Working on a PC-98 HDD image

[RobIvy64]

Hey folks!

I'm putting together a PC-9821 specific HDD image that is optimized for games. Any suggestions for specific games or drivers I should include?

The only driver I plan on adding is the PC-9801-86 FM expansion driver. Anything else?

[eidis]

 Hi RobIvy64 !

Congratulations on your brave decision. Sorry for not being familiar with this system, however I would like to share some points which helped me shape the X68000 HDD image into what it is today. Try to find a good file commander because it is essential for success and will make your life more easier when performing maintenance on your image. The main goal is to make the image as less memory demanding as possible. A stock, unexpanded machine is a good resource guideline and will be a testament to your perfection. Try to make everything as fool proof and self explanatory as possible because there will be some strange questions from time to time. You could make your life more easier by translating the main operating system files and most often used utilities to Engrish. Trust me, that really helps a lot. I am very lazy but could assist in the translation.

Good luck and Ganbare !

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[RobIvy64]

As it stands now, my image should work on any PC-9821 as far as memory requirements are concerned.

My plan is to release a basic image with some games and software, and let the community improve upon it.

Maybe Lawrence can weigh in on the legality of posting an image here as it will contain the PC98 specific version of MS-DOS 6.2...

[RobIvy64]

Slowly working out the bugs in each game. If anyone has game recommendations to add, let me know. I'm trying to avoid the 38928329832 dating sim and hentai games

[eidis]

Excellent work RobIvy64. Keep up the good work !

Eidis

[RobIvy64]

Anyone here have a PC-98 and would like to beta test?

[caius]

Sure, when I get one..
Just in these day I'm thinking ti get one but I'm lost among hundreds of models.Could you give us some shopping suggestions, please?If I'm not wrong, you made some Youtube videos about.

[RobIvy64]

Shopping for a PC-98 can be daunting. It's best to determine what type of games you want to play. There is no ONE PC-98 model that will comfortably play all games. I can only offer advice on a good mid-range PC-98 for DOS games, which is the PC-9821 series.

First and foremost, you NEED the PC-9801-86 expansion card, which adds a YM2608 FM/PCM chip. You can buy it in a separate expansion card, or find a machine that has the card built-in. I've read that the integrated cards seems to work a little better, but I don't know how true this is.

I decided to buy a machine that has the 86 FM card built-in. Machines that I KNOW have this card are:

PC-98A-mate series (PC-9821A___), PC-98 CanBe series (PC-9821C___)

I purchased a PC-9821Cs2. The CanBe models have slower CPUs, while the A-mate was the top tier model and can still cost quite a bit more in the used market. The A-mate has a great balance of compatible hardware and a fast CPU (most are high-end 486 or early Pentium). I was lucky and managed to find a CPU upgrade for my Cs2 that will make it faster than the A-mate .

I would also avoid a machine that was released in 1995 or later. These models have had their graphics hardware redesigned for Windows and will have some compatibility issues with some games. Likewise, the integrated FM sound is "enhanced 86 compatible" which uses a YMF288 and some games will not support it.

[caius]

Thanks for your suggestions.Well, I'm interested in playing arcade ports mainly ,I know there are good titles among the tons of hentai games..
Is PC-98XX hardware generic  (FDD, CD-ROM, etc..  ) or a proprietary one?Is the notebook option to be avoided?I  guess PC-9821XC and PC-9821XA are not the same thing as PC-9821C and PC-9821A.

[RobIvy64]

PC-9821 hardware is not generic, with the exception of the HDD and maybe the CD-ROM. I can't get another CD-ROM to work in my system, even with a generic driver such as oak.sys.

The power connector for the FDD is either reversed or purely 12V. I have a fried compact flash card that's a testament to that .

The expansion bus (C-bus), keyboard and mouse, RGB output... all proprietary.

I don't have a notebook, but I have read that they are generally not great for games due to the audio incompatibilities, as well as a lack of support for different video modes.

The "A-Mate" models will have a PC-9821A designation. Examples:

PC-9821An
PC-9821As2
PC-9821Ap2



The "CanBe" models will have a PC-9821C designation. Examples:

PC-9821Cs2
PC-9821Ce

I love my Cs2, but personally, I think a PC-9821Ce with ViPER PowerMULTi 586 CPU accelerator would be just about perfect. The CPU in the Ce is a 486SX 25 that is surface-mounted, but I *think* there might be an overdrive socket.

[caius]

PC-9821As2

http://auctions.search.yahoo.co.jp/search?p=PC-9821As2&auccat=&aq=-1&oq=&ei=UTF-8&tab_ex=commerce&slider=0


PC-9821Ap2

http://auctions.search.yahoo.co.jp/search?p=PC-9821Ap2&auccat=&aq=-1&oq=&ei=UTF-8&slider=0&tab_ex=commerce


PC-9821An

http://auctions.search.yahoo.co.jp/search?p=PC-9821An&auccat=&aq=-1&oq=&ei=UTF-8&slider=0&tab_ex=commerce


PC-9821Ce

http://page13.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/r53482799


I noticed that besides the differentiation form 'An', 'Ap2',etc.. there is also a second suffux like 'UP8', 'U8W, etc...Then some model of the same family 'A' or 'C' can have two or one FDD.Anyway which do you advice me to get among the models in the above links?Thanks in advance.

