NEOSD AES Support thread !

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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Niko

Whip's Subordinate
Joined
May 15, 2014
Posts
1,773
Wow, great explanation!

Personally, I think the Neo veterans and purists (including myself) prefer the route the NeoSD took. It was actually my choice during the voting process for the competition.
 

Rot

Calvin & Hobbes, ,
Joined
Jul 8, 2003
Posts
11,441
Neosd and neodev... really thought this one through lads...

SURE... there are pro's and con's... in whichever way you make a device...

But after MONTHS of talking to them in chat... email... PM's... I decided... that I would back this project using my full rep....

It's not often that happens... just goes to show how much i genuinely like the Neosd device...

xROTx

PS. Darksoft can still go fuck himself... even if he releases a product a zillion times better...

...I like these guys:D... they treated the scene and our memberbase as well as anyone...

EXTRA EDIT: Some people have asked if I got anything out of this.. and the answer is.... I got nothing along the lines of a free device or stuffs...

I did it because I love the scene... and I felt this device was good for it...
 

phoenixdownita

Cheng's Errand Boy
Joined
Jun 28, 2015
Posts
114
....
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.
....

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.
 
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neodev

Neosd Tech
Joined
Nov 28, 2016
Posts
256
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
 

phoenixdownita

Cheng's Errand Boy
Joined
Jun 28, 2015
Posts
114
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

A way to have your cake and eat it too would have been to "copy" the modern BBU disk controllers design, with or without the battery depending on how deep you want to mask the dual design.
They have both RAM and Flash, when the power goes away they switch to an onboard battery that just allows them to copy the RAM to flash then at startup they do the opposite if there's something in flash.

For the NeoSD a dual approach RAM + Flash could have been used where one game is resident and instantly bootable while the RAM is used for fast load of ephemeral games ... it would have added to the cost but that could have been "one ring to rule them all ....".
The user could then chose to load in RAM or flash as he sees fit to his/her usage.

Again not complaining as in the end I am happy with the NeoSD, just throwing out ideas.
Given this is the support forum of the NeoSD AES I think I should refrain from further "design considerations" as I recognize it's indeed out of topic, hopefully the admins won't get too annoyed by my minor quibbles.
 

Gyrian

Hardened Shock Trooper
Joined
Mar 24, 2016
Posts
443
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?

Appreciate the suggestion, I'll give this a try. I have another same model PSU I could test.

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.

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.
 

neodev

Neosd Tech
Joined
Nov 28, 2016
Posts
256
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.
 

Gyrian

Hardened Shock Trooper
Joined
Mar 24, 2016
Posts
443
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.

I am trying this update right now and it seems to have addressed the problem, thank you! :)
 

Heinz

Parteizeit
15 Year Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Posts
22,333
how many erase/rewrite are possible on the microchips ? what is their lifetime ?

It's been stated in the main NEOSD thread but its something in the order of 30 years of 10 game changes a day.
 

Dampfwalze

Armored Scrum Object,
20 Year Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2001
Posts
625
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.
 

loganm187

n00b
Joined
Aug 20, 2014
Posts
40
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.
 
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neosd

Neosd Developer
Joined
Oct 18, 2016
Posts
956
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.

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


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.

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.
 
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loganm187

n00b
Joined
Aug 20, 2014
Posts
40
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.


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!
 

GadgetUK

Ace Ghost Pilot
Joined
Sep 27, 2013
Posts
1,323
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!
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.
 

zipxavier

n00b
Joined
Mar 20, 2012
Posts
3
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?
 

neosd

Neosd Developer
Joined
Oct 18, 2016
Posts
956
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?

Hello,

Yes, email us, we will send you another sticker.

Sorry for the mistake
 

phoenixdownita

Cheng's Errand Boy
Joined
Jun 28, 2015
Posts
114
Given you guys managed to get CTHD working on AES (I think that is part of the next firmware right?) any chance you can actually give the AES the fonts missing and sounds missing when playing in MVS mode? (you know the "Don't do drug" font and the sounds in the attract mode of some games).

Dunno if it is even possible just thought of asking. I know this would be an AES only feature but hey I would appreciate for sure.
 
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beecee

n00b
Joined
May 4, 2017
Posts
49
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,
 
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Rot

Calvin & Hobbes, ,
Joined
Jul 8, 2003
Posts
11,441
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,

You may download the file linked here (it is the pre-approved set of Neosd stuffs...):

http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showt...ort-thread-!&p=4140218&viewfull=1#post4140218

Then ask for the password when I am in chat... Dumbass n00b...
 
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