USB Slim loader problem

[Tajlo]

Today, when I pluged my USB Slim Loader, Windows said that it doesn't know it; I tried to setup drivers but it doesn't work, this is not my computer becouse I've 2.0 usb and it had worked.

Aujourd'hui, quand j'ai branché mon USB Slim Loader, windows a dit qu'il le reconnaisait mal. Sa marché hier et maintenant il ne le reconnait plus. Avant même quand les pilotes n'étaient pas installés il inscrivait : GBA RIGHTER, maintenant même avec les pilotes il ne le reconnait pas.

What can I do to resolve this problem ? Does someone have the same ?
Thanks

[Tajlo]

up

[bruceg]

You can try uninstalling and re-installing Neo Power Kit (to reinstall the drivers), but this sounds more like an intermittent connection problem.... try all your main usb ports in the back (don't use a usb extension cable) to see if any of them can detect you Slimloader.  If you have a side-by-side usb pair, disconnect the other device, and try the Slimloader by itself..

Report back if any of that works...

BruceG

[firetalon]

I seem to have some sort of (possibly?) similar problem with my Slim Loader IV.

Within the past week, I received an MK3 2006 512G in the mail.  The Slim Loader IV doesn't seem to work on any of the PC's I've tried it on.

I've plugged it into a two seperate Windows XP machines in my house, and also into a recently clean-formatted Windows XP machine that I used to use to fight through "F2A hell" with my old flashcart.

In each instance, I followed the official install instructions to the letter, and unplugged each extra USB device on the machine, as well as using the direct motherboard USB slots in the back.

The drivers install properly, but the cart is never detected at all.  Also, the lights flash backwards from what the manual says...  they flash one red and then three green and makes the USB connection sound when it's plugged in. (the manual says one green and three red I believe)

Also, the cart itself isn't detected in the MK3 menu (it starts up properly, so I'm pretty sure it knows the card exists...), but I'm not exactly sure if the one in the 2006 kit is supposed to be detected, due to it's being just big enough for the menu and all.  [it reads:  Fatal Error:  NEO/XG not detected  Press A to continue].

One final quick note (sorry this post is long), is there any documentation for the 'Menu v0.6_A2' that shipped with the MK3 2006?  I used my older card (a F2A 256 meg) to flash this menu to it, and it seems to work well (for everything except flashing games to the internal memory in the MK3).

Thanks for helping me sort this out.

[bruceg]

yeah, I just connected my Slimloader III and it flashes green once and red three times when the device is recognized/drivers are loaded properly.  I don't know exactly how the Slimloader IV is supposed to function...  Hopefully, cory the moderator will let me know about any potential issues/problems since he's getting mk3 2006 as well.

In the past, people commonly acquire a usb pci 2.0 card or usb 2.0 hub (externally powered), and then they don't have any slimloader/cart detection issues anymore.... but you've already tried several different computers, and all the usb ports it seems, so that might not be the issue

I assume with Neo Power Kit you've tried the different writer versions using the top tab to select each one??

That menu included is a buggy beta version, but it should work similar to the other menus out there (I doubt there is any documentation, except what's included on that disk and in the Neo Power Kit folder on your computer)

BruceG

[firetalon]

The computer that I used that used to work best when I was going through the USB connection hell issues with my buggy old F2A USB linker was my MAME machine computer, which is pretty clean formatted, as I don't put any new software in it really.  (a bit tricky trying to read everything on the arcade monitor on it's low low resolution though).

The Neo Power Kit (v2.1) I was using, and the Neo Max (v1.5), were both the newest ones, that were on the drivers disc.  I haven't tried other older versions yet of either, and I also haven't tried uninstalling-reinstalling them either, although with every USB port I use, I direct it to the drivers for the Slim Loader IV, and it recognizes it and sucessfully installs.

If anyone can get this thing to work, I should be able to.  I repair computers for a living, and have a lot of patience and know how to scientifically troubleshoot computer problems.

And by "documentation", I basically meant the "MK2/MK3 official user manual" that's posted in this forum somewhere.  It seems fairly definitive, even though I know it isn't put out by the company or anything.

There was a demo of a coding game preloaded onto the SD stick, named AntareX.nds.  When I attempt to play it directly from the SD card, or flash it to the internal memory of the MK3 using the Neo Key that came with the MK3 2006 and has menu v0.4 on it, it shows the "coding 2006" screen with the lightning bolts and stuff, and then moves to a screen with 4 pannels showing options to play, (classic, 2 player, etc...).  It completely freezes up at this point, and has to be reset.  When I play the same copy on my old stinky F2A 256 card that i've flashed the Menu 0.6_A2 to, this game/demo works fine past the game selection screen, and you're in a little ship shooting at other little ships comming at you.

I'm not sure if this is a problem with the compatability of the Menu program, of maybe it's an indicator of a faulty component somewhere.  It just seems odd that I would get a demo included preinstalled that didn't even work with that version of the Menu preinstalled.

If anyone has any good ideas on where to go from here or what the problem might be, I'll be happy to run through some more trials tryin to debug what's goin on.  I am quite happy with the MK3 card all around, and I'm glad I waited a bit instead of buying one of the initial DS flash units that came out and didn't have save options and such.

[bruceg]

yeah cory just back to me... Neo Power Kit 2.1 doesn't recognize the neo-key properly (and Slimloader IV possibly) since it's too new.  Neo Power Kit 2.2 will fix this problem...so going back to the older versions is likely a waste of time.

