From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chip Archive Cart/Box Scans Articles Peripherals Prototypes Unreleased Games Rarities Homebrew Emulation. Email: [email protected]. IRC: #snes on irc.freenode.net. SNES Central on Twitter: @snescentral. PCB Board - SHVC-1J3M-20 SHVC-1J3M-20 This PCB has a single rom chip, 64k SRAM, and a MAD-1 chip. All PCB information based on a document. A Brief History of the SNES Revisions: While there is only one board revision of the SNES Mini, the original Super Nintendo / Super Famicom consoles had many different motherboard revisions and chip changes! Most of the original SNES revisions used two video chips to produce a signal and these have been nicknamed the “2-chip” versions.
Super FX 2 chip in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi'sIsland
As part of the overall plan for the Super NintendoEntertainment System, rather than include an expensive CPU thatwould still become obsolete in a few years, the hardware designersmade it easy to interface special coprocessor chips to the console. Ratherthan require a complicated upgrade procedure found in the IBM PCCompatible world of computers, these certain enhancement chips wereincluded inside the plug-in game cartridges themselves if neededfor a specific game. This is most often characterized by 16additional pins on the cartridge card edge.[1]
Contents
|
Super FX
Super FX-rendered 3D polygon graphics in the SNES game Star Fox
Main article: Super FX
The Super FX chip is a supplemental RISC CPU developed by Argonaut Gamesthat was included in certain game cartridges to perform functionsthat the main CPU could not feasibly do.[2]It was typically programmed to act as a graphics acceleratorchip that would draw polygons to a frame buffer in the RAM that satadjacent to it.
In addition to rendering polygons, the chip was also used toassist the SNES in renderingadvanced 2D effects. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Islandused it for advanced graphics effects like sprite scaling and stretching, huge spritesthat allowed for boss charactersto take up the whole screen, and multiple foreground and backgroundparallax layers to give a greater illusion of depth.
This chip went through three revisions, first starting out as achip-on-board epoxy glob-top in the earliest Star Foxcartridges, labeled as Mario Chip-1 (Mathematical, Argonaut,Rotation & I/O). Within a year, the chip was given a moreconventional surface-mount package with the designationGSU-1, commonly called the Super FX. Both versions are clocked witha 21 MHz signal,but an internal clock speed divider halved it to 10.5 MHz.Later on, the design was revised to become the GSU-2, known as theSuper FX 2. Unlike the earlier Super FX chips, this version wasable to reach 21 MHz. All versions of the Super FX chip arefunctionally compatible in terms of their instruction set. Thedifferences arise in how they are packaged, their pinout, and theirinternal clock speed.[3]
CX4
The CX4 coprocessor chip in Mega Man X2
The CX4 chip, often incorrectly called the C4, is a math coprocessor that was used by Capcom to perform general trigonometriccalculations for wireframe effects,sprite positioning and rotation. It is known for its role inmapping and transforming wireframes in the final scenes of Capcom's second and third Mega Man X series games.[2]
CX4 wireframe test screen
A CX4 self-test screen can be accessed by holding the 'B' buttonon the second controller upon system start-up in both Mega Man X2 andMega ManX3.[4] In boththe PlayStation2 and Nintendo GameCube versions of MegaMan X Collection, this self-test screen is still accessible inMega Man X2 (although differently accessed due to theremapped controller configuration), but not in Mega Man X3,because Mega Man X Collection featuresthe 32-bit CD version of the game and not the SNES version.
The CX4 chip has been accurately emulated in several popularSNES emulators, such as ZSNESand Snes9x, allowing bothgames to be fully compatible with those emulators given that theuser has their ROMimages.
DSP
DSP-1 chip in Pilotwings
This series of fixed-point digital signal processor chipsallowed for fast vector-based calculations, bitmap conversions,both 2D and 3D coordinate transformations, and other functions.[5]Four revisions of the chip exist, each physically identical butwith different microcode. The DSP-1 version, including thelater 1A and 1B bug fix revisions, was most often used; the DSP-2,DSP-3, and DSP-4 were used in only one title each.[6]
DSP-1
The DSP-1 is the most varied and widely-used of the SNES DSPs,appearing in over 15 separate titles. It is used as a math coprocessor in games such asSuperMario Kart and Pilotwings that require more advancedMode 7 scaling and rotation.It also provides fast support for the floating point and trigonometriccalculations needed by 3D math algorithms. The later DSP-1A andDSP-1B serve the same purpose as the DSP-1, however, several bugswere corrected in these later chips.
