EverDrive N8 Pro Compatibility Issues

[Great Hierophant]

I received my EverDrive N8 Pro Famicom edition this week and put it through its paces. 

This spreadsheet collects those games which I consider to be the "core" of the NES and Famicom experience : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LbxTgLtwTTlCjFV6LNMh53dIHZjgKaO6myYvitdmI0k/edit#gid=1480505716

That spreadsheet gives the NES 2.0 header information and the CRC32 values of my core ROMset.  The headers come from the NES 2.0 Header Database, a very recent XML Database but of peerless accuracy :
http://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=19940

The Database covers far many more ROMs than my spreadsheet does, but my spreadsheet accurately summarizes the "core". 

The mapper assignments of the NES 2.0 Database are based off the most current information here : http://wiki.nesdev.com/w/index.php/Mapper

There is a Python Script that can be used in conjunction with the Database to adjust the header values of any recognized ROM to those given in the Database : https://github.com/Kitrinx/NES_Header_Repair

I did not test every game on my spreadsheet, that is unnecessary when many of the mappers have standardized, well-understood behavior.  I did test most games that use Japanese- and Asian-exclusive mappers that the EverDrive N8 Pro supports.  They tend to have the most issues.  Except for a few Asian ROMs, the CRC32s match the ROMs in the No-intro set.  No-intro does not include header info in its database.  Some other ROMs had to be pulled from GoodNES and combined from MAME.

I did not test any Vs. System games or BIOS stuff because few work without PPU and input hacks or extra hardware.  The EverDrive N8 Pro Issues spreadsheet can be found here :

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1n0WbGs1ckHygvn3nGduvPriM6ivEGdyud-yatUIQrRw/edit?usp=sharing

The latest firmware v2.06, was used.  Now, if the ROM is not on the EverDrive N8 Pro Issues spreadsheet, the game should work if if it is in the NES and Famicom Accurate Cartridge Information Database spreadsheet linked above.  Of course, if your header and CRC32 values do not match, it may or may not work at all or correctly.

[Great Hierophant]

Fixed the link to the Issues Spreadsheet.

[fernan1234]

You're doing God's work. Thank you for this.

Surprising to see this many regressions/Pro only issues. The old N8 was around for a long time, so I guess the Pro just needs more time to catch up. For now it's still a good idea to keep an old N8 around as a backup.

[Great Hierophant]

Those MMC5 regressions might boil down to one bug that happens to crop up for most games that use PRG-RAM.  But if you want to play SimCity or translated Just Breed, you should keep your old N8 around for the time being.

[brianvgplayer]

I managed to get Galaxian to work without the overdump on the Pro, but with an older ROM from the No Intro set. Header needed to be changed to 16k PRG and 8k CHR with the newer set I used.

[Great Hierophant]

I managed to get Galaxian to work without the overdump on the Pro, but with an older ROM from the No Intro set. Header needed to be changed to 16k PRG and 8k CHR with the newer set I used.

Both Galaxian and Galaxian (Rev. A) will work in the N8 Pro with an iNES 1.0 header with the PRG-ROM set to 16KiB.  Better than using an overdump, but they aren't the only games that use less than 16KiB of PRG-ROM.

[Great Hierophant]

I removed the MMC5 games from the spreadsheet, I have played them all and they are fixed with OS v2.07.  No other changes were made according to the OS that would be relevant to the games listed in the spreadsheet.  I didn't see any fixes when I tried other games. 

FDS games are not on the list, the overall compatibility is as good as or better than the original N8.  Someone had complained about Kaettekita Mario Brothers crashing on two of the three advertisement intermissions which play before you start a new game in the prior firmwares.  Now when the game runs normally you only see the advertisement which does not crash.  I was able to trick the OS with reset and when the game tried to show the other ads, the game crashed like before.  I do not know if the original N8 crashes on these screens.  In short, there is an improvement but this hack is not up to the highest standards.

[KRIKzz]

I checked few games which listed as "not working" using my no-intro set and they ran fine, after that i skipped checking rest. From my memory Galaxian (Japan) (Rev A) and Contra (Japan) for sure worked. May be is should apply Python script ant try again.
Uncharted Waters (USA).nes also works fine already by the way, but it still in the list

[Great Hierophant]

I checked few games which listed as "not working" using my no-intro set and they ran fine, after that i skipped checking rest. From my memory Galaxian (Japan) (Rev A) and Contra (Japan) for sure worked. May be is should apply Python script ant try again.
Uncharted Waters (USA).nes also works fine already by the way, but it still in the list

I overlooked Uncharted Waters (USA).nes, but not Daikoukai Jidai (Japan).nes!  It's off the list.

Regarding Galaxian (any revision), this header works for the EverDrive N8 Pro :

4E 45 53 1A 01 01 00 08 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01

This is the header which the Script creates :

4E 45 53 1A 34 01 00 08 00 0F 00 00 00 00 00 01

The differences between bytes 4 and 9 are quite intentional, they use the exponent/multiplier alternative method of designating the size of a NES 2.0 PRG-ROM or CHR-ROM : http://wiki.nesdev.com/w/index.php/NES_2.0  In this case the $0F at byte 9 denotes the alternative method and $34 at byte 4 denote the exponent (13) and the multiplier (1).  So that gives you 2^13 * 1, or 8192 bytes, the exact size of Galaxian's PRG-ROM.

[Great Hierophant]

The Database and the Script give accurate headers now and the only headers that you can trust.

Contra (Japan) uses the VRC2 chip.  Mapper 23 is its iNES 1.0 designation, but all VRC2 and VRC4 games are distinguished by submappers to determine which chip and which register addressing they use.  Submapper 3 is the only VRC2 submapper within Mapper 23.

[KRIKzz]

I figured out why not working after script applying. work in progress. Will check everything from the list

[Great Hierophant]

To implement three or four or more disk-image FDS games, I suggest doing it the way the FDSStick does it : After you load the image and it wants a new disk side, you press the button on the N8 Pro the number of times that equals the number of the disk side you want to insert.  Side 1 = 1 button press, side 2 = 2 button presses, side 3 = 3 button presses and side 4 = 4 button presses and so on.  Obviously disk games with more than two sides can only be supported by the manual button pressing method.  One second after the last button press the disk side selected is then "inserted".

[KRIKzz]

To implement three or four or more disk-image FDS games, I suggest doing it the way the FDSStick does it : After you load the image and it wants a new disk side, you press the button on the N8 Pro the number of times that equals the number of the disk side you want to insert.  Side 1 = 1 button press, side 2 = 2 button presses, side 3 = 3 button presses and side 4 = 4 button presses and so on.  Obviously disk games with more than two sides can only be supported by the manual button pressing method.  One second after the last button press the disk side selected is then "inserted".

Auto swap function changes discs till required disc will be inserted. Same with manual switch. But may be your option for manual switching will be more handy.

[nuu]

I think manual switching is useful too.

[Great Hierophant]

Major League's recent English Translation patch fixes the mirroring issue on the N8 Pro (only remaining regression from N8) because it uses a different mapper.  I had to add the Bandai games that use EEPROM saving, they do not save.