Saturn proof-of-concept bootloader Pseudo Saturn

Hey everyone!

Fist of all, I just want to say this is a great project and what keeps interest in these old systems alive.

That being said, I'm a noob in need of some assistance:

I'm trying to get Atlas booted up via the swap trick in my Model 2 Saturn, but it always hangs at the "Produced By or Under License From Sega Enterprises, LTD" screen. I can get burned games to run just fine, just not Atlas, CafeAlpha's loader, or the regular installer in the OP.

Any guesses why this could be? Worst case scenario, I drop the $30-40 on a mod chip, but I want to see if I can get this going first.

 

burn atlas via the cue file with imgburn at the slowest possible speed

The swap trick can be the more simple version of the trick, just booting the console with an original disc and swapping for the CD-R

The most plausible reason I can think of is poor quality media or a possible burning issue

 

I reburned Atlas at 1x and it worked perfectly! I had tried the more simplistic swap trick with my other copies, but it appears burning at 1x really made the difference. Odd, since I've burned other consoles like the Sega CD and Dreamcast at up to 8x and they're fully functional. Either way, lesson learned.

Thanks a ton!

 

Very cool news.

Two question. Pseudo Saturn removes the use of the 1MB and 4MB function right? Also I have been having an issue with the save feature on my 4 in 1 cart. When I move saves to the cart it locks up on the "Saving data to Cartridge" warning. I let is sit for a minute and then turn off the console and my saved game are on the cart. So would re-flashing the 2.02 firmware fix the issue or is the cart starting to fail?

 

1M to 4M Ram is done via hardware, the software on the cart does not affect that function. (1M to 4M still works with PSEUDO flashed to it)

Reflashing is worth trying but personally never heard of such an issue to start with.

You will loose any saves on the cart though flashing it.

 

Thanks for the info. I'm gonna wait it out for cafealpha2's version of Pseudo with the memory functions before I attempt any re-flashing.

 

If you change your mind, once you flash this to PSUEDO you can flash it back without the swap trick using the Atlas or Atlus disc forgive I keep forgetting it's exact name

The disc I uploaded has AR4M+ on it so you can restore your AR4M+ the only thing it will be missing are the saves you have stored on it so make sure you back those up first

 

After what seemed like a million tries and many burned discs, I finally got my Action Replay Plus 3in1 flashed with Pseudo Saturn 0.831. The only disc that worked properly for me was the Atlas disc with the PS031.bin firmware. The OP's flasher and cafealpha's flashers did not work properly for me, even though they detected the flash memory.

 

Hi guys, got some kind of problem here, maybe interesting to describe
I got a skeleton saturn from a pal here in Brazil. Of course, I have no way to assure it's perfect working. Anyway, it load and runs originals fine.
When I tried to use Pseudo Saturn to run backups, I cannot run the backups, it says "Please load disc" or "Cannot initialize CD Block".

This is a round (model 2) skeleton saturn, NTSC (pal-m in truth which is a NTSC-M mod) type. VA-15 JAP board

The same happens with an original CD and Pseudo Saturn. Sometimes "please load disk", sometimes "Cannot initialize CD Block"

Tried the CD swap but, having no drive activity light, seems very hard to get working.

Is this a bug or a hardware problem on my Saturn?

 

A small follow-up:
Tested on my white model 2 saturn - worked flawlessly. Changed optical pickups, same happened on the skeleton, so it seems related to hardware.

 

I made some (maybe) improvements to my flasher utility. Is there anyone ready to test it ?
Changelog :
- Added erase verification test
- If erase/write verification test failed, display informations about failure
- Changed menu related stuff
- Use FRT-based delay during flash write/erase


In order to test, you need :
- Modchipped Saturn
- 5-10 CD-Rs
- Web/Digital camera in order to show me test results
- Action Replay
- Free time
- Not to anger in the case Flasher utility destroys your Saturn/Action Replay/whatever

I won't release untested/unfixed version, so don't hesitate to participate in beta testing.

 

Cafealpha2, I can help in test if you feel like.

 

OK, thank you for your help !


Anybody else OK for beta testing ?
The more it will be tested, the better it will be

edit : I tried on my Saturn, and it flashed well, so don't hesitate to participate in beta testing. It is likely not to damage your Saturn/etc.
Also, I added flash IDs display refresh in the case flash chips are not recognized, so it is possible now to verify that your cartridge is recognized or not by slightly moving it in its slot without the need to reset the Saturn every time.

 

Thank you for this great project.

I am still not clear... can this card be flashed?:



Thanks.

 

I'll do it Cafealpha

 

Hmmm, maybe.
"maybe" is because Memory Cart Plus may use flash chip with memory smaller than usual size (256KB), and in this case firmware won't fit in the flash memory.
In this case, flasher utility will let you know that before flashing, or in the worst case flash is wrongly detected, it will throw an "Write Verification failure" error after flashing.
What about beta-testing ? It is the best way to know if firmware can be flashed or not

Thank you ! I just sent you a PM about testing instructions.


Here are the testing results until now :
- cafe-alpha BFBF/0707 SST29EE010 "Write Verification Success"
- TabajaraLabs 0101/2020 AM29F010 "Write Verification Success"


To beta testers : I will add your name in the flasher's readme.txt file : please let me know if you want a name different than forum nickname, or if you don't want to be listed in this readme file.

 

Cafealpha2, I can put different flash chips in my PAR. If you see fit, I can put a pair of sockets in place, and test different memories.
A new PAR is arriving in a few days, I'll add it to test.
Do you think it would be nice to take a photo of the cartridge board we are testing? I Believe a catalog of boards that works would be nice

About the Mem crt plus from Nastyvandal:
Does the memory area is the same? Maybe changing the chips from 256K to 512K and it would work with pseudosaturn?

 

Got it. I'll start this on my lunch tonight.

 

Cool, I am certainly up for it. Please send me info on what needs to be done and let me know if you need anything from me. Thanks much.

 

Same here with Skeleton from Brazil.