A previous version of the menu should come pre-loaded in the neo-key (it's the old version 0.4).  That's the reason it doesn't detect/initialize the neo-key as well (that option is meant more for flashcarts, anyways, since Neo-key won't store much except the menu).  As far as the demo rom, yeah, that froze on me also in a previous menu (there was a bug in that homebrew apps weren't working properly)

I would personally wait until the official menu 0.6 (not the beta) and Neo Power Kit 2.2 come out and then test again.  I'm sure the Neo Team is aware (or should be aware) of the problems.  Just don't go past your return period (whatever that is) so you don't get stuck with the item, in the case that it may possibly be defective.

BruceG

And the user's guide, that's what I put together in my spare time since there was no other documentation available at the time.  It sounds fairly definitive since I've re-written parts at least 50 times by now 

The testers and mods here all all volunteers (we aren't official Neo employees or anything)  The neokey part I still have to update based on what cory tells me and other users report since I don't have mk3 2006 myself.

[cory1492]

Menu 0.4 had some problems with homebrew, including antarex. (something to do with the touchscreen/arm7 not loading at all). The menu 0.6 that was included on the CD is a beta test version, I am hoping to have much better documentation finished before too many have the MK3 2006 in hand (at least, its my hope to have it included with the next menu release, pending some quality screenshots of course).

Im not shocked about the slim loader though, the one I have I cannot get to work with my PC's either. It installs fine, the lights blink like they should but NPK always says "NEO writer not found".

I even tried a clean install on an old xbox hdd today, just to be certain something wasnt corrupt in my registry. Nothing.

Sorry you are having problems with it, but at the same time Im glad Im not  the only one having a problem with Slim Loader 4.

I had mine apart, and the PCB is "Slim Loader V9" - Dr.neo has been using his slim loader IV with NPK 2.0 and 2.1 (1.4 was the first to include the driver, but because of the way it works SL4 should work in anything that SL3 works in), I suspect something went wrong in the production version, or something small changed in the internal firmware so NPK doesnt see it. It is being attended to, hopefully it will be working very soon.

NeoKey is not set up inside NPK yet, it is to be included in NPK 2.2

[firetalon]

Okay, that answers quite a bit for me.  I wondered if it was some sort of recognition problem the programs were having with the card, but it was impossible for me to test with another card, because this is the first Neo Flash ROM product I've purchased, and don't have a spare XG card or whatever to pop in and see the results.

I was curious to see if something was wrong with the internals of my Slim Loader IV as well, and saw that it was had V9 printed on the pcb when I opened it up.

I'm not having any problems with using the MK3 and having plenty of fun with it in the meantime, so I'll just check for updates and be content knowing the problem is being worked on.  I'm fairly sure I'd have a hard time returning the product even if it was defective though, because of the company I ordered it through, but the shipping was fast, and it does seem to work as much as the software allows at this point.

Menu 0.4 is nice and stable enough with saves and such, and I have the beta 0.6 (or alpha maybe?) on my old flashcart if i want to play with homebrew.

Thanks for looking into this, and a prompt response explaining what my situation most likely was.  Props to the devotion you guys have for testing, troubleshooting, etc, as well.

I'll keep my eyes on these forums for new releases of software and such.

Thanks.

[cory1492]

Most interesting, I got a PM just a while ago suggesting I try NeoMax 1.5 with the Slim 4, and it is working fine... it looks like slim loader 4 and NeoKey support will both have to come with NeoPowerKit 2.2 then.

[firetalon]

Do you mean you got the Slim Loader 4 to work with the NeoKey that came with the MK3 2006, or a different flashcart...?

I attempted to use NeoMax 1.5 and it stated it couldn't detect the cartridge...

[Tajlo]

Thanks for your reply. I tried everything in vain. . I found here a topic by someone who had the same problem. He didn't find a solution so he reinstalled is operating system. I don't want to do. Is there a french translation of the guide to reinstal all drivers ? 

[bruceg]

I'm assuming you've thoroughly tested your usb ports, and they're fine with all your other devices.  I'm also assuming you tried everything in the SlimLoader FAQ to verify it's not a driver issue.
http://www.neoflash.com/forum/index.php/topic,1569.msg5148.html#msg5148

There was a person in the forums who had installed another usb device that was conflicting with neo power kit..  Once he removed that particular driver, it started working ok...    

Do you remember when it was working properly?? (not that this would necessarily work, but maybe you can use system restore to go back to a point in time where it was functioning correctly)..  I would personally look at the system restore calendar to see if I find anything I might have installed that could have caused problems, and remove the applications/drivers to test...  OS reinstall would be my last choice.

BruceG

[cory1492]

Do you mean you got the Slim Loader 4 to work with the NeoKey that came with the MK3 2006, or a different flashcart...?

I attempted to use NeoMax 1.5 and it stated it couldn't detect the cartridge...

I got NeoMax 1.5 to work with the NeoMax cart in the SlimLoader4, which tells me the slim isnt the problem, its someting in NPK that will likely be fixed shortly.

Tajlo: (mieux je puis faire avec le traducteur)
1-Dans le déclic et l'uninstall de droit de directeur de dispositif
"GBA WRITER"
2-Dans ce delte de chemise ces dossiers (si trouvé):
chemise: c:\windows\inf
-"XGSlim.inf"
-"XGSlim.PNF"
-"XUSBWindow.INF"
-"xusbwindow.PNF"

chemise: c:\windows\system32\drivers
EB100Usb.sys

recherche oem##.inf  pour X-DRIVER
    "; Copyright (c) 2004-2005 X-DRIVER SEMICONDUCTOR"
effacement si trouvé, TOUS LES DEUX oem##.inf & assortiment oem##.pnf
e: oem34.inf + oem34.pnf (kill both)

3-débranchez branchent alors le clignoteur encore
installez les conducteurs encore à partir de l'annuaire de NPK

désolé c'est mauvais
sorry it is bad

[bruceg]

cory,

Don't let everyone know you're bilingual (you're gonna have even more people bugging you now) 

BruceG