NESToy Utility Guide and Helpers

[Brian]

After purchasing the PowerPak from RetroUSB, I found that many of the *.nes ROM files I had in my collection did not work with the PowerPak. They worked on my PC emulators, but not on the actual console. I found after searching problems with ROMs will typically be incorrect file headers, mapper information, or bad "dumps," but I had no way of telling which ones were good and bad (with exception of trial and error). So I needed a utility to do the work for me.

I found some Windows-based tools (like Good tools and ROM Center), but they were confusing and more targeted at those looking to collect every game ROM under the sun. I was just looking for a very basic ROM repair utility. I downloaded several but found that NESToy did exactly what I wanted and does so simply and quickly.

NESToy is a DOS-based utility, and being such runs from commandline. Commandline of course requires you to tell the program exactly everything in order to run properly, in other words, commandline programs are typically not "smart." So I made myself a couple helper programs that are a commandline frontend for NESToys and they work great in keeping my current library organized and also repairing & organizing any new ROMs I download.

You can download just NESToy v1.1, which does not include my helpers

You can download just my NESToy helpers, which requires you have NESToy already installed, or...

You can download NESToy w/ Helpers in one shot.

Below is the guide for using the helpers I created for use with NESToy. It is also included as the readme in the the downloads that include the helper.

If you have any questions, just post a reply to this topic.

[Brian]

==
NESToy Helper Utilities
==
(2007) http://www.morningtoast.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OVERVIEW

The two batch files (*.bat) included in this package are front end helpers
for the NESToy utility (nestoy.exe). You have already downloaded and installed
NESToy on your computer.

The NESToy utility will repair and fix bad or incorrect ROM files (*.nes) and
will increase their chance of working on more picky emulators or hardward, such
as the PowerPak from RetroUSB.com



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DISCLAIMER

These programs are offered as-is without any warranty or guarantee. It is
recommended you make your own copies of your *.nes ROM files before using
this utility. As-is and unaltered, these programs do not harm your computer
in any way. These programs simply run the NESToy utility and make it easier
to use.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INSTALLATION

1. Create a new folder anywhere on your computer (for example, c:\nintendo\)
2. Download and copy (install) all NESToy files into that folder
3. Download and copy (unzip) all files in newtoyhelper.zip into the same folder.
   Overwrite any files is needs to.
4. Create a folder in the new folder called "newroms" (c:\nintendo\newroms\)
5. Copy all your *.nes files into the "newroms" folder
6. Run repairhelper.bat
7. Run audit.bat





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE PROGRAMS

repairhelper.bat      
         This batch file will step you through the ROM repair and
         reorganization process.
            
         This program will create two folders if they do not already
         exist. It will create "newroms" and "roms"
                     
         When NESToy runs, it will repair any bad/incorrect ROMs
         and organize (move) them into folders inside the "roms"
         folder.

         roms\USA   Valid, North American region games
         roms\Backup   Backups of all your *.nes files
         roms\Bad   ROMs determined as bad and unrepairable
         roms\Dupes   Duplicate games
         roms\Import   Non-North American games. Europe, Japan, etc.
         roms\Hacked   Hacked ROMs. Either by game or mapper.
         roms\Other   Other game types. Pirate, translated, etc.
         
         In short, all the good games are in the "roms\USA" folder.
         Games in the other folders you should re-find online and
         add them to your collection.
                     

audit.bat                     
         This batch file will create a text file that lists all
         (valid) games you do not have in your collection.
                     
         The file created is called nes_miss.txt
                     
         The sixth column in each row denotes the country of the
         game. For North American games look for a "U" - all other
         codes in that column are non-USA games (imports).



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~            
WHERE THINGS GO

Let's assume you create a new folder at c:\nintendo\

NESToy and the helper *.bat programs are located in c:\nintendo\
New *.nes files in need of repair go in c:\nintendo\newroms\
Repaired *.nes files get organized in c:\nintendo\roms\

                     
                     
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ADDING ROMS

The 'repairhelper.bat' program should be used whenever you download new *.nes
ROM files. Just put your new *.nes files into the "newroms" folder and then
run 'repairhelper.bat'

This will repair the ROM if it needs it and organize into the proper folder
inside the "roms" folder.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MORE HELP

For more help, visit the forums at http://www.morningtoast.com

[Ataristyle]

Thank you soo much!  I was really getting frustrated with getting my new Powerpak to work until I came across this site.  Only a very select few would work for me.  Now it seems like 90% have been working.  Still, Mario 2 & 3 have issues and I'm wondering if thats on account of a bad ROM to begin with.  Nonetheless your two little command line programs for NESToy worked great for me! 

[Brian]

Glad to hear you repaired much of your ROM collection.  I was in the same boat when I got my PowerPak. I was all excited only to find most of the games I wanted to played failed.

Chances are if your ROM game still fails to play  after repair, it's a bad ROM (a "bad dump") to begin with. I've come across a few of those in my collection as well. At that point it's just a matter of hitting up the regular ROM locations and downloading the game again and giving it a try.

If you - or anyone else - is having issues with specific games not working and can't seem to find them elsewhere, post here and I'll check my resources and collection and post here if they work for me too. Although a note, my collection is mostly the regular North Am. releases...I'm not big into imports and Jap releases....at least not at this point.

[woman]

Greetings from Los Angeles!  I need help with NEStoy!

I play NES games via LJP emulator on my Treo 650 phone. 

Will Nestoy patch up bootleg roms?

I need help running the following NES roms on my LJP emulator:
World Heroes 2
Donkey Kong COuntry 4
Mortal Kombat 3
Mortal Kombat 4
Super Donkey Kong 2
Pikachu dig gug
Dig dug
Street Fighter 2
Street Fighter 3
Street Fighter 5

[Brian]

Hmmm...I didn't know they made those titles for the NES, even in bootleg.

NEStoy is a utility to run on your PC, not your phone. So I'm guessing you'd have to run NEStoy on the ROMs on your PC first, then copy them to your phone. Wow...emulator on your phone, that's pretty cool.

Otherwise, the best I can suggest is to just try NEStoy on the ROMs you have. NEStoy is sort of a "it works or it doesn't" utility. If it can repair the ROM it will, if it can't, it won't. There's not a lot of fiddling that has to be done. Just give it a shot and see what happens.

Hope you find a way to get your fav games on your Treo. Post back here if you find any useful information in the process.

[woman]

NESToy does not enable bootleg roms to be played via LJP.  NESToy does not affect normal  ROMS that are unplayable on LJP.

I ran NESToy on my PC and tried to repair the ROMs.  Then I put the ROMs on the SD card to be played- then tried to play via LJP on my Treo 650.  None of the ROMs were playable.

I am very grateful for your advice anyways.  I hope that NESToy will be improved in the future.  I also hope that future versions of NESToy will be compatible with bootleg and pirated ROMs.  (Especially "World Heroes 2" for the NES/Famicom/Dendy.)

Thank you for your time.  I write with sincere respect.