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Doctor V64 for the Nintendo 64

@Nintendo64

Published in

N64 various

· 28 Aug 2019

Doctor V64 for the Nintendo 64: content of the box.

The Doctor V64 is the first backup unit for the Nintendo 64. It was released by Bung Enterprises Ltd in January 1997. Sold as development kit, it actually allows play backup games. Through the clever use of an upgradable bios and the 'game tape adaptor' this copier had the ability to adapt to protective measures Nintendo applied to their games.

The games run perfectly, with no difference between the cartridge and the copied version. Although the loading times are quite long through parallel cable, about 40 Megs per minute, the results are well worth it. Games could also be burned to CD, which result in a loading time of about 10 seconds for a 64 Meg game.

Parts included

AC/DC adapter (220V HK type plug..)

Doctor V64 device

cart slot interface (white) to connect to the Nintendo 64 expansion port. This piece is very tight & almost impossible to remove in the beginning

Doctor V64 cart slot cover/lid (white)

Lockout Chip passthru.. or whatever you want to call it. (black) so the cart lockout chip can be read & allowing you to play the games

Other Items Recommended

TPC (PC to Doctor V64 upload/download tool)

DB25 Parallel MALE<->MALE cable (same cable used for SWC)

Any cart!! Required for the lockout chip.. just like the SUPER MAGICOM

This is not exactly the best format, but anyone BOX size = approximately the same as the Nintendo 64.
Input A/V cables from N64 to V64. V64 has its own port for A/V, which you connect to a TV/MONITOR.

NTSC/PAL selection switch in the back for the Video Signal.

Some technical info:

The N64 will be placed on top of the V64 unit and the video output of the Nintendo 64 goes in the video input of the V64 (video output of V64 to T.V.)

The V64 will also play PAL and NTSC VCD

The V64 will come with and FLASH ROM so easy updating :)

The V64 has and external port for connecting with a PC and let you download the games from your PC (rules) or copy the cartridges to a file

The V64 has a build in 4x speed cd reader for games copied to CD-R (multiple games on 1 cd till now not possible)

The V64 has 16 meg of ram on board expandable to 32 meg

The V64 runs every game out till now (about 20) and expect that almost every game will run on it

The V64 is NOT a newcomer on the copier market actually it is made in the bung laboratory's (from the game doctor) and is well tested before released

The V64 has hit the streets on monday 27-1-1997 (eastern time)

Transfer Nintendo 64 Cart content to the PC

connect the power supply to the V64

connect the plug into the electrical outlet (be sure to use proper voltage & plug for your country)

connect a DB25 cable (same as the SWC<->PC) to the Doctor V64.. and connect the other end to the PC

remove the Lid..

insert a cart in the cart slot

press FR & FF buttons to transfer cart image to the Doctor V64

go to a DOS prompt & run TPC.EXE

type /GAMENAME (where game name is whatever you want to call the file)

if you did anything right, WAIT! WAIT! WAIT! & WAIT!!! the "." counter is approx 3 lines long.. for 64Mbit carts

if everything went right, you got the image. :) (You do not need to turn on the Nintendo 64 for this, or even have it attached to the Copier!!)

Send data from the PC to the Doctor V64

on the Doctor V64 cart slot, insert the white cart slot interface

put your N64 on the Doctor V64 so that the N64 expansion port connects to the Doctor V64 cart slot interface

insert the lockout chip passthru module in the Nintendo 64 cart slot and then insert a cartridge in the slot

turn on the Doctor V64 and run TPC on the PC

at the prompt, enter the GAMENAME and wait! wait! & WAIT! then the file will finally transfer and the Doctor V64 will the you the game is ready to go!

turn on your Nintendo 64 & the game comes on..

Load a game to the V64 from PC

Turn on the V64

Execute TPC.EXE on the PC

Enter the filename you wish to send

When the transfer is complete, turn on the N64 to play the game

Load a game from CD

Turn on the V64

Insert the CD

Press 'play' on the V64

Turn on the N64 when the game is loaded

Backup games

For a 64 Meg game

Plug the cartridge into the V64's cartridge slot. N64 has to be removed!

