Turbo Everdrive PC Engine / Turbografx 16 Flash Card Nearing Release

[SuperPlay]

Source:  retrocollect
http://www.retrocollect.com/News/krikzzs-turbo-everdrive-pc-engine-turbografx-16-flash-card-nearing-release.html

"After releasing the impressive Mega Everdrive for the Sega Mega Drive, flash cartridge guru Krikzz has since moved his focus onto a SD card ROM loading solution for the Turbografx and PC Engine consoles- The Turbo Everdrive. After many months of hardwork, the card has entered the final phase of testing and is due for release shortly.

As mentioned when we first heard about the Turbo Everdrive, there has been little in the way of flash cartridges for the Turbografx and PC Engine systems.  The only existing solution currently available is from Neo Flash, known as the NEO Power PC-E- a sadly outdated and neglected piece of hardware.

Whilst little information regarding the Turbo Everdrive has been released online, we are aware that the SD card ROM loading flash cartridge will play games from every region, have a similar price tag to that of the Everdrive-MD (approx $78), and be made available within the next two months. Best of all, we'll finally able to play the elusive and incredibly rare Magical Chase without breaking the bank."

[CrackTiger]

If this one is problem-free, I will be buying one asap for sure.

[FiftyQuid]

I don't quite understand this.  Does it work like an emulator?  How will I be able to play Magical Chase?  Sorry, new to this... From the video it looks like every game is on the flash card.  Is this correct?

[Flare65]

Are all the games going to be pre loaded on it?

[ccovell]

Just by looking around the pics, does Krikzz know that the PCE, GT, Duo, etc have power switch/stoppers where the SD card is (for now), BUT the SGX also has a stopper on the opposite side (where the USB plug is)?  Basically, the handle edge of the HuCard/Everdrive can't have connectors on it unless users are willing to snap off the power switch stoppers of their PCEs/SGXs...

[roflmao]

That's the issue I ran into with the Protocade AbCard.  The top layer is so close to the back of the card that my Express switch can't clear it.  I still haven't gotten around to filing the card down to fit.  But it's a prototype, so I'm sure it'll be addressed in the final version.

[Deletion]

Can't wait. I'll be in line for that shit.

I have several of Krikkz's flash carts and they all operate the same way. You download ROMs and copy them onto an SD card. Insert the SD card into the flash cart, then insert the flash cart into your console. Upon startup, you'll see a menu listing the ROMs. The menus on the earlier flash carts were very basic and resembled DOS; the newer menus have GUIs. Select a ROM to load it into memory and then you can play the game as if you had the authentic cartridge/HuCard. It's very easy and works great.

No, the SD card does not come pre-loaded with ROMs. Finding and downloading ROMs will be up to you. With that being said, there could be a bonus game on the flash cart if you turn it on without the SD card inserted. Krikkz did that with at least the original EverDrive (Genesis flash cart).

[Frank_fjs]

Looks great!

I hope it really is priced at the $78 mark - I got a bit of a shock at the pricing of his latest MD cart.

[tiptopjames]

Just by looking around the pics, does Krikzz know that the PCE, GT, Duo, etc have power switch/stoppers where the SD card is (for now), BUT the SGX also has a stopper on the opposite side (where the USB plug is)?  Basically, the handle edge of the HuCard/Everdrive can't have connectors on it unless users are willing to snap off the power switch stoppers of their PCEs/SGXs...

did some reading, the big sd slot, which you are referring to, is out. will be all micro sd which is on the opposite side.

Looks great!

I hope it really is priced at the $78 mark - I got a bit of a shock at the pricing of his latest MD cart.

the mega everdrive is awesome though! it has save states, an in game menu, and a USB slot to be used for awesome things in the future! plus you can still buy the cheaper sega everdrive (for $78), and it's still awesome too. krikzz didn't even pay me to write that, i paid him!

[SignOfZeta]

I'm so geeked for this. The drag and drop aspect is the most exciting part. No more shitty propritary Windows software that doesn't work!

I want to play Bubblegum Crash in English, mainly.

