openMSX preparing SD card for real MSX

1. openMSX simply puts all sector data behind each other, exactly like IDE disk images, SCSI disk images and plain floppy disk images. I never tried it, but I guess it works when dd'ing it over to a flash card.
2. It's exactly like how it's done on real hardware. So just follow the manual of the MFR SCC+ SD. But perhaps this helps: https://www.msx.org/wiki/Emulating_MEGAFLASHROMSCC%2BSD_with... (see also https://www.msx.org/forum/msx-talk/openmsx/how-configure-meg... )

Why are you fighting with XML's? Just plug in the MFR SCC+ SD cartridge in the turboR, like you did on the real machine. Ah, maybe you wanted to change the size of the SD cards. Yes, for that you will have to change the XML file, or explicitly use the hda/hdb commands (or -hda/-hdb command line options) to put in an explicit SD card image with the size you want. Then you don't need to change any XML unless you want this permanent. Let me know what you want exactly.

We don't have the rights to ship that firmware with openMSX, so there's nothing we can do about that... In any case, you're right: it is like real hardware, but with a blank flash ROM

Your suggestion to be able to automatically load a content of the flash is interesting. I don't think such a ROM image exists though, someone would have to make it. I don't think it's currently possible to directly load a ROM image into a flash ROM device.

Still, the solution is very simple. The flash ROM content needs to be remembered by openMSX, of course. So it is stored in a file. You can of course simply put a prewritten file (the "ROM image", if you will) there and the flash ROM will immediately have that content. So, simply get such a file from someone and put it in the right location. By default here:
~/.openMSX/persistent/MegaFlashROM_SCC+_SD/untitled1/megaflashromsccplussd.sram (on UNIXy systems) or C:\Users\<user name>\Documents\openMSX\persistent\MegaFlashROM_SCC+_SD\untitled1\megaflashromsccplussd.sram whereby <user name> stands for your Windows login name. This file is automatically created when you start up with the extension for the first time, so you can replace it with a 'filled' one after that (no need to create any new paths then).

Regarding Sunrise IDE: I don't think it can be flashed from the MSX, but I'm not sure about that. In any case, in openMSX that ROM is modeled as a non-flashable (normal) ROM. It's a different situation from the MFRSCC+SD though, because the flash contains both the kernel stuff ("ROM") and an area where you are supposed to flash software in to run.

Ah, so you do not have the right to distribute the firmware. I have a working MFR inside OpenMSX but then I guess distributing the .sram file would be illegal to because it contains the firmware as well, am I right?

I think searching for such a file would be very useful for beginners. Creating a harddisk image with all the firmware on it and then flashing it to the (emulated) MFR is quite a hassle when just starting with MSX and/or OpenMSX. Using such a file as a start gives a working MFR without the need for creating an HD image and flashing. If msxcartridgeshop (or maybe Konamiman?) could even distribute that file online, I guess that would fix the problem of not having the right to distribute the firmware as well.

I finally had time to flash the MFR, but I have some trouble partitioning the disk. It seems to detect wrong size, being unable to write on it. My SD cards are looking this way in the config:

SDcard1.sdc
4096


SDcard2.sdc
100

I'm also using the portable trick:

@echo off
setlocal

SET USERPROFILE=%~dp0Data
SET OPENMSX_USER_DATA=%~dp0Data\settings

start "" /WAIT /B "%~dp0\openmsx.exe" -script sdide.txt %*

If I call DEVINFO.COM:

And trying to partition results in the following: