Design
The system consisted of two parts, a microchip in the NES that would check the cartridge in the system for authentication, and a microchip in the cartridge that would give the 10NES code upon demand. If the cartridge did not provide the authentication, then the 10NES would reset the CPU during every cycle until a game with the authorization chip was inserted. The constant resetting of the CPU would stop the NES from booting up. However in some instances, the 10NES has been prone to reset the CPU if it fails to authenticate a licensed cartridge. The 10NES was patented under U.S. Patent 4,799,635 and the source code was copyrighted; only Nintendo could produce the authorization chips. The patent covering the 10NES expired on January 24, 2006, although the copyright is still in effect.
The 10NES chip was only installed in the model NES-001 Control Deck, not the model NES-101.
Read more about this topic: 10NES
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