Super Mario Game & Watch Hacking

[subcon959]

Putting mario 3 and pokemon red on it would be a dream and I'm willing to try it.

Pokemon Red will not fit on the stock flash as it is a 1MB ROM. The only way to play that is to de-solder the original chip and replace it with a compatible bigger one, and that is not an easy job unless you are experienced with SMD soldering.

 

[subcon959]

So Tim Schuerewegen has been working on a dedicated G&W emulator for the system and it's getting to the point where it's worth showing off..

 

[pLaYeR^^]

Any news or guides on this? What's the status of the custom board?

 

[hippy dave]

Oop just checked that Tim dude's youtube again and he's made loads of progress https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT0vVH_aI2TmA4NeRxL-rnw
Happily, he's patched his homebrew launcher into the stock firmware, so you can still run the standard clock mode and built-in games, before pressing buttons to run his G&W emulator which uses converted mame roms.
Link for his software: https://www.schuerewegen.tk/gnw/
Dunno if there's enough in the way of guides on there. e: oh, looks like the actual emulator isn't available online yet either.

 

[subcon959]

Yeah, I think you can message him on discord and get a copy to beta test, but I haven't messed with my G&W in a while as it stopped charging the battery and it's a pain to use plugged in.

 

[hippy dave]

Yeah, I think you can message him on discord and get a copy to beta test, but I haven't messed with my G&W in a while as it stopped charging the battery and it's a pain to use plugged in.

Oh shiz, hardware damage?
Good tip about the beta testing tho, will look into that if I get any of the hacking shiz done before he finishes a release.

 

[subcon959]

Oh shiz, hardware damage?

I'm not sure to be honest, I think part of the charging circuit might've been fried when I was poking around with the test hooks. I have another one but it's still sealed and I prefer to leave it un-modded. I noticed some shops were selling off stock for £29.99 so I hope it doesn't mean they will be hard to come by in the future.

 

[pLaYeR^^]

Is the retro go emulator capable of saving games (GB and other)?.

 

[subcon959]

Is the retro go emulator capable of saving games (GB and other)?.

It has save states, another reason why it's recommended to upgrade the flash so you don't run into problems with storage space.

 

[pLaYeR^^]

It has save states, another reason why it's recommended to upgrade the flash so you don't run into problems with storage space.

Which flash chip is needed for upgrading? Is it possible to update to more than 16 MB. How difficult is the soldering process? I have already installed an IPS screen in my GBA, but I think its harder.

 

[hippy dave]

Which flash chip is needed for upgrading? Is it possible to update to more than 16 MB. How difficult is the soldering process? I have already installed an IPS screen in my GBA, but I think its harder.

https://www.reddit.com/r/GameAndWatchMods/ Look down the sidebar on the right for the list of Macronix chips. The 16MB are the easiest in terms of the software, because it doesn't require any changes. They're also the easiest in terms of soldering because they have legs like the chip that's being replaced. The 64MB needs patches to the software before you flash it, but that's available now for the current software, and will be figured out by the clever people for any other software that's coming. The 64MB chip also doesn't have legs, so is apparently noticeably harder to solder, but not impossibly so. I haven't done any of the soldering yet so I can't speak personally of the difficulty. (I haven't seen any discussion of the 32MB chip, software patching would be the same as for 64MB, I don't know if the chip has legs).

 

[pLaYeR^^]

https://www.reddit.com/r/GameAndWatchMods/ Look down the sidebar on the right for the list of Macronix chips. The 16MB are the easiest in terms of the software, because it doesn't require any changes. They're also the easiest in terms of soldering because they have legs like the chip that's being replaced. The 64MB needs patches to the software before you flash it, but that's available now for the current software, and will be figured out by the clever people for any other software that's coming. The 64MB chip also doesn't have legs, so is apparently noticeably harder to solder, but not impossibly so. I haven't done any of the soldering yet so I can't speak personally of the difficulty. (I haven't seen any discussion of the 32MB chip, software patching would be the same as for 64MB, I don't know if the chip has legs).

You have soldered the 16MB chip or none?

 

[hippy dave]

You have soldered the 16MB chip or none?

I haven't done either, @subcon959 has done the 16MB.

 

[subcon959]

The reason the soldering is tricky is it's easy to rip the pads off when removing the old flash, and also the chip itself is extremely small. If you are young with good eyes and steady hands then it's probably a lot easier. I would class the 16MB one as easy to medium, and the 64MB as medium to difficult (due to needing better equipment and more experience).

 

[tfocosta]

Kudos! This is awesome! Thank you so much for sharing!

 

[subcon959]

Thought it was worth a quick update. There is now a homebrew launcher that you can run from an otherwise stock looking G&W..

PRESS LEFT+A+GAME to launch the homebrew menu..

From here there are a few options as well as the launcher

There are a few homebrew apps being developed, we just have the Retro-Go emulator for now..

The next time the G&W is turned on it will go back to the stock firmware.

 

[hippy dave]

Yep the homebrew launcher looks great, and is what I was hoping for in terms of leaving the stock features intact. That Tim dude also released a preview version of his emulator for Game& Watch (and eventually other similar LCD games), it only plays a few games, and you have to convert them first with his converter.

I got a soldering mat and some leaded solder the other day, I need to start brushing up my skills and get a couple more things in before I start work on the G&W.

 

[subcon959]

I finally got another G&W so I did the flash upgrade yesterday. It only took 5 minutes this time as the old chip came off pretty easily. I highly recommend some no-clean liquid flux to make the job a piece of cake.

 

[kgbk]

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

Hey, Where did you get those probes from?

 

[subcon959]

Hey, Where did you get those probes from?

There are loads on ebay, but be mindful that repeated use will damage the contacts on the PCB so it's not a recommended method. It's also the number one cause for failed flashes. If possible it's always better to solder instead.