MAPPER MEGARAM 512KB not reading SD Card correctly

Resident (40)

25-04-2020, 20:47

Dear MSX Enthusiasts,

happily I received with an MSX also two cartridges mapper/megaram 512kB.
One of those works fine.
The other does not recognice the SD Card.
For tests I used always the same SD Card. Tests I've done with two different SD Cards.

I was assuming a bad contact in the SD Card socket. So I opened the faulty one and removed the sockets. Cleaned and resolderd back again. But still no luck.

I checked the voltage of the voltage regulator. It meets exactly 3.3V.

While booting it says: "nao identificado" on the faulty one.

When I try to fdisk using the faulty cartridge it shows following image:

https://nextcloud03.webo.hosting/s/JQo2AXndw9S4gkB

It is speaking with the SD Card, however it does not understand.

Any Ideas?

The next queston would be:
The cartridge speaks italian to me. On github I found the source assembler code, where

strNaoIdentificado:
   db "Unknown!",13,10,0

in english language written.
How can I write the hex file into the flashROM of the cartridge?
There's a JTAG interface on the board. Does this apply just for the CPLD oder also for the flashROM ?

I hope I managed to put the picture in and could express my question good.

Would be happy if you could guide me the next steps to get the second cartridge working.

Thank you.

Here picture of both cartridges:

https://nextcloud03.webo.hosting/s/J8MpHQLcft6iKMw

By pgimeno

Champion (328)

26-04-2020, 01:44

What size is the SD card? I don't know if that cartridge supports exFAT, and maybe the SD is formatted in exFAT.

By Grauw

Ascended (10821)

26-04-2020, 03:57

Nextor does not support exFAT nor FAT32, it must be formatted FAT16.

Also there are different SD card standards, SD (FAT16), SDHC (FAT32) and SDXC (exFAT), and it could be that the Mapper MegaRAM 512K only supports the first or first two. I know the 1chipMSX originally did not support SDHC, even if it was formatted as FAT32, until support for it was added to the FPGA, so they differ not just in terms of formatting. Not even sure any of my SD interfaces supports SDXC atm.

However if consistently one interface does and the other does not accept SD cards at all, it sounds like a malfunction and I would contact the manufacturer for support and possibly a replacement. For the Italian language too, because it’s quite strange to have that when selling to an international audience.

By SvaboMSX

Resident (40)

26-04-2020, 09:43

Hello,
thank you for your thoughts.

The SD Card (2GB) is formatted with three partitions
1 - FAT12 (16MB)
2 - FAT12 (16MB)
3 - FAT32 (1.8GB)

Maybe it is better to get into touch with the manufacturer.

Thank you and best regards

By ray2day

Paladin (752)

26-04-2020, 11:51

Quote:

The SD Card (2GB) is formatted with three partitions
1 - FAT12 (16MB)
2 - FAT12 (16MB)
3 - FAT32 (1.8GB)

Are you sure?
Cause some PC/Mac's automatically change the FAT (unwanted/not notifiying you) when a SD card is insert...

By SvaboMSX

Resident (40)

26-04-2020, 13:26

Yes.
I have partitioned with cfdisk /dev/mmcblk0 on linux.
Put these partitions and used mkfs.fat /dev/mmcblkp1 then p2 then p3 for formatting these.

One card is fluently running. I don t understand why the second cartridge behaves differently.

By SvaboMSX

Resident (40)

26-04-2020, 13:34

Here is a screenshot of the used SD Card.

call-fdisk-shows-this

sorry... I wrote before FAT32... I meant writing FAT16

How can I embedd pictures in this forum? I need to put always on a next cloud ...
hm.. miracles.... ;-)

By pgimeno

Champion (328)

26-04-2020, 14:05

Oh wait, yes you said one of them works with the same SD card. Yes, probably a defective cartridge, and contacting the manufacturer is the best route to take.

By gdx

Enlighted (6437)

26-04-2020, 14:13

Delete all partitions with your PC then create them with CALL FDISK under BASIC.

By SvaboMSX

Resident (40)

26-04-2020, 14:31

Hello,

@gdx Have done as you proposed. Still no luck.

after starting with faulty cartridge and calling fdisk it tells no suitable device attached to driver.

I'm sad. But I will wait .. maybe I will receive a mail from fractal.

Thank you... in case somebody has additional ideas.... ;-)

Best regards

By Pentarou

Hero (563)

26-04-2020, 18:52

SvaboMSX wrote:

The cartridge speaks italian to me. [...]
How can I write the hex file into the flashROM of the cartridge?

It's Portoguese and to write the ROM (not the hex) you use the program SDMUPD.COM

Quote:

There's a JTAG interface on the board. Does this apply just for the CPLD oder also for the flashROM ?

CPLD only, the FlashROM is updated via the DOS tool mentioned above.

Contact the manufacturer. I believe he'd tested it before shipping, but your card seem defective.

Alternatively there are a few things you can try:
1) From the photo the Card seems poorly made, examine the soldering of the CPLD pins.
2) Reflash the ROM, and if you can, the CPLD.
3) Check if the 25MHz clock is OK and if the SD signals (SD_MISO,SD_MOSI,SD_SCLK,SD_SCO) are connected between the card slot and the CPLD
4) Swap the SD_CS0 and SD_CS1 signals