SD card interface for Yamaha CX5M?

Resident (33)

15-07-2015, 03:53

Hi! I am brand new to MSX computers and would really like to find a SD card interface (or something similar) so I can fully use my new computer!

Are there interfaces that will work with the CX5M? What is recommended?

Thank you!

By Fabf

Champion (266)

15-07-2015, 06:29

Hi
The big problem is that CX5M is only 32KB ram and MSXDOS needs 64KB.
You have to find 64KB am expansion first.

By sd_snatcher

Prophet (3659)

15-07-2015, 14:15

Your best choice is the MegaFlashROM SCC+ SD 512KB. This fantastic combo cartridge features:

- SD Interface
- 512KB RAM expansion
- MegaROM emulator
- Floppy drive emulator
- SCC+ soundchip
- Extra PSG soundchip

You can buy one at the MSX Cartridge Shop.

Is your machine a CX5M or a CX5MII? If it's the latter, it can be easily upgraded to MSX2, opening a whole new level of gaming and software. Roughly speaking, the difference from the MSX1 to the MSX2 ia comparable to the difference between the Playstation-1 and the Playstation-2.

By Wierzbowsky

Guardian (3606)

15-07-2015, 16:04

Checked the prices in the shop. IMHO this MegaFlashROM is very expensive! I would agree to pay 60-70 euros for it, but not 150. That is the price of a good MSX2 computer. So no go for me...

Quite soon there will be a similar cartridge for MSX that supports both floppy drives and CF cards on one board. The first version will not have a RAM expansion, but that may be added in the future. The cost of making such a cartridge is maximum 20 euros. Soldering may be a bit tricky though, especially for the CF card slot.

By anonymous

incognito ergo sum (116)

15-07-2015, 20:05

Alexey wrote:

Checked the prices in the shop. IMHO this MegaFlashROM is very expensive! I would agree to pay 60-70 euros for it, but not 150. That is the price of a good MSX2 computer. So no go for me...

Being a hardware developer as you are, your opinion is quite poor suggesting that MSX Cartridge Shop is directly fooling us. Is is unfair to pay for a great idea, development and quality product? And the previous investments? According to your comments, we always should pay for the physical part of any product only. Really? Everything can be cheaper of course! Just grow your own potatoes and watermelons at home from now on and you will save a lot of money.

Seriously, is everybody able to design and make one of the best piece of hardware ever made for MSX? NO. This cartridge revives all those plain MSX computers without FDD or enough RAM memory that we had inside our cabinets, we have a lot of them. On the other hand split the cartridge into just 3 parts (SCC, SD interface and 512K RAM expansion) and it's clear that buying these 3 cartridges separately now (even second hand) you would pay almost the same. We are not only paying for a black box but for an awesome idea.

By Grauw

Ascended (10768)

15-07-2015, 19:22

I can only say positive things about my MegaFlashROM SCC+ SD 512K. One of the best and most used purchases for MSX I’ve done recently.

I use it in combination with my CX5MII as well, the presence of 512K and Nextor means it can run MSX-DOS2, even though it’s an MSX1 computer! And it offers so many other useful and convenient features…

Yes it’s not really cheap, but it completely replaces multiple cartridges + a slot expander. It gives any regular MSX a similar feature set to the 1chipMSX. Well worth the money.

By Wierzbowsky

Guardian (3606)

15-07-2015, 20:16

PAC wrote:

Being a hardware developer as you are, your opinion is quite poor suggesting that MSX Cartridge Shop is directly fooling us.

Where exactly did I say that the MSX Cartridge Shop was "directly fooling us"? What I said was that the cartridge was too expensive for me and I was not going to buy it. And note, that was IMHO. Google the abbreviation please.

PAC wrote:

According to your comments, we always should pay for the physical part of any product only. Really?

Also where did I say that we should pay only for the physical part? I just mentioned the approximate physical cost of OUR new cartridge. Of course the real price will be higher. But people must know how much we invest into pure hardware.

I think you are trying to put your thoughts into my mouth, which is quite irresponsible. You can charge whatever you want for your hardware products - whatever you feel right after taking into account all the investments and time. And people have the right not to buy your stuff if they think you put a too high price tag on it.

By Pac

Scribe (7011)

15-07-2015, 20:28

Alexey, in no case to put words into your mouth was my intention. You know that in forums it's easy to misinterpreting what the other person wrote and your last post could be confusing for a newcomer as eebuckeye giving the idea it is not worth paying such a high price for the MegaFlashROM SCC + SD cartridge, that was my feeling. Now it's clear, my apologies.

By Wierzbowsky

Guardian (3606)

15-07-2015, 20:36

PAC wrote:

Accepted, no problem. I also think that this cartridge is quite nice and full of good functionality. And that its developers put a lot of effort into it. Just the price tag isn't right IMHO. They could have sold 10 times more of them if the price would not be that high. I would gladly buy one for sure.

By eebuckeye

Resident (33)

16-07-2015, 18:55

So I would need to buy the MegaFlashROM SCC+ SD 512K for my CX5M because it has the memory expansion installed, correct? Otherwise I would need to expand my base system to use the one without memory added?

By Grauw

Ascended (10768)

16-07-2015, 19:10

DOS1 requires 64K non-mapped RAM (no subdirectories, max 112 files).
DOS2 (Nextor) requires 128K mapped RAM.

As the CX5M only has 32K non-mapped RAM as Fabf mentioned, it doesn’t have enough to run either. A CX5MII is relatively easy to add more mapped memory to with an internal expansion board, but a CX5M does not have an internal mapper so you need an external mapped memory cartridge, or some more complicated surgery. So, the MegaFlashROM SCC+ SD with 512K RAM is the best option.