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Pocket Challenge W Emulator
Copyright (C) 1998-2019 Kris Bleakley 
email: kindred@crazysmart.net.au
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Last updated 16th November 2019

Table of Contents

i. Disclaimer
1. Introduction
2. System Requirements
3. Configuration
4. Known Issues
5. Missing Features


Files with the extension '.pcw' will be identified as Pocket Challenge W.


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i. Disclaimer (Please read before operating software)

This product is provided free of charge and therefore on an "AS IS" basis, 
without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including without limitation 
the warranties that it is free of defects, virus free, able to operate on an 
uninterrupted basis, merchantable, fit for a particular purpose or 
non-infringing. This Disclaimer of warranty constitutes an essential part of 
this agreement. No use of the product is authorised hereunder except under this 
disclaimer. This product is for non-commercial use only and shall not be 
packaged with any commercially licensed software.


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1. Introduction

The Pocket Challenge W is an educational system developed for Bennesse Corp.
of Japan. The system was released around 1997 in Japan and operates on 2 AAA 
batteries. The system alone does not have any built-in software and will only
operate using cartridges obtainable from Bennesse. The cartridges are similar
in size to that of a Nintendo Gameboy. The system has 15 buttons, a 191x64
dot matrix LCD screen and a piezoelectric speaker. The system also has jack
to plug in headphones.

The system has 256 bytes of usable RAM. The majority of RAM is installed on 
the cartridge and is in most cases battery backed. Software may turn the 
system off to preserve battery life after a set period of user inactivity. 
As the RAM is backed up on the cartridge, switching the system back on will 
resume operation where it left off. The program resides on a MASKROM on the 
cartridge which can vary in size from 1 to 4 Megabytes. Software available
for the system is mostly aimed towards secondary school students and covers 
a range of subjects including maths, science, language, art, music, history 
and geography. A number of mulit-pack cartridges also exist. All software 
is in the japanese language.

The system utilizes a TMP90C845 8 bit microprocessor unit (MPU) developed by 
Toshiba. The MPU uses registers and addressing modes similar to the Zilog Z80 
but is incompatible at the hardware (machine code) level. While the Z80 is 
limited to 16 bit addresses, two banking registers have been added to this 
processor to extend the address range to 23 bits for specific registers. The 
MPU also has a number of built-in timers and general purpose I/O ports that 
can be utilised by software for different purposes. For example the output of 
timer 1 is connected to the audio hardware and can be used to generate sound, 
while the output of timer 5 is connected to the cartridge slot. 

To my knowledge the system is available in three models, PC-A001, PC-S002, 
and PC-S003. Models appear the same except early models utilize a gate array 
manufactured by SANYO (LC21003), later models by EPSON (SLA902FF3K) with the 
addition of a 32KHz crystal. All models have three circuit boards connected 
with flat flex cables. The main board includes the MPU, LCD drivers and gate 
array, the smallest board the audio hardware (including the headphone jack) 
and the medium board the user inputs. Care must be taken when opening the 
system as the flat flex cables can break away from the board far too easily.


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2. System Requirements

It is recommended that you limit the number of programs running in the 
background as this software uses a lot of CPU time while running. Laptop mode 
should be used to reduce stress on your CPU. 

Minimum System Required

* Intel Quad Core 2.4GHz or equivalent processor
* 256MB Available System Memory
* 1GB Available HDD space
* Microsoft Compatible Mouse and Keyboard
* Microsoft Windows 7
* Microsoft Direct-X 8

Video output is best viewed at fullscreen or in a window 720x540 or larger.


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3. Configuration

The following 15 keys have been preconfigured.

ESC 		- Escape
REFERENCE 	- F3
PC (Configure)	- F2
BACK		- Backspace
PASS		- Space
CIRCLE		- Enter
CLEAR		- Delete
SOUND		- Tab
PAUSE		- P
HELP		- F1
CANCEL		- X
DOWN		- Down Arrow
UP		- Up Arrow
RIGHT		- Right Arrow
LEFT		- Left Arrow

Button mappings are stored in buttons.bin. Each byte represents a single button 
and is near compatible with Microsoft Windows virtual key codes. Values appear
in the order listed above with the exception that the first value should remain
null.

Contrast and sound options are configurable in most software by pressing the 
Pocket Challenge button. These options will be configured for each software title 
and by default the software may configure the contrast too dark.


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4. Known Issues

Not so much an issue but if you find the emulator non-responsive, it is possible
for the software to shutdown the CPU in order to extend battery life. 
Resetting the system should allow the CPU to continue processing.

For cartridges that contain ADPCM samples, the software will not output speech 
unless headphones are detected. The volume control on the device connects to
the cartridge connector and only affects audio produced from the cartridge.

The status of the column drivers should be checked for the busy status before
writing to the command or data port.

ROM images do not appear to contain any information describing the hardware.
Some Multi-pack cartridges using the same PCB can be populated differently and
might not be supported in this version.


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5. Missing Features

Here is a list of features that are not available in this version.

* Battery discharge
* Support for cartridges with ADPCM (D7759GC)
* Analogue to Digital Convertor (used to check battery life)
* Some timer functions
* LCD Column drivers BUSY status

