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MD Flash Pro without parallel port
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Insanus



Joined: 17 Jan 2010
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 5:53 pm    Post subject: MD Flash Pro without parallel port Reply with quote

Hi,

I'm thinking about buying a MD Flash card but don't have a parallel port in my computer.

Will parallel to usb cables work? I've read in another thread that they don't work but I'd like to double check.

I'd like to get the MD 64MB card but only if I know whether it will work. Are there any alternative flash cards for megadrive, just in case?
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haynor



Joined: 12 Jan 2010
Posts: 31
Location: Poland

PostPosted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 7:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You may look for some information about Super Magic Drive, Cyan's ROM copier
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MottZilla



Joined: 08 Sep 2004
Posts: 765

PostPosted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 11:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Correct, Parallel to USB cables won't work.

There are other ways to play ROMs on the MD. The MegaCart lets you flash roms onto it with the Sega CD/Mega CD from a CD-R disc. The MegaCart has two limitations that are important to know about though. #1 there is no saving support for MD cartridge games. #2 only games 24 megabits or less (thats 3 megabytes) can be flashed to it using the Mega CD to flash. The full 32 megabits (4 megabytes) can be used only if using the Parallel Port Programmer device.

Neo Flash makes a Genesis flash cartridge but I have no idea how good it is. But I do hear you use USB to program their GBA cartridge which plugs into the MD cartridge.

Alternatively there are some Genesis/Megadrive copiers which store roms on Floppy Disks.
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RGB_Gamer



Joined: 01 Oct 2007
Posts: 879

PostPosted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 7:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

the MD Myth Cart is awesome. It can now load games from SD card (assuming you have a Neo2-SD cart).
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Insanus



Joined: 17 Jan 2010
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 6:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you very much for giving input. The Neo Myth MD 512M card look interesting but also quite expensive. It supports save states (saving within a game), doesn't it? It seems as the only true option for me as it seems that I won't be able to flash the tototek card.

Does anyone know whether any of these things will work with http://www.mcvuk.com/news/33538/New-Sega-Megadrive-revealed ? I got this thing as birthday present.
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Chilly Willy



Joined: 08 Feb 2009
Posts: 174

PostPosted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 6:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The MD-Pro works with it. The Neo Myth requires a 5V USB power supply be hooked to the USB connector to work with it properly. The clone you have there runs at a lower voltage which causes the Neo Myth not to work using the power from the cart port alone.
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Insanus



Joined: 17 Jan 2010
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 8:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

5V USB Power supply should not be a problem, either getting power from my laptop usb or from a 5V usb power supply unit.

Hmm, if parallel-to-usb cables won't work... do pcmcia-to-parallel cards work? I've got a free pcmcia slot in my laptop and something like this should easily fit in: http://www.amazon.de/PCMCIA-Cardbus-Karte-InLine%C2%AE-parallelen/dp/B000X22PGC/ref=pd_cp_ce_0 According to the description it should be compatible to ECP/EPP which is needed to flash the card, right?
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Insanus



Joined: 17 Jan 2010
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 9:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Allright, I've ordered a MD Pro Flash Cart and hope to get it running either using a pcmcia parallel adapter or an older pc (my friend who ordered a snes flash cart has an old intel celeron or something like this in the cellar) and my father's newer PC (about one year old) even seems to have a parallel port. One of these hopefully works to flash the carts.

Hopefully the pcmcia stuff will work, too.
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Chilly Willy



Joined: 08 Feb 2009
Posts: 174

PostPosted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 8:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Most of the PCMCIA cards I've dealt with are REAL IO cards, not converters, so it should work.

Also, be careful about assuming you'll get 5V from most computer's USB ports... they're all 3.3V for some years now. Fortunately, I've never had a problem using the MD-Pro programmer with 3.3V. Very Happy
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haynor



Joined: 12 Jan 2010
Posts: 31
Location: Poland

PostPosted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 2:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm using HP nx9010 (paraller port on board) -quite old and PC with Gigabyte motherboard - quite new). Both works without any problem.
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Insanus



Joined: 17 Jan 2010
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 5:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sounds promising concerning the pcmcia stuff Smile

Is there a way to measure the output voltage of an usb port?
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Chilly Willy



Joined: 08 Feb 2009
Posts: 174

PostPosted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 10:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Insanus wrote:
Is there a way to measure the output voltage of an usb port?


Use a volt meter. Wink
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Insanus



Joined: 17 Jan 2010
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 11:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's what I was planning to do, too Wink

And between which pins (or whatever these guys are called) is the power supply usually?

EDIT: I read somewhere that pin 1 is +5VDC and pin 4 is ground, the other two are data pins. Pretty obvious what to do now Wink
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Chilly Willy



Joined: 08 Feb 2009
Posts: 174

PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 5:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was going to mention that you should be able to find a pinout for USB anywhere, but what I did was measure between the solder points on the power switch on the programmer. That was much easier. Laughing
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RGB_Gamer



Joined: 01 Oct 2007
Posts: 879

PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 10:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Chilly Willy wrote:
Most of the PCMCIA cards I've dealt with are REAL IO cards, not converters, so it should work.

Also, be careful about assuming you'll get 5V from most computer's USB ports... they're all 3.3V for some years now. Fortunately, I've never had a problem using the MD-Pro programmer with 3.3V. Very Happy


Which PCMCIA parallel port card actually works ?
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