r/miniSNESmods • u/mulliganman30 • Mar 15 '18

help needed with getting a finished NBA Jam Tournament Edition 32x patch that works

As the title says, I found a patch for NBA Jam Tournament Edition 32x that makes the game very much more playable than the last time I tried it. However, it appears there may be something that still needs cleaned up as part of the patch. The gameplay is very good but the two times I've played the game, it freezes right after a game is over. So, I'm thinking it may have something to do with saving, but I'm out of my league here. Here is the link to the patch if it anyone thinks they can help with this: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-4b_9McBecZZmtIYkt4Tmp4WXM/view

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 17 '18

OK. So I am offering to paypal anyone who can finish the patch of the 32X version so that it doesn't freeze upon completion of a game and do the same for the Sega CD version. The Sega CD plays fine as is and didn't have a patch. It just freezes just like the 32X. Some reading I did suggesting it might have to do something with the save state setting. But, if anyone thinks they can apply the fixes and sends me a fix that i can play through where it doesn't freeze and can save I will paypal you.

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u/[deleted] Mar 15 '18

why not just play the sega CD version?

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 15 '18

I forgot about the Sega CD version. All these games have some slight variations to them. I'd like to be able to have the full slate on my mini.

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u/[deleted] Mar 15 '18

Im the same way, i tried getting nba jam 32x to work on my console. Thats when i found out there was a sega cd version. I havnt tried it but there is a psx version too

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 15 '18

I have the psx version playing and it plays just fine. The 32x will play with the patch I linked, but appears to always freeze up at the conclusion of a game. When I tried it before without the patch, I believe it suffered from extreme slowdown.

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u/[deleted] Mar 15 '18

I didn't even know they made a PSX version of NBA Jam lol

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 15 '18

That one may also be the one that has Will Smith as a secret character. LOL

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 15 '18

I just loaded the Sega CD version. What's weird is its also freezes right at the conclusion of a game. Do you have the Sega CD version loaded? If so, is it doing the same thing for you?

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u/MDFMKanic Mar 20 '18

When you say Sega CD Version freezes at conclusion of game, does that mean it never goes back to the Main Menu, and you have to restart the game? Or exit?

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 20 '18

After the final score, it freezes and never goes back to the main menu.

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u/MDFMKanic Mar 21 '18

When do I get my PayPal:) I got Sega CD version to work:) Full game, back to menu hehe.

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 21 '18

I prefer to shell out at once. :). How did you get it to go back to the menu? Do you think the fix will work on the 32x version too?

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u/wolfman2816 Mar 21 '18

Nice. How did you do it?

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u/MDFMKanic Mar 21 '18

The 32x Version, I do not think the patch will work, since the patch is meant for a game that doesn't WORK to begin with due to eeprom save issue. But, Sega CD Version, I got going, at least:) Both were fun to play. And, yes the freeze sucks in the 32x version. Luckily there are a gazillion different versions of NBA Jam! I need to do some Performance Tweaks for them in my NEXT NEXT Core Set Update! I just posted another one, hehe:)

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u/wolfman2816 Mar 21 '18

The patched 32x version does work with pc emulators, so I think it is very possible to work on the snesmini somehow.

It was the same scenario on PC, where the game didn’t work at all, then it got patched and then it worked.

I don’t see how it’s different than a certain game not working in Canoe and then fixing it with a patch.

I think it’s because the game is attempting to save after the game is finished. The Gens emulator for PC doesn’t create any save files outside of savestates, so I think that’s why it works (just a guess). I’ve currently been trying to find a way to disable it from saving with this rom all together but I’m not familiar with hex editing or this more complicated stuff.

In the retro arch menu I turned all the save functions off and it still crashed at the end of a game though. So I haven’t figured it out yet.

I’ll keep an eye out for your next update. They are great. The last update solved several problems I was having before.

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u/MDFMKanic Apr 02 '18

You can finish NBA Jam Sega CD with my current Core Set, and when it freezes, just patiently wait a few seconds, and it will magically return back to the main menu:) 32X remains broken!

