sd2snes comming soon

[TonyTheTiger]

I just got the SD2SNES and it's fantastic but I'm having one issue that's becoming a real problem. The video will randomly crap out and it requires a hard reset before it'll work again. This happens in the menu, during games, whenever, and there's no pattern to it. It doesn't just go dark. The screen will scratch out for a second, pretty much resembling the effect of switching your computer to a resolution your monitor doesn't support, before going completely dark. All sound cuts out, too.

I do have a somewhat unusual set up. It's an authentic unmodded SNES but I'm using an SCART cable to an SCART/Component converter so I can plug it into a monitor that doesn't have standard definition inputs. It's definitely the SD2SNES causing the problem since my normal carts have worked fine and I've already had this happen at least a dozen times after using the SD2SNES for only a few hours. It's the same issue on both firmware 1.3 and 1.4pre4.

[Eyedunno]

I just got the SD2SNES and it's fantastic but I'm having one issue that's becoming a real problem. The video will randomly crap out and it requires a hard reset before it'll work again. This happens in the menu, during games, whenever, and there's no pattern to it. It doesn't just go dark. The screen will scratch out for a second, pretty much resembling the effect of switching your computer to a resolution your monitor doesn't support, before going completely dark. All sound cuts out, too.

I do have a somewhat unusual set up. It's an authentic unmodded SNES but I'm using an SCART cable to an SCART/Component converter so I can plug it into a monitor that doesn't have standard definition inputs. It's definitely the SD2SNES causing the problem since my normal carts have worked fine and I've already had this happen at least a dozen times after using the SD2SNES for only a few hours. It's the same issue on both firmware 1.3 and 1.4pre4.

Do you have another TV somewhere? I'm kind of wondering what would happen if you plugged in a regular AV cable or S-Vid cable after the problem happens - that would at least tell you for sure if the effect is on your converter (for whatever reason) or on the SNES itself. I say this because presumably the sound is going through SCART (and thus through your converter) too, right?

[TonyTheTiger]

Yes and no. The audio is coming from the same wire but the converter doesn't support it. The SCART cable has an audio block on it like so:




This is the converter:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SEGA-SCART-R...-/220698773448


I can try a few more things but the fact that it's random makes it hard to pin down. I'll fire up a game and it might happen within 20 seconds. I'll hard reset, restart the game, and play for 20 minutes. I'm sure it has something to do with the connection but the fact that normal SNES carts have never given me this problem before tells me that it's not just a general problem separate from the SD2SNES.

I will say that I've noticed that when it does happen it tends to most often be upon me making some kind of move, like opening a folder in the menu or switching screens in a game (like pushing start on title screen). It happened right after I pushed start on the pendulum screen in Chrono Trigger one time. But that hasn't been consistent either. It happened at least once while I was in the middle of the first level in Mega Man X3. And then after restarting I got through half the game trying to reproduce it to no avail.

EDIT: I plugged the audio into an external soundbar bypassing the monitor completely and now have a better understanding of what's going on. I played through Mega Man X2 from beginning to end with no issues. Then I loaded Tales of Phantasia and it happened in the middle of the intro during the cast roll call. This was actually a great time for it to happen since it let me get a grasp on a number of things.

First, the sound did not cut out. But it did hiccup despite the audio not being connected to the monitor at all. The vocal song started to skip when the video cut out (think what happens when you alt+tab a running emulator) but then continued normally after the screen went black. The controller functioned normally. I was able to go to the main menu and start a new game despite having no video. Turning the monitor on and off does not fix it.

I'm drawing RGB from the console and converting it to component. When this weirdness happens, the effect (based on my observation) is kinda like the SD2SNES is trying to alter something in the signal whenever it feels like it and the converter and/or monitor doesn't know how to process the change. Why the audio would be affected at all though, I have no idea.

[Greg2600]

Obviously I echo the suggestion to try it via composite on a regular TV if you can. Could be a trace that didn't get soldered all the way, but it sounds like there's something SD2SNES is sending that your converter doesn't like. Somewhat unrelated, but a couple years ago, I was trying to play DVD's via component from an original XBOX, and my Sony TV's picture was all messed up. Worked fine on other TV's and on composite, and the PS2 was fine. You might need to get in touch with ikari_01 himself for advice.

