What Genesis Flash Cart is the Best?

A fair bit recently, I've gotten back into my Genesis collecting kick, and I am currently in the market for a good quality flash cart.

Now by my research I have three options: The Everdrive, Mega Everdrive, and the Neo Myth MD

Everdrive:
Cheapest of the three
Plays almost every Genesis game without issue

Mega Everdrive:
Costs almost double the Everdrive
.WAV playback
Near complete compatibility, even with games that don't exist in physical form
Savestates
May have other features later on (Is anyone even working on it?)

Neo Myth MD:
No one seems to be selling it anymore...
Slightly more expensive than the Everdrive
Uses strange adapters for SD cards
SMS FM support
Chilly Willy's development support

So I have a few questions to ask.
How has work on developing the 'planned' features for the Mega Everdrive gone?
Is Chilly Willy still considering using the Neo Myth MD as a resources in upcoming homebrew?

Thanks, everyone!

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Originally Posted by Dant

A fair bit recently, I've gotten back into my Genesis collecting kick, and I am currently in the market for a good quality flash cart.

Now by my research I have three options: The Everdrive, Mega Everdrive, and the Neo Myth MD

Everdrive:
Cheapest of the three
Plays almost every Genesis game without issue

Mega Everdrive:
Costs almost double the Everdrive
.WAV playback
Near complete compatibility, even with games that don't exist in physical form
Savestates
May have other features later on (Is anyone even working on it?)

Neo Myth MD:
No one seems to be selling it anymore...
Slightly more expensive than the Everdrive
Uses strange adapters for SD cards
SMS FM support
Chilly Willy's development support

So I have a few questions to ask.
How has work on developing the 'planned' features for the Mega Everdrive gone?
Is Chilly Willy still considering using the Neo Myth MD as a resources in upcoming homebrew?

Thanks, everyone!

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Mega Everdrive looks great with its high compatibility, USB, savestates, and use of micro SD cards. Pricey at $145 though. About as good as it gets.

ic2005.com is where you can always find all the NeoFlash stuff. If you don't need SMS games, the Myth+Neo3-SD package makes a great flash cart for less money. If you want SMS, you can get a 256 Mbit flash cart fairly cheap.

The MD-Pro from Tototek is still being sold, and is usually the cheapest flash cart, depending on the size you get and the programmer card.

In general, the Everdrive MD is the most cost effective flash cart to get. The Mega ED has more potential, but no telling when various things for it will be done, but if you need game saves (as opposed to save ram), it's the cart to get.

Only reason i'd want the Mega Everdrive is for its save state ability. Complete save state freedom on a console? Wow.

This feature costs a whooping $60 more to have over the regular everdrive though.

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Originally Posted by Saturn Fan

Only reason i'd want the Mega Everdrive is for its save state ability. Complete save state freedom on a console? Wow.

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Well, it's not COMPLETELY complete... he hasn't yet figured a way to completely restore the Z80. Much of the time, when you reload you don't get music until the next time the driver starts different music. There's just no easy way to save/restore the Z80 state (the sram, yes, but not the cpu itself).

The save states also don't work on all games... many won't restart after loading the save state. It's a bit hit or miss right now. You might check over at KRIKzz's forum about which games works and which don't.

Dont forget about this flash cart (i'm currently using).
http://ramfactory.com/products.php?1...language=en_US

Not the best name - "128MX+SPI", but working great.

The Mega ED is awesome because the direct USB connection.

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Originally Posted by Chilly Willy

Well, it's not COMPLETELY complete... he hasn't yet figured a way to completely restore the Z80. Much of the time, when you reload you don't get music until the next time the driver starts different music. There's just no easy way to save/restore the Z80 state (the sram, yes, but not the cpu itself).

The save states also don't work on all games... many won't restart after loading the save state. It's a bit hit or miss right now. You might check over at KRIKzz's forum about which games works and which don't.

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KRIKzz is an awesome guy but lately I think he has just too many devices to support.

