Saturn proof-of-concept bootloader Pseudo Saturn

Yeah, no. Sorry, bad idea here. Even if you don't do audio or VCDs, it is far better to preserve all the functionality of the original bios when doing a replacement, particularly for those of us who do use the saturn for other things.

 

Hi I am new here I read about this and it is exciting news,so i was wondering would this cart work. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-housi...ideo_Game_Cables_Adapters&hash=item27e845843a

 

That would work if the pcb was included but that is just the plastic case.

 

@dgist171

http://www.ebay.com/itm/151333735983 or http://www.ebay.com/itm/171386597812 would work as above you just linked an over priced piece of plastic with no board I'm not going to look but you may be able to pick up a second hand one for cheaper, though no idea where to look...

I think I went amazon for the one I currently have though not sure it was a while back now, though that was also new

EDIT amazon still look like they have them cheaper

 

Thanks for the reply I guess i have to one from amazon but man those carts are not cheap.

 

i have 2 brand new in the box and already flashed. If you need one, pm me

 

Hi CyberWarriorX,
Just a random question about your loader : are you sure its execution address (0x00280000, middle of LRAM) doesn't cause incompatibility with some games ?
For example (I don't know if it exist), game with 0.bin larger than 512KB that executes in LRAM.

 

Work very well in my Saturn V1.

Sonic 3D -PAL- (OK) Boot and play fine
Saturn Bomberman -NTSC-J- (Issues) Intro FMV has sound problems at a moment but no lags for the video, somes music are not read (i heard the drive made a strange noise). In Battle mode if you wait 2min, and start the battle, the console reboot to CD Menu. But in normal mode no problem.

Action Replay 3in1 used, burned X1 in Verbatim CD-R...

 

I tried Bomberman, but as it boots from HRAM, compatibility issue is not due to loader start address.
I can't use a Saturn right now, so I don't know why there is issue in this game.

 

x

 

I'm a bit newbie when it comes to Saturn, so maybe this is a stupid question, but doesn't the loader actually loads the ip.bin in memory (putting it at the normal ram address it's loaded to normally) then passes the control to it? So even if the loader is somewhere that'd be overwritten by the game executable it isn't an issue?

Again, I don't know much about Saturn so it's just a question.

 

As code can be run from LRAM, some game may use it to boot.
Actually, I never saw such game (they usually boot from 06001000 or so), but who knows.

It's an issue if the loader code that copy game boot data is overwritten by game boot data.

Edit : typo

 

I can add those to the compat list but what region is your Saturn??

I may wait until I have more CD's for Bomberman as it could either be a bad disc image or a display issue (NTSC vs PAL that a few games do have issues with, e.g. Dracula X will crash out in PAL mode before it can get to the main menu (if I am remembering correctly) and Albert Odyssey goes out of sync the freezes up in PAL mode) over all most games can operate fine in both display modes but there are a few that do have issues

Region and NTSC vs PAL are totally different things so although the Action Replay allows the console to be region free it does not change the display mode so does not avoid display mode issues

Adding a PAL/NTSC switch is very very easy though, it's just 2 solder points under the battery plastic clip, though you either need a TV that supports both 50Hz and 60Hz or use a RGB SCART connection that is mostly only available to PAL countries as far as I know

 

PAL Region, i'm french .
I have 2 Sega Saturn :
- One V2 with "No Switch" with the reset button to set 50hz/60hz and to set region (PAL/JAP/US) and modchiped. (Thanks to that i can boot backups)
- And the other one, is V1, who it used for testing this bootloader... This console is not modchiped and not modified.

I used only RGB SCART cable.
In France we have all that connection in old TV, in the past no Composite here.
Since Nintendo 64 it's different, composite became more commun.

PS: I used only games taken from my collection, so no bad backup here and no piracy .
It's just to not damage my games this solution.

PS2: The lens is "like new", 202 marker is almost in top middle (little in left).
And all original games work without any problem. I heard that is like new Saturn.

 

You should try on your V2 Saturn set at 60Hz :
1) Original version of Saturn Bomberman
2) Pseudo Saturn patched version of Saturn Bomberman
And let us know if they behave differently.

PS : I'm French too

 

Might be able to get some CD-R's soon myself (Not today, possibly the 7th) I will take a personal look at Bomberman then or the following Monday as I have a feeling I will be busy.

I will switch the console to NTSC

I use a PAL v1 Saturn, I'm from the UK not that should matter in the slightest

 

i have the 4 in1 card, if i flash it, i loose ram function? cheat codes too? thanks

 

For now yes, although that might be possible in the future given proper developper motivation and time.

 

I thought someone had said the RAM expansion function still worked with psuedo saturn?

 

Alright, so basically the three conditions you listed the reset function is behaving as normal. The freezing/hanging I'm more interested in though.

That's my ultimately goal. Have a dev-oriented version and a game-oriented version. I've already setup the cmake script to allow for that. Just need more code contributions.

Both are technically possible, it's just a matter of spending the time and energy to dev it. Not sure I'm going to be up for all of it to be honest. I'd like to get back to working on some of my other projects I'm a part of.

Support for CODES.BIN files is currently on github source. The original Action Replay PC utilities package included a utility for generating those files from a text script. I'm sure more work will need to be done to get it all up to date and working, but the idea will be compatibility with the original AR's code format and hopefully the ability to import codes and saves from the original firmware and the ability to update. Though I think additional contributors will be needed.

Official cartridges allow for direct saving. As for the rest it all depends on the cartridge id byte and how the flash is mapped. That's why cartridges that have the extra DRAM support don't typically have direct save support. Basically the games/bios will only treat the cartridge as backup memory if the cartridge id is 0x21-0x24. And likewise, will only detect DRAM carts that have a cart id of either 0x5A(1 MB) or 0x5C(4 MB). So you can't technically support both under normal circumstances. However you can patch the backup library function pointers in wram to point to custom functions so you use your own code.

Sure. Technically you can even roll with your own custom made bios rather than patched too if you want. I'm just not getting involved with that. I already have five cartridges with flash and zero Saturn's with a writable bios. So it's an easy decision for me to make.

See above in relation to cartridge id.

You shouldn't be doing it because of the potential of damage. That being said, I've done it about a dozen times during Pseudo Saturn development and dumping ROM cartridges, etc. without seeing any damage to either the cartridges or system. I would argue for the situations I've done it was worth the risk, though I wouldn't suggest it for normal use though.

I have a duplicate loader that executes from hwram that's used for any first read programs that are loaded to lwram. See cdload.c

And yes, some games do indeed boot from lwram, though it's not too common.

Copied from the other thread Pseudo patched discs are now considered deprecated. Pseudo Saturn will still support them, however I've removed the patcher from the builds now and adjusted the readme instructions accordingly.