NeoGeo CD SD Loader

edd_jedi

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Some good news, after trying more SD cards the initial flashing has worked! But now he says the console just boots to the normal CD player screen rather than the SD Loader screen. Does anyone know why that may be? I was under the impression that after the initial flashing, it should boot to the SD Loader menu even with no SD card attached?
 

Hawwa

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Hello, yes, it boots to the sdloader menu even with no card inserted.

Is the led of the sdloader on a fixed red light or what does it do?
 

megaMANX6

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Aug 30, 2012
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My Neo CD SD loader only boot to original Neo geo CD player screen. What exactly is happening?

Blinking 3 yellow light and boot into original bios and CD player screen upon firmware update
 
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titchgamer

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New firmware out 0.7

Brings 25% faster loading, Changeable backgrounds, Cheat engine and some bug fixes :)
 

Hawwa

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Tried the 0.7 version.

No problem updating and really nice improvements. Better loading times are noticeable and cheats and the ability to go to the main menu via A+B+C+Start are a really welcome addition.

Way to go!
 

titchgamer

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This is apparently the same error mine is returning. Anyone know what the solution is?

Afraid not, Are you running a unibios?
I know its not compatible with the unibios.

Best bet is to Contact Furtek direct hes very helpful :)
 

edd_jedi

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Afraid not, Are you running a unibios?
I know its not compatible with the unibios.

Best bet is to Contact Furtek direct hes very helpful :)

No I don't have unibios, I have emailed Furrtek several times over the last two months and not received a reply.
 

Burning Fight!!

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This is apparently the same error mine is returning. Anyone know what the solution is?

I have bought 3 of the sd loader kits but only installed one so far (in my own personal ngcd) and I get this error too.

https://youtu.be/pnXGZO8kVTk

I've checked everything is correct with the install and my assumption is that the bios in this ngcd is literally not supported by the sd loader. Im slightly confused by that though because I thought there were only a couple of bios out there for ngcd. The error seems to suggest this is an incompatible bios in our machines OR there is an error in reading the bios into the loader. can't really be anything else, but im waiting for @furrtek to reply to my email query.

I have another ngcd coming in for upgrade soon, so I hope I can get a resolution soon, or that the next ngcd just works straight away. I cant leave customers waiting around for weeks or months. Its just bad for business.
 
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I'll leave my previous post here in case it's useful but I just wanted to say that I've got mine working!


Im not sure exactly what happened but this is what I did. I tried a different sdcard (the third!) And did a full FAT32 format, copied the wad file to the root, then ejected the drive properly before removing the card from the PC.

When I get chance I'll experiment to see exactly which of these steps made it work.

Was it just using a different card?
Was it the full format?
Was it properly ejecting the drive??

I'll try to update this when I know.
 

titchgamer

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What I can say with certainty is that the Neo CD SD loader is VERY card fussy.
It also does not like the use of SD extension leads!
So I would say it was likely a card issue.

I am using a 128gb Samsung in mine.
 
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So after much messing around I've found the issue wasn't the SD cards or how I formatted them etc.
The issue is a dodgy connection between the NGCD mainboard and the SD Loader, and I can't seem to get a connection that is stable and reliable. The SD loader board doesn't 'click' into place like the installation instructions suggests, so maybe the socket is defective. If I push the two together hard there is a connection but over a period of time the connection breaks, especially if I move the system (for example putting it all back together results in a lost connection). Very frustrating. Furrtek still hasn't responded to my initial email and didn't respond to my tweet, so I'll send a follow-up email now that I actually know what the problem is to see if there's anything that can be done.

Once the NGCD that I'm waiting for arrives, I'll be able to progress the install and it'll be interesting to see how one of the other SD Loader kits fits. Hopefully I'll get that reassuring click when putting the two together and I'll be happy to return it to the customer with confidence that it'll be secure. Right now, with the system I've done so far (mine), I can guarantee it wouldn't work if I had to move it off this desk, let alone if it was posted anywhere.



UPDATE: Now the left direction isn't working on the pad. Ever get the feeling you never should have started something? :rolleyes:
*goes off to fault-find the controller board...*
 
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titchgamer

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So after much messing around I've found the issue wasn't the SD cards or how I formatted them etc.
The issue is a dodgy connection between the NGCD mainboard and the SD Loader, and I can't seem to get a connection that is stable and reliable. The SD loader board doesn't 'click' into place like the installation instructions suggests, so maybe the socket is defective. If I push the two together hard there is a connection but over a period of time the connection breaks, especially if I move the system (for example putting it all back together results in a lost connection). Very frustrating. Furrtek still hasn't responded to my initial email and didn't respond to my tweet, so I'll send a follow-up email now that I actually know what the problem is to see if there's anything that can be done.

Once the NGCD that I'm waiting for arrives, I'll be able to progress the install and it'll be interesting to see how one of the other SD Loader kits fits. Hopefully I'll get that reassuring click when putting the two together and I'll be happy to return it to the customer with confidence that it'll be secure. Right now, with the system I've done so far (mine), I can guarantee it wouldn't work if I had to move it off this desk, let alone if it was posted anywhere.