[PikachuWarrior]

Looks nice. Maybe the label side will have a small handle that sticks out so you can pull it out easier than grabbing the edge where the sd card slot is.

[Samurai Ghost]

I wonder if it will be SGX compatible?

[TR0N]

I don't quite understand this.  Does it work like an emulator?  How will I be able to play Magical Chase?  Sorry, new to this... From the video it looks like every game is on the flash card.  Is this correct?

The everdrive flash cartridge is not emulation.Pretty much,you save the game rom to the sd card and the device flashes it's program.I have one for the (sega genesis) and it works great so i can't wait for the TG16 version.

[soop]

Damn... This is really bad timing for gameofyou's flash card.  Hopefully there's a market for both.

[Bernie]

Damn... This is really bad timing for gameofyou's flash card.  Hopefully there's a market for both.

I am sure there will be.  His will be cheaper, and I know there will be peeps that purchase both.

[grahf]

I think gameofyou's flashcard is useful for devs, and those wanting to play translations and such. People who just want to play a ton of roms, will probably go with Krikzss.
Personally I will buy gameofyou's, as I don't really care about roms. Most of the hucards I want I already own.

[spenoza]

I want both, but because of the price I'm starting with gameofyou's.

[Nando]

Another awesome piece hardware!

[gameofyou]

Damn... This is really bad timing for gameofyou's flash card.  Hopefully there's a market for both.

Lol.  That is unfortunate timing.  Oh, well.  Having more options is always a good thing.
 
I think there will be a market for each card, like the other guys posted.  One thing about my flash HuCard that I really haven't advertised is it's low power consumption.  So this would make it a better option for the handheld systems.  I'll have to take some official measurements of the power, & add it to the web page.

[roflmao]

I'll be getting one of yours, gameofyou.  Can't wait!

[NightWolve]

Just by looking around the pics, does Krikzz know that the PCE, GT, Duo, etc have power switch/stoppers where the SD card is (for now), BUT the SGX also has a stopper on the opposite side (where the USB plug is)?  Basically, the handle edge of the HuCard/Everdrive can't have connectors on it unless users are willing to snap off the power switch stoppers of their PCEs/SGXs...

Yup, and the final board design is revised because of this. He's aware (from 5 days ago):

http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?31764-PCE-TG16-HuCard-Everdrive&s=40609e5beaf100f34c30f64fa458cbbd&p=584579&viewfull=1#post584579

here is photo how proto board looks. final board will be almost same, but without small tactile button, jtag connector and without white wire. also i will change sd slot layout in final revision, cuz prototype pcb fit not very good (SD card crossed with power switch)

And he estimates it being ready in 1-2 months. A friend just told me about this today and I'm very interested! Having the whole ROM collection available in a single card might give me more of a reason to play my Express a little more often than in 5 year intervals. ;)

Hm, there is an issue with SFII:CE and he's asking for technical help, though:

i recently made street fighter2 mapper, but one of game levels work with terrible glitches (sea port level in USA), but all other levels works fine. i wonder if there need to use some known "tricks" to make it work, or it is just some my mistake somewhere. may be there someone who knows something about pce and sf2 mapper (:

Nevermind, he solved it about 16 hours ago! Heh-heh. Good good! Just had to read further down and it appears he knows about this forum cause he got info about the mapper from here (thanks to our very own Bonknuts/tomaitheous).

General compatibility (according to the MottZilla guy):

99% of game HuCards are just a ROM up to 1 Megabyte in size. SF2'CE is an exception as it is 2.5 Megabytes and to allow that a memory mapper was designed for it. I have heard Populous might have some extra (maybe battery backed) RAM but that is about it. So again, 99% of HuCard games should work perfectly on the EverDrive. Populous is the only game that will not work.

https://krikzz.com/
https://krikzz.com/our-products/cartridges/turbo-everdrive-v2.html

[cabbage]

 

[A_Locomotive]

I wonder if the Turbo Everdrive will have the same issues that the Neo Flash does with weak voltage. I hope not. I don't like the idea of spending all that money to find it doesn't work on my region modded Duo-R forcing me to get another console just for it.