DSP-2
The DSP-2 can only be found in the SNES port of DungeonMaster. Its primary purpose is to convert Atari STbitmap image data into the SNES bitplane format. It alsoprovides dynamic scaling capability and transparency effects.
DSP-3
An assistant chip used only in one turn-based strategy game forthe Super Famicom in Japan titled SD Gundam GX. The chipassisted with tasks like calculating the next AI move, Shannon-Fano bitstream decompression, andbitplane conversion of graphics.
DSP-4
A DSP used in only one game cartridge, Top Gear 3000. It primarily helped outwith drawing the race track, especially during the times that thetrack branched into multiple paths, which was a unique feature ofthis type of game at the time.
GB-Z80
The chip used inside the Super Game Boy peripheral possessed acore identical to the Z80-derived CPU in the handheld Game Boy. Because the SuperNES was not powerful enough for software emulation of the Game Boy,circuitry equivalent to an entire handheld console had to sitinside of the cartridge.[7]
MX15001TFC
Main article: Nintendo Power(cartridge)
This chip was made by MegaChips exclusively for Nintendo Power cartridges.The cartridges were equipped with flash ROMs instead of mask ROMs, and were designed to hold gamesdownloaded from specialized kiosks for a fee. The chip managedcommunication with the kiosks to download ROM images, and providedan initial menu to select which of the downloaded games would beplayed. Some titles were available both in cartridge and downloadform, while others were download only. The service was closed onFebruary 8, 2007.[8]
OBC-1
A sprite manipulation chip used exclusively in the Super Scope gameMetal Combat: Falcon's Revenge, the sequel to BattleClash.[2]
S-DD1
The S-DD1 chip is a powerful ASICdecompressor made by Nintendo for use in some Super NintendoEntertainment SystemGamePaks.[2]Designed to handle data compressed by ABS Lossless EntropyAlgorithm, a form of arithmetic coding developed by Ricoh, its use was necessary ingames where massive amounts of sprite data had to be compressedwith a 32 or 48 megabit datalimit in mind. This data is decompressed on-the-fly by the S-DD1and given directly to the picture processing unit.
The S-DD1 mediates between the Super NES's core CPU (the Ricoh 5A22) and thegame's ROMvia two buses. However, the controlling 5A22processor may still request normal, uncompressed data from thegame's ROM even if the S-DD1 is already busy with a decompressionoperation. This form of parallelism allows sprite data to bedecompressed while other types of data are quickly passed to themain CPU.
Star Ocean and Street Fighter Alpha 2 werethe only games that used this chip. It also served as a de factocopy protection that made these titles extremely difficult toemulate.
S-RTC
A real-timeclock chip used in one game, Dai Kaiju Monogatari2.[2]
SA-1
SA-1 chip
The Super Accelerator 1 (SA-1) chip was used in a number of SNESgames, including the popular Super Mario RPG: Legend of theSeven Stars.[9]
Similar to the 5A22CPU in the SNES console, the SA-1 contains a processor core basedon the 65C816 with several programmabletimers.[2]The SA-1 does not function as a slave CPU for the 5A22; both caninterrupt each other independently.
The SA-1 also features a range of enhancements over the standard65C816:
- Upgraded 10 MHzclock speed, up from amax of 3.58 MHz
- Faster RAM
- Memorymapping capabilities
- Limited data storage and compression
- New DMA modes such as bitmap to bit plane transfer
- Built-in CIC lockout, for copy protection and regional marketingcontrol
SPC7110
A data decompression chip designed by Epson that was used in a fewgames by Hudson.Far East of Eden Zero also contains areal-timeclock chip accessed via the SPC7110.[2]
ST
ST010 chip in Exhaust Heat II
The ST series of chips were used by SETA Corporation to enhance AI functionality.
