Pseudo Saturn Kai official thread

J

Joref

cafe-alpha said:
I would bet for a weak connection between Pseudo Saturn cartridge and your Saturn : after turning off the Saturn, please re-insert the cartridge, and ... pray it boots correctly after that :) If this doesn't works, slightly lifting the cartridge after re-inserting it may help a little.
Click to expand...

I tried both things, and some properties changed, like how it loaded the Saturn Menu loaded when I lifted it slightly... But still, no Pseudo Saturn...
 
S

SegaSaturnShrine

Established Member
Odd, are you able to try and reflash it using the swap trick? See my video tutorial here (warning its long, feel free to skip what you don't need to see, its completely noob friendly):
 
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L

linkoiram

I am stuck at the "reading from Cd Rom" after doing the swap trick. I flashed the current sdm to a cdr and got into the menu, but it times out reading any of the firmwares in the firmware flasher screen.
 

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cafe-alpha

cafe-alpha

Established Member
Please give another try with pskai_alternate_flasher.iso, located in Pseudo Saturn Kai latest archive.
Save Data Manager may sometimes cause problems with swap trick, while pskai_alternate_flasher.iso gives better results.
(This issue is a a bit detailed in my blog)

Even if swap trick doesn't works, please keep Save Data Manager CD-R so that you will be able to import pre-recorded game save data from it after installing Pseudo Saturn Kai ;)
 
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linkoiram

cafe-alpha said:
Please give another try with pskai_alternate_flasher.iso, located in Pseudo Saturn Kai latest archive.
Save Data Manager may sometimes cause problems with swap trick, while pskai_alternate_flasher.iso gives better results.
(This issue is a a bit detailed in my blog)

Even if swap trick doesn't works, please keep Save Data Manager CD-R so that you will be able to import pre-recorded game save data from it after installing Pseudo Saturn Kai ;)
Click to expand...
Thanks, eventually I did get it to work, the alternate flasher didn't do the trick though.

Now i'm having trouble with a specific game, cotton 2. The compatibility chart says it is compatible but whenever I test with jhl it gets stuck at reading disk data. I have a model 1 grey Japanese grey saturn so cwx never works for me. Is it a game that only works with cwx loader or some other problem. I've tried different rips of the game and also different Cd burns
 
L

linkoiram

linkoiram said:
Thanks, eventually I did get it to work, the alternate flasher didn't do the trick though.

Now i'm having trouble with a specific game, cotton 2. The compatibility chart says it is compatible but whenever I test with jhl it gets stuck at reading disk data. I have a model 1 grey Japanese grey saturn so cwx never works for me. Is it a game that only works with cwx loader or some other problem. I've tried different rips of the game and also different Cd burns
Click to expand...
I see the post on your blog about something similar happening. I'll test it with the self test when I get home so cwx loader will be fixed if that is the problem.
http://ppcenter.webou.net/devblog/a...working-on-action-replay-and-its-rebirth.html
 
cafe-alpha

cafe-alpha

Established Member
linkoiram said:
Main program didn't have an error, all good. Did eventually get it working. Cwx still rarely work, errors about 4/5 times, but jhl works about 2/3rds the time so that's feasible
Click to expand...

From the random repeatability of the problem, I guess this is due to a lack of affinity between CD-ROM drive and CD-R ?
If you have the occasion, please try with CD-R from another brand. I don't guarantee this will improve something however.
 
razor85

razor85

Reposting from reddit:
Hi there, I just got an Action Replay (4 in 1) with an old version of Pseudo Saturn on it. I was thinking on reflashing the thing to the original Action Replay firmware, since I wanted to have a way to backup my saves (I also have a modded Saturn and ST-Key). Do you guys know if I can use any version of the action replay (from the Kai restore disk) or I should use a specific one?
 
cafe-alpha

cafe-alpha

Established Member
razor85 said:
Reposting from reddit:
Hi there, I just got an Action Replay (4 in 1) with an old version of Pseudo Saturn on it. I was thinking on reflashing the thing to the original Action Replay firmware, since I wanted to have a way to backup my saves (I also have a modded Saturn and ST-Key). Do you guys know if I can use any version of the action replay (from the Kai restore disk) or I should use a specific one?
Click to expand...

