iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Lars The 18Th @larsthe18th.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

Recreation of Knightmare (MSX, 1986) title screen logo, from the 1986-5 issue of LOGiN magazine. #MSX Big thanks to: MP83 bsky.app/profile/mp83... youtu.be/fN9FT3Lt1Z4

youtu.be

Knightmare (MSX, 1986) title screen logo, from the 1986-5 issue of LOGiN magazine.

YouTube video by Lars The 18Th

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Lars The 18Th @larsthe18th.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

I almost found all cartrige combinations for #MSX game Pampas & Selene except one. The Unknown ROM is not in my or TFH's collection, it contains the following Hex values. '1E E0 19 E5' You can use this Python script to search through files. github.com/Sepero/Searc... Who can identify the ROM.

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Lars The 18Th @larsthe18th.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

The first release of the #MSX game Tetris II (SE) also uses a dongle as copy protection. I also reverse engineered this dongle. Not really a secret, but it turns out that this dongle is easy to recreate with only a connector and a resistor. More information on my github github.com/LarsThe18Th/...

Tetris 2 dongel made out of a 9 pin joystick connector with a resistor on 4 and Pin 7.

Image of a Tetris 2 dongel, a small circuit board with a (74HC02N) SMD chip soldered on it.

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Lars The 18Th @larsthe18th.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

Dongles are also used as copy protection on an MSX. For example, Circuit-Designer uses a dongle on the joystick port. I also reverse engineered this and was able to recreate the dongle using resistors and transistors to make the logic gates. More information on my github github.com/LarsThe18Th/...

A circuit design of the dongle with resistors and transistors to make a NOT and an AND gate.

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Lars The 18Th @larsthe18th.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

Speaking of copy protections on the #MSX, I reverse engineered a number of different copy protections to find out how they work and how to disable them. (Mostly for preservation purposes) Some of them are explained in detail on my github: github.com/LarsThe18Th/...

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Lars The 18Th @larsthe18th.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

If you want to run a copy protected diskimage (DMK) on your MSX with a Gotek drive. (With FlashFloppy firmware) The best way to do this is to convert the .DMK image to .HFE (v3) format with the HxCFloppyEmulator_Software Export function. Works like a charm. #MSX hxc2001.com/download/flo...

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Lars The 18Th @larsthe18th.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

Equipped my Philips 8250 MSX with a Gotek drive including a switch on the back to swap between drive A and B, so I can boot from both drives.

A Philips NMS 8250 MSX Computer with the top cover removed.
You see the MSX from the front, with a Gotek and a floppy drive installed.

A Philips NMS 8250 MSX Computer with the top cover removed.
You see the MSX from the back where a switch is installed to be able to boot from the Gotek or the Floppy Drive.

A Philips NMS 8250 MSX Computer with the top cover removed.
Inside you see a power cable and a flat cable connected to both the Gotek and the Floppy Drive.

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