Neo N64 Myth menu v2.2

[Sektor]

how to find the new Neo2 cart with 512Mbit psram ?

It doesn't exist. We are just hoping it will be made in the future.

[stefan_iro]

how to find the new Neo2 cart with 512Mbit psram ?

It doesn't exist. We are just hoping it will be made in the future.

I would already be happy if the NEO2 MANAGER would at least support 1024M flash memory of the available NEO2 PRO CART. This would allow to write more than one of the bigger games without any loading time...

[bidou670]

i think the new  n64 drive is better because  use a slot  microsd card and second slot CF card  and the n64 drive load the bigs roms like conquer bad fur day ! and loading rom is very  fast  ! sure  its a new generation of linker for N64 and auto detect the N64 pal and ntsc !:)

[slothette64]

and loading rom is very  fast

what could be faster than INSTANTLY!!
NeoMyth64 is best for its price and convenience

(and you mean "conker"'s bad fur day!! to show what you know)

[Conle]

Its a new generation of linker for N64 and auto detect the N64 pal and ntsc !:)

I don't get it.
Myth cart allows you to play most games from mixed regions , except from those that check the OS_TV_TYPE,... and we might have to add automatic patching in the feature. Use  pc patching tools for now..

[bidou670]

what could be faster than INSTANTLY!!
NeoMyth64 is best for its price and convenience

(and you mean "conker"'s bad fur day!! to show what you know)

load in 5/6 second the rom  , OK i confirm the neomyth card 64 is a great card but the N64 drive seem to be better !


Edit : I think  for play conquer bad fur day ( 512 mo roms )  on neo myth card its no possible to load the rom with  the neomyth menu 2.3 beta 3 on SD card  ! i think  you must burned the rom with you computer on memory  512 with neomager and its too slow  ! the big 512mo  roms  not work on Neomyth card 64 with the neomyth menu 2.2 or 2.3 beta 3  on SD card , because memory allow only  256 mo i think  ? Otherwise i like the neo myth card 64

[ChillyWilly]

Every cart has their pros and cons. The new N64 carts have built in SD/CF support with hardware data transfers for high speed. What they don't have is flash or the ability to change that part of the cart. The Myth allows you to use 256/512 Mbit carts, the Neo2-SD, the Neo2-Pro, or anything new that comes along. The tradeoff for this is load speed from the SD... which isn't really that bad anymore. No, it's not 5 seconds, but it's also not 2 minutes either.

The Myth also allows you to use an N64 cart for the CIC - the new N64 carts from elsewhere require you (or the dealer) to cannibalize a cart for the CIC chip, which then has to be soldered in. If you don't mind doing that, the Myth allows that as well. The ability to connect an N64 cart allows us to save the contents of the save ram on said cart (if any).

[Morden]

Every cart has their pros and cons.

In all honesty, I think 64Drive comes out on top, especially if the only thing you're interested in are the games, since it's more of a plug and play type solution. The huge downside to Neo Flash cartridge is the proprietary storage device and the need to use special flashing software. With 64Drive, you pop your CF card into a reader, copy over the files, and it works.

I bought the Neo Flash cartridge shortly after it became available. I knew what it was about, the price was rather high, but I bought it anyway. What bothered me when I got to play with it for a while was that I could only store two images on the cartridge that came with it [I tried the menu, but it always caused problems. Images didn't boot properly from within the menu. Not ever. There's no single piece of detailed documentation how to work with this mess. The plugins, the menus, the various flash program versions, etc.]. I didn't buy the Neo Pro SD thing, or whatever it is called, simply because I'm not made out of cash, and I couldn't afford additional hardware. Not to mention the other device you have to buy to update the firmware.

So yea, you're stuck with one CIC chip when you get the 64Drive, but you don't have to think about proprietary solutions and add-ons you have to buy to get everything out of your hardware. And one more thing about the CIC. Didn't the N64 scene folk send a few CICs for decapping? Did anything come out of this? I thought the whole idea behind this operation was to reverse-engineer and duplicate the CIC tech and make a versatile substitute, so that we wouldn't have to worry about something not working, and so that no games would have to be butchered. How did that go, anyway?

[stefan_iro]

@ Mordan:
Most (if not all) the things you write are true.