[ikari_01]

What revision is your SNES? (go to menu -> System Information, the CPU/PPU versions are printed at the bottom of the window. Only in the 0.1.4 though.)
Are there any visible "digital" graphical glitches before screen distortion kicks in?
When the vocal song skipped, did just the vocals skip or did audio go completely silent?
If possible, can you try and insulate pin 1 of the SNES cart slot or sd2snes (the leftmost pin on the cart slot facing towards the front of the cartridge/console) and see if the problem persists?

[Dr.Wario]

Ikari, how is progress coming along regarding , SFX support?

[ikari_01]

No progress since my last status update as firmware stability took priority. I will get to it eventually though. ;)

[ikari_01]

Just sorted out the FAT16 save bug - I can't believe I noticed it only now but I wasn't flushing SD writes properly, effectively not writing out the last updated sector.
In case of FAT16 the last write goes to the sector containing the directory entry (where file size and start cluster are updated after the file data has been written).
In case of FAT32 it goes to the FSINFO sector after the directory entry is updated, so the directory entry is written correctly (and an outdated FSINFO block doesn't seem to do much harm except the reported number of free clusters is incorrect).
This explains why it broke on FAT16 while things seemed ok with FAT32.

[Dr.Wario]

Ikari, can i ask you one more question, i know someone already answered it but i wanna ask it again anyway
regarding being able to reset back to the menu when in game.

Is it possible to implement it software wise?

[Eyedunno]

No progress since my last status update as firmware stability took priority. I will get to it eventually though. ;)

So, what are the odds that we'll see it in 0.1.5? ;)

Also, can you put any odds on us EVER seeing SA-1 support? I'm curious about that for such things as Mario RPG, Jikkyo Oshaberi Parodius, and Marvelous.

Ikari, can i ask you one more question, i know someone already answered it but i wanna ask it again anyway
regarding being able to reset back to the menu when in game.

Is it possible to implement it software wise?

I for one kind of hope this never happens, or if it does, that there is an option to turn it off. I'm no expert, or anything close, but it would seem to me that this would require auto-patching games, and would be much more likely to break games than, say, auto-region patching is. There is the hardware mod that does this, and while I personally don't need it, it sure seems pretty sweet.

[TonyTheTiger]

Obviously I echo the suggestion to try it via composite on a regular TV if you can. Could be a trace that didn't get soldered all the way, but it sounds like there's something SD2SNES is sending that your converter doesn't like.

Yeah, I know trying it on a normal composite connection is a no-brainer. It's just surprisingly difficult for me to do that at the moment. But I'm definitely planning to.

What revision is your SNES? (go to menu -> System Information, the CPU/PPU versions are printed at the bottom of the window. Only in the 0.1.4 though.)

CPU Rev.: 2, PPU1 Rev.: 1, PPU2 Rev.: 2

Are there any visible "digital" graphical glitches before screen distortion kicks in?
When the vocal song skipped, did just the vocals skip or did audio go completely silent?

No visual glitches at all. It's one of those things that happens without warning. The vocals skipped. The best analogue would be to boot up Tales of Phantasia in an emulator running in full screen and during the intro alt+tab to another program. It was that kind of effect before the sound returned to normal sans picture.

If possible, can you try and insulate pin 1 of the SNES cart slot or sd2snes (the leftmost pin on the cart slot facing towards the front of the cartridge/console) and see if the problem persists?

I covered the pin with electrical tape, if that's what you meant by "insulate." I've been playing around with it for about a half hour and the issue didn't show itself yet. Although it seems to now think I'm using a PAL SNES so I'm getting some incompatibility messages for a few games I wanted to try out.

Thanks for the help, by the way.

Also, before I blocked off the pin, an interesting thing happened on the menu. I was browsing through when it happened again and this time instead of restarting I just hit the A button after the screen blacked out. The rom that happened to be highlighted loaded and the video restored once the game started.

[ikari_01]

I've been playing around with it for about a half hour and the issue didn't show itself yet.

