Back to menu

The Special Cartridge Menu



The Cartridge Menu is part of the File/Cartridge Menu; for every slot, it contains the following menu items :

The MSX Game Reader is an USB device for your PC, it has been released by ASCII / MSX-ASSOCIATION in Japan and by SUNRISE outside Japan.
It allows to use MSX cartridges on a PC, what adds more fun and accuracy to your MSX experience.

It comes with an installation program and a special version of the MSX-PLAYer, the official MSX emulator released by ASCII / MSX-ASSOCIATION.

To use the MSX Game Reader in combination with blueMSX, you need to first buy the complete official package and to install the included software. The presence on your PC of a specific file is indeed required and this file will be present after installation of the included software.

The Joyrex PSG cartridge is a cartridge created by Vincent van Dam with a ColecoVision PSG on it. You can therefore use MSX trackers to compose music for ColecoVision.

SCC (Sound Custom Chip or Sound Creative Chip) is a sound chip developed by Konami and Yamaha under the technical name K051649. It is present on some rom games like King's Valley 2 or Salamander.

SCC-I is a improved version under the form of a Sound Cartridge released with the SD-Snatcher and Snatcher games.

You can find more info here.

Ese-SCC is a Japanese invention that allows to produce SCC sounds from external SRAM.

The ESE-SCC can be used as pure SRAM or as virtual disk. In both cases, a file will be created in the SRAM subdirectory of blueMSX.

Using ESE-SCC as pure SRAM opens the door to a new world on the MSX system. In the case you want to create a new ESE-SCC in the same cartridge slot, you need first to delete manually the file created in the SRAM subdirectory of blueMSX.

Using ESE-SCC as pure SRAM is required for a tool like ROMLOAD. Actually, it will copy the entire ROM of a game on the SRAM and the game will be launched directly from the SRAM if you boot the emulated machine with the ESE-SCC. In the case you want to use ROMLOAD for another game, you need first to delete manually the file created in the SRAM subdirectory of blueMSX.

If you want to use the ESE-SCC as virtual disk, you need to follow these instructions :
- insert mginst.dsk in the first floppy drive (now recognized as B: - A: is reserved for the SRAM)
- on the commandline, type INST1 or INST2 to install MSX-DOS1 or 2 on the SRAM and initialize the SRAM
- reset the MSX

Note that you can delete the files on this virtual disk, but it's not possible to format the virtual disk in the emulator. In the case you want to create a new ESE-SCC in the same cartridge slot, you need first to delete manually the file created in the SRAM subdirectory of blueMSX.

See this site : http://www.big.or.jp/~saibara/msx/ese/index.html

An IDE or Integrated Drive Electronics interface with controllers is one way to add an hard disk and/or a CD-ROM to a MSX computer.

You have the choice between 3 different IDE controllers :
- Sunrise IDE
- Beer IDE
- GIDE

An SCSI or Small Computer System Interface with controllers is another way to add an hard disk and/or a CD-ROM drive to a MSX computer.

You have the choice between 3 different SCSI controllers :
- Mega-SCSI
- Wave-SCSI
- Gouda SCSI

You can find more info on these pages :
- IDE and SCSI controllers
- Running hard disk images
- Creating hard disk images
- CD-ROM and CD-AUDIO

This interface is a MSX cartridge that allows you to connect your MSX to a PC using a USB connection.

You can choose between MSXDOS1 and MSXDOS2. You can find more info on this website : http://www.nowind.nl/

FM-PAC means FM-Pana Amusement Cartridge, it's a cartridge released by Panasonic.

It contains two different parts :
- a music part (MSX-MUSIC with an integrated software that you can run by using CALL FMPAC in MSX-BASIC
- a saving system for some games (S-RAM).

PAC is a simplified version, it contains only the S-RAM.

All generic MSX2, MSX2+ and MSXturboR machines, with exception for the MSX2 Only PSG machine, come with an intern MSX-MUSIC chip and the PAC, so it's not required to add a FM-PAC cartridge !

If you want to use the FM-PAC cartridge or the PAC cartridge on a MSX1, use this special menu.

You can find more info about MSX-MUSIC here.

The Sony HBI-55 Cartridge is a special SRAM support that allows to save personal data.

It can only be used with some Sony machines :

- HB-55, HB-75, HB-201 (MSX1)
- HB-F1, HB-F1II (MSX2)

Although there is already RAM in a MSX computer, you can extend it internally (by using the Machine editor) or externally (by using this Special menu).

You can choose between different sizes : 16 Kb, 32 Kb, 48 Kb, 64 Kb, 512 Kb, 1 MB, 2 MB, 4 MB.

MegaRAM is mainly a Brazilianse invention that allows to run a MegaROM game on a MSX computer without Memory mapper, what it is the case of most MSX1 machines and of some MSX2 machines. It can also be used on MSX2/2+ machines with a memory mapper. There are also Korean MegaRAMs.

For a good working of the MegaRAM, you must always select a size bigger than the size of the MegaROM game. For example, if you want to run a 256 Kb MegaROM game, you must select at least a 512 Kb MegaRAM .

Ese-RAM is a Japanese invention that allows to use external SRAM. You can see it as ESE-SCC without the SCC part.

The ESE-RAM can be used as pure SRAM or as virtual disk. In both cases, a file will be created in the SRAM subdirectory of blueMSX.

Using ESE-RAM as pure SRAM opens the door to a new world on the MSX system. In the case you want to create a new ESE-RAM in the same cartridge slot, you need first to delete manually the file created in the SRAM subdirectory of blueMSX.

If you want to use the ESE-RAM as virtual disk, you need to follow these instructions :
- insert mginst.dsk in the first floppy drive (now recognized as B: - A: is reserved for the SRAM)
- on the commandline, type INST1 or INST2 to install MSX-DOS1 or 2 on the SRAM and initialize the SRAM
- reset the MSX

Note that you can delete the files on this virtual disk, but it's not possible to format the virtual disk in the emulator. In the case you want to create a new ESE-RAM in the same cartridge slot, you need first to delete manually the file created in the SRAM subdirectory of blueMSX.

See this site : http://www.big.or.jp/~saibara/msx/ese/index.html

Mega Flash ROM is a Spanish invention that allows to store games and applications on external RAM. The SCC variant adds SCC sounds.

For more explanations and the MSX-DOS tool OPF.COM, see this website : http://soft.mundivia.es/mpazos/flashrom/index2.html


Back to menu