How do you 'dump' a ROM? Can I do it?

batfastad · Post by **batfastad** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 1:12 am

Hi everyone

I've been using ZSNES on and off for about 18 months now.
It's superb! And I'm so glad development is continuing!
I love being able to play all my old games straight off my laptop. Even though the only games I ever really play are ones I owned anyway.

But I was wondering... how do you go about dumping a SNES rom?

I'm a huge huge Mario Kart fan (if anyone wants to play me over Netplay and is prepared to tell me how to do it, then just drop me a PM

) and obviously all your best times for time trials and progress in the game are stored within the cartridge.

And then playing ZSNES the progress and everything (correct me if I'm wrong) appears to go into the .srm files.

Is it possible to dump my Mario Kart cartridge contents to a rom and also my saved game progress as a .srm file?

I'm guessing you need to do some pretty cool re-wiring and kit to do it.
And I know naff all about electronics (I'd love to learn how to follow a schematic though in the future), and naff all about programming in proper languages (I only do web apps

though one day I will learn proper programming).

Any ideas / suggestions?
Thanks

Joe Camacho · Post by **Joe Camacho** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 2:41 am

Search on google for "rom copiers/dumpers".

Blasingame · Post by **Blasingame** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 4:06 am

wasn't there some German guy that made a carterage eep rom re-writer? so you could erase the rom information of a game cratridge and replace it with another game?

I would totally invest in another SNES console (sold my old one for 64, back in the day)if i could exchange roms among cartridges.

Gil_Hamilton · Post by **Gil_Hamilton** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:49 am

Blasingame wrote:wasn't there some German guy that made a carterage eep rom re-writer? so you could erase the rom information of a game cratridge and replace it with another game?

Ummmm, no.

SNES cartridges don't USE EEPROMs. They use non-erasable ROMs.

smkdan · Post by **smkdan** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:59 am

Ummmm, no.

SNES cartridges don't USE EEPROMs. They use non-erasable ROMs.

Ofcourse they don't use EEPROMS. I think he meant a game cartridge fitted with a socket for an EEPROM where you could switch out your games.

I don't think you can dump the SRAM. I think if you try to dump it, you supply it with a voltage from the battery along with the one from the reader which kills it apparently. If you disconnect the battery you lose your data. At least this is what (as I remember it) holding back people trying to get the encryption key out of a certain arcade board; I'd figure the SNES is the same.

If you can get the map SMK uses to find time data you can hex edit it in. The cups can't take too long to finish.

Also, as you probably figured by name I look Mario Kart too

. As far as netplaying goes, Zbattle simplifies it alot but it's down right now...Try the sticky in the netplay forum. I'm always up for a race with a decent player.

Mark57Raider · Post by **Mark57Raider** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 8:10 am

smkdan wrote:
Also, as you probably figured by name I look Mario Kart too . As far as netplaying goes, Zbattle simplifies it alot but it's down right now...Try the sticky in the netplay forum. I'm always up for a race with a decent player.

Or you could use Z-Net, which some players are already playing on.

Gil_Hamilton · Post by **Gil_Hamilton** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 8:20 am

smkdan wrote:
Ummmm, no.

SNES cartridges don't USE EEPROMs. They use non-erasable ROMs.
Ofcourse they don't use EEPROMS. I think he meant a game cartridge fitted with a socket for an EEPROM where you could switch out your games.

Given every time I've seen someone ask that question before, it's been about rewriting standard-issue SNES carts...

I don't think you can dump the SRAM. I think if you try to dump it, you supply it with a voltage from the battery along with the one from the reader which kills it apparently. If you disconnect the battery you lose your data. At least this is what (as I remember it) holding back people trying to get the encryption key out of a certain arcade board; I'd figure the SNES is the same.

It's probably highly different, actually.
Remember, the arcade setup was MEANT to be hard to dump. If it was easy, it'd make a lousy copy-protection mechanism.

I'm pretty sure(but not 100% positive) that more than one SNES copier included SRAM backup functionality.

creaothceann · Post by **creaothceann** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 9:10 am

http://snesdev.romhack.de/

smkdan · Post by **smkdan** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 9:21 am

It's probably highly different, actually.
Remember, the arcade setup was MEANT to be hard to dump. If it was easy, it'd make a lousy copy-protection mechanism.

That's true. I just figured that from both forms being SRAM based rather than any counter measures they may have loaded onto it. TBH, I have zero hardware knowledge. I can write stuff for the SNES but damn if I know what's happening behind the scenes.

Or you could use Z-Net, which some players are already playing on.

Could you upload the IRC script (or whatever it is) somewhere? Links are still dead.

batfastad · Post by **batfastad** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 12:05 pm

It turns out I know absolutely nothing about the technical details of all of this.

I thought it would be a relateively simple procedure with the right hardware.
Copying what people did when they did original dumps of the games.

There does seem to be a whole load of information on here about the hardware needed for copying cartridges...
http://www.robwebb.clara.co.uk/backup/

Nightcrawler · Post by **Nightcrawler** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 1:14 pm

Cart copiers can dump SRAM saves as well. I don't know why you would think they can't. The copier can read whatever is adressable on the SNES busses. The SNES can read that data and so can a copier. The only time you couldn't is if you had to access a special chip or other intermediary device to get to the SRAM.

smkdan · Post by **smkdan** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 6:22 am

I don't know why you would think they can't. The copier can read whatever is adressable on the SNES busses. The SNES can read that data and so can a copier.

...

Makes me wonder what I was saying...Sorry for the misinformation. Shouldn't have let that stick while reading about screwy hardware.

Cart copiers can dump SRAM saves as well.

I had a look at that webpage and I'm surprised they can do this (along with coprocessor plugins) considering the part of the market they were popular with. I thought they were half assed pieces of equipment slapped together in some pirate's free time but some of them are pretty impressive.

PHoNyMiKe · Post by **PHoNyMiKe** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 6:41 am

http://www.tototek.com/pio/main1/SUBMEN ... tegoryID=9

game doctor sf3 for $30. it's used, and you gotta pay like $20 extra for shipping, but damn, you'll be loading r3ggeD Snez hax0r rawms off floppy disks in no time (just like the good 'ol days.) it won't read/write the cart sram, but of course the copier's sram can be saved on floppy for later use.

the gdsf6 and 7 will do a cart's sram. it's pretty slick. edit a game's sram on pc, then upload it to the cart's sram. $50 you won't regret paying... until one day years later, after buying 3 of them, you realize you have not played any of them in years.