OK, thanks a lot for all the information. Have any crashes occurred in the meantime with the pin covered?
Disconnecting Pin 1 from the SNES is not a permanent solution of course and the signal is needed by the sd2snes for some stuff, namely region patching and MSU1 audio, but it helps me trace the cause of the issue.

So, what are the odds that we'll see it in 0.1.5? ;)

I think I'll jump to version number 0.2.0 for the SuperFX. ;) And there will be in-between releases in case any grave issues come up. Regarding SA1 support I wouldn't say it's unlikely but it will obviously take time to implement.

Is it possible to implement [controller reset] software wise?

Yes, it's possible. It involves injecting custom code in line with the running game code so it might be incompatible with very timing critical games (might cause slowdowns, glitches, or even crashes) in case it is implemented. I do not know if any games exist that would actually trip on that. It would probably just work.

[TonyTheTiger]

OK, thanks a lot for all the information. Have any crashes occurred in the meantime with the pin covered?
Disconnecting Pin 1 from the SNES is not a permanent solution of course and the signal is needed by the sd2snes for some stuff, namely region patching and MSU1 audio, but it helps me trace the cause of the issue.

No crashes whatsoever after a fairly long play session. Given how random it is I can't be completely sure it just wasn't a coincidental lucky streak but considering how often it was happening it seems unlikely it'd be merely hiding out for this long.

[Dr.Wario]

Yes, it's possible. It involves injecting custom code in line with the running game code so it might be incompatible with very timing critical games (might cause slowdowns, glitches, or even crashes) in case it is implemented. I do not know if any games exist that would actually trip on that. It would probably just work.

So to don't hurt people that don't want this option
is it possbie to make a seperate code for it that would run alongside the normal bin files, fot hose who wanna run the reset option?

i would love it :)

[JohnnyBlaze]

OK, thanks a lot for all the information. Have any crashes occurred in the meantime with the pin covered?
Disconnecting Pin 1 from the SNES is not a permanent solution of course and the signal is needed by the sd2snes for some stuff, namely region patching and MSU1 audio, but it helps me trace the cause of the issue.

I think I'll jump to version number 0.2.0 for the SuperFX. ;) And there will be in-between releases in case any grave issues come up. Regarding SA1 support I wouldn't say it's unlikely but it will obviously take time to implement.


Yes, it's possible. It involves injecting custom code in line with the running game code so it might be incompatible with very timing critical games (might cause slowdowns, glitches, or even crashes) in case it is implemented. I do not know if any games exist that would actually trip on that. It would probably just work.

BTW, when the Super FX is implemented, will it only be the original Super FX(i.e. Starfox, Stunt Race FX) or will BOTH be supported(for games like Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Starfox 2, Doom, etc)? I ask because I remember the last time you said something about that, you were having issues with the clock speed.

[Dr.Wario]

BTW, when the Super FX is implemented, will it only be the original Super FX(i.e. Starfox, Stunt Race FX) or will BOTH be supported(for games like Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Starfox 2, Doom, etc)? I ask because I remember the last time you said something about that, you were having issues with the clock speed.

it would be all , if i remember corectly
are you also in for in game reset? :p
or are you against it?

[MottZilla]

BTW, when the Super FX is implemented, will it only be the original Super FX(i.e. Starfox, Stunt Race FX) or will BOTH be supported(for games like Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Starfox 2, Doom, etc)? I ask because I remember the last time you said something about that, you were having issues with the clock speed.

Super FX is all the same chip. The only differences are in addressable ROM memory and if High Speed mode is available or not. Star Fox doesn't run in high speed mode but I think most other games do. Stunt Race FX is capable of it so I'm pretty sure it probably uses it.

[JohnnyBlaze]

Doesn't matter either way. I keep the SNES near my chair when I play, so it's no sweat to reach over and hit reset.

[Dr.Wario]

Doesn't matter either way. I keep the SNES near my chair when I play, so it's no sweat to reach over and hit reset.

yeah but you need to pull the switch , reset doesn't work to get back to the menu :p

[adimifus]

yeah but you need to pull the switch , reset doesn't work to get back to the menu :p

Hold reset until all the LEDs are lit, then let go. Unless you're using SuperCIC, which interferes with this apparently (I have no idea-- I don't have or need that), that's how you get back to the menu with reset.