When the Mega ED was released, FM support for SMS sounded like something in the horizon, no specific dates but something that would happen... Now I tend to think it will never happen...
After the development of Turbo Everdrive people were saying he would give more attention to Mega ED. There are several games with problems and bugs like you pointed in the saving feature and he is already working on a NES Everdrive.
All in all, Mega ED sounded amazing months ago but the support it has received is a bit of a let down IMO...

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Originally Posted by Chilly Willy

Well, it's not COMPLETELY complete... he hasn't yet figured a way to completely restore the Z80. Much of the time, when you reload you don't get music until the next time the driver starts different music. There's just no easy way to save/restore the Z80 state (the sram, yes, but not the cpu itself).

The save states also don't work on all games... many won't restart after loading the save state. It's a bit hit or miss right now. You might check over at KRIKzz's forum about which games works and which don't.

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Really? Ah screw it then. Standard Everdrive for $80 it is.

Anyone know if an EA cart case can contain an everdrive w/inserted SD card completely with no modification? Would be cool to have everything inside and not have the SD card jutting out the top(no access to the master system reset switch, but so be it).

If not, would a virtua racing cart work?


~SF, finally a great use for those EA carts! :D

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Originally Posted by Barone

KRIKzz is an awesome guy but lately I think he has just too many devices to support.

When the Mega ED was released, FM support for SMS sounded like something in the horizon, no specific dates but something that would happen... Now I tend to think it will never happen...
After the development of Turbo Everdrive people were saying he would give more attention to Mega ED. There are several games with problems and bugs like you pointed in the saving feature and he is already working on a NES Everdrive.
All in all, Mega ED sounded amazing months ago but the support it has received is a bit of a let down IMO...

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This was the exact reason why I did not jump on the bandwagon and purchase the MEGA Everdrive. There were just too many claims made by the manufacturer without a specific date of implementation that made me quite weary of the claims. The fact that the manufacturer has moved on to producing the NES Everdrive without supporting existing hardware makes me quite happy with my decision. Personally, if I had to purchase the MEGA Everdrive on day one, I know that I would be quite unhappy with that decision since I was banking on immediate support for the device. What recourse do clients have now that they have the item in their possession? None except to have a wait and see approach.

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Originally Posted by Saturn Fan

Anyone know if an EA cart case can contain an everdrive w/inserted SD card completely with no modification? Would be cool to have everything inside and not have the SD card jutting out the top(no access to the master system reset switch, but so be it).

If not, would a virtua racing cart work?


~SF, finally a great use for those EA carts! :D

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EA carts are not the proper dimensions nor have the screws in the right place for "standard" Genesis PCBs. A VR cart might work... should probably open one of mine and check the screw placement.

As for the Mega ED, I should really pick one up... I would love to work on some FPGA stuff. Maybe after xmas I'll do that...

Which ones can be used to run the modified bios for the Sega CD so you can play the Mega CD games on a US console?

Thanks everyone for your responses!

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Originally Posted by djshok

The Mega ED is awesome because the direct USB connection.

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Yes... But the Neo Myth has that as well

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Originally Posted by blackbirdru

Dont forget about this flash cart (i'm currently using).
http://ramfactory.com/products.php?1...language=en_US

Not the best name - "128MX+SPI", but working great.

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Seems like a nice cheap alternative..., but how does one get ROMs onto it? Hopefully not through the namesake SPI interface!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chilly Willy

Well, it's not COMPLETELY complete... he hasn't yet figured a way to completely restore the Z80. Much of the time, when you reload you don't get music until the next time the driver starts different music. There's just no easy way to save/restore the Z80 state (the sram, yes, but not the cpu itself).

The save states also don't work on all games... many won't restart after loading the save state. It's a bit hit or miss right now. You might check over at KRIKzz's forum about which games works and which don't.

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That's a bit disheartening. MegaEverdrive is is not then.

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Originally Posted by Chilly Willy

ic2005.com is where you can always find all the NeoFlash stuff. If you don't need SMS games, the Myth+Neo3-SD package makes a great flash cart for less money. If you want SMS, you can get a 256 Mbit flash cart fairly cheap.

The MD-Pro from Tototek is still being sold, and is usually the cheapest flash cart, depending on the size you get and the programmer card.

