Hi, hear that Hackchi allows adding ROMS that you legally own to a mini SNES. However, I am wonderin about what Hackchi really does:

1) Does it simply add games or

2) Makes changes to the interface plus allows adding games or

3) Changes the emulator that comes in the software imbedded in the mini SNES (this is what I fear)

Also, IIRC there was a list of games that worked well with hackchi/mini-SNES, and others that would not, or that require some tweaking. Any pointers to that one, or orientation about that?

Unless things have changed recently, I remember that BY DEFAULT, Hackchi allows only 1.
HOWEVER, If you want, and you know what you're doing, you can use Hackchi for 1+2+3.

I think this is a good source of information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwaGYQTniTU&list=PLTCjNJnRY7v5-V2SNTqwPRyyJyom9tmMM&index=1

Roms aren't legal, even if you own the original cart. There's a lot of misinformation and such, but like if you think that you're allowed to have a "backup" copy because you have the cart well you could really only argue that if you actually dumped it yourself from your own cart instead of downloading a rom someone else dumped. And even then, the actual act of breaking the copy protection and dumping it is probably still illegal (which is why instruction manuals have warnings against making backup copies).

That being said, no one really cares about it much unless you get too big or you're making a profit off of it.

And to answer the question you have the option of installing Retroarch to play games that the default emulator isn't compatible with, or for games on other systems.

Thanks for the replies and the link. The video is good advice. There are updates in the same channel, as Hackchi CE has kept changing versions (the last update is from the first half of 2020).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-S8Qd5gl64&list=PLTCjNJnRY7v49gX_QdQ4YS4itZC9b4DeB&index=1
Hakchi CE 3.8

The only caveat is that the guy explains how to do things, but never explains why, so that users could take their own decisions. For example, he never explains how to decide whether to play a game with Canoe or Retroarch. Meaning: the videos are useful but do not stand on their own: some additional search and reading is necessary.

Here, a list of games that work well with Canoe and games that have issues or do not work at all. The list is constantly updating and not to be trusted blindly. On the other hand, they mention that if Hackchi says that a game will not work but it is whitelisted, odds are that it will work fine.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12HKfz4ZQBy6Ip5awvh8t2aV5cVswYlnsdKxn9xoIW2Y/edit#gid=2014317767

Also, they say that most games that do not work with Canoe can be made to work with Retroarch.

Finally, Switch Online allows playing SNES games using a newer version of Canoe, but apparently it cannot be brought to the mini SNES.

If I may offer a word of correction: That's just what Nintendo wants people to think because they have a stick up their arse.

Depending on your jurisdiction and providence de jure the legal status of Roms can range from an encouraging status to a grey area. But in many cases such as Bleem and the legal precedent set by Connetix, it has been shown that just like piracy, Roms do no long term damage to the companies involved.

The videoI posted is indeed old, since that's what I had in my bookmarks from the time I bought my mini nes+sne, and I did some searching around to see the state of the hacking efforts.

Also thank you for that list! That's some amazing work by the hacking community. In my bookmarks it goes!

You are welcome. Thanks to you. Also, there is progress! I remember a former encarnation of this list, for a previous incarnation of Hackchi. At that time, Chrono Trigger did not work well with Canoe. Right now, apparently there is a preset that makes it work. Same with other titles. Which is awesome!! :-)