[Nando]

I wonder if the Turbo Everdrive will have the same issues that the Neo Flash does with weak voltage. I hope not. I don't like the idea of spending all that money to find it doesn't work on my region modded Duo-R forcing me to get another console just for it.

what issues does it have?

[A_Locomotive]

I wonder if the Turbo Everdrive will have the same issues that the Neo Flash does with weak voltage. I hope not. I don't like the idea of spending all that money to find it doesn't work on my region modded Duo-R forcing me to get another console just for it.

what issues does it have?

Some consoles have a weak voltage to the hucard slot and are unable to run flash cards.

More detailed description hear, this problem is the only reason I never bought a neo flash.
http://www.neoflash.com/forum/index.php?topic=7289.0

[NightWolve]

Oh, interesting... Since I installed brand new capacitors in my Express, it shouldn't have a weak voltage for the line that powers the HuCard slot. Maybe that's why flash cards work on some consoles and not others (old/weakened capacitors) ?? I would bet that has something to do with it...

[NightWolve]

Krikzz made a video to demo it! He loads/tests "Street Fighter II:CE," Batman, R-Type, and Toilet Kids, etc.

Towards the end he'll point the camera down to his PC Engine, turn it off, take the SD card out, turn back on, etc. (I guess to show it retained the memory of the last game? Not sure.). Anyway, looks awesome!

[Bernie]

I am in love....

[Nando]

Where do I sign up?

[Duo_R]

ok quick question - what flash carts support / work with Supergrafx roms? Do they all work?

[spenoza]

Supergrafx ROMS aren't any different from PCE ROMS, really.

[CrackTiger]

Some flash carts might not physically fit in a SuperGrafx or other consoles, depending on the position of the power on switch lock. I belive that the tototek one is notched on both sides, but can't remember for sure.

[thesteve]

i think i may have an answer to the neoflash issue.
i doubt it was ever weak voltage.
as it must load the ROM to the executable area of the card boot time becomes an issue.
if the system reset is completed before the ROM is ready it will not work properly.
i ran into this on the gameofyou flash and solved it

[gameofyou]

i think i may have an answer to the neoflash issue.
i dought it was ever weak voltage.
as it must load the rom to the executable area of the card boot time becomes an issue.
if the system reset is completed before the rom is ready it will not work properly.
i ran into this on the gameofyou flash and solved it

I can't speak to the operation of the Neoflash card, but on my card, nothing needs to be loaded at boot time.  The PC downloads and writes the game to flash.  After that, to the PC-Engine, the card is read just like a normal ROM.  I would like to get to the bottom of the reset issue, but I would probably need to buy a Turbografx to figure it out.

[thesteve]

the reason it was an issue on yours is the flash chip has to arrange the data in 8 or 16 bit at initialization.
the chip stores it as 2 8bit roms,
it then uses an internal mapper to stack the roms

[NightWolve]

I am in love....

Ah, but you gotta decide, Bernie!! ;)

You were committing to buying the low cost one in the other thread which is only 1 MB, meaning you'll have to flash another game in every time you wanna switch (and it'll never work with SFII, but eh, who cares? With 2 button control, it's shitty to play & it's available in every other platform, MAME, etc. so I technically wouldn't care if this one couldn't handle it.).

While this one, IF it works according to its claims, even with a small 1GB micro SD Card, you'll have EVERY game available at the touch of your fingertips! The full NEC HuCard ROM collection is only 301 MB, even smaller if you exclude the duplicate dumps ([a1], [a2], [a3], etc.).

[Nando]

I am in love....

Ah, but you gotta decide Bernie!! ;) You were committing to buying the low cost one in the other thread which is only 1 MB, meaning you'll have to flash another game in every time you wanna switch (and it'll never work with SFII, but eh, who cares? With 2 button control, it's shitty to play & it's available in every other platform, MAME, etc. so I technically wouldn't care if this one couldn't handle it.). This one, IF it works according to its claims, even with a small 1GB micro SD Card, you'll have EVERY game available at the touch of your fingertips! The full NEC HuCard ROM collection is only 301 MB, even smaller if you exclude the duplicate dumps ([a1], [a2], [a3], etc.).

