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ROM Information

A collection of my notes and gathered information about N64 ROM files and headers.

ROM ID / Serial

Each ROM has a four-character ID, such as NSME for Super Mario 64. Using that as an example:

N SM E
│ │┘ │
│ │  └ Region
│ └ Software ID
└ Media Type

Media Type - 0x38 - 0x3B - 4 bytes, NUL-padded

By far the most common is N for a standard cartridge.

There are a handful of games with C such as Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Mario Party, and F-Zero X.

  • N - Cartridge
  • D - 64DD Disk
  • C - Cartridge for expandable game
  • E - 64DD Expansion
  • Z - Aleck64 Cartridge

Software ID - 0x3C - 0x3D - 2 bytes

Each game gets its own two-character alphanumeric ID that is the same across all regions.

Examples:

  • SM - Super Mario 64
  • FU - Conker's Bad Fur Day
  • B5 - Biohazard 2

ROM Region IDs - 0x3E - 1 byte

The final character of the ROM ID is the region.

By far the most common are: E for the US, J for Japan, and P for PAL regions.

  • 7 - Beta
  • A - Japan + US
  • B - Brazil
  • C - China
  • D - Germany
  • E - US
  • F - France
  • G - Gateway 64 (NTSC)
  • H - Netherlands
  • I - Italy
  • J - Japan
  • K - South Korea
  • L - Gateway 64 (PAL)
  • N - Canada
  • P - PAL
  • S - Spain
  • U - Australia
  • W - Scandinavia
  • X - PAL (Uncommon)
  • Y - PAL (Uncommon)

Package Regions

Package regions do not appear in ROM data. These only appear on the cartridge itself and on the box, perhaps to denote the target market such as box art and language of the manuals.

There's not always a clear mapping to/from ROM region IDs.

Code Description
ASI Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia
ASM Asia (excluding Japan)
AUS Australia
ESP Spain
EUR Europe
EUU Europe
FAH France and Netherlands
FRA France
FRG France and Germany
HKG Hong Kong
HOL Netherlands
ITA Italy
JPN Japan
KOR South Korea
MSA Mexico
NOE Germany
ROC Taiwan
SCN Scandinavia
UKV United Kingdom
USA United States

Brazilian cartridges don't have package region codes, though it's common to use BRA when referring to a Brazil-specific game or cartridge.

Software Title - 0x20 - 20 bytes, NUL-padded

Each ROM includes up to 20 characters for the software/game title. Some examples:

  • CONKER BFD
  • Diddy Kong Racing
  • F-ZERO X
  • JET FORCE GEMINI
  • LEGORacers
  • THE LEGEND OF ZELDA
  • MarioParty2
  • EVANGELION
  • PAPER MARIO
  • Perfect Dark
  • TSUMI TO BATSU

CRC1 - 0x10 - 0x13 - 4 bytes

Also known as CRC HI in the EverDrive 64.

Calculated against 0x100000 bytes starting at 0x1000

See http://n64dev.org/n64crc.html

CRC2 - 0x14 - 0x18 - 4 bytes

Also known as CRC LO in the EverDrive 64.

See http://n64dev.org/n64crc.html

References