GameNavi HiSaturn Bios v1.03 dumped....i think

Got this this morning from my Navi. Used the saturn USB datalink. i have no idea if this is the same as the normal hisaturn bios. Loaded it into SSF and it seemed to work okay once i renamed it to a .bin. Would love for someone else to independently confirm a proper dump, and to check if there is anything special about this bios versus the normal HiSaturn bios. Also, please check if this can be made universal.

Thanks all

Filename: GameNavi_HiSaturn_Bios_v1.03_Dumped_2014-01-25_A_Murder_of_Crows.bin
MD5: 0306c0e408d6682dd2d86324bd4ac661
SHA1: 8c031bf9908fd0142fdd10a9cdd79389f8a3f2fc
CRC32: 6abfefea
Modified Time: 1/25/2014 6:34:52 AM
Created Time: 1/25/2014 6:33:34 AM
File Size: 524,288

http://amurderofcrows.net/Navi/GameNavi_HiSaturn_Bios_v1.03_Dumped_2014-01-25_A_Murder_of_Crows.bin

 

That was unexpected! This leaves only the first SKC-1000 and the first V-Saturn bios as undumped. And maybe the SGX, but that one may have used a stock bios.

You wouldn't happen to have any disassembled pictures of the unit itself, do you (if you plan on making this bios region free and putting it back inside your navi, could I ask you to take pictures of the internals?)?
Or just one picture of the serial number sticker on the back (which I'm building a list of).

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/28488139/GameNavi_HiSaturn_Bios_v1.03_rf.rar

suggest archiving that, as it is subject to being deleted on a whim.

Maybe this too, for future ease:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/28488139/sega.saturn.region.free.bios.patcher.1.0-patch.rar

 

I've owned the Navi since december, and i'm very much in debate with myself regarding modding it with a universal bios or a region switch. I did know that i probably needed dump the bios if i wanted a universal option

I have to get some chips ordered from Bad_Ad84 and figure out some way to socket this so i don't need to alter the original bios all that much. I have a programmer now, but no cheap source of the appropriate eeproms.

I also need to figure out how to install a mod board on this thing, and probably a lid lift.

 

99% sure the Navi uses SMD bios, not sure how would you want to fit a socket on those.
For the region free bios, most people here use 1mbyte smd flash roms. The pinout matches, you just have to solder two cables for the extra pins. Oh and it's a bit wider, but still just about fits.

Thanks for serial pic, it's a bit low res but it is readable fine.

 

I think you mean 8mbit.

You technically only need 4mb, which is what I use at the moment. But I get which ever I can get - install is the same.

 

Hey Bad_Ad84, was there any major differences between this and the previous hisaturn bios? i'm trying to find out how the karaoke and navigation features are controlled.

 

Actually I meant 1mbyte, haha.

The code is rearranged compared to the 1.02 hisaturn bios (which is not THAT much different from the 1.01 one). But unless someone reverse engineers and decompiles the code, we wouldn't knew the exact difference. It behaves the same as both other hisaturn bioses or even the other sega and victor Japanese ones (minus the bootup logo obviously, and the SEGA logo in the corner which is not there in Victor and Hitachi saturns).

The karaoke and pitch/echo control features are handled by the custom cd board in the machine, but I don't know whether they interact with the BIOS ones or work on top of that as I don't have the unit. Or if they affect all ingame audio or only the CD audio parts.
I don't know about the navigation but the Saturn has shedloads of internal expansions so it's probably just something hooked up there, with the software to interact with it, sort of like how the Netlink worked (on a hardware level - I imagine they are both using the same expansions). I've only seen the machine with its top off (where the pitch/echo functions are already visible) so this is only my guess.