the 7th. Project : Neo2 flash cart for gba/nds

[firetalon]

   I'm guessing that this product will be released soon after the MK4-mini version is released (I'm guessing this due to the MK4-mini release comming right up)...

   My question is:  Will the Neo2 flash cart begin selling in 1Gb sizes at the start?  I have been looking to replace my F2Advance ultra cart for some time, due to the issues with software and dificulty in swapping ROM images and such, and with my semi-recent purchase of an MK3 2006, I have still needed this outdated card to play GBA games.  (although I admit I will be sad to loose the Die-Hard feature that helps me cheat when I am stuck on so many games).

   It seems like the MK4-mini and the Neo2 1Gb flash cart would make a wonderful update to my setup.

   Is there any set schedule for the release dates for the cart sizes?  (I would like to know this as well for the sega 32x (genesis) flash cart that is scheduled for release soon...).  What I mean by this, is:  Is the neoflash team set to release sizes 128Mb through 1Gb at the same time, or will they release the 128Mb ones first, and then the 256 and 512 next, and so on...?

   I ask because I would (and will) be most interested in this product when it will be possible to purchase the 1Gb kit.

[bruceg]

Sorry I don't know any more details right now.  Generally, Dr. Neo posts information as it becomes available (I'm still waiting for more detailed technical specifications, and a general release date).  Apparently they're still going through beta testing as well....

BruceG

[Dr.neo]

in our idea,NEO will have 2 version,NEO2 and NEO2 lite.

the NEO2 have 256M flash + 128M ZIP RAM , only one version,and come with SD/MMC slot.

the NEO2 lite have 256M flash / 512M flash and 1G flash 3 different version,but don't come with ZIP RAM & SD/MMC slot, and it's small cart size,for NEO Lite ONLY.

[firetalon]

   Okay...  I was thinking about it, and if you can manage to get SD/MMC cards to work without the old problem of MK3 software FAT patching routines, and the reading from SD/MMC card is completely hardware oriented, and 99% (or more) of the ROM images work, then we wouldn't need more than one size of flashcart anyways.

   For that matter, we wouldn't even truly need the inner flash space (although I'm quite sure we can still find a way to make it useful).

[sven]

it is stil usefull for the mk2/3 untill there is a menu who support the sd/function i think and for the menu

[cory1492]

Firetalon: the inner flash on the Neo2(SD) would mainly be for GBA compatibility. GBA up to 128Mbit could be copied/extracted to the zip RAM and run, while the 256MBit ones would need to be flashed. Also, NDS homebrew that has appended file systems would need one or the other depending on the size, simply because of how they are meant to work from a GBA cart.

[sven]

but why cant gba games run from the sd cart?

[boblen]

GBA Games can only work from the GBA Slot!

Unless some real smart "know it all" guy comes along and makes like an emulator for the NDS which allows you to play GBA Games on the SD cart from the NDS Slot.
for the short term: I dont think it will happen any time soon.
for the long term: It could be possible (as we learn more and more every day) to get it to run, I doubt it but it could be done.

[Normmatt]

GBA Games can only work from the GBA Slot!

Unless some real smart "know it all" guy comes along and makes like an emulator for the NDS which allows you to play GBA Games on the SD cart from the NDS Slot.
for the short term: I dont think it will happen any time soon.
for the long term: It could be possible (as we learn more and more every day) to get it to run, I doubt it but it could be done.

a GBA emulator for NDS is very possible as there is no need to emulate the cpu as the arm9 is backwards compatible with the arm7. the gfx base is mostly the same so you would basically just need to redirect the gba function calls to the new nds functions and maybe emulate the gba bios which shouldnt be hard, also with no emulation of the cpu core you could run games at double speed maybe even triple speed because the arm9 is 66mhz and the gba's arm7 is 16mhz

[boblen]

so,
We need someone who can "code" very very good.
I'm sure Dr.Neo would give someone a prive or gift if they made one and stuck a neo-flash sticker on it 

Hey that would have one the compo,
Remember theres another comp comming soon!
Code Away!

[cory1492]

Trust me, its not so simple as that... the SD card itself isnt really even fast enough to give up data at the speed the GBA bus does. This is actually one of the issues with the SuperCard, they didnt use (fast enough) memory in it that supported certain "speeds" so they patch the ROM's to go slower, and break most of the better ones without adding additional patching.

[Alyassus]

in our idea,NEO will have 2 version,NEO2 and NEO2 lite.

the NEO2 have 256M flash + 128M ZIP RAM , only one version,and come with SD/MMC slot.

the NEO2 lite have 256M flash / 512M flash and 1G flash 3 different version,but don't come with ZIP RAM & SD/MMC slot, and it's small cart size,for NEO Lite ONLY.

1. what's 128M ZIP RAM? If the NEO2 has only 256M flash it wont be able to store most DS games. I guess that's what this 128 ZIP RAM is for, but how does it work. is 256M flash + 128M ZIP RAM = 1G flash?

2. You said the Neo2Lite is "for NEO Lite ONLY". Did you mean DS lite? So the Neo2Lite is too small for the old DS and is therefore ONLY for use in the new DS lite? What about the NEO2Ultra, will it fit in both DS?

thanks a lot for all you work, NEO

[boblen]

1) Can can have ziped files on there to save space (i think)

2) There are 2 version of Neo2.
    - Neo2 for normal NDS with SD slot.
    - Neo2 for NDS Lite, Fits in perfectly flush.

You should look at the pictures for more information.

[cory1492]

SlashMolder: please dont advertise "for free" sites and your GBA emulator in Neo2 topics. Your posts were moved to off topic.

Alyassus:
1 - 128M zip and 256M flash on the Neo2-SD was added for GBA support, GBA roms smaller than 128Mb will be copied to the "zip ram", or RAM each time you load them, and 128->256M ones will need to be flashed before use. The "zip RAM" may get used to buffer/prefetch with NDS, but it will not limit the size of NDS that can be started (unless its homebrew that doesnt access the multimedia card).

2 - They already have a NeoFlash 512 and 1G flashcart, the Neo2 lite is intended to fit in the GBA slot of the DS lite specifically.