NEO Team's Project for the PC-Engine > NEO Power PC-E Flash Cart

WARNING - BEWARE SOME 128M + SAVE HAVE PROBLEM WITH CD-ROM ATTACHMENT

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Dr.neo:
it make sense, becasue the output current of power adaptor will become weak after a long time,so can't make flash device working well,in this way need change the dc adaptor.

Supremo Lagarto:

--- Quote from: Dr.neo on December 06, 2011, 10:43:47 AM ---it make sense, becasue the output current of power adaptor will become weak after a long time,so can't make flash device working well,in this way need change the dc adaptor.

--- End quote ---
It has nothing to do with the AC Adapter. As you know, the +5 volt rail for the Hucard slot is internal to the Console. The AC Adapter has been soundly ruled out by many advanced users that I have spoken to on other websites (some of these people are engineers and programmers, like yourself).  I ruled this out myself by trying the flash cart on a Duo with 3 different AC adapters. It failed using all three, including one that was brand new and above the original specs. Then I tried the flash cart an my American Turbo Grafx, this time with 5 different AC adapters from 9 volts to 12 volts all above 700 mA. The flash cart worked with the American Turbo Grafx no matter which compatible AC Adapter I used.

The problem is INTERNAL to consoles and not related to the AC Adapter.


--- Quote from: Morden on December 05, 2011, 09:49:34 PM ---I'm curious as of how this was measured, since like I said, I get the exact same problems on both the PCE and a TG16. If the Japanese console has a weak +5v line and TG16 doesn't, the glitches shouldn't occur, yet, they do. Original games run fine, of course, but their rom counterparts often don't. Plus, this doesn't explain the total randomness of some problems, like some titles freezing, but once you re-flash them, they might start working after one of the tries.

Also, some games start acting up after you play them for a while, and this is also random. It can really get your blood pressure up once you reach an advanced stage and everything goes nuts.

--- End quote ---

Real simple. The +5 volt rail is designed to be powerful enough to support a hucard, not a flash device (which certainly did not exist in 1991). About 2/3rds of the consoles (American and Japanese) have enough juice on the +5 volt rail to support the flash device, even though it is outside of the design parameters. This is random. It is just blind chance. American and Japanese consoles are effected equally. However the American Turbo Grafx is the cheapest one on eBay and if you buy one and it doesn't work with your flash device you can turn around and sell it for the same amount you paid for it.

It is basically a "luck of the draw". You might have a console that works with it and you might not. If both of your consoles don't work with it, it means you have consoles that only offer the required juice on the +5 volt rail and no more.

Additionally, adding peripherals (like CD-ROMs add-ons) or adding internal modifications (like region switches) greatly increases the chance there will not be enough juice left to support the flash device. Your system will still work with everything official, but it may not support a flash drive.


--- Quote from: Morden on December 05, 2011, 09:49:34 PM ---If the Japanese console has a weak +5v line and TG16 doesn't, the glitches shouldn't occur, yet, they do. .

--- End quote ---
No, it isn't that the Japanese consoles have weak +5 volt rails and Americans don't. It is that ANY console might have a +5 volt rail only strong enough for a standard Hucard and not for a flash cart. From everything I have read, the consoles that are MOST likely to support the flash device are unmodified core systems with no add-on peripherals. However, I recommend getting an American Turbo Grafx because that is the cheapest NEC console on eBay. I only recommended the Turbo Grafx because it is low cost. If you buy one that doesn't support your flash device, you can just sell it and get another one.  Eventually, you should find a core console that works with the flash device with no problems.

Morden:
Listen, I get it. You don't have to go all super-sized with fonts in multiple threads telling me about the weak +5v. I just find it hard to believe that both my PC Engine and the TurboGrafx have the exact same problems. The whole low voltage theory would mean that both of my consoles have this problem, which isn't a console design problem, I know [just in case you feel tempted to explain it again, in all caps].

There's a pattern to all those glitches. It's just hard to work out what it is. How can low voltage cause the same game to freeze at the cartridge boot menu? Let's say I flash a couple of games onto the card. It's games A, B, C, D and E. All will boot except for C, and it doesn't matter how many times I restart the console. It will always be C that fails to boot after that particular flash operation. Now I re-flash the games, and C will work, but some other game won't.

Like I said before, I am yet to flash a set of games that will work, as in all titles will boot. I use correctly edited images or images corresponding to the console region, I don't mix two regions, as in it's either all US or all JP, and so on. Problems still occur, on both PC-E and TG16. And like I said, at each flash, the same games will give the same freezes and glitches. This means that something is flashed wrong or handled wrong within firmware. Low voltage wouldn't cause problems that are this specific and constant.

Supremo Lagarto:

--- Quote from: Morden on December 06, 2011, 07:49:11 PM ---And like I said, at each flash, the same games will give the same freezes and glitches. This means that something is flashed wrong or handled wrong within firmware. Low voltage wouldn't cause problems that are this specific and constant.

--- End quote ---
First, I'm not being condescending. Second, I don't know that you truly don't have a defective flash device or bad firmware. I can only say it sounds like a voltage issue with your consoles. What you can do to test this is buy a cheap used Turbo Grafx. If it doesn't work with the cheap Turbo Grafx, then you can reasonably assume you have a defective device and then use PayPal to file a claim and get a refund.

Actually, the +5 voltage issue will cause what you are describing. What you are describing is exactly what happens on my Duo. The more large and complex the rom, the more likely that it will crash really, really fast. For instance, Tatsujin will not play at all using the flash on my Duo (it will start and crash instantly during play), where most games just crash after 30 second to a minute. Puzzle games (like Boxy Boy), which are very simplistic actually don't crash on my Duo with the flash. However, Tatsujin, along with all other games (except Street Fighter 2) play perfectly on the flash on my Turbo Grafx, which was only $15.

Morden:
The thing is, I can get any game to run [with the obvious exception of Street Fighter II, which is a $10, but nonetheless, I'd like to see this issue fixed someday]. Any game will work, but you can't tell on which try / flash. I'll just flash a bunch of titles and out of 20, 4 might freeze the card menu. I'll mix those 4 with different games or just flash them another time and they will work fine. So as far as the flash card not working at all or always giving me problems, it's not like that at all.

As far as refunds go, I tried to get a replacement USB programmer since mine was damaged, but my request was pretty much ignored. I can flash the PCE card using the MD, N64 or SNES cartridges, so I didn't pursue this further. And it's probably too late to send back my card and get it replaced.

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