In general, the Everdrive MD is the most cost effective flash cart to get. The Mega ED has more potential, but no telling when various things for it will be done, but if you need game saves (as opposed to save ram), it's the cart to get.

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Meh, I don't like th MD-Pro.
So, how does having the SD interface limit the flash cart from running SMS games?

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Originally Posted by xelement5x

Which ones can be used to run the modified bios for the Sega CD so you can play the Mega CD games on a US console?

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The MD-Pro and the Neo Myth advertise it. I think the Everdrives do it as well, but don't hold me to it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chilly Willy

EA carts are not the proper dimensions nor have the screws in the right place for "standard" Genesis PCBs. A VR cart might work... should probably open one of mine and check the screw placement.

As for the Mega ED, I should really pick one up... I would love to work on some FPGA stuff. Maybe after xmas I'll do that...

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Agh, Chilly make your mind up! I want to be able to experience the best of your homebrew! Lol

The Myth and both Everdrives allow alternate CD BIOSes. The Myth also has a mode to act as backup ram for the CD... not sure if the Everdrives have that.

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Originally Posted by Dant

Seems like a nice cheap alternative..., but how does one get ROMs onto it? Hopefully not through the namesake SPI interface!

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SPI is one form of SD communication. SD cards have two modes of operation: SPI, which is serial, and SD Bus, which uses four bits in parallel. Virutally all flash carts that support SD cards use SPI; the NeoFlash uses SD Bus.

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Meh, I don't like th MD-Pro.

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The small size and the custom programmer which requires a parallel port put many people off this cart. However, it's a VERY popular cart for reproductions since you can get them really cheap in bulk, they handle nearly every game, and have save ram. Add to that the fact that the MD-Pro is the MOST COMPATIBLE cart out and you see why it's popular for repros.

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So, how does having the SD interface limit the flash cart from running SMS games?

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On the MD Myth, SMS games must be run from flash; on the Neo2-SD or Neo2-Pro, there is what is called zip ram that can act as flash. The Neo3-SD has neither flash nor zip ram, so it cannot run SMS games. The Neo3-SD is only good for MD and 32X games. Because of that, you can get the Neo3-SD cheaper than the Neo2-SD.

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Agh, Chilly make your mind up! I want to be able to experience the best of your homebrew! Lol

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Well, I don't see myself doing much with the MED any time soon, but if you want to think ahead, the MED has the most potential for use in the future. It's possible it could even emulate the SVP, or something of similar import.

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Originally Posted by Chilly Willy

The Myth and both Everdrives allow alternate CD BIOSes. The Myth also has a mode to act as backup ram for the CD... not sure if the Everdrives have that.



SPI is one form of SD communication. SD cards have two modes of operation: SPI, which is serial, and SD Bus, which uses four bits in parallel. Virutally all flash carts that support SD cards use SPI; the NeoFlash uses SD Bus.




The small size and the custom programmer which requires a parallel port put many people off this cart. However, it's a VERY popular cart for reproductions since you can get them really cheap in bulk, they handle nearly every game, and have save ram. Add to that the fact that the MD-Pro is the MOST COMPATIBLE cart out and you see why it's popular for repros.




On the MD Myth, SMS games must be run from flash; on the Neo2-SD or Neo2-Pro, there is what is called zip ram that can act as flash. The Neo3-SD has neither flash nor zip ram, so it cannot run SMS games. The Neo3-SD is only good for MD and 32X games. Because of that, you can get the Neo3-SD cheaper than the Neo2-SD.




Well, I don't see myself doing much with the MED any time soon, but if you want to think ahead, the MED has the most potential for use in the future. It's possible it could even emulate the SVP, or something of similar import.

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(Sorry about my messy posts, using an iPad for forums isn't ideal.)

Ah, so it is an SD interface then.

Yeah the parallel port programmer killed it for me. Interesting to hear that the MD Pro has been replacing donor carts though.

I suppose the flash memory issue certainly make the Neo Myth less than ideal for my uses.

