Originally posted by: nesworld
 

The "only" way to flash a rom to an official Nintendo flash cart is by using a Gang Writer, and with that either by copying a "master cartridge" or by sending a rom from a PC (with the correct official software, good luck finding that)
http://www.nesworld.com/n64-gangwriter.php
How do I reach my conclusion? well official 512mbit flash carts are insanely rare, how do I know? I've been collecting N64 protos for years and have NEVER come across a 512M cart myself (currently own roughly some 60 N64 protos).
If this was just a flash of the already released rom, not only would you need to have a Gang Writer, know how to operate it, but also have access to a 512M cart. That combination is very unlikely

One odd thing though is why it's on a 512M cart, afaik OoT is only 256M. 

As for the youtube guy comparing the proto to the released game, he abviously has no clue about N64 protos ($50 and you have one of these flash carts..... gimme 4 of those please!)

I think the point is that once a ROM is publicly released,

http://www.assemblergames.com/for...

it is difficult to tell if a dev cart with a similar ROM has been fabricated.

Although dev kit is rare, it is not nearly as rare as a prototype of this caliber. Unless there is some other line of evidence this would not put my confidence at 99.99% sure.

Edit: Somehow I managed to screw up the qoute. I added a line to break it up.

^^^^^^^^^^

exactly

getting this dumped this week, and match it with the dumped rom

some new info came up today so will all get it toghter and post about it.

I can't wait to hear more.

There are quite a few reputable people who can dump N64 ROMs. Cheaterdragon (webmaster of Micro-64) has a nice Z64 setup but that can't do 512Mbit. I can dump cartridges that big with gamesharks as I have everything necessary, but I guess I'm not reputable enough. I have dumped carts for other people though, mostly cheaterdragon.

I agree with nesworld, the odds of someone faking a 512Mbit N64 proto is highly unlikely. The carts are rare and it'd be tough trying to flash a ROM onto such an ancient flash cart, which is what those dev carts essentially are.

The reason why Ocarina of Time: Master Quest is 512Mbit is because the game doesn't have the usual retail compression added to it to make it cheaper to produce. It'd be uncompressed for debugging probably.

I'm sure that guy knows a lot about Prototypes in general, but he has no idea talking about with N64. I laughed when he said N64 Prototypes can be found for about $50. NESWorld has all the information correct here. 

Can't believe I missed this thread at first, need to check Protoculture more often. I can't comment on authenticity, but that's one hell of a find regardless!

Amazing find, looking forward to hearing more. Love some N64 protos!

Been following this proto thread since it popped up here. I've read a lot of good points from both sides on wether this is a legit prototype. So I thought I would give my two cents on what I have researched on the hardware side of the cart and let everyone form their own opinion whether this cart is legit.

First thing to notice is the size of the cart. The 512M carts are extremely elusive. As Nesworld mentioned, very few have surfaced. I myself have been after one for many years just like he has. This alone can not prove the cart is legit but is in favor of it being real.

Second yes having all the necessary tools to write one of these carts is rare as well, but not impossible. This possibility favors the cart being fake. Only way to disprove this is to compare the rom to the released rom. But even if the data is a 100% match to the rom released this doesn't prove the cart is a fake.

All of the above has been debated back and fourth but I would like to add some new information not mentioned yet. You can actually date a dev cart to a date of manufacturing (to the point of manufacturing was not before xxxx date)

First point hardware wise that sticks out is the Altera Max chip. The sticker on it states: F512 V2. This is important. All 256M dev carts using the same board (pn 1997 nus-16f32sb-01) I've personally seen have had F512. There is a reason a revision of the programming code changed for this chip.

From the altera max chip change that leads us to the flash memory. If you compare the flash memory to that of other dev carts the part numbers have changed. According to my research the part number of the chips on the zelda proto are a manufacturing change by sharp. Sharp began to migrate from the part numbers found on all other dev carts I have seen to the part number on this cart. This migration required slight modifications to the altera max programming, explaining the V2 for the altera max chip.

This change in itself doesn't prove the date, sharp started changing in 1998. But, the flash chips themselves do. The chips each have a manufacture date code located at the bottom of the chip. On the zelda cart the latest date code present is 0007, translated year 2000 week 7 or the third week of February 2000.

This date is abnormal, while some late n64 titles were still being released, most development was nearing completion. Not to mention developers at that time would have most likely had the needed hardware at that point. But gamecube development was also underway, so this date falls into the overlap time period of the two systems.

With this information you can form your own opinion. My theory is they went to develop the master quest bonus as a last minute decision. At that time they were deep into gamecube development and most of the n64 equipment had been pushed aside. The decision was made to move forward with the master quest bonus and to modify the game it would be easier to do it/debug it on actual n64 hardware. They needed some 512M carts so they pulled spare parts together and made a few. They probably had the boards but lacked flash chips so they placed an order for some. This would fit the development timeline, if the chips were manufactured February 2000 by the time they made it out the door through FIFO it could have been 6 months later.

One more oddity of the board worth mentioning is the solder process for the expand flash memory area (front of board to left of max chip). All of the contact points were pre soldered even though they weren't used. This is not the normal practice on all other dev carts, and can't even be found on the back side of this cart. This leads me to believe the process installing the front flash chips differed from their standard manufacturing process for whatever reason.

Thanks,

Sounds great

I'm replying directly to this thread, although I will also send you a message with my contact information.

I'm the guy who found the Arwing & made multiplayer Ocarina of Time. I also released the Majora's Mask Debug ROM build and have done a number of other things.

Simply put: I know how to analyze the ROM to determine to see if it is authentic or not, with an actual method of determination. A diff compare isn't necessarily going to answer the question of authenticity because if they were dedicated enough to replace the title screen, they could have obfuscated the MIPS assembly or other parts of the ROM. What initially makes me believe, without seeing the ROM, that it isn't a fake that if they replaced the title screen they would have probably at least added in a couple of fake "prototype" maps to the map select. Or at least I would have done such.

thanks, contacted you

its dumped first step!

Congrats! Did the V64 do the trick or did you have to resort to something else?

gameshark, i didnt dump it ad the end so cant tell exactly how ist done.

Can't wait to see the results

all dungeons are original ocarina of time. So no master quest dungeons..

How odd.

is it? there should have bin a debug version of this one to you would think right?

N64 Zelda Ocarina of Time gamecube prototype is for auction. Now starting from one euro

http://www.ebay.com/itm/301318912...

Thanks for looking, and for questions let me now