already limited.

This is how the SuperStation one from TakiUdon/Retro Remake is being made to work, too.

Functionally, it'd be the same experience after dumping the game the first time as inserting a cartridge/disc on real hardware, but the cartridge/disc wouldn't actually be, or need to be, read in real-time.

That's why my response to the first part (reading from carts) was [sorta] yes.

Cart dumpers that simply make the inserted cart available as mounted storage with a single ROM file listed can be sym-linked to the appropriate system game storage location on MiSTer. In that scenario, technically the ROM is being dumped to the dumper's built-in storage and then is provided to the connected computer as if it was a thumbdrive with a ROM on it. The game is never stored on the MiSTer, but saying you're "playing from the cartridge" is semantics in any of these kinds of scenarios, but no different than any aftermarket clone console that takes original carts yet doesn't support Flashcarts - the clear sign of a dumper-based console. A branded example of these kinds of dumpers would be the Retrode line of products.

 

[AkikoKumagara]

That's why my response to the first part (reading from carts) was [sorta] yes.

Cart dumpers that simply make the inserted cart available as mounted storage with a single ROM file listed can be sym-linked to the appropriate system game storage location on MiSTer. In that scenario, technically the ROM is being dumped to the dumper's built-in storage and then is provided to the connected computer as if it was a thumbdrive with a ROM on it. The game is never stored on the MiSTer, but saying you're "playing from the cartridge" is semantics in any of these kinds of scenarios, but no different than any aftermarket clone console that takes original carts yet doesn't support Flashcarts - the clear sign of a dumper-based console. A branded example of these kinds of dumpers would be the Retrode line of products.

Yeah, I definitely agree. I think it's valid people want to feel like they're playing from their carts, even if it's a little bit of a hack rather than playing directly from the cartridge. I think most people interested in it wouldn't care if tricks are employed to make it work in that way.