Well that's the thing I know you were throwing around the idea of using the Neo Myth's features for use in homebrew later on, but if you want to shift focus to the Mega Everdrive, I'll consider it. After seeing your Wolf3D port I'm interested in what you have in the pipeline, even if it may be several years before we hear much about it.

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Originally Posted by blackbirdru

Dont forget about this flash cart (i'm currently using).
http://ramfactory.com/products.php?1...language=en_US

Not the best name - "128MX+SPI", but working great.

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Does not look worth it. 16MBs built-in with no SD or additional storage options is paltry. Is it at least easy to add games(USB, etc)?

Plus it just looks like the bare board. For $60 i want a sleek cart casing with spiffy label and case already set-up out of the box.

If it was cheaper like $20'ish(w/Max 16MB+2MB eprom) it would be a more attractive option, but for what you get its over priced. Might as well pay a little more for an everdrive.

128MXSPI (portable card device, combinig kit)
1. Lamels covering by immersion gold.
2. Internl ROM 4, 8, 12 or 16 Megabytes separted by 64 kilobytes, no PC connection need.
3. Internal or/and External Card Slot supported SD/SDHC/MMC/MMCmobile cards.
4. 32 Kilobytes ferroelctric nonvolatile or battery backed SAVE RAM, separated by pages (4 pages, 8Kilobytes each page, 4 games may have different save area).
5. SIX mapper types, can support EEPROM save space (for sample you can save in NBA JAM game, - optional).
6. Supported File Systems: FAT12/FAT16/FAT32.
7. Internal rom support multigame store method (64 slots max, each slot can store one ready to run game).
8. SEGA MASTER SYSTEM supported, you can play SMS ROMs on MEGADRIVE/GENESIS console (using mapper SEGA 315-5365 with 1024Kilobytes ROM and 16KBytes System Static RAM and 16KBytes Save RAM).
9. Onboard update support: Operational System, BOOTLOADER and CPLD core (optional).
10. Long Files Name Support by OS (for spare memories in OS are displayed name in format 8.3, in panels with file information displayed long name, size and ROM type).

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Originally Posted by makinagenesis

128MXSPI (portable card device, combinig kit)
1. Lamels covering by immersion gold.
2. Internl ROM 4, 8, 12 or 16 Megabytes separted by 64 kilobytes, no PC connection need.
3. Internal or/and External Card Slot supported SD/SDHC/MMC/MMCmobile cards.
4. 32 Kilobytes ferroelctric nonvolatile or battery backed SAVE RAM, separated by pages (4 pages, 8Kilobytes each page, 4 games may have different save area).
5. SIX mapper types, can support EEPROM save space (for sample you can save in NBA JAM game, - optional).
6. Supported File Systems: FAT12/FAT16/FAT32.
7. Internal rom support multigame store method (64 slots max, each slot can store one ready to run game).
8. SEGA MASTER SYSTEM supported, you can play SMS ROMs on MEGADRIVE/GENESIS console (using mapper SEGA 315-5365 with 1024Kilobytes ROM and 16KBytes System Static RAM and 16KBytes Save RAM).
9. Onboard update support: Operational System, BOOTLOADER and CPLD core (optional).
10. Long Files Name Support by OS (for spare memories in OS are displayed name in format 8.3, in panels with file information displayed long name, size and ROM type).

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Wait a sec....why the built-in memory at all then? Thats kinda what threw me off. That it was like the tototech cart.

How does it perform then compared to everdrive? About $47 shipped is not bad.

never tried them, just had a read through the page and could not understand why everyone had missed that in the spec. if it really does support SD cards, im in

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Originally Posted by Saturn Fan

Wait a sec....why the built-in memory at all then? Thats kinda what threw me off. That it was like the tototech cart.

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Games don't run DIRECTLY off the SD card - you have to have memory (flash or ram) to run the game from. It's loaded into that memory from SD, then run.

The Everdrive writes the game from SD into flash, while the Myth loads it into psram.

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Originally Posted by Chilly Willy

Games don't run DIRECTLY off the SD card - you have to have memory (flash or ram) to run the game from. It's loaded into that memory from SD, then run.

The Everdrive writes the game from SD into flash, while the Myth loads it into psram.

