Saturn proof-of-concept bootloader Pseudo Saturn

The 4M Plus is called 5 in 1 but I think I've also seen it as 4 in 1:
http://www.shinforce.com/saturn/information/Cartridges.htm

 

awesome work. i am also surprised this wasnt tried more often.

 

Actually the case says 3-in-1 - action replay, plus 4mbyte backup memory, plus 1/4mb (depending on model) ram expansion.

http://www.play-asia.com/action-replay-4m-auto-plus-paOS-13-49-en-70-1b2.html

 

The easiest way is to run bin2iso.exe on the bin file and hack the iso itself with any hex editor and burn as any iso.

 

Haha. So I guess it's anywhere between 3 and 5. The 5 in 1 may be counting the parallel port that used to be on the older ones.

 

Does that handle mixed mode cd audio though?

I prefer having cd images in 2352 mode all the time... and rebuilding ecc/edc is easy with CD Mage. Extremely powerful and handy little app.

 

thats the cart i also have, decent cart.

 

I'm not very knowledgeable about saturn cd structure (I'm a Dreamcast guy), but as long as the audio and data tracks are separated you could rebuild any disc (that doesn't do ECC/EDC errors on purpose). If it's one big track with all sectors in 2352 you'd have to extract the audio tracks before, then convert the data tracks in iso and burn using a cuesheet or cdrecord.exe specifying the type of each track.

I guess a more convenient method for games with CDDA would be to open the CUE file in isobuster (or equivalent) and dump as a iso + wav collection with a cuesheet file.


But I guess if cdmage works fine no need to do otherwise. I'm on linux and didn't know this program so I suggested bin2iso which is quite simple for data-only games (or simply testing this method fast).

 

Saturn games are normal CDs so they are usually ripped in a clusterfuck of different formats and format combinations.

Which is why I recommend CDMage since it can handle almost every major format and it can do nearly everything with cd images - convert, extract, inject, scan for errors, rebuild errors, rebuild ecc, and so on...

 

Sorry in advance for grouping all my replies.

There's basically two parts to the checks, the ones done by the bios itself and the ones done by the CD block. Even if the disc image itself is changed, the default bios boot loader won't load the disc. So you need a custom one.

Pretty much. Like I said it was a proof of concept. Obviously if it's pursued further Action Replay codes and saving will have to be added. Extra Ram shouldn't be an issue.

About the best I can do is twitch.tv, and I won't have much time now until the weekend at least.

Yes to some degree. The installer code is based on Ex-Cyber's AR recovery utility. So it's pretty much the same kind of hardware support. Please note I also included just the firmware as a separate binary in case you need an alternative way to flash. I doubt it'd fry a cart, but it could brick or semi-brick. With semi-brick being more likely. That being said the only instances I ran into with semi-bricking involved a Saturn I own with known cartridge slot problems. It used to keep corrupting saves on one of my AR's even with stock software.

Just gave it a brief test again and you're right, I'll have to see what happened.

That I do know. Though I'm pretty sure the compression is done in software, not hardware. Though admittedly it's been a while since I've looked through the AR code. That along with the cartridge id is what normally keeps an Action Replay from saving directly. My idea involves hooking into the backup ram bios functions and executing custom code when accessing cartridge saves. I know it's definitely possible.

Sure, pretty much. It also is supposed to update EDC/ECC as well for bin files, but apparently there's still some remaining issues I need to fix. I spent most of my time this weekend trying to get the flash install tested and working since that was more critical.

The whole 4-in-1/5-in-1/etc. is largely marketing spin. I've seen numbers even greater than that. Like 7 in 1 or whatever. Better to just call them by their normal names. Like Action Replay Pro, 1M Plus, 4M Plus, etc.

 

Might be an idea to post shots of the carts it works on

There are at least 3 versions of the Action Replay 4M Plus one with the Comms Port and one without and there is an older one that lacks the 4 MB RAM but can be modified to work info for mod can be found at shinforce, newer versions already have this

http://www.shinforce.com/saturn/information/4MBRAM-mod.htm

Battery Ram carts nope, asides from anything as far as I know don't have firmware, but simple battery backup for saving to (not to be confused with Flash Memory)
ST-Key I would of thought not but I could be wrong it will have some sort of firmware on it
Pro Action Replay (Official Datel card) I would of thought it would work (do not take my word for it though)
Action Replay RAM Card (aka 4 in 1) Should work (Not to be confused with the Action Replay 4M Plus carts though, it is a different cart)
Action Replay 4M Plus (aka 5 in 1) Should work infact hazard a guess this is what has been used (There are at least 3 versions of this cart, but all should work)


There will be other cards that are less well known

I also have a Flash Memory cart by Datel that acts just like a Battery RAM cart, I got that as it was sold as an Official RAM cart, but the day I got it I opened it up planning on replacing the battery only to find there was no battery and the board was marked as Datel, not that I complained as that worked even better than having to worry about a dead battery

 

Technically the 5-in-1 cart and 4-in-1 cart are the same thing. They make the Saturn region free, act as an Action Replay, provide memory backup, and give RAM expansion. The reason the 5-in-1 moniker came into play is because the RAM expansion works in two ways. There are two separate modes (at least on the Action Replay 4M Plus) that allow for proper use of the 1 MB expansion and 4 MB expansion for games that require one or the other.

I can confirm the firmware patch works on the 5-in-1.

 

It might be nice to integrate it into the region free BIOS, removing the need to "sacrifice" (they can be reflashed to factory, right?) ARs for those with BIOS mods. Best to wait for the code to stabilize first though (or install a SO44 socket )

 

I intended that to be more for those testing this rather than Cyber Warrior X

Re-flashing should be possible yeah, if you can find the flashing software and updates, I have seen the updates for the [SIZE=-1]Action Replay 4M Plus [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]in the but not looked for some time now and don't remember seeing any flashing software though I'm sure they will of at least had serial port software that kit has had plenty of updates that intended to be flashed so yes it can be done.[/SIZE]

 

wow, great work man!!

 

Actually they all have only one ram expansion mode, 1mb on early units and 4mb on later units. Most 1mb games just run on 4mb too, but a few games do glitch up and require legit 1mb cards, those will glitch up on 4mb action replays as well.

I've never seen any Action Replays that provided both 1mb and 4mb ram expansion - only one or the other. There are some cards that can do both legitimately, and can select between the two modes with a switch (I have one), but that cart isn't an action replay.

 

Yup, I would also like to see this thing in action !

 

Does anyone have an action replay schematic or which parts are vital to make this work? I love the cheating part since I hack codes for the Saturn and not having that would suck. Maybe we can make a minimalist cart/pcb to have this function for the booting process without sacrificing an Action Replay. Speaking of which could a Game Shark cart be used in place of the Action Replay? I have one of those as well and don't mind messing with that.

 

You only need to make a ROM cart for this with the rom having the code.

Not sure what is needed if you want it rewriteable. Obviously some kind of flash memory, but I'm not sure what is required to make it bootable + writeable at the same time.

 

Nice work! It seems like the suggestion to incorporate this into the region free mod would be optimal, assuming it's possible.