Super Magic Drive memory, please help

[Immo]

Hi there

I finnally found a Super Magic Drive, but now the memory is faulty 🙁

It just gives black screen after loading.

Does any1 have or knows where to get a memory module for the Super Magic Drive

Also if someone is able to dump the 4.1a bios (using smdutil) for me I'd be really happy

Greetings

Immo (immo2k1@hotmail.com)

 

[Immo]

(Edited by Immo at 1:36 pm on Mar. 21, 2002)

 

[Raijin Z]

If anybody knew, they'd reply. Have you tried searching on Google?

 

[Immo]

Yeah, sorry.

I forgot to turn on the 'send email' option and made a mistake.

I think I've seen each and every page containing 'super', 'magic' and 'drive' 🙂

All I can find is some sites with tools and some hk sites, but they are hard to find.

I am trying to make one myself with the use of a general pcb, by looking at the original memory-module.

I was actually hoping someone had upgraded his/her SMD and had a module in spare.

Greetz

 

[Raijin Z]

Try using quotes. Other than Google, I think Hotbot is the only search site that recognizes them.

"Super Magic Drive" memory module, for example.

 

[IceDigger]

chances are VERY slim that you'll find that seperately.

first of all you should make sure the roms are in the right format, with the right naming. not all copiers take any rom format, but need a specific one. bad rom can result in just a black screen, since the genny can't start it.

 

[Immo]

Well,

I am almost 100% sure it's the memory

Here's what I do.

I backup a game to disk, then try in on an emulator, works like a charm.

then load it up on the smd, black screen.

Then I take a second disk and copy the game I just backupped to the oterh disk using the SMD.

I copies the game to ram then to the other disk.

The copy doesn't work on an emulator and looks completlely different in a hex editor.

Backup through parallel port works fine, controlling the SMD through paralllel port works fine.

I have bios v3.3, so it doesn't have the memory test yet.

But since all other functions work like a charm I think it must be the memory.

Right now I am ripping ic's from a 4 mb simm and are recreating a new memory pcb, hope that's gonna work.

Ideally would be an original memory module and even better would be a 32mbit module along with the latest bios.

I emailed Front Far East if they still sell the upgrade.

But I still keep searching and trying to get it to work.

Thanks for the help.

Immo

 

[ExCyber]

Right now I am ripping ic's from a 4 mb simm and are recreating a new memory pcb, hope that's gonna work.

In that case, you might want to read this. The genny isn't really a "high-speed" design as such, but you'll probably experience lots of weird crap without proper bypassing from what I've read about DRAM usage in general.

 

[Immo]

thanks for all replies.

Well, what I did was the following

I got a general pcb, all ic's and resistors that my local radioshack had.

since they didn't have the most important part, the dram I just mailed every person who was selling 4 mb simms with 8 ic's on it (4/8 = 0.5 megabyte = 4megabits, just like in the SMD) and asked them for the number on the ic's.

I bought a 4 meg simm from a dude who was selling a simm with almost the same number.

SMD has hm51440ALS70 (in which I think 70 means 70 nanoseconds access speed)

The numbers on his simm are hy514400aj-70

so my hope is that it is close enough,

another weird thing is that I put in a new battery a week ago, charged perfectly, tried a led on it, bright light (when old battery hardly lit the led)

and now the battery doesn't do sh*t anymore.

Memory first, than after that I'll put in a new battery again.

But if a SMD memory module comes along I'll use that offcourse.

Greetz

Immo