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So thats what the storage option for 8MB or 16MB is then? If so, why would anyone need more than 8MB? Pretty sure the biggest game, SSFII, was only 5MB. Plenty of room to store in memory.

On that note, whats EEPROM Memory and why would i need it?

And i wouldn't consider the Neomyth on price alone. Everdrive seems to be able to do everything it can for cheaper.

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Originally Posted by Saturn Fan

So thats what the storage option for 8MB or 16MB is then? If so, why would anyone need more than 8MB? Pretty sure the biggest game, SSFII, was only 5MB. Plenty of room to store in memory.

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You can probably load multiple games into flash for quick running. That way you load from SD only when you want to run a new game that is not already in flash.

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On that note, whats EEPROM Memory and why would i need it?

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A small number of games use EEPROM to save game data instead of Save RAM. Without EEPROM, those games won't be able to save.

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And i wouldn't consider the Neomyth on price alone. Everdrive seems to be able to do everything it can for cheaper.

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The Everdrive has no EEPROM and no FM chip for SMS games. The Myth has both of those.

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Originally Posted by Chilly Willy

A small number of games use EEPROM to save game data instead of Save RAM. Without EEPROM, those games won't be able to save.

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Small number? Which games are these? Why not just store & load files on SD card?

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Originally Posted by Chilly Willy

The Everdrive has no EEPROM and no FM chip for SMS games. The Myth has both of those.

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FM chip? Whats that and why would master system games need it to function?

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Originally Posted by Barone

KRIKzz is an awesome guy but lately I think he has just too many devices to support.

When the Mega ED was released, FM support for SMS sounded like something in the horizon, no specific dates but something that would happen... Now I tend to think it will never happen...
After the development of Turbo Everdrive people were saying he would give more attention to Mega ED. There are several games with problems and bugs like you pointed in the saving feature and he is already working on a NES Everdrive.
All in all, Mega ED sounded amazing months ago but the support it has received is a bit of a let down IMO...

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I have to agree. I was really excited about the Mega ED and even pre-ordered the deluxe version just because I thought that was going to be the first one to get shipped out. After dropping a couple hundred bucks, however, I'm just sitting here waiting for all the neat things he promised to happen. I don't even want to use the in-game menu that often because I know it'll disable the XYZ buttons and quite possibly fuck other things up.

That thing has great potential, but now I'm kinda just thinking... shit. :|

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Originally Posted by Chilly Willy

The Myth also has a mode to act as backup ram for the CD... not sure if the Everdrives have that.

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The Mega ED does. I don't think I've tried saving directly to it yet, but I did backup some of my saves.

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Originally Posted by Saturn Fan

FM chip? Whats that and why would master system games need it to function?

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They don't need it to function but a number of SMS games support FM sound. They added the FM chip to the Japanese version of the console at some point but I don't think it was made available anywhere else, and the Genesis/Mega Drive hardware obviously doesn't have it.

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Originally Posted by Saturn Fan

Small number? Which games are these?

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Use your google-fu, Young Grasshopper! :D

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Why not just store & load files on SD card?

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Because save memory (be it EEPROM or SRAM) doesn't work that way. You have to have actual eeprom or sram (or special hardware that emulates them) for the game to access, then the flash menu can transfer saves to/from said sram/eeprom.

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FM chip? Whats that and why would master system games need it to function?

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The Japanese SMS had a Yamaha FM chip (the YM2413) that was used for music by quite a few games. That FM chip was made optional on the US SMS. SMS games don't NEED the FM chip, but games that support it will sound much better if it's available.

About 128MX+SPI.

It's does support SD card.
But to play games, you must upload them from card, to internal ram (Every cart do that, btw).
Plus you can actually format and rearrange internal ram to blocks, 16MB to 4 blocks of 4MB, for example.
And store on cart permanently 4 games.

One day i need to do youtube video about that cart.
It's very overlooked in US and Europe. But i think he's great alternative to Everdrive-MD.

Also, authors of this cart, working now on mega cool famicom flash cart.
http://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?t=8781
Krikkz totally stole their thing. Maybe he want to dominate on this part of market too (with his distributor connections - very real thing)?

