greatfunky
Mr. Big's Thug
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2016
- Posts
- 196
Thanks neodev for this detailed explanation , very interesting (I read everything )
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Use RAM (PSRAM):
Pros:
Very fast game change, as with the values computed above, and giving some room for overhead, it would take 20/25 seconds to rewrite the largest game (we will use this time as a base from now on)
More graphics for the frontend menus, as you can rewrite them every time you enter the menu
Cons:
You must wait up to 20/25 seconds every time the Neogeo boots. So boot to kof2003 10 times and you already waited the same time than flashing it.
You must write the game (or at least the P data) before the bios boots, otherwise it will show cross hatch so you have 2 options: either keep the board reset while you do that (having a ugly random colored squares screen, and it also won't work on all boards) or always boot to a small bootstrap that shows a "loading" screen (this will cause its own kind of issues with the BIOS though, especially with the test mode).
This version has a less "real" experience as you either wait, or see an interim screen before the game boots. This favors people that switchs games a lot. And booting to the same game several times in a row quickly approaches to the time taken to flash it. Also it might have some issues with BIOS as you aren't booting straight to the game code.
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Wrt PSRAM usage I was more thinking along the lines of the Everdrives, when rebooting the cart remembers the last selection but DOES NOT load it (unless configured to do so) and simply presents the selection menu in which a game can be loaded with the option to reload last played (and a setting to do autoreload on boot for people that so choose).
The ED64 can load 512Mbits N64 roms (64MBytes) pretty quickly (10 secs or so) for the NeoGeo kof2003 it could have just taken maximum twice as much (even if takes 3 times [say 30 sec] it still beats 3mins)
In any case thanks for the awesome explanation. Size of the load is what matters I reckon, I am not sure why NeoSD couldn't hit the full 10MB/second a class 10 if needed (you can park data in the FPGA blockRAM while rerouting it onto the appropriate "sections" to buffer for slow pokes, if the ARM uC can't do it maybe a softcore on the FPGA can .... but I am just speculating here, so may as well stop pulling stuff out of my axx).
Again thanks a lot for the explanation I didn't mean to come out as complaining, NeoSD already stated they don't care to develop a PSRAM version (at least for now) ... finally it makes more sense for AES/CMVS where game switching is likely more frequent by nature of being home consoles. When I was younger I could play hours on end on a single game now I switch more frequently (and I may have to squeeze my sessions in 20/30mins total hence why loading time vs boot time are more important to me).
Keep up the good work, looking forward to see CTHD on AES .... that'd be the cherry on top.
The STM32 ARM should be capable of reading up to 12.5MB/s but the actual time is spent in waiting for the data sent to the flashroms to be actually written, as it's a slow operation.
Also, booting straight to the game as a real cart was one of our main goals since the beginning of the project
hopefully the admins won't get too annoyed by my minor quibbles.
I have an identical setup (with official UK Mega Drive PSU) and I'm not getting the glitches. Have you checked the PSU or tried an alternative?
That pixel glitch looks simular to those obtained when work was done trying to get AES carts working on MVS systems. It suggests the cause may be the result of a slight timing issue in the PRO-CT0 / NEO-ZMC2 chip / NEO-CMC emulation on the AES NeoSD.
That is unless the game in the video is that SSV xbox hack, that has pixel glitching but it is related to paletteRAM access.
Appreciate the suggestion, I'll give this a try. I have another same model PSU I could test.
Thanks, Raz. This was SSV Special MVS (samsho5sp), although I've seen the same effect in other games too. Off the top of my head, Metal Slug 3 and Neo Turf Masters exhibited this also. Doesn't seem to happen every single time with these games, although it does appear more common with SSVS.
I'll write the NeoSD team to ask about this, given there has been no answer here.
Please, send us an email with your cartridge serial number. We have an improved firmware that has fixed the issues for some people with similar problems.
how many erase/rewrite are possible on the microchips ? what is their lifetime ?
I'm all of a sudden having tons of issues with my AES flashcart.
First of all When i first got my Cart when I would load a game it would go to a black screen and get loud screeching sounds. I then got new firmware from neosd and it fixed it and has been fine since then. I have a very low serial number US AES system.
Last night I go to load Metal Slug and when it got finished loading it I only get sound. I then reset and would get huge blank blocks and sound, I reset a second time and I'd get picture and sound, but after the menu the game would start screaming at me. I then turned the system off and re-inserted the cart. It booted to the main game select menu.
I then just try to load a small game, Art of fighting 2. After erasing metal slug and it goes to flash art of fighting it just goes blank and skreeches at me again just like before the update.
I then try various other games with the same results. It's like it has just reverted to before the firmware update. I checked the SD card, it's fine. My rom set is 100 percent verified and real AES carts work perfectly with no issues.
Upon further testing it just seems totally random. One time a game will load perfectly, then the next time it will freak out. It's not consistent at all and all my legit AES games work perfect. My contacts are clean and snug. I'm stumped and my neo geo party was a mess lol
Any help would be awesome.
Hi NeoDev.
Today I wanted to check if there are new Firmware Updates for my AES NeoSD cart. When I bought the cart I had to create an account and with that account I could enter the order informations and I saw my bought product and if there was a new Update.
Now I wanted to do the same but I can't find the registered product in my account. Then I tried to enter the support section and there I had to give an account name and passwort. For the old account there was no account name, just email and passwort. Please help. Thank you.
Are you using an original AES AC Adaptor ?
I am asking you that cause i had such issues back in time and it was caused by the size of the ac adaptor plug being different than the original and this was causing power problems. Reading your post it may be that you moved the cable on the ac adaptor and its falling, YES, this happened to me aswel, it was working fine, i moved the cable and started failing ...
About original carts working fine on your AES : yes, they were working on mine aswel, neosd is pretty different than an original game, so this means nothing at all.
Thanks
No public firmware update avaliable, if you need support just send us an email.
We send an email to every customer when a new firmware update is avaliable.
It could be that the PSU needs recapping - not uncommon for AES PSUs. I've had to recap the last 3 that have come my way - all three had leaking caps.I have an original AC adapter and it's the correct one. I re plugged the system back in and it's been great since. so weird!
I recently received my NeoSD AES and while I do love it, it came with the NeoSD MVS sticker on it.
Is there anyway I can be sent just the sticker for the AES version to apply myself?
hi
i have just placed an order fro this brilliant device and cant wait for it to arrive.
i am trying to prepare my romset for it coming, but cannot download neobuilder from the download section, its empty as i dont have my serial number yet.
is there anyway i can get it before my unit arrives,