quickbyte C64 eprom programmer files to bin, please help.

[Mr.Bits45]

Hi,

I have purchased one of the German cartridge-maker-256 boards on ebay.
I have made an eprom image of an 8k game to go on a 27c128.
The file is FA_128.prg, How do I convert this to .bin so i can use a modern eprom programmer ?
Writing the file as is does not work
Some help would be great.

Thanks

 

[Bryce]

Can you upload the prg image? It should be possible with a hex editor to see what it has added to the file. It probably just added some header information to the start of the file which could be manually removed.

Bryce.

 

[Mr.Bits45]

Thanks for your message.
I have tried playing with the header and removing lines but didnt get it to work.
Is there anything to look for ?

Thanks

 

[roy_bates]

that looks like a program that goes on a disk

 

[Mr.Bits45]

yes it is a prg file that contains the rom image for burning.
I will have to create a bin file so I can burn it to eprom.
There must be a way to extract it from the prg.

Thanks

 

[Bryce]

Can't you make an image with the modern EPROM programmer? That won't have a header.

Bryce.

 

[Mr.Bits45]

For it to work of this German cartridge maker, you have to convert the CRT file with the device.
It dumps a file as PRG which contains the image data for use with the old c64 burners.
This thing was made in the 80's and someone is selling them on ebay with no instructions.
Without a programmer plugged into the C64, this thing is useless.

Thanks

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/REX-Dat...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

[roy_bates]

as bryce said,do you have a way to share the prg file?

 

[Mr.Bits45]

I can only email it.

 

[Bryce]

So, I've taken a look at the file. The device messes up the image quite a bit by adding both a header and a footer and some more. The pure hex file should start with: 06 89 06 89 C3 C2 CD which you'll find in the middle of the 6th line of Hexidecimal (address &0050) if you view it with a hex editor. The file should end with the bytes 55 55 AA 55 55 AA which you'll find at address &2080 and everything after that needs to be removed. However, even after removing these headers/footers, you'll find that the file is still the wrong size.
It seems to have added the filename into the file all over the place, for example: At address line &1F90 / 1FA0 you'll find the values 46 52 4F 47 47 45 FF 31 2E 43 52 54 00 20 20 20 10 1E these have to be removed. Then scroll back up to address line &0390 / &03A0 and you'll find the values 00 46 52 4F 47 47 45 FF 31 2E 43 52 54 00 20 20 20 10 that need to be removed too.

It would be possible to go through the entire file and remove all the unwanted values (there are many more throughout the file), but I doubt it's worth the bother. I'd look into an alternative way to dump the cartridges.

Bryce.

 

[Mr.Bits45]

Thank you for all your work.
Its is not worth it, doing that to every file I want to use.
I might buy the QUICKBYTE II eprom burner that uses these files as is.
I was hoping there was a converter on the net but couldnt find anything.

Thanks

 

[Bryce]

There's a good chance that the pattern is similar every time, so you could write a program to find and remove the offending bytes, but it would only be worth it if you intend doing this regularly.

Bryce.

 

[Mr.Bits45]

I tried removing all the parts you suggested but it still didnt work.
The DATENTECHNIK 9673 CARTRIDGE-MAKER that does an image for itself, needs the QUICKBYTE II eprom programmer.
Its the only programmer that will support the .PRG image.

Thanks

 

[Bryce]

They were only a few examples of what needed to be removed. There are many more sections you'd need to remove to get it to work, I just stopped after I realised that they are spread throughout the entire file.

I can send you the comparison file I used (Frogger dumped directly with a professional EPROM Programmer for the file you sent me). All you need to do is use a Hex editor with a compare function and it will show you all the bits that shouldn't be there.

Bryce.

 

[Mr.Bits45]

The DATENTECHNIK 9673 CARTRIDGE-MAKER needs the file it creates, The first thing I tried say to burn a CRT BIN dump.
It needs a special header and certain part in the file for example the name of the game in the selection menu.
There is NO information about these German devices only on wiki, also these devices are 30 years old, NOT new, so there was no such thing as a PC eprom burner for BINs.
The quickbyte II eprom programmer plugs into the C64 thats why its in .PRG format, its loaded from a 180k floppy.
I have a professional eprom programmer too, thats why I need to convert the files to save me from buying the C64 burner.

Have a look

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/QUICKBY...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

thanks

 

[Bryce]

Yes, I understood all that. I was just using the raw EPROM file as a comparison to see what additional information was included in the PRG file.

Bryce.

P.s. PC and standalone EPROM burners that need BIN/Hex were around long before the C64 ever arrived, so although they would have been incredibly expensive, they definitely existed. My oldest EPROM burner is from the early 70'S.

 

[Mr.Bits45]

I just need to find out if the quickbyte II programmer supports 12.5v program voltage for 27C512 eproms.
I cant find any 21v ones.

Thanks

 

[Bryce]

From the pictures online, it doesn't look like the DC/DC converter has any option jumpers, so I suspect it hardwired to a single voltage, most likely 12.5V.

Bryce.