Problems with new menu and MK3

[derekwdy]

I got the Neo-Max kit 8Gb versoin.
I have a 1GB SD card, and the MK3 that comes with the package.
and I used the latest Neo Power kit to burn the menu 0.6b into the flashcard.

after I flashed the NDS to v7. which was still fine.
Then I tried to flash the menu into the MK3. It only stayed at 0%, it proceed at all. So I had to turn off my DS, and I wanted to retry it.

After that. when I play roms, I can't get any save. and I can't even format the MK3 menu, I can format the MK3 flash area tho.

I am wondering what's my problem, and how can I fix it?

[bruceg]

It sounds like a bug in menu .6 beta 2 (I heard that flashing the menu does not work all the time).

Assuming you were using menu .6 beta 2 to do all this, why don't you try to install menu .6 beta 1 onto your neomax cart.  Then copy menu .6 beta 2 onto the sd card directly.  Try to flash menu .6 beta 2 using menu .6 beta 1. 

Also, some of the functions in the beta menus (such as dumping original carts) sometimes screw up the contents of the files on the SD card.  Reformatting the SD card and re-installing all your roms usually fixes those problems, so starting fresh again may possibly make the saves function again.

BruceG

[derekwdy]

I tried those suggestion made by you, and also tried to use the old menu again, which was v4.
however, I still can't get saving done, and I can't run most of the roms I was able to run...

I think my MK3 is corrupted, is there a way to totally reformat the MK3?
If pressing x and y in the v6 menu is the only ways. I probally won;t be able to format the whole thing at all, because it just get stuck

[derekwdy]

When I try to run a rom, it stops at the question, Erase MK2 Save?

nomatter which one I choose, it stops

[bruceg]

Unfortunately, the only mk3 format options are within menu 0.6.  You can format the mk3 and neo, but not the menu flash??

Do you have a 'mk2_save' file on your sd card, created by menu 0.4?  If so, you can try deleting that...

I assume you reformatted and maybe defragged your sd card, so basically, you just have clean dumps on the card, and not .sav files from previous menus....

With menu v.4, did it not ask you to save/load or did roms just not run??

However, now it gets stuck in .6 beta 2, when asking to load/save/or erase mk2, so that's why you can't even boot roms??

BruceG

[derekwdy]

Yes, I only had clean roms on the SD card.
And I tried formating it in both Fat and Fat32 format.

With menu v4, it still asked me those questions, but I can boot the rom.
However it can never save the progress.

[johanv407]

is it possible that the sd card can be corupted, because i can't read / format it any more in my usb stick and multi memory card reader/saver.

Is there a way to fix the sd card

[bruceg]

That's probably a separate issue....  apparently when the bootstrap gets erased from the sd card, it can no longer be recognized/formatted, depending on your sd card reader...


Cory1492 helped another person with this issue.   Here is what he said about the issue:

"It sounds like the bootstrap got erased. This happens to me from time to time, thankfully my brothers SD reader in his laptop and the new 24in1 reader that I grabbed a while back also can handle this (the little grey pendrives I had could not recover from this type of error)

With some readers, they refuse to format the card or even recognize that a card is present if the bootsrap (initial info) isnt there, with better card readers it will see the card just not let you try to access it without saying "format first".

Try finding someone with a better card reader to format it, or, prefereably one that is hooked to linux machine as it is easier in linux to do a low level format.

If that is not possible, see if you can grab a demo version of WinHex, make sure autoplay for your card's drive is not enabled and see if you can use any of its tools to format the card to get it working (it allows RAW access to the card memory).

All else failing, any chance you got a really long warranty with that card? Perhaps it was failing all along making it not work right with the menus. "

here is one like what I use:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/34-IN-1-USB-2-0-MEMORY-CARD-READER-SD-XD-MMC-MS-XD-NEW_W0QQitemZ9701777908QQcategoryZ11180QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

There is no real way to do a low level format under windows... that said, some card readers that have additional drivers on top of the windows mass USB dll do provide better low level recognition/format support (and try to correct problems that it seems windows wont).

I can confirm with winxp sp2, that card reader (they sell them as 24in1, 34in1 and 15in1, but they are all the same device based on a NeoDio chipset) and the semi-driver from NeoDio's site, when I had this happen before on an SD card I looked with winhex at the RAW drive and the bootstrap/initial info in the first blocks was missing, this reader did allow me to format it and all has been fine since.

Also, you may want to take a closer look at your card readers, sometimes there are drivers (usually win98 drivers, but also they can have addons that work for xp) from the company that makes the chipset that can help with issues like what it seems you are having.

It is possible your disk was close to failure to begin with and simply using it in the MK killed it, but I still think a low level format (fdisk under linux) can fix it.

[bruceg]

Yes, I only had clean roms on the SD card.
And I tried formating it in both Fat and Fat32 format.

With menu v4, it still asked me those questions, but I can boot the rom.
However it can never save the progress.

That sounds like a fairly serious bug.  Maybe cory1492 will have a workaround to restore your system (I haven't encountered that particular problem)

BruceG

[cory1492]

derekwdy: try making a file in notepad, called "MK2_SAVE" (no extension) and put that on your SD card. Go to the MMC menu, find that file on your card and tell me what options it says on the top screen in Beta 2 menu.

There is definitely some bugs with beta1/2 on certain hardware, remember that it is a beta version and part of the point of the release was to get bug reports in.

[derekwdy]

cory: I did the test you wanted me to do. it gave my the option of pressing x to remove the mk2 save. And if I try to do it, it freeze.

And I did a couple more tests about my SD card. I formated it in low level and using different card readers. I even tried running a rom that is flashed into Neo without an SD card. The rom still won't run.

And the SD card works fine with cellphones or digicams. So I guess it's really my Magic Key's problm.