Something I've been working on - this is how M1 cart protection testbed looks like:



And a simple logic analyzer output (showing Oh! My Goddess data sequence but remapped into non-existing ROM area by FPGA):



Sadly not that many people care about, or even realize, just how much work goes into various hardware tests. Protection-related stuff is especially time consuming. Can be very frustrating too when there is little to no progress.
Other than to brag I'm writing about this, again, because recently someone suggested that I get some help. Because apparently all it takes is to sit down and code this stuff and I'm either too lazy or too busy (or both :) to do it myself. So... you guys crack me this M1 thing and I'll make a nice, shiny GUI - deal?


In other news, seems like psgroove put original jailbreak guys out of business. What's more, various clones based on this free solution are now being sold, and that includes the PIC port as well. Hackers got pirated with open software :)
SNES emulator has already been ported to PS3 and some more are on their way (including MAME I suppose). Me, I'm not really going to bother. I might port VMS once there is non-SONY set of system libs available, including SDL or something of that functionality.

This brings me to another topic - donations. My stand on that has evolved a bit over the years. I used to think that free software authors accepting money have an obligation to actually produce improved code. Not anymore. That's because you don't really pay for anything, even if the donation goal is clearly stated. Never assume the money will be spent on anything project-related. While it might seem unfair to ask for donations and then "misuse" the funds, that's how it works - think of it as helping the guy/gal out, in general. What effect it will have, well, that's not something you can control. You don't like it - you don't give anything, plain and simple.

That obligation thing works both ways (at least in my case) so I don't accept any donations. Don't want my hobby, something I do in my spare time, when and if I feel like it, turning into a chore. There are certain legal issues to consider as well when it comes to emulation, something I explained in one of my earlier posts - and let's just say it gets much more complicated when money are involved (including taxes evasion charges). That obviously doesn't mean I couldn't use more money, just that I've considered pros and cons and decided against it. And I did made a few exceptions and accepted NAOMI hardware and related games for research purposes. Again, I dare say I've make good use of those.



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