Or one can eventually buy both, it's always nice to have backups. Shit happens.

My daily user would be this little beast here, but having a extra flash-able card would be piece of mind for me. I also have two young kiddos.. Wandering curious hands.

[Bernie]

Yes....  I will buy both.. 

[gameofyou]

the reason it was an issue on yours is the flash chip has to arrange the data in 8 or 16 bit at initialization.
the chip stores it as 2 8bit roms,
it then uses an internal mapper to stack the roms

I'm curious where you see this in the datasheet.  Because all I see is "Trh - RESET# High Time Before Read - MIN 0nS".

[incrediblehark]

I'll probably get the Turbo Everdrive and get rid of my neoflash since I could never get it to work on my modded pc engine, but my other systems were fine. Too bad the everdrive won't have the plastic coating to make it look all pretty like the neoflash, or will it?

[thesteve]

the reason it was an issue on yours is the flash chip has to arrange the data in 8 or 16 bit at initialization.
the chip stores it as 2 8bit roms,
it then uses an internal mapper to stack the roms

I'm curious where you see this in the datasheet.  Because all I see is "Trh - RESET# High Time Before Read - MIN 0nS".

i didnt see it in the data sheet.
i did see the chip was configurable 8 or 16 bit.
i saw no need to reset the chip, before boot, and suspected the TG16 was beginning boot shortly after reset low.
you can enable the reset button as long as you dont reset the flash chip

[OldMan]

...suspected the TG16 was beginning boot shortly after reset low.

Not an electronics guy, but that makes sense to me. Reset low would indicate a reset state, during which the cpu
would have to fetch the reset vector. So, it would be reading while reset is low, and once the read is complete, it would raise the reset line, indicating reset was done, and start executing the reset code.

Where's Tomaitheous? Maybe he can explain this....

[Frank_fjs]

Too bad the everdrive won't have the plastic coating to make it look all pretty like the neoflash, or will it?

It wont. Too costly to produce.

[Samurai Ghost]

If I can use it on my SuperGrafx I might pick one up just to play 1941 but maybe I can find the a loose before it comes out...

[Nando]

Too bad the everdrive won't have the plastic coating to make it look all pretty like the neoflash, or will it?

It wont. Too costly to produce.

will there be a case for it? what would be the best way to store it? total noob on this end btw.

[gameofyou]

will there be a case for it? what would be the best way to store it? total noob on this end btw.

Mine will come in a small re-sealable antistatic bag.  You can just keep it in the bag when not in use.

[djcouchycouch]

Too bad the everdrive won't have the plastic coating to make it look all pretty like the neoflash, or will it?

It wont. Too costly to produce.

If it's like the other Everdrives, stores will sell versions with cases and other bundled items. Of course, it'll be more expensive. I bought a Everdrive MD for 80$ or whatever it was, but there were versions available with a case and other things for 120$ or 140$.

Like here: https://stoneagegamer.com/flash/genesis/carts/mega-everdrive-x5/


krikzz.com/our-products/cartridges/mega-everdrive-pro.html
krikzz.com/our-products/cartridges/mega-everdrive-x5.html

[grahf]

If you just want a storage case, it should fit in an old laptop PCMCIA card case. It should be thin enough..

[NightWolve]

I PM'ed the creator and asked him about how much is it gonna cost WITH shipping to the USA and he said $85 bucks!!!!! Done deal, I'm buying it!! If it works as expected, that's a very respectable pricepoint! Just hope there are no bugs/issues in the first batch. I'll probably wait though until feedback starts coming in after he starts making a first couple of sales to people, see what they say.

[Nando]

I PM'ed the creator and asked him about how much is it gonna cost WITH shipping to the USA and he said $85 bucks!!!!! Done deal, I'm buying it!! If it works as expected, that's a very respectable pricepoint! Just hope there are no bugs/issues in the first batch. I'll probably wait though until feedback starts coming in after he starts making a first couple of sales to people, see what they say.

Awesome!