hi! guys, just a quick question, how can i play a real cartridge on my pc..? i ve heard about the usb gamereader...is it reliable..? i have a pal game...
if i can, id also ask you an advice, because im going to buy one...which is the best one in youy opinion...? and can I bluemsx good with it..?
Yes, Sunrise USB Gamereader is a reliable device, and yes it works well with blueMSX.
Keep in mind that the drivers are (in PC terms)ancient, it will only work on Windows XP or 2000. Unless Sunrise continues driver support (AFAIK not gonna happen), their Gamereader is useless on Windows 7 or even the already aging Vista.
I think that it is possible with much patience to find an alternative driver on the Net for Vista/Win7, but it will work only on 32 bit systems.
On 64 bit systems, the drivers need absolutely to be signed and the way to circumvent that is almost impossible.
Additionnal infos :
- even on XP with the original Sunrise driver, some new cartridges can't be read by the Game Reader; I guess that one pin of the cartridges is de-activated
- with some megaroms, the loading of the different parts of a game can be very slow with blueMSX, the problem comes from the way the Game Reader works
- on the other side, some games don't work with the MSX-PLAYER version of the Game Reader, but will work correctly with blueMSX
Generally a megarom is when the rom size is higher than 48 kb. Most megarons are 128 kb, 256 kb or 512 kb roms.
For example, Metal Gear is a megarom (128 kb).
Technically speaking, a cartridge has pins that correspond to pins of the cartridge slot.
Check the "MSX Cartridge connector/bus expansion/extension side slot" on this page : http://www.faq.msxnet.org/connector.html
I don't know the trick (hardware is not my speciality), but as some new cartridges work correctly on a real MSX, but are not detected when you insert them in the slot of the Game Reader, I guess that one pin is de-activated in the cartridge.
Well first of all one gets the software msx-player with it. For the megaroms it is better than blue msx , but for the roms till the megaroms blue is better.
Games that donot run in blue are especially the homebrew games of msxdev is my epxerience.
But metal gear works 100%
mars2000: thanks! just curious, if the pin is de-activated, who de-activated it..? is it de-activated by factory..? and another little question, can the cartridge be modified...? if so is there a way to discover if my cartridge is untouched/inviolate? (sorry for my english..) i want it to be pure, and not modified in any way...
sunrise msx pro: ok thanks!! does the gamereader cost much money..? and the driver have to be downloaded or are into a cd rom inside the gamereader package...? thanks guys, thank a lot!
If a cartridge pin is de-activated, I guess that only the maker of the cartridge is responsible for that. I can't answer to the other questions, as I'm not hardware expert.
Concerning the Game Reader : when you order it from Sunrise, it comes with a CD-ROM on which you find the driver and the MSX-PLAYER (version for the Game Reader). The price is € 45.00.
mars2000you is correct, the game reader will work on any 32-bit Microsoft OS, but Vista and up need some tricks. While the tutorial should be still here on MRC, I don't think the required files are... I can provide both if needed.
just in case... s 7 9 "at" l i v e "dot" n l