There's no real difference, expect regarding PC-link support. So if you don't plan to use PC-link then any flavor of Action Replay or Gameshark firmware should do the job :)
 
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Sandman316

Hi, I currently have a Game Shark and getting a Erase verification failed error message when trying to flash the Pseudo Saturn Kai Lite firmware. Here is a snapshot of the details of the cart :

upload_2018-10-8_22-49-45.png


Is there anyway to flash this cart ?
When I reboot it goes into the GameShark menu like normal.
Thanks,
 
cafe-alpha

cafe-alpha

Established Member
Oh, it's around the first time I have report from somebody using Pseudo Saturn Kai Demo :)

Can you please take a picture of flasher utility screen, where flash ROM vendor/device IDs are displayed ? Theses IDs may give hint why flash ROM is not written correctly.
And if possible, please post a picture of your Gameshark PCB : it is helpful to verify if flash ROM chips are supported by Pseudo Saturn Kai flash utility or not.
 
S

Sandman316

Thanks, found the DEMO after digging around a bit. It's very useful :)
The vendor and device ID were detected as unknown. Here is a picture of the PCB :
upload_2018-10-13_20-20-56.png


After reading around, its seems to be a 1st gen Gameshark ( DATEL Ref 1110 board ... )
 
T

tempie temp

Hey lo, I've got a old AR Plus (probably 20 years old) that I'm getting Write Verification Failure every time I try to flash it with any BIN (Kai, ARP).

Is there anything I can do or is it toast?

I'm trying this on a stock MK-80000 using swap trick.

Also I have a Japanese model HST-3220 that I can't get the Kai disc booted with swap no matter what I do. Does the ISO need to be patched for NTSC-J? And before you ask, I am using a Japanese original game for the swap.

Thanks
 

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cafe-alpha

cafe-alpha

Established Member
Sandman316 said:
Thanks, found the DEMO after digging around a bit. It's very useful :)
The vendor and device ID were detected as unknown. Here is a picture of the PCB :
View attachment 4635

After reading around, its seems to be a 1st gen Gameshark ( DATEL Ref 1110 board ... )
Click to expand...

Arg, I forgot to reply to your post. Sorry !
I have a similar Gameshark (this was a prize from C4-2005 contest :) ), and guess that it requires adjustment of position in cartridge slot. My Gameshark was very picky regarding that, and required something like 10 retries until booting correctly.
Theses flash chips are supported by Pseudo Saturn Kai flasher, so there are chances to successfully install Pseudo Saturn Kai on it. But as quality of cartridge edge connector is so-so, you probably may prefer using an Action Replay cartridge.

vbt said:
Click to expand...

Shh, this is a surprise for Rhea/Phoebe users :)
Latest version of Pseudo Saturn Kai features a better menu. I didn't had time to take a video on real hardware, so here is a gif taken from emulator instead.
20181209_rhoebe_menu.gif


tempie temp said:
Hey lo, I've got a old AR Plus (probably 20 years old) that I'm getting Write Verification Failure every time I try to flash it with any BIN (Kai, ARP).

Is there anything I can do or is it toast?

I'm trying this on a stock MK-80000 using swap trick.

Also I have a Japanese model HST-3220 that I can't get the Kai disc booted with swap no matter what I do. Does the ISO need to be patched for NTSC-J? And before you ask, I am using a Japanese original game for the swap.

Thanks
Click to expand...

That's the first time I see the first sector filled with FFh after flashing, so it's likely your cartridge is bricked, sorry.
This is not a 100% sure diagnostic, so if you have emough time, please give some other tries :)
 
T

thebeautifulones

Is it possible to configure Pseudo Saturn or PS Kai to behave like a stock Saturn (no splash screens/menus etc.) on boot when booting retail discs?
 
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