Turn on the V64

Press 'FR' and 'FF' simultaneously

When the V64 is ready loading the cartridge, run TPC.EXE

Type '/filename' to transfer the game from the V64's memory to PC

For a 128 Meg game

Plug the cartridge into the V64

Turn on the V64

Press and keep holding down 'FR', 'FF' and 'CH' until you see 128 Megs are being copied

Run TPC.EXE when the cartridge is loaded

Enter '/filename' and while pressing 'CH' press enter

Upgrade the bios from PC

Turn on the V64

Execute TPC.EXE

Transfer the bios file just as you would a game file

Upgrade the bios from CD

Turn on the V64

Insert the CD containing the new bios

Press 'play'

Send bios to PC

Turn on the V64

Run TPC.EXE

Enter '/filename' and while pressing 'MENU' press enter

Activate the Doctor V64's self diagnostics

Press&hold the 'CH' and 'MENU' buttons when the Doctor V64 is turned off

Power on the Doctor V64

Use SRAM

The use of the internal SRAM, if it's even there, is still unknown. However, if a game is loaded into the V64 and is saved to SRAM (not to memory pack!), the SRAM (if present) on the cartridge in the 'game tape adaptor' will be used. This has one disadvantage: your previous saves on that cartridge will be deleted.

The big advantage, however, is that you can now use your Killer Intinct Gold cartridge to save those Shadows of the Empire saves on, and use Super Mario 64 for Pilotwings64 saves!

Yes, your savegames will be deleted, but so what? Who still plays Mario after having found all 120 stars? And KI Gold has this feature that lets you save the SRAM to memory pack, so any records can be reloaded when you get tired of SotE.

Warning!!!

While some games will only overwrite the data only when you actually save a game, others will erase it from the very moment you power the N64! To be absolutely sure no precious saves are lost, remove the cartridge holding those saves and insert another *before* powering the N64

Say, cartridge A will hold SotE saves, and cartridge B Pilotwings64 saves. Cartridge A and B both *must* have SRAM. First, you want to play and save SotE, after that Pilotwings64. Here's what you do:

Insert cartridge A into the 'game tape adaptor'

Load SotE to the Doctor V64

Turn on the N64

Play & save SotE

The savegame data will be stored in cartridge A's SRAM

Turn off the N64

Pull out cartridge A and insert cartridge B into the 'game tape adaptor'

Load Pilotwings64

Turn on the N64

Play & save Pilotwings64

In the future, cartridge A and B can be used to restore respectively SotE and Pilotwings64. Just make sure you *never* have cartridge A or B inserted into the 'game tape adaptor' when playing another game which uses SRAM or you risk losing the data.

Finally, a game which uses only the memory pack as the medium to store it's savegame data on will not affect the cartridge plugged into the 'game tape adaptor' in any way.

Other interesting notes

Users of PAL televisions with a RGB-modified N64 also need to setup the units differently then intended; the conventional method results in only the composite video signal of the N64 and the audio to be rerouted through the Doctor V64 to the TV. Even when the PAL/NTSC switch on the back is set to PAL, the signal will still be 60 Hz and will result in a black&white picture on most TVs.

There's a simple way to maintain your RGB signal though and this is done by leaving the RGB cable of the N64 in your TV. The video-output of the Doctor V64 can be connected to another TV, or another SCART or A/V socket on the same TV. I've got the N64 connected to SCART-1 socket (extern 1) and the Doctor V64 to the Scart-3 socket (extern 3). This way, I only have to switch between the extern-1 and 3. The A/V signal of the Doctor V64 still is 60 Hz, so you'll get a b&w menu on a PAL TV. This is not important however, because the menu only displays info about the state of the unit (how many Megabits are received, which game is loaded etc.)

The adaptor that comes with the system is intended for Chinese sockets. The input has to be 220 Volts, 50 or 60 Hz. In Europe, users can use a special socket, or, as I did, just tape a cable to the pins of the adaptor and attach a plug of your own country to the other end of the cable. Just make sure the pins are well isolated!

Doctor V64 FAQs

Here are some general answers to frequently asked questions.

