I am putting my N64 back together, I have the red memory expansion thatis inserted on the top of the console-but what is to be inserted on the bottom of the console, that has a removeable flap labeled EXT?
The Extension Port is what Nintendo names the ports placed on their consoles allowing for connectivity to either other systems, or peripherals that were released after the fact.
EXT named ports can be found on many Nintendo consoles, such as the Game Boy, the Super Nintendo, the Virtual Boy, the Nintendo 64, and even the GameCube.
The EXTension port on the Nintendo 64 game console, is found on its bottom side. It reads "EXT." and stands for extension. It is a cartridge drive but with a slightly different interface than the one above on the main deck. It has the same number of pins as the main cartridge slot and the same data transfer speed. The special Pokémon Nintendo 64 lacked this extension port, probably because at that point Nintendo knew there was no use for it. While the most popular of uses was the 64DD, other companies found uses for the Extension port, primarily for piracy, though the hardware was originally intended for, and used by some companies, as an inexpensive N64 development device, or even just to quickly develop a product demo.
When not in use, it is covered by a plastic cap, which one has to remove before installing the 64DD under it.
[edit] 64DD
Main article: Nintendo 64DD
The 64DD is a unit that was used for expanding games for the N64 unit.
[edit] Doctor V64
Main article: Doctor V64
The Doctor V64 is a unit that attaches to the bottom of the N64, that loads Nintendo 64 ROMs via an attached CD-ROM drive.
[edit] CD64
Main article: CD64 (Nintendo)
The CD64 also attaches to the bottom of the N64 and runs ROM files via a CD-ROM. It had the ability to manage games a save files via PC connectivity (parallel port). The CD64 also had the added feature of having a GameShark-like program that could be used to cheat.
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I worked as a repair technician for Funco, Inc., in the Refurbishing Department; I was their Nintendo and Sega specialist.
There are numerous uses for the Extension port on the bottom of the Nintendo 64 (Ultra 64 in Japan).
The extension port was originally designed as a port for experimenters in Japan to make a full fledged computer system with a rewritable CD (CD-RW) with a maximum capacity of 1 GB (custom drive and format) but could use standard 650 ~ 800 MB discs) and rewrite up 8x speeds, as the read speed was the same, the disc interface used a standard Enhanced IDE (EIDE) [PATA 40-pin interface]; you could swap out the older driver for a better / faster one.
There was a console extension created some years ago that would give people a Full Duplex 100 ( 10 / 100 Ethernet interface in an RJ-45 format) Mbps connection to the LAN / WAN (Internet). Had a built in bootable operating system with dedicated RAM that only the extension console could see and use. The reason for this was so that you could use the RAM expansion the Nintendo DD (disc drive of RAM), the starter pack was 4 GB but I've seen up to 16 GB. There was an audio and video output card that would plug into this extension console giving the person the ability to directly use a Multi-Sync monitor or VGA/SVGA DB15 connector for much clearer graphics. The sound connectors were XLR balanced outputs.
I've only see one of these extension consoles and there was no name for it. A guy that worked for Konami of Japan created it to make it easier for him to create games for the Ultra 64 / Nintendo. This also had a normal PC mouse and Kanji based keyboard both on separate PS/2 ports, from what I understand, it was standard wiring on the ports. Of course, this system only displayed the operating system in Japanese.
This unit also did have a 9 pin COM port and a 25 pin parallel port. Max speed of the COM port was 921600 bps. Max speed of the parallel port was 2.5 MB/s, ECP (Bi-directional parallel port interface, protocols and standard).
Note: The standard MIPS 4300i CPU is capable of 250 MB/s on the bus line but the customized version Nintendo had made for the N64 / Ultra 64 was closer to 325 MB/s.
I hope this helps!
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