ToToTEK.COM

[SmartOne]

Why can't I flash more than one game if I clearly have enough space? I have the 64MB version.

[MrCheese]

Do you get any error messages?

If you go into settings is the "Multi-Game Header File" setting correct?

It should be:
C:\Program Files\TOTOTEK\DreamWriter(gensis)\MDPACKU4.BIN

the MDPACKU4.BIN is the menu program. I *think* if that is not set then you can only upload 1 game - with no menu you can not pick any more games.

Also you should be using v 2.1 of the Dreamwriter software.

[SmartOne]

Ah. Got it now. Why doesn't version 2.1 come with MDPACKU4.BIN? I had to download 1.6 to get it. Hasn't anyone noticed that the first link to 2.1 actually links to 1.6? That had me confused for awhile.

The product description for this is misleading. "Multi games support up to 31 games." Sounds like I should be able to store at LEAST 20 games on the cartridge, but alas, all that means is it's possible to store 31 extremely tiny games that don't exist on the cartridge. In reality four games is basically the maximum. I'm disappointed because I was planning on having a bunch of permanent games on there. I wasn't expecting having to reflash every time I want to play a few different games.

Now I have to worry about flashing too much and wearing it out. Great.

[MrCheese]

Well, how many games do you think you can get into 64mb?

Can you tell me which part of "Multi games support up to 31 games" is misleading?

As to your misunderstanding with the software I told you what you need to do in a previous post - "Install the dreamwriter software (I use v 2.1) - get it from here http://www.tototek.com/pio/main1/download/E/index.htm . I installed the v 1.6 version then copied the 2.1 exe into the installation directory which is c:\program files\Tototek\Dreamwriter(Genesis)\. "

At to flashing different people say different amounts. Some say 10,000 and others say 100,000 times. Assuming 10,000 and you flash 3 times per day that is 365 * 3 = 1095 flashes a year, or 9.13 years. Assuming 100,000 flashes average lifespaan then 91 years.

I tend to flash twice a week, so 104 times a year so that would be about 96 years assuming 10,000 flashes.

I am very happy with the flash carts I have received from Tototek. You could always purchase the software items individually and ware your megadrive cart port out by swapping them constantly I suppose.

I really do not see that your comments have any merit.

[SmartOne]

"Ah. Got it now." = I figured it out.

The customer is always right, and I believe the description is (purposely) misleading. An average rom is 1MB uncompressed on a computer which supposedly = 8MB on the cartridge, 2MB = 16MB and so-on. This should be made clearer than simply stating that there are 31 slots for games. Also the product should have clearer documentation. If it wasn't for this forum and all your help, I'd be clueless.

There's no need to be defensive and cynical. I'm just providing some feedback on an otherwise awesome product that has worked very well so far. (Phantasy Star IV saves!)

I've read about some sort of electrical build-up in the parallel port that could possibly damage these types of chips. Is this something to worry about? I keep mine attached and powered off unless I need to do some flashing. Is this ok?

[MrCheese]

I didn't believe I was being defensive or cynical. I just didn't think your comments were well thought out. Customers are not always right! Customers are annoying, pedantic, crybabies! You are welcome to believe the description is (purposely) misleading. I believe it is correct. If you were comparing zip file sizes and using them to evaluate what could fit on a card that is hardly Tototeks fault or problem.

I keep the carts in the machine. I take them out and use them to flash then put them back in. I do tend to touch the metal case of the PC first - to earth myself. More out of habit than anything else. The PC Engine cart I guess is the most vulnerable of mine as it has no case. I always order a case with any flash cart I get if there is one available. I've never had a problem with the parallel port cable on these carts or on anything else that uses them. IIRC there are several ground pins in the centronics interface anyway to accomodate anything like that.

Yes the lack of documentation is annoying but these forums are a good help. I guess the products filter any potential audience - you need a PC and a console. You need to be able to find software for the console, maybe off the internet. Assuming you can find all that then working out how these products work is quite straight forward. I am sure it only took you 5 or 10 minutes to get yours all sorted.

[SmartOne]

I wasn't comparing ZIP file sizes... I was stating that an uncompressed 1MB BIN = 8MB on the cartridge, 2MB BIN = 16MB, etc. I guess what I've learned from this is that dumps are compressed from their raw cartridge state.

"The customer is always right" is not meant to be taken literally, but it still is good business practice to adapt to the customers' needs. Better documentation! (which includes product description.)

All my comments are well thought out.

What happens when parallel ports (that can actually flash,) like, disappear from the face of the earth? Hopefully my Windows ME doesn't die for awhile.

[kyuusaku]

You're confusing megabytes for megabits. ROMs have always been sold by bits, not bytes. A megabit is 2^20 bits or 128 kilobytes (now known as kibibytes.) 64M (notice it's not "MB") is 64 megabits or 8 megabytes (technically mebibytes.)

Nobody has to worry about parallel port's extinction, even though parallel ports haven't been used by the masses for nearly a decade they're still being made. Why? Because there's still a demand, enough so that there are numerous modern motherboards still shipping with parallel ports and plenty of parallel port expansion cards (even PCI Express) which interface with recent computers.

[SmartOne]

Ohhh now I get it. I forgot about the whole bits vs. bytes thing. Gaaah. Wouldn't that be cool if you could store 64 megaBYTES? I know that's probably impossible, atleast with flash (for one reason or another), but it sure would be awesome.

Once again there is irony in my name.

[kyuusaku]

128 megabyte flashROMs are being used in 1G GBA/DS flashcards right now so it's possible. Most people would find the price prohibitively expensive though for such an old system and would rather just reflash more often. After all with the Genesis, the largest game is 40M and the majority of games are 8M or smaller.

[SmartOne]

How expensive are the GBA/DS ones then? Can't you buy a USB "flash drive" that's maybe 2 GB for around $30? Flash ROM is probably very different than "flash" in this case I would think. I'd definitely prefer not having to flash my cart all the time, but as long as it works I guess it's fine.

[kyuusaku]

GBA/DS Flashcards use two different methods:

-Flash as ROM file storage, RAM as immediate game storage
-Flash as immediate game storage

Tototek's products use the second method. The type of flash used for the first method (which is also used in flash drives) is called NAND flash. The second type of flash is called NOR flash, and it's very expensive compared to NAND, like 100x as much now since NAND flash is more useful for consumers and NOR doesn't have the market to bring down prices.

Unfortunately NAND flash isn't marketted with a ROM-like interface suitable for immediate game storage, if it were, flashcards could be made extremely cheap and consoles like Neo Geo could easily have flashcards.

[RGB_Gamer]

too bad these carts don't have a memory card slot like the DS carts do. Then you could store so many more games

[fonzie]

Nice post, Kyuusaku.
The price is also explained by this factor :
Nor flash is stable, each byte can be rewritten like 100.000 times.
Nand flash is pretty unreliable as part of them can die very soon (but handled by a filesystem error sector list)...

I'm also sure that Nand can't be read in a random access way.
All those stuff explain the low price too.

But for firmware storage in most systems, I'm sure its NOR flash that is used.