MD 3in1 Myth flash cart PC programmer V2.93 [Oct.08 2009]

[ChillyWilly]

Ah , i see  .

Another idea : How about adding another "checkbox" in the programmer something like : "Write 4MB USB signature" and when its "on" the programmer will write:
At 0x000000 - 'U'
At 0x000001 - 'S'
At 0x000002 - 'B'
At 0x400000 - 'R'
Block division(s) with games

USB Reserved

otherwise:
Block division(s) with games

Then the menu could test this signature/cookie & if USBR signature found then allow USB transfer , otherwise print some message like : "Please enable USB mode in the Programmer's configuration section".

For 1 thing im not sure : If you can access addresses from the flash without copying anything.If you have to copy data , then this is not efficient.

If the app handles all the procedure then it might be easy to read these 4 bytes and then verify if "USB Signature" has been enabled by the user.
So you let the user decide whether 4MB will be reserved for USB flashing.
 

Too complicated, and you're sticking data into the area the rom is supposed to go - you can't have "USB" at 0 because that's the reset stack pointer vector for Genesis roms. Just put an entry in the menu. If you wish to distinguish it from a regular rom, make a new type: the rom types are currently 0 = MD, 1 = 32X, and 2 = SMS. Just make a new one - 3 = USB reserved block. Once you have an entry in the menu that says its starting block is 0 and its length is 4MB, the app will automatically leave that memory alone.

[Conle]

Then it seems your suggestion to put a dummy rom as usb reserved area is the easiest to implement.

[ChillyWilly]

Then it seems your suggestion to put a dummy rom as usb reserved area is the easiest to implement.

Yes. You don't even have to write the dummy rom, just its entry in the menu entry table.
 

[neo-diy]

ON NOE MD SYSTEM RAM OS

$0A13020 bit 0 SET 1 > NEO GBA CARD WRITE ON !
$0A13020 bit 1 SET 1 > PSRAM WRITE !
$0A13020 bit 2 SET 1 > 68K CPU  $300000~3fffff = psram $700000~$7fffff

============================================================================
MODE 7 ON

68K CPU $000000~1FFFFF = GAB CARD
        $200000~2FFFFF = 1024K PSRAM SPACE HAVE  0~7 BANK

$0A13020 bit 2 SET 1 >68K CPU  $300000~3fffff = psram $700000~$7fffff < BANK 7

[kuroiso]

I don´t know if it´s a problem with the programmer or with the roms (I have tried many), but every time I try to load Super Street Fighter II I get an orange screen. I have a Pal Mega Drive II.
Thx!

[madmonkey]

aply M27T-AA86 gg code for ntsc rom(will only work on ntsc system). for E or J roms you'll have to find other codes.
also use attached plugin build - only for ssf2 rom! - restore to conle's build for other roms - otherwise other roms will no longer work.

[kuroiso]

Thanks for your help! I will try it.

[Conle]

I don´t know if it´s a problem with the programmer or with the roms (I have tried many), but every time I try to load Super Street Fighter II I get an orange screen. I have a Pal Mega Drive II.
Thx!

Hi , please download & install Plugdemo.dll v2.0.0.4 , it supports SSF2 & lockon roms ->
http://www.neoflash.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=5812.0;attach=2256

Copy it to : c:\neo 2 ultra menu\plug_in\md

Now , if you use the US rom of the game : format the flash cart , & before you burn the rom , click on "GG cheat" area on the selected rom and install the cheat file that i have attached ->
http://www.neoflash.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=5857.0;attach=2260

Also , click on Europe checkbox , and apply all fixes(Checksum/Common/..).

And burn the rom!

[madmonkey]

Conle, your build returns rom format==6, that wont work.

[Conle]

Conle, your build returns rom format==6, that wont work.

Yes you're right , i did something very stupid in v2.0.0.4TEST , i fixed it now in v2.0.0.5TEST ->

http://www.neoflash.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=5812.0;attach=2261

It should be fine now.Thanks for your reports Madmonkey!

More info here ->
http://www.neoflash.com/forum/index.php/topic,5812.msg42204.html#msg42204

[ChillyWilly]

Anything larger than 2MB that also has save ram needs to be run mode 4. It also needs to be patched. I've figured out the patch for S&K+S3 and my own Wolf32X. I'm wondering it Conle should just add this patching to the plugin.

The "patch" is to look through the rom (in binary format) for the hex values:

13FC xxxx 00A1 30F1

That's a "move.b #x, 0xA130F1" opcode, which is used to turn on or off the save ram. You'll find several of these in roms >2MB with save (there's five in Wolf32X, and four in S&K+S3). For each one, look at xxxx:

If bit 0 is set, change the hex to:

33FC 0006 00A1 3000

That's a "move.w #6,0xA13000" which turns on the save ram.

If bit 0 is clear, change the hex to:

33FC 0004 00A1 3000

That's a "move.w #4,0xA13000" which turns off the save ram. The rom needs to start off with the run mode set to 4. I think I need to change that in the menu when I determine the run mode for the rom loaded from the SD card.

The alternative to having this patching in the plugin is I can do this in the menu in the routine that sets the save ram bank and size. I know the save ram is going to be used, so if the rom size is >2MB, I can go ahead and force the run mode to 4, and do the patch routine. That would take care of any game that follows the guidelines for sram and >2MB roms.

EDIT: For 32X games, it should be 3 instead of 4. That's 32X w/o save.

EDIT 2: Actually, 3 is with save, so that wouldn't work. I guess it should be 4 as well. I relly need to try this and see how it goes.

[Conle]

Yes , i can do it    , but i need to know if the opcode needs decoding
or i can just split it in parts with shifts like a normal 4byte integer?

I know i can find this answer in an emulator's source code
but it will save time.

[ChillyWilly]

Yes , i can do it    , but i need to know if the opcode needs decoding
or i can just split it in parts with shifts like a normal 4byte integer?

I know i can find this answer in an emulator's source code
but it will save time.

Instructions always fall on word boundaries, so you only have to check words until you find 0x13FC, then check for 0x00A1 at that address + 4, and 0x30F1 at that address + 6.

[kuroiso]

Thanks Conle and madmonkey for your help. Now I can play Super Street Fighter II in my Pal console

[Conle]

Instructions always fall on word boundaries, so you only have to check words until you find 0x13FC, then check for 0x00A1 at that address + 4, and 0x30F1 at that address + 6.

Thanks! , sounds simple enough ,  i will let you know once its done