NES/SNES Mini Hacking Guide (Hackchi2 CE)

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Okay, well, someone ask about hacking the SNES Mini around here and apparently there was no guide (honestly, Hackchi2 is so easy to use you almost don't need one) so I'm making one.

First off, thank ClusterM and TeamShinkansen (@Cluster) because they made the tool we are going to use (https://github.com/TeamShinkansen/hakchi2/releases).

Also,@Cluster has a (now 2 year old) thread with an FAQ in it that is still very useful, I will NOT be repeating any still working information from his FAQ so if you have a question, https://gbatemp.net/threads/hakchi2-nes-mini-very-simple-pimp-tool.456256/, check the author's thread FIRST.

You need to first get the latest, which as of this writing is version: 3.5.3 - and get the installer for your ease of use. Release is OK too if you're not a complete newbie, I guess. I personally use release, but this guide will go through the steps for Installer instead.

Hackchi at one point in time was solely for the NES Mini, but it has been updated for the SNES while now.

You will need:

SNES Mini x1

SNES Mini USB Cable x1 (it is part of your power supply)

A PC with Windows

ROM images (I will not be providing or telling you where to obtain these sorry)

Nothing else because the wonder that is Hackchi2 CE can download anything else you need for you!

When you boot up that installer, you will see:



You want Release, not Debug, whether you want a portable install or not is up to you but I will not be covering it because most people will just want the standard.

Click Next, Install and when it's done -> close.

When you start Hackchi from your start menu for the first time, you will see this:



A few things to Note:

1. At the bottom, it says OFFLINE which means my SNES Mini is not detected at the present moment.

2. 120.0 KB / ??? will usually reflect accurately the space in your SNES Mini that is USED vs FREE when an SNES Mini is plugged into your USB and Hackchi2 CE detects it.

And this is what you will see with your SNES (or NES) Mini plugged into the USB and turned on when the Hackchi kernel is properly installed (later):



In order for Hackchi2CE to properly detect your SNES Mini, that is exactly what we have to do - install that kernel SO

Go to Kernel -> Install / Repair and give it the OK. A black console window should pop up, saying something about installing drivers, after that Windows may ask your approval to install. Give it all the OK and eventually you will see:



Follow these instructions to the letter (if your SNES Mini is not OFF, turn it off now).

Hackchi will then automatically begin uploading the kernel and rebooting your SNES Mini if you followed the directions correctly.

After a few minutes, it will be DONE and you should get a congratulatory message and your SNES Mini will be ON. Hackchi2 will automatically detect your SNES Mini as well and will say ONLINE (or SSH) in the bottom left and accurately reflect the game loadout and internal memory of your Mini. Congratulations, your Mini is hacked (Hackchi'd!)!

Unfortunately, it's still stock! I'm going to cover now the advanced features, including customizing your Mini using Hackchi2... right after I have coffee and charge this computer.

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PART 2, Customizing It.

So, your Mini is hacked. You could just add some games straight away and go, but let me tell you why that isn't a good idea. By default, the Mini runs an emulator called 'Canoe' which runs the stock games that come with the Mini pretty well. And that's about all it runs pretty well. There is no guarantee that any ROM you add to the Mini will run correctly in Canoe, if at all (compatability list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...8t2aV5cVswYlnsdKxn9xoIW2Y/edit#gid=2014317767). And Canoe only runs SNES games, so if you want to run other systems on your Mini you are SOL.

This is where HackChi's mod feature comes in handy. With it, you can install the all-in-one emulation framework Retroarch!

Up at the top of Hackchi, with your Mini turned on and plugged into your USB, go to Modules -> KMFD's Mod Hub.

This tool, made by KMFDManic, allows you to add - a lot - more than emulators as you can see.



You can customize the backgrounds, UI, add cheats, download helpful tools, and even install some compatible freeware games (Quake, Doom, etc). For now, click the Retroarch tab! Presently, it is Version 177 Extreme.



Click 'Download and Install Module'. It will download, and install Retroarch for you, and then reboot our SNES Mini automatically. It may take up to 2 minutes.

Next to that, you should see the KMFD Cores tab. Click it.



These 'cores' can be thought of as individual emulators, which when added to Retroarch allow you to run a multitude of different systems INCLUDING a better SNES emulator than Canoe. That is what we're going to do as an example.

Scroll down the list until you see 'Snes9x 2018 (Snes9x)' and click the name.



As usual, click 'Download and Install Module' and wait for the process to complete.

For now, X (close) out of KMFD's Mod Hub and return to the Hackchi menu.

As an example, I will now add one of my favorite ROM hacks (which I patched beforehand) : A Link to the Past, Parallel Worlds: Remodel.

To do this, I would click 'Add More Games', navigate to the ROM in my computer, and click it.



It shows up as, basically, a Link to the Past. Now, to assign Snes9x to be the default Core for this game, right click it and click 'Select Emulation Core...'



As you can see, our Snes9x is here along with a few other options including Canoe if we select our game title. Select 'Snes9x' and notice that Hackchi automatically changes the 'command line' for us. Click apply. Click Close.

Now the game will re-appear under the heading 'Custom Games' in Hackchi's main menu. I can now change its box art and title data to something more appropriate if I want. If I change its title to 'Link to the Past - Parallel Worlds, and then hit 'Google' next to Boxart, Hackchi will automatiically search for and list as many appropriate box arts as it can find. I chose,



This one, isn't that nice?

And now I can select 'Synchronize Selected Games with NES/SNES MINI' and after a few moments, it will be added to the Mini's main menu and ready to play at any time!

This is the basics of how to use Hackchi2 CE. There are many more features (folders for your systems, adding systems other than SNES via cores, even potentially adding Netplay (...with some cheap extra hardware for your USB port), cheats, and more but unless I get poked a lot, I will leave this guide as it is because it gives you what you need to add games and systems. There are other guides out there on Hackchi2 CE also.

If you have questions, ask. If I missed something, or need to make a correction, PM me!

FINITO.

 

Glad to help!