Check out this Youtube vid

It's got some interesting info on the BS-X BIOS cart. It even has translated some of the text into English in subtitles on the youtube video (for example, the 4 options in your house in BSX Land being play game, delete game, play scheduled program, and delete user data). He also opens up the BIOS cartridge and shows the circuit board. I noticed particularly that the markings on the board for where to solder an SRAM battery holder seem to be missing the battery and holder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYm7fDV-4es

Running the BIOS cart on real-hardware apparently does NOT require the actual satellite modem to be installed (I'd always thought it needed the satellite modem on RH, and only worked as a standalone cart in an emulator which is designed to allow standalone BS-X operation), as you can see he's running it in an SNES, not an SFC, and the shape of the console is so different that an expansion device for an SFC wouldn't fit in the expansion slot on an SNES. Apparantly he modified the shape of the cartridge slot though so that an SFC cart would fit in the SNES cart slot.

This post has been edited by Videogamer555 on Jul 17 2012, 09:06 PM

Didn't modify the shape of the slot, just broke off the tabs in the slot.

Pretty sure that those "tabs" are part of the complete plastic part known as the cartridge slot case.


Middle of cart slot diagram

Top of slot

Back of cart slot''''''''''''''Front of slot
|'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''|
|'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''|
|'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''|
|'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''|
|'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''|
|'''''''''''''''''''IE I'''''''''''''''''|
|'''''''''''''''''''IE I'''''''''''''''''|
\------------E------------/







Left and right side of cart slot diagram

Top of slot

Back of cart slot''''''''''''''Front of slot
|'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''|
|'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''|
|'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''|
|'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''|
|'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''|
\--\''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''|
''''''|'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''|
''''''\----------------------/

Bottom of slot



Symbol Legend:
|= gray plastic vertical part of cartridge slot
- = gray plastic horizontal part of cartridge slot
\ and / = gray plastic corner part of cartridge slot
I = black plastic electrical contacts holder
E = electrical contacts

' = spacer in my diagram because this forum PHP software erases all spacebar spaces that are used as spacers in ascii diagrams



As you can see, with the US SNES, as with the US N64, the back wall of the cartridge slot juts forward near the bottom of the slot, on the left and right sides of the slot. This requires the bottom of the cartridge to have notches on the back left and back right corners. This means it is not just a tab. On both the N64 and the SNES, these so called "tabs" are in fact BUILT IN to the plastic case of the machine.

However in the middle of the length of the cartridge slot (where the electrical contacts are found), the modification does not need to be done. This is why they are called tabs, is because the modification only needs to be done to the lower back corners of the caridge slot part of the SNES (and N64) case, rather than to the entire lower back of the slot. This is obviously a missnomer though, because they are PHYSICALLY part of the case. As when I modded my N64 cartridge slot, I had to open the case of the console, take off the upper half of the case (where the plastic cardige slot was) and take a utility knife and cut off those lower back left and lower back right corners of the cartridge slot, and then reassemble the whole thing. This is the same procedure needed to modify the SNES to play Japan region games. This is why I have NEVER modified my SNES. By opening the case you risk breaking something, and since the SNES was the first game console I ever got (I was about 7 at the time), it is very nostalgic to me, and so I will not risk OPENING THE CASE just to make it play Japan region games. And yes, you DO have to open the case because the nature of this mod is the same as it is with the N64. And no they are NOT tabs, but rather are part of the cartridge slot which is itself a portion of the plastic case of the game console. And yes you do have to CUT THEM OUT, not just "break them off".

This post has been edited by Videogamer555 on Jul 19 2012, 05:35 PM

I broke mine off. For the N64 I will agree that you cannot break them off, but you can easily break them off in the SNES.