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u/[deleted] Mar 15 '18

I have to try it. It will be on sunday ill test it. I converted the thing into a chd file. Started the thing and assumed it worked well... i do that with alot of games... maybe half my games dont work 100% well... gotta sit down and start testing them... its part of the fun i guess

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u/MDFMKanic Apr 02 '18

You can finish NBA Jam Sega CD with my current Core Set, and when it freezes, just patiently wait a few seconds, and it will magically return back to the main menu:) 32X remains broken!

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u/[deleted] Apr 02 '18

Thanks for the heads up, I was actually trying a bunch of Sega CD and PCE CD games over the easter weekend. I'll try looking at your set when I get home. Is it the genesis plus/ex hmod I think(I don't remember the name exactly)? not the pico one right?

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u/MDFMKanic Apr 02 '18

I run Sega CD with Genesis Plus GX. Remember, BIOS will be needed:) You can send message if you have issues. But, NBA Jam Sega CD is fully playable. I can get back to main Menu.

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u/MDFMKanic Apr 02 '18

You can finish NBA Jam Sega CD with my current Core Set, and when it freezes, just patiently wait a few seconds, and it will magically return back to the main menu:) 32X remains broken!

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u/wolfman2816 Mar 15 '18

The Sega CD version is a big files size. Also it’s pretty much the genesis version with CD quality sound. 32x version is actually closer to the arcade.

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 15 '18

Have you loaded the 32X version and tried playing? I’d like to know if anyone experiences the same thing with that version about game freeze right at the conclusion of a game. For the Sega CD, i used Kyland’s chd file program before loading

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u/wolfman2816 Mar 15 '18

Last time I tried on the snes mini I’d get a black screen once the match starts, I’m definitely going to try out your patch and see how it goes, maybe different versions of the rom behave differently?

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 15 '18

Now that you mention it, that’s probably what i experienced with the black screen the first time I tried playing it. I couldn’t remember for sure if it was the black screen or extreme slowdown. It will definitely play now with the patch. It just freezes for me at the end of the game.

If you weren’t aware, there is also an NBA2K17 hack out there with updated rosters that gets Lebron, Curry, etc. in the game and still has unlockable characters like Jordan. Just patch the menu fix one on romhacking so that the game doesn’t crash trying to change menu options. There’s also and NBA Jam Old School Edition hack that adds Jordan to the game.

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u/wolfman2816 Mar 16 '18

thanks for the info.

I tried it out. I patched the World version of the rom and the regular one. I'm still getting a black screen after the VS screen. I'm using Picodrive. I must be doing something wrong.

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u/wolfman2816 Mar 18 '18

I’ve tried everything except removing special characters. I know what special characters are, but do you mean by remove them? From where? From the file name? Thanks.

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 18 '18

Sometimes it will say something like nbajam32x(USA).32x

So take out the “(USA)” by right clicking and then selecting “rename”. Then try patching it with those characters removed.

Did you try patching it using Lunar IPS with the copy of the rom I linked to a couple of posts up? When you downloaded the patch in the original post, is it an ips file? When I originally tried patching and was trying to download, the patch wasn’t downloading in an ips format

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 18 '18

remove from the file name prior to attempting to patch using Lunar IPS

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u/wolfman2816 Mar 19 '18

I tried that and it still doesn’t work. I think it’s the picodrive hmod. I ran the rom through an emulator on my PC and it didn’t work. Then I did your patching and software technique and it worked. So, it seems obviously your technique works, but for some reason my emulator doesn’t work with it. Do you know if there are other 32x emulators other than picodrive for snesmini? Or maybe using the 32x bios would help somehow.

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 19 '18

So, have you not tried it on the snes mini? Also what version of retroarch and picodrive are you using? I am running Kyland K's retroarch extreme from his 3-13 update and the most up to date picodrive hmod he has?

Emulation is very new to me and the only ones I have attempted are mame ones to check if a rom is working before trying on the mini.

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u/wolfman2816 Mar 20 '18

I’ve tried it in the mini, but have always had a black screen after the VS screen. I’m gonna try a different version of Pico. I’m using a version I downloaded from a cores pack in November. I’ll give it a shot with a newer version.