What is the Doctor V64?
It is a device manufactured by Bung Enterprises. It's primary purpose is to copy and play games in conjunction with a Nintendo64. The Doctor V64 can also play Video CDs, CDIs and audio CDs.

What are the specifications?
The device features an 8 speed CD drive. Included as standard are 128 Megabits (16 MB) of RAM, an adaptor and an audio-video cable used for connecting the N64's video output to the Doctor V64's video input. A special 'game tape adaptor' is included which is to be inserted between the Nintendo64 and an original cartridge. Another adaptor is included which is to be inserted between the N64 and the V64. The Doctor V64 is also said to have SRAM, which stores savegame info. So far, the Doctor V64 uses the SRAM of the cartridge plugged into the 'game tape adaptor'.
The Doctor V64's features a flashrom bios and is easily upgradable by parrallel cable or CD.

What does the Doctor V64 cost?
Depends on where you buy it. Around $400 to $450 is the most common price.

How does the unit work?
It uses its internal RAM to store the game data. This data can be loaded into RAM by either the CD-drive, through cartridge or through parallel cable. After the data is loaded, the Nintendo64 can be turned on. The 'game tape adaptor' routes the signals of the lockout-chip (included in the original cartridge) to the N64 and by doing so effectively 'tricks' the N64 into thinking it is playing a perfectly normal cartridge. The actual game data is provided through the N64's expansion port.

Have you encountered any problems so far?
Yes: because of the rather loose connection between the combined units, the setup is extremely vulnarable to shocks, most of the time resulting in errors in both the graphics and sound of the game. A good solution is to use a piece of elastic to squeeze the units together. I've had no problems ever since.

When I tried to play a PAL CDI, I got a black and white screen on my television, even when the switch at the back was set to PAL. Pressing the 'previous','next','FR' or 'FF' will result in a color display. The newer bios versions will play PAL discs in color the moment 'PLAY' is pressed and the switch is set to PAL. PAL playback is also quite choppy. Haven't had the chance to play anything NTSC yet.

There's no known way to use the Doctor V64's own SRAM (if even present) or how to transfer its contents to PC. The flexible bios system may provide a solution for this problem in new bios instalments. Until then, the method described in the 'how to' section will have to do.

General information and I/O ports

The V64 is based on a 6502 CPU, a custom PPU and a mpeg decoding unit.
The bios rom can be paged between 8000h and FFFFh and there is 800h bytes of ram starting at 0000h.

The Doctor V64 I/O ports are mapped from C000h to C01Fh and 4016h-4017h

 
 -------------------------------------------------------- 
|C000h  | RW | W bit 2-0    ROM BANK                     | 
|       |    | R bit 7      IDE INT                      | 
|       |    |   bit 6      MPEG INT (?)                 | 
|       |    |   bit 1      N64 POWER (?)                | 
|       |    |   bit 0      PPU READY (1=READY)          | 
|--------------------------------------------------------| 
|C001h  |    | W bit 7-0    WRITE TO PPU                 | 
|       |    | R            ?                            | 
|--------------------------------------------------------| 
|C002h  |    | RW           ?                            | 
|--------------------------------------------------------| 
|C003h  |    | RW           ?                            | 
|--------------------------------------------------------| 
|C004h  |    | RW           RAM ADDRESS 0                | 
|C005h  |    | RW           RAM ADDRESS 1                | 
|C006h  |    | RW           RAM ADDRESS 2                | 
|C007h  |    | RW           RAM ADDRESS 3                | 
|--------------------------------------------------------| 
|C008h  |    | RW           ?                            | 
|--------------------------------------------------------| 
|C009h  |    | RW           ?                            | 
|--------------------------------------------------------| 
|C00Ah  |    | RW           ?                            | 
|--------------------------------------------------------| 
|C00Bh  |    | RW           ?                            | 
|--------------------------------------------------------| 
|C00Ch  |    | RW           ?                            | 
|--------------------------------------------------------| 
|C00Dh  |    | RW           IDE ADDRESS REGISTER         | 
|--------------------------------------------------------| 
|C00Eh  |    | RW           ?                            | 
|--------------------------------------------------------| 
|C00Fh  |    | W bit 1      BACKUP MODE                  | 
|C00Fh  |    |   bit 0      DRAM ENABLE                  | 
|--------------------------------------------------------| 
|C010h  |    | RW           IDE DATA (LOW BYTE)          | 
|--------------------------------------------------------| 
|C011h  |    | RW           DRAM DATA (LOW BYTE)         | 
|--------------------------------------------------------| 
|C012h  |    | RW           ?                            | 
|--------------------------------------------------------| 
|C013h  |    | RW           ?                            | 
|--------------------------------------------------------| 
|C014h  |    | RW           IDE/DRAM (HIGH BYTE)         | 
|--------------------------------------------------------| 
|C015h  |    | RW           PRINTER PORT DATA (?)        | 
|--------------------------------------------------------| 
|C016h  |    | RW           PRINTER PORT EXTRA PINS (?)  | 
|--------------------------------------------------------| 
|C017h  |    | RW           PRINTER PORT EXTRA PINS (?)  | 
|--------------------------------------------------------| 
|C018h  |    | RW           MPEG CHIP (?)                | 
|C019h  |    | RW           MPEG CHIP (?)                | 
|C01Ah  |    | RW           MPEG CHIP (?)                | 
|C01Bh  |    | RW           MPEG CHIP (?)                | 
|C01Ch  |    | RW           MPEG CHIP (?)                | 
|C01Dh  |    | RW           MPEG CHIP (?)                | 
|C01Eh  |    | RW           MPEG CHIP (?)                | 
|C01Fh  |    | RW           MPEG CHIP (?)                | 
 --------------------------------------------------------

