Megacart - The ultimate cartridge for Megacd/Segacd released

[Fonzie]

Hello all :D

Finaly, I'm able to tell to everyone that Megacart V1.X is released.
It's been available for two months but because major parts were out of stock, we couldn't announce it.
The project could have been 1000 times canned, we even had to manufacturate some discontinued componements :) Million thx to Tototek for this!

Now all is ok, parts stocks are full, ready for the big run :)


http://products.genny4ever.net/megacart_v1x.html

What is Megacart? It is the ultimate cartridge for your Megacd/Segacd/Multimega (any region, any model).
Which allow you to :
- Play any region discs on any system*.
- Backup up to 16times your internal ram**.
- Flash your favorite games*** from a disc in your segacd or from your computer ****.
- Compatible with 32x plugged and can run 32x binaries.
- Much more comming soon!

* : 100% compatibility reported for now
** : a kind of 2000 blocks storage
*** : 12games max, 24Meg max, SRAM games not supported.
**** : using EPP printer port and our windows driver

Launch price : 70usd (shipping included) for megacart+box+utility disc.

The Megacart comes into great full color box artwork and with utility disc :D
You can also buy it with Megacart Adaptator (to link to your computer).
And you can also add cables (printer + usb) (both cables required btw).

Btw : Megacart even appear to work on Xeye and MegaLD systems (for the xeye, see our website).

I'm so happy,

If anybody want to help us, please link the megacart page to http://products.genny4ever.net/ using the joined gif :D Thank you very much. Don't hésitate to PM me.

If you have any question, don't hesitate, i would be happy to answer.

Bye
Fonzie

[RyanGamerGoneGrazy]

Congrats on the launch of the product

Looks pretty cool :)


Ryan

[Taucias]

Well done, you must feel proud to have seen this go from initial fiddlings to full-blown product!

[ConsoleFun]

Got one and it is awesome. 100% recommended!

CF

[Fonzie]

Thank you very much for your comments.

"Well done, you must feel proud to have seen this go from initial fiddlings to full-blown product!"
Haha, thx. Well, it was a true challange, yeah I feel proud :)

Mine was shipped this morning (finaly), I only had final prototypes boards yet... So I'm happy too :D
If there is any webmasters interested into helping long-term promotion, please PM me (gift inside) :)

[Yakumo]

Is it possible to copy ROM data from the PC to the cartridge then play them on a Mega Drive? It would be very convenient if possible since I would save me having to get the over flowing heavy box of the top shelf every time when ever I want to play MD games.

Yakumo

[Fonzie]

Hi Yakumo :)

Using megacart adaptater, you can :) But remember, it can only play games up to 24MEg and sram games aren't supported.
Megacart Adaptater require a true EPP printer port (you must check your computer bios to know, EPP+ECP wont work).

You can also burn all your games in a disc (using our tool) and flash them from megacd :D

Enjoy.

[Yakumo]

Ah, I see. Sounds very interesting. Are all the standard formats included such as .bin and .smd ?

Yakumo

[liquitt]

great! congratz to the launch

[Fonzie]

Thank you :D
The input format is .bin or .32x (.bin too in fact).
To ensure maximal compatibility, you may first check the rom in an emulator with "auto fix checksum" disactivated and "region" set to the same region as your megadrive.... If the rom don't work, just fix the checksum with ucon or download a good one.

Megacart's tool (segacd and PC) to flash games allow you to convert (to a low level) the rom region by forcing the region header... But ... well... some games don't care of the header you know :D

Haha, I try to give you all the tips and tricks :) No worries :)

[Yakumo]

Thanks for that info Fonzie. I'm going to see if I can find a spare 70 dollars to buy one. :nod:

Yakumo

[Fonzie]

No prob :D I still like very much my two digios :D ;)
So, just PM me when you like :)

[Twimfy]

The second I get back from the States I'm buying one of these and crying with Joy.

