NeoGeo CD SD Loader

edd_jedi

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Well, a year after joining the waiting list and three months after receving a defective unit, mine is finally up and running :glee:

I have to say a big thanks to James from Bytes Free for not only doing the install, but also persevering with the troubleshooting and eventually fixing the board. After literally months of messing about with different SD cards and various other dead ends, it turned out the CPU socket was faulty, he had to remove it and replace with a new one. It's a shame it took three months to figure it out, without much help from furrtek.

Here's some photos of the install and the console finally working:

1.jpg2.jpg3.jpg4.jpg

I do have one question, I have noticed a few later games are throwing the 0003 disc error, which I believe is copy protection. I thought that only applied to the CDZ? Mine is a top loader. I can get hold of the patched CDZ versions, but am just confused as to why they are needed on my earlier console.
 

edd_jedi

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I do have one question, I have noticed a few later games are throwing the 0003 disc error, which I believe is copy protection. I thought that only applied to the CDZ? Mine is a top loader. I can get hold of the patched CDZ versions, but am just confused as to why they are needed on my earlier console.

I just tried the 'NGZ Patched' version and that is also throwing the 0003 error. The game is King Of Fighters 98. Anyone else having trouble with this game on the SD Loader?
 

titchgamer

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I just tried the 'NGZ Patched' version and that is also throwing the 0003 error. The game is King Of Fighters 98. Anyone else having trouble with this game on the SD Loader?

I will give it a shot when I get back home.
 

edd_jedi

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OK, thanks for trying. It does say on the SD Loader FAQ page that some games will throw this error, but using a 'patched' image should solve the problem. But the patched BIN/CUE I tried still errors. Might try a few other copy protected games to see if it's just this one.
 

edd_jedi

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I reported the above issue to Furrtek via email and to my surprise he responded right away. The solution is to 'acquire' patched versions of the game that not only boot on a CDZ, but also patch the 'in-game' copy protection. I found some of these files, and they do indeed work. So thanks to Furrtek for the solution. I obviously can't post the links here, but if anyone is having trouble finding the correct patches of their games, drop me a PM.
 

edd_jedi

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Latest news update on Furrtek's website:

January 2nd 2021:
The cutoff date for registering in the waiting list is set to January 31st 2021.
Registering after this date will not be possible.
This will allow me to finish going through the waiting list and then move on to new projects.

If you want to purchase a loader after this date, you'll have to wait for the clearance sale which will happen during May 2021.
After that, I'll cease production and sales of new kits. This page will be updated with links to new sellers if there will be any.

http://furrtek.free.fr/sdloader/news.php

So if you want one, get an order in ASAP. Despite the manufacturing and communication issues, they are a great bit of kit.
 

Burning Fight!!

NIS America fan & Rent Free tenant
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Wow, didn't expect it.

You didn't expect it because you already have yours :lolz::lolz::lolz:

I've registered in June and only today I got the email from Furrtek to order one, and I'm honestly surprised he's actually gonna honor the wait list, I kinda had given up on one last month. I'd certainly not blame him for dropping people since it's pretty apparent it's one dude doing something as a hobby but swamped with orders.
 
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edd_jedi

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Well as promised the waiting list is now closed, but two bits of good news - he has released the code so hopefully others can continue to update it:

https://github.com/furrtek/NeoCDSDLoader

And also it says firmware 0.8 released, although I don't see it for download anywhere. Might have to compile it ourselves from Github.
 
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titchgamer

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The new firmware is on his site.
http://furrtek.free.fr/sdloader/support/firmware.htm


Cool update :)

Firmware v0.8b (Updated 1st February 2021 - For top-loaders)
After updating, versions must be: MENU:0.8 MCU:00.08 CPLD:00.02

Changes from v0.7:

Feature: Soft DIPs settings in in-game menu
Feature: Increased games limit to 200, added warning message if exceeded
Feature: Loading speed increased by 9%
Feature: Save file deletion in save load menu
Bugfix: Many cheats now work correctly
Bugfix: Game list is now cached, less waiting for it to load
Bugfix: Crashes during loading due to timeout with some SD cards
Bugfix: CDDA 'click' when playing the first track after loading
Candy: Option to keep the original startup animation
Candy: Drop shadow on menu font, better readability with custom backgrounds
Candy: Keep selection cursor on last loaded game when exiting to menu
Candy: Game name and current region setting shown in in-game menu
Known bugs:

CDDA tracks sometimes start playing a bit too late.
Samurai Spirits RPG does not load.
 
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I reported the above issue to Furrtek via email and to my surprise he responded right away. The solution is to 'acquire' patched versions of the game that not only boot on a CDZ, but also patch the 'in-game' copy protection. I found some of these files, and they do indeed work. So thanks to Furrtek for the solution. I obviously can't post the links here, but if anyone is having trouble finding the correct patches of their games, drop me a PM.

I am hitting DISK ERROR 003 on Super Sidekicks 3. I don't see any patched versions of it around.

I am not asking for the patched version, but I am asking if you've seen it while you were searching?

What an awesome device this is.

Edit: 003 errors not device's fault. Posted edited to reflect that.
 
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nikoskon

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It says on his site that he will be selling off any remaining boards in May, so keep an eye on there.

Will do, but i also noticed that he has placed all the files (gerbers etc.) on his github, so if all else fails, i'll build myself one. Its an option.
 

edd_jedi

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I am hitting DISK ERROR 003 on Super Sidekicks 3. I don't see any patched versions of it around.

I am not asking for the patched version, but I am asking if you've seen it while you were searching?

What an awesome device this is.

Edit: 003 errors not device's fault. Posted edited to reflect that.

No sorry I haven't seen SS3. I also haven't been able to find Robo Army or KOF98. Hopefully now the code is open source somebody will remove the copy protection, I don't really see why it was left in as if the purpose of the SD Loader is as a 'backup device' rather than to steal games, dumping your own CD of these three games will not work anyway unless the protection is removed.
 
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madman

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I still have yet to scoop a top loader, but I saw in addition to the 9% speed increase in .8b he had a 25% speed increase in .7. Of course a 9% increase over a 25% increase isn't much, but I'm wondering how the speeds compare to the CDZ now. From the couple speed comparison videos on YT vs a regular top loader I'm guessing it's already faster than the CDZ.
 

edd_jedi

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I still have yet to scoop a top loader, but I saw in addition to the 9% speed increase in .8b he had a 25% speed increase in .7. Of course a 9% increase over a 25% increase isn't much, but I'm wondering how the speeds compare to the CDZ now. From the couple speed comparison videos on YT vs a regular top loader I'm guessing it's already faster than the CDZ.

The home page states it is 4x faster than the single speed drive, so that means even upon initial release it was already twice as fast as the double speed CDZ. These recent speed increases potentially bring it to 5 or 6x faster than stock? It certainly feels much faster.
 

madman

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The home page states it is 4x faster than the single speed drive, so that means even upon initial release it was already twice as fast as the double speed CDZ. These recent speed increases potentially bring it to 5 or 6x faster than stock? It certainly feels much faster.

It's too bad the ODE doesn't fit in the CDZ, the top loader is just so enormous compared to the compact CDZ. Oh well, it's nice to have the option available. Now someone sell me a top loader for cheap, PM me thx.
 
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