VRC7

VRC7

Company	Konami
Games	2 in NesCartDB
Complexity	ASIC
Boards	352402, 353429
Pinout	VRC7 pinout
PRG ROM capacity	512K
PRG ROM window	8K
PRG RAM capacity	8K
PRG RAM window	8K
CHR capacity	256K
CHR window	1K
Nametable mirroring	H, V, or 1, switchable
Bus conflicts	No
IRQ	Yes
Audio	VRC7a only
iNES mappers	085

The Konami VRC7 is an ASIC mapper. It is assigned to iNES Mapper 085.

Example games:

• Lagrange Point
• Tiny Toon Adventures 2

See VRC7 pinout for chip pinout.

Banks

• CPU $8000-$9FFF: 8 KB switchable PRG ROM bank
• CPU $A000-$BFFF: 8 KB switchable PRG ROM bank
• CPU $C000-$DFFF: 8 KB switchable PRG ROM bank
• CPU $E000-$FFFF: 8 KB PRG ROM bank, fixed to the last bank

• CHR $0000-$03FF: 1 KB switchable CHR ROM bank
• CHR $0400-$07FF: 1 KB switchable CHR ROM bank
• CHR $0800-$0BFF: 1 KB switchable CHR ROM bank
• CHR $0C00-$0FFF: 1 KB switchable CHR ROM bank
• CHR $1000-$13FF: 1 KB switchable CHR ROM bank
• CHR $1400-$17FF: 1 KB switchable CHR ROM bank
• CHR $1800-$1BFF: 1 KB switchable CHR ROM bank
• CHR $1C00-$1FFF: 1 KB switchable CHR ROM bank

If CHR-RAM is used instead of CHR-ROM, the banking feature is still functional.

Registers

There are two board variations:

• VRC7b uses A3 to select registers ($x008), used in Tiny Toon Adventures (Submapper 1).
• VRC7a uses A4 to select registers ($x010), used in Lagrange Point (Submapper 2).

Although A5 is wired for sound registers on both ($x030, $x028), in the latter board the ceramic resonator necessary for the sound hardware to work is missing.

PRG Select 0 ($8000)

7  bit  0
---------
..PP PPPP
  || ||||
  ++-++++- Select 8 KB PRG ROM at $8000

PRG Select 1 ($8010, $8008)

7  bit  0
---------
..PP PPPP
  || ||||
  ++-++++- Select 8 KB PRG ROM at $A000

PRG Select 2 ($9000)

7  bit  0
---------
..PP PPPP
  || ||||
  ++-++++- Select 8 KB PRG ROM at $C000

CHR Select 0…7 ($A000…$DFFF)

Write to CPU address	1KB CHR bank affected
$A000	$0000-$03FF
$A008 or $A010	$0400-$07FF
$B000	$0800-$0BFF
$B008 or $B010	$0C00-$0FFF
$C000	$1000-$13FF
$C008 or $C010	$1400-$17FF
$D000	$1800-$1BFF
$D008 or $D010	$1C00-$1FFF

Mirroring Control ($E000)

7  bit  0
---------
RS.. ..MM
||     ||
||     ++- Mirroring (0: vertical; 1: horizontal;
||                        2: one-screen, lower bank; 3: one-screen, upper bank)
|+-------- Silence expansion sound if set
+--------- WRAM enable (1: enable WRAM, 0: protect)

IRQ Control ($E008 - $F010)

$E008, $E010:  IRQ Latch
       $F000:  IRQ Control
$F008, $F010:  IRQ Acknowledge

Many VRC mappers use the same IRQ system. For details on IRQ operation, see VRC IRQs.

Sound ($9010, $9030)

For details on sound information, see VRC7 audio.

See also

• Konami VRC-VII Chip Info by Kevin Horton.
• NES Mapper List by Disch
• Submapper test ROMs
• siliconpr0n VRC7 decapsulation photographs