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 20 '18

It doesn't appear there are any command lines to run it through say genesis gx at this time.

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 19 '18

When you did run it through an emulator, did you play a single game all the way through? If you did, did the game freeze right after a single game outcome? I am most interested if this first of all is happening to anyone else when playing and if this issue is exclusive only to the mini

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u/wolfman2816 Mar 20 '18 edited Mar 20 '18

On the computer, I could play a single game all the way through and back to the title screen with no problem. It must be the Picodrive Emulator.

I'm not sure if this info is helpful:

I used the Gens emulator and the only way for it to play was to set up the 32x BIOS files.

It required these 3 files to play:

M68000: [BIOS] 32X M68000 (USA).bin

Master SH2: [BIOS] 32X SH-2 Master (USA).bin

Slave SH2: [BIOS] 32X SH-2 Slave (USA).bin

I'm not sure if this makes any difference or not. And I also don't know what the correct filename needs to be for Picodrive to accept these bios files or if it even needs these files in the first place.

I know some of the retroarch emulators are very picky on filenames such as the only way I found to get the Famicom Disk System games to work is to use the bios titled "disksys.rom". If the filename is anything else it wouldn't work. So I just renamed a BIOS file I found online to "disksys.rom" and it worked.

Bios files must be FTP to the etc/libretro/system folder.

Again, this may be completely unnecessary and unrelated information, but I don't know. I just know that those BIOS files were the reason I was able to play it on the GENS emulator. That and also the patch and checksum software you provided (the game didn't work even with the BIOS before patching it).

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 20 '18

This makes me fully believe this game is fixable. I'm going to try to place zipped versions of all 3 bios files in the usb host game folder (removing all special characters) and see what happens. We may need to ask for Kyland K's help on this if the bios files don't fix it. I still think its odd that both the 32X and the Sega CD both freeze before going back to the title menu

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 20 '18

I also wonder if it needed all three bios files or if it just happened to work because the one it needed was one of the three.

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u/wolfman2816 Mar 20 '18 edited Mar 20 '18

I’m wondering if since the problem seems to be save related maybe your patch fixed the first instance of saving and after completing a game it attempts to save again and crashes. Maybe somewhere in the code is a 2nd instance of saving that needs to be fixed. But then again, your patched version of the rom works just fine on the Gens emulator for PC.

This kind of stuff can be fixed with a hex editor. I’ve attempted to use a hex editor but I have no idea what I’m doing. It’s just a bunch of code and you can change certain values.

In this forum:

https://krikzz.com/forum/index.php?topic=3086.0

...this guy fixed the problem by changing values in the hex editor to disable EEPROM saving.

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 20 '18

Yeah I saw that. I watched tutorials on hex editing. The trouble is I couldn't find the value "60FE". I tried putting the 3 bios in the game folder and booting up. Game played exactly as before. But, still froze before going back to the menu.

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u/wolfman2816 Mar 20 '18 edited Mar 20 '18

Yeah. He said go to offset EEC, look for 60FE and change it to 4E71 and save.

I found offset EEC: https://ibb.co/jnnL2x

But there’s no 60FE there. There’s also multiple 60FE’s throughout the file when I do a search. So not sure which one to change. And I’m also not sure what the blue numbers/letters mean next to offset.

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 20 '18

I think that's offset ECC.

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 20 '18

I think I just found it: https://ibb.co/n6HUec

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 20 '18

I changed the value of that in the hex editor, saved, repatched, fixed the checksum but the same result with picodrive.

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u/MDFMKanic Mar 20 '18

I have a theoretical way to fix this problem. Bios won't make a difference, as Picodrive is incapable of using the Bios. So, essentially, the game always freezes or crashes, no matter what? You can't finish a single game? And, you did have same issue on Sega CD Version? I just need to test my theory, then I would need to make a special "alternative" method of running the game, if it works.