ST010
Used for general functions and handling the AI of opponent carsin F1 ROC II: Race of Champions.[10]
ST011
Used for AI functionality in the Shogi board game Hayazashi Nidan MoritaShogi. Likely based on the same microcontroller core as theST010.[7]
ST018
Used for AI functionality in Hayazashi Nidan Morita Shogi2.[7]
List ofSuper NES games that use enhancement chips
Title | Chip | Year | Developer | Publisher |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mega ManX2 | CX4 | 1994 | Capcom | Capcom (NA) (JP) (EU) |
Mega ManX3 | CX4 | 1995 | Capcom | Capcom (NA) (JP) |
Armored Trooper Votoms: The BattlingRoad | DSP-1 | 1993 | Takara (JP) | |
Bike Daisuki! - Rider's Spirits | DSP-1 | 1994 | Genki | NCS (JP) |
Final Stretch | DSP-1 | 1993 | Genki | LOZC (JP) |
Lock-On / Super AirDiver | DSP-1 | 1993 | Vic Tokai | Vic Tokai |
Michael Andretti'sIndy Car Challenge | DSP-1 | 1994 | Genki | Bullet Proof Software (NA) (JP) |
Pilotwings | DSP-1 | 1991 | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo (NA) (JP)(EU) |
ShutokōBattle '94: Keichii Tsuchiya Drift King | DSP-1 | 1994 | Genki | Bullet-Proof Software (JP) |
Shutokō Battle2: Drift King Keichii Tsuchiya & Masaaki Bandoh | DSP-1 | 1995 | Genki | Bullet-Proof Software (JP) |
Suzuka 8 Hours | DSP-1 | 1992 | Namco | Namco (JP) |
Suzuka 8 Hours 2 | DSP-1 | 1993 | Namco | Namco (JP) |
Super 3D Baseball | DSP-1 | 1993 | Jaleco (JP) | |
Super Air Diver 2 | DSP-1 | 1995 | Asmik(JP) | |
Super Bases Loaded 2 | DSP-1 | 1992 | Jaleco | Jaleco (NA) (JP) |
Super F1 Circus Gaiden | DSP-1 | 1995 | Nichibutsu (JP) | |
SuperMario Kart | DSP-1/1B | 1992 | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo (NA) (JP)(EU) |
Touge Densetsu:Saisoku Battle | DSP-1 | 1996 | Genki | Bullet-Proof Software (JP) |
Ace o Nerae!3D Tennis | DSP-1A | 1993 | TelenetJapan | TelenetJapan (JP) |
Ballz 3D | DSP-1B | 1994 | PF Magic | Accolade (NA) |
Dungeon Master | DSP-2 | 1992 | FTL Games | JVC Victor (JP) |
SD Gundam GX | DSP-3 | 1994 | BEC | Bandai (JP) |
Top Gear3000 | DSP-4 | 1995 | Gremlin Interactive | Kemco (NA) (JP) (EU) |
Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge | OBC-1 | 1993 | Intelligent Systems | Nintendo |
Daisenryaku Expert WWII: War in Europe | SA-1 | 1996 | SystemSoftAlpha | ASCIICorporation (JP) |
Derby Jockey 2 | SA-1 | 1995 | Muse Soft | Asmik |
Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension | SA-1 | 1996 | TOSE | Bandai (JP) (EU) |
Itoi Shigesato no BassTsuri No. 1 | SA-1 | 1997 | HALLaboratory | Nintendo (JP) |
J. League '96 Dream Stadium | SA-1 | 1996 | Hudson Soft(JP) | |
JikkyouOshaberi Parodius | SA-1 | 1995 | Konami | Konami (JP) |
Jumpin' Derby | SA-1 | 1996 | Naxat Soft (JP) | |
Kakinoki Shogi | SA-1 | 1995 | ASCIICorporation (JP) | |
KirbySuper Star | SA-1 | 1996 | HALLaboratory | Nintendo (NA) (JP)(EU) |
Kirby's Dream Land 3 | SA-1 | 1997 | HALLaboratory | Nintendo (NA)(JP) |
Marvelous: Mouhitotsu no Takarajima | SA-1 | 1996 | NintendoR&D2 | Nintendo (JP) |
Masters New: Haruka Naru Augusta 3 | SA-1 | 1995 | T&E Soft(JP) | |
PGA Tour'96 | SA-1 | 1995 | Black Pearl Software | ElectronicArts |
Super Robot TaisenGaiden: Masō Kishin - The Lord Of Elemental | SA-1 | 1996 | Winkysoft | Banpresto (JP) |
Mini 4WD Shining ScorpionLet's & Go!! | SA-1 | 1996 | KID | ASCIICorporation (JP) |
Pebble Beach no Hotou: New TournamentEdition | SA-1 | 1996 | T&E Soft(JP) | |
PGA EuropeanTour | SA-1 | 1996 | Halestorm | THQ / Black Pearl Software |
