Saturn proof-of-concept bootloader Pseudo Saturn

Can you confirm this will solve the issue?

 

Great Please upgrade your cartridge on this Saturn.

I don't really understand your question, but whatever it may be, please don't howtswap or insert cartridge while Saturn is powered on. This may damage your cartridge, your Saturn or both.

Firmware upgrade steps :
1. Burn pskai_sdm_flasher.iso (latest version available here) on CD-R.
2. Turn off Saturn and insert Action Replay in cartridge slot.
3. Insert CD-R into CD tray and power on Saturn
4. From Pseudo Saturn 0.832 main menu, start game
If your Saturn is compatible with PS0.832, "Save Data Manager" utility should boot.
5. From Save Data Manager main menu, press R button, and select "Firmware Flasher".
6. Select "Pseudo Saturn Kai lite" (second entry in list) and press A+B+C buttons in order to start firmware flashing.
Flashing progress should be displayed. Please wait until "Write verification success" message is displayed.

I don't do Saturn things as a job, so I can't 100% confirm/guarantee/whatever it will fix your Action Replay, but it should work.
Please keep me informed after you flash your Action Replay. Feedback is always appreciated

 

I shall try it when I get back from work. Seems like a simple enough process. I'll flash it from my PAL MK2 and see if it will fix the issue. Will report back later on in the day once I've done it.

 

Good luck
Yes, steps are simple, and swap trick isn't required too.

 

This issue was really weird. I tried on a different TV, with a different scar connector... The video signal was detected but was a frozen image.

I solved the issue with the loading of an original game. The video signal changed after the menu was loaded (game was athlete kings). Then, I pushed the reset button and boom, the boot animation was displayed and everything got back to normal.

 

There's a new Chinese-made cartridge. It has Pseudo Saturn Kai Lite with 0.831 and 0.832 loaders, region-free adapter, and a switch on the top to toggle between 4M RAM/1M RAM/Backup memory. The backup memory also works with direct saving from within the game.

 

Sellers and price?

 

Bought it from ebay for $52:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sega-Pseud...359272?hash=item48a57208a8:g:2-IAAOSwU1FaDv5s

It's also available on Taobao, but you would have to use a middleman service to buy from there:
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sp...PbiCBD&id=559358532816&ns=1&abbucket=9#detail

Apparently it is made by one guy in mainland China so it's expensive and he doesn't keep many in stock (that's what the ebay seller told me).

 

@SaturnHST it works as expected?

 

It better, for that kind of markup. You can get an Action Replay for a bit more than half that (do the swap trick once, reflash, done).

 

Action Replay doesn't work with some 1M games. This one seems to have a switch between 4M / 1M mode, and should not glitch up on those few SNK titles.
That, and you don't need to open up a Saturn to flash the AR first.

 

It works fine. I tested it with Xmen vs Street Fighter switched to 4M, one of the Samurai Spirits game switched to 1M, and Pocket Fighter switched to save memory which detected it and created a save file on the cart.

AR loses the save feature when flashed to Pseudo. Even if not flashed, it only functions as a backup storage, so it cannot save or load from within the game. AR also glitches on some SNK fighters that need 1M RAM.