Emulating FS-SR021

Paladin (686)

15-11-2018, 17:05

I have the ROM and the Disk, but it does not work by simply plugging in the ROM. I suspect that it needs a XML file similar to other Kanji ROMs.
Just plugging it into a Japanese MSX2 causes it to hang on boot.

By Manuel

Ascended (19811)

15-11-2018, 17:10

Is there a picture of the PCB of the cart?

By rderooy

Paladin (686)

15-11-2018, 17:55

A not very high-res picture...
https://www.msx.org/wiki/Panasonic_FS-SR021

By Manuel

Ascended (19811)

15-11-2018, 18:53

So the question is how this cartridge is mapped.

You could try an XML file which includes the kanji ROM at least, but I doubt that will make it work. I guess the SRAM is needed, and then also some mapping must be implemented. But as long as no one figured out how it works, there's no way to emulate it.

You could try some of these ASCII MSX-Write configs, perhaps they use the same mapper...

By Manuel

Ascended (19811)

15-11-2018, 19:07

Just tried, nope, someone would have to examine either the circuitboard, or the ROM image to investigate the mapper that is used. The person who dumped it must know the mapper type of course. But apparently that information got lost?

By rderooy

Paladin (686)

15-11-2018, 21:45

Found the below thread from 2015 where mister.pr0zen mentions having the complete package, and volunteering to take a ROM dump.
https://www.msx.org/forum/semi-msx-talk/emulation/unemulated...

By Manuel

Ascended (19811)

15-11-2018, 21:50

Well, I did find a 2MB ROM dump somewhere. So that is not the big issue.

By rderooy

Paladin (686)

15-11-2018, 22:14

probably the same ROM I have
13007f9340670deda42c4b53c06c19d3d3c09704 Panasonic FS-SR021 MSX2 Word Processor (1988)(Matsushita Electric Industrial).rom

In any case, my post was not meant to get another ROM dump, but perhaps have him validate a few things.

By Manuel

Ascended (19811)

15-11-2018, 23:25

First someone will have to reverse engineer the mapper. But a high Res photo of the PCB will also help to see which chips are on that board.

By rderooy

Paladin (686)

16-11-2018, 10:16

Supposedly support was added to openMSX by Vampier back in 2008
https://sourceforge.net/p/openmsx/mailman/message/19157843/

By Manuel

Ascended (19811)

16-11-2018, 16:37

I only see him removing entries from the software database there. The mapper type was missing there as well, by the way.