UPDATE: Now the left direction isn't working on the pad. Ever get the feeling you never should have started something? :rolleyes:
*goes off to fault-find the controller board...*

Well at least you found the issue I guess :)

I never installed mine so cant comment on the connection but mine made it back through the postal service to me with no issues :)
 

Hawwa

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So after much messing around I've found the issue wasn't the SD cards or how I formatted them etc.
The issue is a dodgy connection between the NGCD mainboard and the SD Loader, and I can't seem to get a connection that is stable and reliable. The SD loader board doesn't 'click' into place like the installation instructions suggests, so maybe the socket is defective. If I push the two together hard there is a connection but over a period of time the connection breaks, especially if I move the system (for example putting it all back together results in a lost connection). Very frustrating. Furrtek still hasn't responded to my initial email and didn't respond to my tweet, so I'll send a follow-up email now that I actually know what the problem is to see if there's anything that can be done.

Once the NGCD that I'm waiting for arrives, I'll be able to progress the install and it'll be interesting to see how one of the other SD Loader kits fits. Hopefully I'll get that reassuring click when putting the two together and I'll be happy to return it to the customer with confidence that it'll be secure. Right now, with the system I've done so far (mine), I can guarantee it wouldn't work if I had to move it off this desk, let alone if it was posted anywhere.



UPDATE: Now the left direction isn't working on the pad. Ever get the feeling you never should have started something? :rolleyes:
*goes off to fault-find the controller board...*

Did you install the foam pad above the mainboard?
 

edd_jedi

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@retroarcademan thanks for your input, it sounds like this is a wider problem than is being let on. I'm not sure if you saw it, but there was a news update a couple of months ago that a small number of kits had a manufacturing defect relating to the conclusion you have come to:

http://furrtek.free.fr/sdloader/news.php
August 1st 2020:
Identified a manufacturing problem that can cause bad contacts between the loader and the console. About ~30 kits in the wild may exhibit the issue during installation. Currently dealing with the situation.

It seems likely this is the problem both you and I have, and I wonder how many other kits. An update from furrtek would be appreciated, as I have also yet to receive a reply.
 

GadgetUK

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Sep 27, 2013
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So after much messing around I've found the issue wasn't the SD cards or how I formatted them etc.
The issue is a dodgy connection between the NGCD mainboard and the SD Loader, and I can't seem to get a connection that is stable and reliable. The SD loader board doesn't 'click' into place like the installation instructions suggests, so maybe the socket is defective. If I push the two together hard there is a connection but over a period of time the connection breaks, especially if I move the system (for example putting it all back together results in a lost connection). Very frustrating. Furrtek still hasn't responded to my initial email and didn't respond to my tweet, so I'll send a follow-up email now that I actually know what the problem is to see if there's anything that can be done.

Once the NGCD that I'm waiting for arrives, I'll be able to progress the install and it'll be interesting to see how one of the other SD Loader kits fits. Hopefully I'll get that reassuring click when putting the two together and I'll be happy to return it to the customer with confidence that it'll be secure. Right now, with the system I've done so far (mine), I can guarantee it wouldn't work if I had to move it off this desk, let alone if it was posted anywhere.



UPDATE: Now the left direction isn't working on the pad. Ever get the feeling you never should have started something? :rolleyes:
*goes off to fault-find the controller board...*

Have you checked the inside of the socket - inspect the solder points and the underside where the CPU presses into it. There might be a simple solution. The other thing to check is around the CPU, do all the pins look OK? Mine fits fine, but with any mod like this I would consider a few blobs of hot glue at the point the socket edges almost meet with the motherboard.

Regards the controller problem, check the flex ribbon, then the solder points on the actual ports. If problem is neither of those, maybe the Neo-Buf on the controller board.

EDIT: With regards to the "unsupported BIOS" - assuming its not a bad connection between socket and CPU, the ROM (to my understanding) gets dumped automatically and sits in the root of the SD card. You could take it off the SD card and compare it to officially dumped BIOS to confirm which you have. That assumes the ROM file on the SD is not obfuscated or encrytpted. I will check that on mine!
 
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GadgetUK

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Some good news, after trying more SD cards the initial flashing has worked! But now he says the console just boots to the normal CD player screen rather than the SD Loader screen. Does anyone know why that may be? I was under the impression that after the initial flashing, it should boot to the SD Loader menu even with no SD card attached?

Can you get some photos of the current install - in particular close up of the BIOS area and wires going to the SD Loader board.
 

GadgetUK

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Does anyone have KoF 97 working properly - ie. playing intro music when you go into demo? I am also finding it borks when you start a game - as its loading, after char selection comes up with a Neo SD Error screen.

EDIT: The "unprotected" versions seem to play music OK on the intro, but show the same error when loading.
EDIT2: I've managed to remove the protection by changing some bytes in the .prg file. The same error and corruptions at bottom of the loading screen when starting 1st round happen on 3 different ISOs.
So this must be a bug, unless all the dumps of KoF 97 are bad?!?
FokZh_t6.jpg large.jpg
pjcBxeQ3.jpg large.jpg
 
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titchgamer

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Does anyone have KoF 97 working properly - ie. playing intro music when you go into demo? I am also finding it borks when you start a game - as its loading, after char selection comes up with a Neo SD Error screen.

EDIT: The "unprotected" versions seem to play music OK on the intro, but show the same error when loading.
EDIT2: I've managed to remove the protection by changing some bytes in the .prg file. The same error and corruptions at bottom of the loading screen when starting 1st round happen on 3 different ISOs.
So this must be a bug, unless all the dumps of KoF 97 are bad?!?
View attachment 58402
View attachment 58401

Just checked on mine and have the same issue.
 

titchgamer

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Just spoke to Furtek regarding the KOF 97 issue.
He is aware of it and it will be fixed in the next FW update due in the next few weeks :)
 
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