How to make a working .R64
To make a valid .R64 file, you need to make 6502 code starting at offset 0200h.

NES gamepad?
The Doctor V64 use the same joypad port the NES use. To know if the buttons on the top of the V64 have been pressed, simply write 1 then 0 at 4016h and read it 8 times.

4017h seems to be loaded when doing a dram test but i don't know why.

Doctor V64 PPU
The PPU used in the Doctor V64 is not too complicated, it use 1 byte commands to draw the screen.

 
 PPU COMMANDS 

 00h-7Fh  Draw a tile 
 90h+Y    Y position 
 A0h+X    X position

Features of Doctor V64 Bios V1.80 (released on May 5, 1998)

Real video and audio MPEG demo files can be used for game selection : It can search and playing '.mpg' MPEG files of demos in a CD automatically and upon 'Play' or '>>' or '<<' button pressed to load the corresponding game file or to play next mpeg demo file or previous mpeg demo file.
After the game file loaded, the Bios will wait for you to switch on Nintendo 64 to run game and when you switch off Nintendo 64 later it will return to MPEG demo playing loop. So the Doctor V64 + Nintendo 64 can be used for games demonstrating and even used in arcade game centre with legal license CD game files and MPEG Demo files.
If you press 'Stop' button during the Bios waiting for you to switch on Nintendo 64, it will return to 'Stop' waiting for input mode.
If no game file corresponding to a MPEG demo file, the Bios will not play the demo to you, so you can enjoy the games selected basing on some wonderful MPEG demoes.
If you want to run other operation (e.g. load 'sav' or '.ips' files) with a CD consisted with some '.mpg' file, just press 'Stop' button before press 'Play' button to run CD file selection at normal situation. If you press 'Menu' button during reading headers of files to skip the procedure, then when you only press 'Play' button to run CD next time, it will go to the MPEG demonstration again; if you wait until whole procedure of header reading completed, then the Bios will stay in the non-demo mode and anytime you only press 'Play' button to run CD file selection at normal situation until the CD changed or the Doctor V64 switch off and on again.

If your Bios combined with a upload sram utility (for example, the 'Up SRAM V1.2') then you'll get the great convenience on uploading a SAVE data file into DX256 or the game cartridge because the Bios V1.80 will load the utility automatically after a '.sav' file loaded from CD or downloaded from PC and then waits for Nintendo 64 to be switched on to run the utility. After Nintendo 64 on, the Bios will waits Nintendo 64 off again and then return to file selection operation screen so you can load game file after the save data uploaded easily.
If your Bios don't combined with a upload sram utility, Bios V1.80 is no difference in '.sav' file loading procedure compared with earlier version.