I've been waiting for something like this for years.

[Fonzie]

Great :)
I'm glad you're happy.

Well, i'll receive the usb devkit next month... Crossing fingers I can code a driver that would add 100% usb connectivity to Megacart without any modification required.

It may take some ages ;) I'll keep you posted.

[Yakumo]

Once that 100% USB connectivity is available I'll be buying one for sure !!!! I checked my PC only to find out I can't use the printer cable method that you described above :( So USB is the way to go for me :)

[sayin999]

Actually if im not mistaken cant you burn roms to a cd and upload it to the cart through the sega/mega cds drive?

[Yakumo]

Yes you can but I wouldn't want to do that. It would mean I'd need a Mega CD connected to my MD2 all the time which to be honest isn't practical in my case :( (hence the mod idea I have)

Yakumo

[Fonzie]

In fact, megacart mains features are segacd bypass & backup ram.

Uploading games was added for pure pleasure, it is 24Meg and don't support SRAM (to not rise the product price).
I never focused on USB because it's complex and since megadrive logic is 5V while 99.99% usb chip are 3.3V (perfect for gba or nds), the hardware would fry after some month of usage (who would buy a product around 80usd that have a lifespan of 3months?).
Since megacart basis is 5V, it is hard to add usb connectivity, but once it will work... It will be perfect.

Another point is that megacart doesn't have big power consumsion and can be played on nomad with ease :)

[z3ntn3l]

Hi, i really want to buy one of those Megacarts.

But i think i have a Problem with understanding: ;-)


I need both (printer + usb) ports to use it?
I have both Ports but how can i change (and check) my USB-Voltage if i have only a 3,3V USB-Port?
Is it possible to run it with the MD-PRO 64M Plus Flash card (http://www.tototek.com/pio/main1/SUBMENU/PARTS/LINKS/OS/mdpro64plus.htm[/URL)?

[Fonzie]

Hi, i really want to buy one of those Megacarts.
But i think i have a Problem with understanding: ;-)


I need both (printer + usb) ports to use it?
I have both Ports but how can i change (and check) my USB-Voltage if i have only a 3,3V USB-Port?
Is it possible to run it with the MD-PRO 64M Plus Flash card (http://www.tototek.com/pio/main1/SUBMENU/PARTS/LINKS/OS/mdpro64plus.htm[/URL)?
Hi :)

Yeah, you need both USB&PRINTER port (usb is just here to power the thing, printer is to send data).
The megacart adaptator is the same as MDPRO computer adaptator :) So if you already have a mdpro, you don't need to buy the computer adaptator twice :)

If you get confused, MDPRO comes with a cartridge & computer adaptator.
Megacart = cartridge.
Megacart adaptator = Computer adaptator.
Since you can use megacart without need of a computer, it is sold separately.

3.3V usb port is fine (shouldn't be 5V?), i think.

Thank you for your interest.

[Calpis]

It's the very opposite, should be 5V. You can check your USB voltage by using a voltmeter.

[Fonzie]

Yeah, it should :) But i said that 3.3V should be okay too for megacart.

It appear that >6V usb even exists... of course its *forbiden* but everything is *forbiden* nowadays when it comes to electronic cheap.

[Calpis]

While the CPLD and I suppose Flash is 3.3V, the VCC is made by two series diodes right? Using a 3.3V source will only give ~2V VCC which is not enough.

[Fonzie]

Nope, flash is 5V and cpld is 3/5V, here is all the difficulty of finding the componements.
We coundn't use 3.3V since the data & address bus remain 5V and they fried some flash's cells after +-100 flashings.
You know, it is not possible to down-volt the whole bus with the classic solution or it would require and bigger cpld (and more expensive, again).

But yeah... I'll ask tototek to know the minimal power required, that's more safe because I don't have anything here ;)

[Calpis]

If the flash is 5V, how could you use only 3.3V from USB for VCC? heh