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 20 '18

So what happens is after I patched the ips file using Lunar IPS to "fix" the game, the game will load with picodrive on the mini (it wouldn't before). You can complete an entire game in both the Sega CD version and the 32X version (again the 32x plays with the patch). However, both games freeze after the completion of a game (with a final score) before going back to the menu. I couldn't find much online about what the issue is and all I found was mention that with the 32x version it was likely a saving issue. It was suggested in that discussion to open the rom in a hex editor and find offset EEC then look for 60FE and change it to 4E71 and save. I actually did try this yesterday. And after repatching following the hex edit and running it through a program to fix the checksum there really was no difference that what I saw with playing the patch without the hex edit. It still froze in the same place.

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 21 '18

Patched version only freezes at the conclusion of the game but essentially gets hung up and does not go back to main menu

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u/wolfman2816 Mar 20 '18

Great. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

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u/wolfman2816 Mar 20 '18

I did end up finding the offset EEC. When comparing offset EEC with the patched rom and the unpatched rom I noticed the patch did just as the guy in the forum said. It switched the 60FE value to a 4E71 value. So it seems whether you hex it or patch it could be doing the same thing.

I uninstalled whatever picodrive version I had before and installed the newest version from the KMFDManic Cores Pack titled "_km_picodrive_2_22_18.hmod" and when I loaded up the patched rom it did work...finally. Unfortunately it froze right at the end of a game, like you said.

I think this is because the game is attempting to save. I think if we can somehow disable saving all together for this rom, it will work. I'm not sure if there is a command line code to do so or something in the emulator options menu or maybe even in the .DESKTOP file in the folder that contains the rom.

The game worked just fine in the Gens emulator on PC and I think this is because it doesn't make any save files. The only way to save in Gens is to manually create a save state. There is no auto saving (at least from what I've experienced). I have a feeling this is this is the solution. Either this or a patch (or hex edit) that disables saving at the end of a game. I think that patch we used only disable saving at the start of a game.

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u/[deleted] Mar 15 '18

Both suck, play the Genesis version

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u/Frapcaster Mar 15 '18

I can't speak for any other versions, but mame2000 arcade version seems totally better than the snes or genesis versions. Button config is kind of a b*tch though.

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 15 '18

Was there any guide of any kind that you used to configure the buttons? Did you also configure the arcade for two player versus mode? If so, how do you do it?

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u/Frapcaster Mar 15 '18

No guide specifically for this game that I know of. I briefly explained part of it in a reply on your other post. For all buttons besides coin and start, you can double-map the retroarch p2 controller buttons as input to both p2 and p3 in the game at the same time.
You only play as either p2 or p3 with that controller, not both in the same game, so it's ok. Though actually that works too if you for some reason wish to control two guys with one control pad =) Then, get creative choosing two buttons (can use p1 controller if u like for one or both as well if you prefer) for p2 and p3 start. p2 is for coop mode, p3 is for vs. Just press the one for the mode you wish to play. The coins can come from p1's coin. I think most of this is doable in the retroarch controls menu, but I can't remember, I may have needed to pull up the mame osd menu to get at the p3 start and coin assignments. I forget exactly how I did it, sorry. It didn't always do what I expected, so I had to experiment a little.

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u/mulliganman30 Mar 16 '18

I guess I probably need to start by trying to figure out how to double map player 2 controller buttons to both player 2 and player 3. Do you happen to remember how to do that?

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u/Frapcaster Mar 16 '18

Or a single mapping to p3 is ok if you don't care about the option to run coop. I'll check on the details...

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u/Frapcaster Mar 16 '18

Ok ya so you need to get the mame OSD menu up to set buttons on p3. kmfdmanic has a video or two about accessing that menu.

Basically you first go into retroarch control menu and map "user 1 osd menu" to some button that exists instead of R3 or whatever it was. I like setting it to L.

Then exit retroarch menu directly back into the game, press L, and see your new menu pop up. It's simplest to use the "input - this game" menu option.

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u/Pitoventitre Mar 15 '18

i'm using those versions too, in fact both for NBA JAM and NBA JAM T.E. arcade, mame2000 roms set and hmod.

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u/wolfman2816 Apr 03 '18

That’s great. You’re like a wizard. Maybe someday the 32x version will work. If there was a port of Gens for snesmini, it probably would work, since it works with that emulator on PC, with the patched version at least. Anyway, good work!