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Originally Posted by Chilly Willy

Use your google-fu, Young Grasshopper! :D

The Japanese SMS had a Yamaha FM chip (the YM2413) that was used for music by quite a few games. That FM chip was made optional on the US SMS. SMS games don't NEED the FM chip, but games that support it will sound much better if it's available.

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Wait, I thought to get the better audio out of your SMS games you needed the FM chip on the Master System itself. If the chip is on the cart I don't see how it would produce the audio on the output for your SMS. Am I missing something?

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Originally Posted by xelement5x

Wait, I thought to get the better audio out of your SMS games you needed the FM chip on the Master System itself. If the chip is on the cart I don't see how it would produce the audio on the output for your SMS. Am I missing something?

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On the MD Myth, the sound goes out the cart slot to the mixer inside the MD (that's also how the 32X sound works). On the SMS Myth, there is a mixer on the cart - the sound out from the SMS goes to the Myth using an RCA cable where it's mixed with the FM sound, then goes out from the cart to the TV via another RCA cable. If you look at the pictures of the SMS Myth on the NeoFlash or IC2005 site, you'll see RCA cables going to/from the Myth cart - that's the audio mixing.

either way, the mega everdrive pisses allover everything else, especially the neo myth

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Originally Posted by makinagenesis

either way, the mega everdrive pisses allover everything else, especially the neo myth

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The Mega's internal micro SD slot, USB, and i think faster loading is nice, but not quite worth the $60+ more. The standard everdrive is about right.

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Originally Posted by makinagenesis

either way, the mega everdrive pisses allover everything else, especially the neo myth

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It may EVENTUALLY, but not yet. Most of the "better" features aren't available, or are buggy. Give it another year or two, depending on how quickly KRIKzz gets around to it. Until features are added/fixed, the Neo Myth is still the top end flash cart.

Given what Chilly's been saying and given that the Neo Myth is a bit... obtuse to use (only slightly though) I suppose I'll go with the Mega Everdrive.

But, how much do we trust Krizz to update and get more features for the Mega Everdrive?

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Originally Posted by Dant

Given what Chilly's been saying and given that the Neo Myth is a bit... obtuse to use (only slightly though) I suppose I'll go with the Mega Everdrive.

But, how much do we trust Krizz to update and get more features for the Mega Everdrive?

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He's been really good about working on the cards. He's currently working on an NES cart, but he'll probably work on some of the others (MegaED included) after he gets burned out on that. ;) :D

The only "problem" I see is that he's getting enough carts made that it's splitting his attention to any one cart, slowing updates.

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Originally Posted by Chilly Willy

He's been really good about working on the cards. He's currently working on an NES cart, but he'll probably work on some of the others (MegaED included) after he gets burned out on that. ;) :D

The only "problem" I see is that he's getting enough carts made that it's splitting his attention to any one cart, slowing updates.

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Heh, heh I'll take your word on that... and I have a feeling that may come soon after he gets frustrated with the NES's 'Mapper Hell".

Thanks for the help, Chilly.

Will any of the play .bin files?

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Originally Posted by Solkia

Will any of the play .bin files?

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Pretty sure .bin is THE format of roms around the net. Don't see why not.

Everyone handles regular binary format. The Myth menu also handles .smd format for MD games (interleaved 8KB blocks), albeit at a slightly reduced speed (adds a couple seconds to the load time... nothing serious). Even if a particular flash cart doesn't handle something like .smd format, you can always use something like ucon64 to change the format of the rom file.

After looking at the SD2SNES, I feel the need to ask if anyone has considered doing something similar to the MSU-1 for the Genesis

I have the EverDrive MD, and it's very versatile. Honestly there's little reason to have something more. NeoMyth can give you SMS Yamaha FM sound though.

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Originally Posted by Greg2600

I have the EverDrive MD, and it's very versatile. Honestly there's little reason to have something more. NeoMyth can give you SMS Yamaha FM sound though.

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Did you order yours with the cart casing, or get your own? If so, how did you cut the holes for the SD card & reset button to pass through? Where did you buy your Everdrive also?