ROM header

From WSdev Wiki
Revision as of 18:30, 2 April 2024 by Asie (talk | contribs) (→‎Save type/size ($B))
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigationJump to search

Every WonderSwan ROM contains a header. It is stored at the end - final sixteen bytes - of the ROM image.

ROM header

Parts of this header are validated or otherwise used by the console's boot ROM - they are marked in bold.

Header contents
Offset Length Contents
$0 5 Far jump instruction: 0xEA, offset, segment.
$5 1 Maintenance
$6 1 Developer/Publisher ID
$7 1 Color
$8 1 Game ID (binary-coded decimal)
$9 1 Game version? / Safe mode
$A 1 ROM size
$B 1 Save type/size
$C 1 Flags
$D 1 Mapper
$E 2 Checksum (sum of all ROM bytes excluding the checksum)

Maintenance ($5)


7  bit  0
---- ----
s... 0000
|    ||||
|    ++++- Must be zero; otherwise the console will prohibit execution.
|          Purpose unknown.
+--------- (Color) Splash bypass: 0 = Disable, 1 = Enable.
           Bypasses the custom boot splash stored in the console's
           internal EEPROM; presumably used for bricked console recovery.

Developer/Publisher ID ($6)


Known official developer/publisher IDs
ID Publisher code Publisher
$01 BAN Bandai
$02 TAT Taito
$03 TMY Tomy
$04 KEX Koei
$05 DTE Data East
$06 AAE Asmik Ace
$07 MDE Media Entertainment
$08 NHB Nichibutsu
$0A CCJ Coconuts Japan
$0B SUM Sammy
$0C SUN Sunsoft
$0D PAW Mebius
$0E BPR Banpresto
$10 JLC Jaleco
$11 MGA Imagineer
$12 KNM Konami
$16 KBS Kobunsha
$17 BTM Bottom Up
$18 KGT Kaga Tech
$19 SRV Sunrise
$1A CFT Cyber Front
$1B MGH Megahouse
$1D BEC Interbec
$1E NAP Nihon Application
$1F BVL Bandai Visual
$20 ATN Athena
$21 KDX KID
$22 HAL HAL Corporation
$23 YKE Yuki Enterprise
$24 OMN Omega Micott
$25 LAY Layup
$26 KDK Kadokawa Shoten
$27 SHL Shall Luck
$28 SQR Squaresoft
$2A SCC ?
$2B TMC Tom Create
$2D NMC Namco
$2E SES ?
$2F HTR ?
$31 VGD Vanguard
$32 MGT Megatron
$33 WIZ Wiz
$35 TAN Tanita
$36 CPC Capcom

Note that IDs $00 and $01 are used across a variety of commercial games. Homebrew is known to use arbitrary values in this field.

Color ($7)


7  bit  0
---- ----
???? ???c
        |
        +- 0 = Monochrome only, 1 = Supports Color mode.

Game version? / Safe mode ($9)


7  bit  0
---- ----
pvvv vvvv
|||| ||||
|+++ ++++- Game version?
+--------- Internal EEPROM write protect: 0 = Enable, 1 = Disable.
           This prohibits writing to the internal EEPROM for addresses
           0x60 and above (user settings, custom splash screen).
           Games are expected to enable write protection; however, the
           WonderWitch is factory configured with it disabled.

ROM size ($A)


Unofficial/inferred ROM size values are marked in italic.

ROM size values
ID Size
$00 1 Mbit (128 KiB)
$01 2 Mbit (256 KiB)
$02 4 Mbit (512 KiB)
$03 8 Mbit (1 MiB)
$04 16 Mbit (2 MiB)
$05 24 Mbit (3 MiB)
$06 32 Mbit (4 MiB)
$07 48 Mbit (6 MiB)
$08 64 Mbit (8 MiB)
$09 128 Mbit (16 MiB)
$0A 256 Mbit (32 MiB)
$0B 512 Mbit (64 MiB)

Note that ROM sizes over 16 MiB are not supported by the Bandai 2001 mapper. The Bandai 2003 mapper is limited to 64 MiB.

Save type/size ($B)


Save type values
ID Type Size
$00 None
$01 SRAM 256 Kbit (32 KiB)
$02
$03 1 Mbit (128 KiB)
$04 2 Mbit (256 KiB)
$05 4 Mbit (512 KiB)
$10 EEPROM 1 Kbit (128 B)
$20 16 Kbit (2 KiB)
$50 8 Kbit (1 KiB)

Note that while ID $01 is commonly documented as 64 Kbit, all known cartridges using that value come with 256 Kbit SRAM chips. This requires further investigation.

Flags ($C)


7  bit  0
---- ----
???? ?SBv
      |||
      ||+- Starting screen orientation: 0 = Horizontal, 1 = Vertical.
      ||   Controls the splash screen's orientation.
      |+-- ROM bus width: 0 = 16-bit, 1 = 8-bit.
      +--- ROM access time: 0 = 3 CPU cycles, 1 = 1 CPU cycle.

Mapper ($D)


Known mapper types
ID Mapper
$00 Bandai 2001 or KARNAK
$01 Bandai 2003