But the N64 Neo Myth still has some features which the offer flash carts don´t and will never have.
For example the backup ability of save files! With the current menu you are able to backup the save file of any game from your original cartridge. This will never be able with other flash carts as they lack the additional extension slot for original carts.
Even the storage of games on special flash carts has its pros. You can start a 512M game like Conker with no loading time! Unfortunately the buggy software does only allow to write 512M of 1024M. But hopefully the next revision of Neo2 Manager will fix this!

To summarize, both of you are right!

[Morden]

But the N64 Neo Myth still has some features which the offer flash carts don´t and will never have. For example the backup ability of save files! With the current menu you are able to backup the save file of any game from your original cartridge.

It's a cool feature for those who own original cartridges, but we both know that the majority of people who buy flash devices do it to play pirated games. I guess what I mean to say is that it's an added extra that most of the potential buyers wouldn't even use.

The only thing I could wish for when it comes to the Neo cartridge is for someone to clean up the mess that is the Neo Manager, plugins, menus and the rest. Truth be told, when I got the thing to work the first time, I didn't even know how it happened. As in, I installed, re-installed and updated various components, and when it finally clicked, I left it alone. There should always be a SINGLE download with the latest and working stuff in it.

The feature you mention I'm unable to use. Why? Because the menu doesn't really work for me. I also have absolutely no idea how the saving works, and that problem isn't limited to N64 alone. There should be an "extract save" option in the Neo Manager that allows you to see individual save files. I don't know what type of saves are supported [aside from games that use the external save pak].

Having a standard CompactFlash card with MyGame.n64 and a corresponding MyGame.sav is a dream come true compared to the headache that is Neo cart saving and save extraction.

For a variety of reasons, Neo Flash products often fall short of the competition. I got the MD flash cartridge as well. Previously I bought the MegaCart, which doesn't have nearly as much space and doesn't use USB, but it simply works. On everything. The Neo cartridge doesn't work properly on the WonderMega, which I use as my primary console. It returns to the menu when the image is supposed to boot.

P.S. - I completely forgot about the EverDrive 64, which is another easy solution that requires no PC end software whatsoever. It supports CIC emulation [how this works exactly, I'm not sure. Apparently, you need to have a CIC inside of the cartridge, but the emulation takes care of the rest, so you can run just about anything without a problem], loads everything off of an SD card and has integrated NES emulator to top it all off. And, it's $99.

[ChillyWilly]

The ED64 is $99 for a bare board with no CIC chip or case. Its CIC support is just the same as the N64 Myth - you can run most games with any CIC chip, but a few like Jet Force Gemini have to be patched or require a REAL CIC 6105 to work right. It also requires a PC and an Altera ByteBlaster (or compatible) cable to update the firmware of the card.

[Morden]

The ED64 is $99 for a bare board with no CIC chip or case.

The Retrogate store was selling them for $99 with the case. Without the CIC, though. And if it is like you say, then what's with the CIC emulation? You can boot just about anything using 6102. The only game that never got cracked was Banjo Tooie I think. I thought the emulation makes use of the 6102 inside of the cartridge, but still allows running unpatched non-6102 games. So that all you need is the most common CIC. If that's not the case, what is this CIC emulation about exactly? From the look of it, Everdrive works exactly like the Myth when it comes to booting.

[ChillyWilly]

The Retrogate store was selling them for $99 with the case. Without the CIC, though. And if it is like you say, then what's with the CIC emulation? You can boot just about anything using 6102. The only game that never got cracked was Banjo Tooie I think. I thought the emulation makes use of the 6102 inside of the cartridge, but still allows running unpatched non-6102 games. So that all you need is the most common CIC. If that's not the case, what is this CIC emulation about exactly? From the look of it, Everdrive works exactly like the Myth when it comes to booting.

I know StoneAgeGamer was higher than that. Maybe Retrogate was doing a sale to attract business away from Stoney.

The CIC "emulation" only affects BOOTING the game. You can boot games that use other CICs using one CIC (all the N64 backup units including the Myth do this). However, certain games then do more checks on the CIC chip at certain places in the game that the CIC emulation cannot handle. For those games (BT, JFG, etc), you need to either patch the game to remove the extra checks, or use the proper CIC chip. I know KRIKzz has posted some patches over in the ED64 thread at assemblerGames. Those patches would be the same for any N64 backup unit, not just the ED64.