Power Rangers Zeo: Battle Racers | SA-1 | 1996 | Natsume | Bandai |
SDF-1 Grand Prix | SA-1 | 1995 | Video System(JP) | |
SD Gundam G NEXT | SA-1 | 1995 | BEC | Bandai (JP) |
Shin Shogi Club | SA-1 | 1995 | Hect (JP) | |
Shogi Saikyou | SA-1 | 1995 | Magical Company (JP) | |
Shogi Saikyou 2 | SA-1 | 1996 | Magical Company (JP) | |
Super Bomberman Panic BomberWorld | SA-1 | 1995 | Hudson Soft | Hudson Soft(JP) |
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars | SA-1 | 1996 | Square | Nintendo (NA)(JP) |
Star Ocean | S-DD1 | 1996 | tri-Ace | Enix (JP) |
Street Fighter Alpha 2 | S-DD1 | 1996 | Capcom | Capcom (NA) (JP) (EU) |
Dai Kaiju Monogatari 2 | S-RTC | 1996 | Birthday | Hudson Soft(JP) |
Far East of Eden Zero | SPC7110 | 1995 | Red Company | Hudson Soft(JP) |
Momotaro DentetsuHappy | SPC7110 | 1996 | Hudson Soft(JP) | |
Super Power League 4 | SPC7110 | 1996 | Hudson Soft(JP) | |
F1 ROC II: Race of Champions / Exhaust Heat II | ST010 | 1993 | SETACorporation | SETACorporation (NA) (JP) |
Hayazashi Nidan Morita Shogi | ST011 | 1993 | RandomHouse | SETACorporation (JP) |
Hayazashi Nidan Morita Shogi 2 | ST018 | 1995 | RandomHouse | SETACorporation (JP) |
Dirt TraxFX | Super FX GSU-1 | 1995 | Sculptured Software | Acclaim Entertainment (NA) |
Star Fox / Starwing | Super FX GSU-1 | 1993 | Nintendo EAD, Argonaut | Nintendo (NA) (JP)(EU) |
Stunt RaceFX | Super FX GSU-1 | 1994 | Nintendo EAD, Argonaut | Nintendo (NA) (JP)(EU) |
Vortex | Super FX GSU-1 | 1994 | ArgonautGames | ElectroBrain (NA), Pack-In-Video (JP) |
Comanche | Super FX GSU-2 | cancelled | Nova Logic | Nova Logic (NA) |
Dirt Racer | Super FX GSU-2 | 1995 | MotiveTime | EliteSystems (EU) |
Doom | Super FX GSU-2 | 1996 | Sculptured Software | Williams(NA), Imagineer (JP), Ocean (EU) |
Powerslide | Super FX GSU-2 | cancelled | EliteSystems | EliteSystems (EU) |
FXFighter | Super FX GSU-2 | cancelled | ArgonautGames | GTE Entertainment (NA) (EU) |
Star Fox2 | Super FX GSU-2 | cancelled | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo |
Super Mario FX | Super FX GSU-2 | cancelled | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo |
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island | Super FX GSU-2 | 1995 | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo (NA) (JP)(EU) |
Winter Gold / FX Skiing | Super FX GSU-2 | 1997 | Funcom | Nintendo (NA)(EU) |
References
- ^
'Anomie's SNES Port Doc'(text). http://www.romhacking.net/docs/%5B195%5Dports.txt. Retrieved2007-07-13. - ^ abcdefg(2007-05-01) Snes9x readme.txt v1.51. snes9x.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-03.
- ^
'The Super FX chip'. MyPSPNews. http://www.mypsp.com.au/NewsDetail.aspx?id=660. - ^'CX4 test functions and sourcecode contributors'. http://users.tpg.com.au/advlink/dsp/cx4.html.
- ^
'Digital SignalProcessing'. Overload's Puzzle Sheet. 2006-05-29 . http://users.tpg.com.au/advlink/dsp/ . Retrieved2007-05-09. - ^Nach; Moe, Lord Nightmare. 'SNES Add-on Chipinformation'. http://nsrt.edgeemu.com/INFO/chipinfo.htm. Retrieved2007-05-09.
- ^ abc'ZSNES v1.51Documentation'. http://zsnes-docs.sourceforge.net/text/games.txt. Retrieved2007-07-03.
- ^'Nintendo Power'.N-Sider.com. http://www.n-sider.com/hardwareview.php?hardwareid=16. Retrieved2007-07-03.
- ^
'SA-1 DemonstrationProgram'. SNES Central. http://www.snescentral.com/article.php?id=0789. - ^'ST-0010'. Overload'sPuzzle Sheet. http://users.tpg.com.au/advlink/dsp/st010.html. Retrieved2007-07-03.