[RobIvy64]

I would probably pick up an Ap2 out of those. The second set of random numbers and letters define the options.

Example:

Ap2/S2 might mean 200MB HDD
Ap2/S3 might mean 340MB HDD

The Ap2 has a 486 DX2 @ 66MHz which would be more than enough for 99% of DOS games. Flame Zapper Kotsujin might run a little slow, but you could probably drop in a DX4 @ 100 MHz.

[caius]

OK, thanks for explanations.

P.S.
From what I've seen, I presume PC-98 games are HDD installable in a way similar to X8000 ones.I'm wondering if does exist some FDD emulator like 2HDSIM or 2HDBOOT (SUBST command shoud be the same).

P.P.S.
I've seen your last Youtube video about 'PC-98 Games Demo and Update'.I didn't understand which type of interface does the HDD use (SCSI or IDE).I only understood you was not able to make an image of it so you replace it with a Compact Flash.I think we can make a good work also on this platform but for first we have to find a filer like LHES.

[RobIvy64]

PC-9801 uses SCSI, PC-9821 uses IDE.

I'm sure there are some great filers we can use. The default DOS shell is included with the image, but it uses a mouse, and is not as keyboard friendly as I would prefer.

[caius]

OK, obviously all games must be played with keyboard since there is no pad or joystick.I presume also PC-9821 is retro-compatible with PC-88 and other lower models.

P.S.
I read also there is a PC-ENGINE emulation card for the PC-9821.

[RobIvy64]

The PC-9801-86 FM expansion card has a MSX-compatible joystick port, but the integrated models have no port. I'm working on a solution that would allow you to use a controller on these models.

The PC-88 is an entirely different architecture and is not compatible.

There is no PC-Engine card. There is a PCFX card but I have not used it.

[caius]

Yes, pardon, I meant a PCFX card.How could you implement a joystick port which is not natively present? What kind of hardware modification are you going to do?

[caius]

Looking at this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHl07yWLbVQ


I could see a PC-98 filer called 'FILMTN' so I downloaded it from Vector.jp but i didn't tried it in a emulator.Anyway, here is it:


https://www.mediafire.com/?fu7cq1mhb0ogac9

There is also a FM-TOWNS version for DOS.

[acridAxid]

Hey Rob, found my way from Facebook over here.  A few thoughts:

• It'd be nice if games weren't included, or if there were a separate 'core' image that was just the most current DOS, some utilities, and a sane boot configuration.
• If certain games need a certain configuration, that should be documented somewhere (should we start a wiki?).
• Do standard MSDOS utilities work on the PC98 without modification?  If so, I can recommend some small basic utilities, file viewers, file managers, and text editors that will be useful for English speakers.

[RobIvy64]

I can turn over a core image, but it's literally just MS-DOS... Just take my image and delete all the stuff

Posting it here publicly is entirely up to Lawrence. 

[caius]

I tried the FILMTN Filer on FM-TOWNS and I can say it's a good program, very simple but powerful.Like LHES you can  do almost all: copying, moving, deleting,renaming, etc...I think it coud be a good start also on PC-98.Program must be launched on boot so you have to edit your autexec.bat but first you have to generate the configuration file and then you are ready to go.

[caius]

Incredible but the YJA seller which I bought the PC-9821AP2/8w from  after my payment replied that he will refund me since he can no longer find the item which probably was listed by mistake.So, my hunt for a PC-98 starts again.Any further advice about the best choice I can do?Thanks in advance.

[RobIvy64]

Plenty of other A-mates on YJ right now. However, I don't see many CanBe models at the moment.

[caius]

So, AP2 or AS2 or other Amate models doesn't matter?

P.S.
Release of PC98 HDD image V1 patch  is coming, stay tuned!

[RobIvy64]

So, AP2 or AS2 ot other Amate models doesn't matter?

P.S.
Release of PC98 HDD image V1 patch  is coming, stay tuned!

Any of the A-mates should be fine!

If you want to verify FM/PCM compatibility, check this site:
http://www.pc-98club.jp/pc98-datas/pc98siryou.html


Look for:
PCM音源2チャンネル(ステレオ):量子化8ビット/16ビット、サンプリングレート 4.13KHz～44.1KHz
FM音源6和音(ステレオ)、リズム音源6和音(ステレオ)、SSG音源3和音(モノラル)

[ChatKnight]

Hi can you tell me how you did it i try to put variable geo 1 and 2 and some other game on a HDD or a HDI but i dont get how to go it