The Super NES Emulator SE was a Nintendo-sponsored game development system for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was designed by Intelligent Systems, and sold only to licensed Nintendo development houses.
Physical views[edit]
The device is in the form of a large, rectangular metal box, approximately 18 inches high, and 12 inches wide, and 13 inches deep. The box is painted grey, and bears the marking 'Emulator SE' on the front in grey.
The device has two controller ports at the bottom that are standard Super NES controller ports. The rear of the device featured two 50-pin SCSI interface designed to connect to a PC running MS-DOS. One of these ports came with a terminator. The rear of the device also has a port labeled 'Multi-Out', which is identical to the Multi-out port on a normal Super NES control deck.
Below that, it has an 8 position DIP switch. Because there is no known copy of the documentation of this machine, the function of the switches is unknown, although it is possible the switch is used to set the SCSI ID of the device.
The units bear five-digit serial numbers.
The device is rated to consume 40 watts of power at 120 V, and bears a 1991 copyright date. It has an IEC 60320 C14 connector.
Configurations[edit]
The units came in at least two and possibly more configurations with a song-compositing subsystem and a sprite-design subsystem as an option.
One configuration option adds a port labeled 'MIDI' that contains a standard MIDI jack (though it's not known if the port is actually MIDI compliant), and a single RCA-Style connector in red. Investigation of the internal circuitry of the device suggests that this RCA jack is used to record sounds into the device for use in music composition.
Another configuration option adds a port called 'Analog RGB', and presents a female DB-9 port. Internal circuitry again suggests that the port is an EGA port, though is probably closer in design to the ports used in Commodore 128 computer.
A look inside[edit]
Inside the unit, there is a backplane board mounted to the bottom of the case, that provides six interface slots that have the same number of pins and bus design as NuBus connectors. The most complicated unit known to date has four of these slots occupied. This same board also provides the unit with an expansion connector on the bottom of the case, identical to that of the SNES.
The inside the most complex unit consists of a main logic board, which has all the components of a Super NES on it, including the SNES 65816 CPU, PPUs, and Work Ram. This board also has the SCSI controller and an NEC V20 processor, and additionally a 32k EPROM chip.
Examining the ROM chip at the Reset vector shows a JMP instruction outside the memory mapped location of the chip.
All known Emulator SE's also have a position on this board where a Standard SNES-RF Encoding Unit could be mounted, to provide an external RF port (identical to that of the Super NES) just above the 'Multi-Out' port, however no known specimens have this port installed.
This board also includes a connector for a standard Super NES APU module, which is connected by wires to the next board up, which is the board which contains the MIDI and RCA connector. This audio board has many RAM chips, totaling 2 MB in size. The audio board also has many analog-to-digital converters. This board also has a 32k EPROM chip, but it is soldered to the board and could not be safely removed for investigation.
Above that board is the board that presents the RGB port. It connects only to the NuBus-style connector and has another significant amount of RAM on it.
Above that board is the cartridge board, which contains ram totaling 32 Mb worth or ram (4 MB), which was the maximum size cartridge the Super NES could support without the use of special addressing chips. These RAM chips were all socketed. The board has a separate set of 8 chips that seem to be a storage area with a battery backup, perhaps similar to the battery backed up data on a Super NES cartridge.
This board also had three empty chip slots, and one nearby populated with a Nintendo DSP1 chip.
Another Emulator SE shows this board with only 16 Mb of memory installed, and no DSP1 chip.
All of the boards bear the designation 'Intelligent Systems ICE'. The acronym probably means 'In-Circuit Emulator.'
Functionality[edit]
The device was designed to be used with several software applications designed for MSDOS that allowed you to program games for the Super NES, compile them, and then upload them to the Emulator SE and run the game. The PC could then monitor the status of the game, and be used for debugging.
No copy of the software to drive the Emulator SE is publicly available.
Without the software, powering the unit on illuminates the front light in red, and the unit outputs a black NTSC video signal, and an audio signal.
Rarity[edit]
It is unknown how many of these units were produced. At least five units are in the hands of collectors, and the existence of an additional five is confirmed.
Usage[edit]
Square Soft had at least two of these units, and they were used in the development of the game Secret of Evermore. These two units from Square Soft are in the hands of a collector.[citation needed]
External links[edit]
- SNES Emulator SE worshipping thread.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Super_NES_Emulator_SE&oldid=888856034'