custom firmware for sega flashback 2018

Pruts3r · Jul 20, 2019

rrifonas said:
Firmware on post #171 is custom, atgames never updated the EU version, so it's the US update merged with the EU theme. The games work better but it doesn't fix the sound and some speed issues with PAL games.

Well used the firmware for some time now and here are my experiences so far:

Custom MD firmware with GX from message 171: got about tab, retained megadrive look and logo, sd card works and most games run. Sound is lagging behind. A big fat full second on PAL games but on al the other games (inclusing preinstalled on the flashback hd itself) also noticeable sound delay. Few tens of a second but still. Other than that sound is perfect and not destorted or anything. Graphics look great. (Tried the sound with desert strike, dynamite heady, james bond, Ecco, Mickey castle of illusion and many more. James Bond gave me the clearest way to check delay since when he jumps the landing sound is realy clear and clearly later than the landing took place)

Tried the official flashback zone firmware (which i can now download since i got the about tab now): now got genesis logo and everything else is the same as custom firmware. Games run, sd card works bit sound lags behind (a lot on PAL games but also noticeable on preinstalled and US/JP roms).

Last night i figured is give the firmware from 171 a go but now the MD version with Picodrive: megadrive logo is back, about tab still there, sd card still works and games still run great but now sound delay is GONE on US/JP and preinstalled games. It is spot on! Exactly without delay. Only PAL games still got their full second delay in sound but al others are fine now. (The moment ecco land in the water you hear the woosh sound and when Bond his shoes touch the ground the sound is there spot on) So all is perfect now? No... Picodrive has some destorted sound on a few games. Havent tried al the 130 roms yet but on ECCO and ECCO T.O.T Ecco’s boost sound is off and sounds weird.

Of course i switched the menu music off and tried OVERDRIVE mode on and off.

Anyone else got the same experiences as me with GX and Pico?

I will keep on trying more games with pico and report back when i find more with sound glitches.

ranja81 · Jul 25, 2019

Anyone get sound on mega cd games to work. I get sound effects but no music

rrifonas · Jul 26, 2019

I'm not sure, but I think the original firmware will only load .bin files, so it's only reading the first track without even look at the .cue file. The custom firmware can read .cue files and it will load games with multiple files and also CHD files, which are much better to manage than images with multiple files.

ranja81 · Jul 26, 2019

rrifonas said:
I'm not sure, but I think the original firmware will only load .bin files, so it's only reading the first track without even look at the .cue file. The custom firmware can read .cue files and it will load games with multiple files and also CHD files, which are much better to manage than images with multiple files.

I'm using your custom firmware and it is reading it from a zip file, if I were to decompress and just add the files do you think it would read from there? I'm using the game manager as well, do you know whether that would still work fine, I guess it would as I would just set it to pick up the cue file.

rrifonas · Jul 26, 2019

Yes, unzip the files. I didn't know that zip files worked...

ranja81 · Jul 26, 2019

rrifonas said:
Yes, unzip the files. I didn't know that zip files worked...

They seem to. I've only tried them on Mega CD games and they seem to work just without Music. I did try one without all the music tracks broken down separately, so a zip with an iso and a cue and a couple of other files however that was the same and played no music. I'll try unzipping the files and see what happens.

ranja81 · Jul 26, 2019

rrifonas said:
Yes, unzip the files. I didn't know that zip files worked...

So tried that but didn't work. The game manager doesn't look for cue files so I set it to look for the zip then unzipped and changed file names so they were all the same but once I put the SD back in the megadrive the game image didn't show up and the game didn't start

WheelerMD · Jul 27, 2019

Hi,

this is my first post...

I have the mega drive 2018 SD and im trying to add extra games. I have fully read this post and found it extremely useful but im struggling to get master system and mega CD games to work.

I have tried both custom firmwares from post 171 and neither seem to work for me.

They appear when i turn the mega drive on and i can select them but when i go to play them i get a black screen and return to the description screen.

my roms are .sms .cue or .chd

Any suggestions would be helpful.

thanks

rrifonas · Jul 27, 2019

ranja81 said:
So tried that but didn't work. The game manager doesn't look for cue files so I set it to look for the zip then unzipped and changed file names so they were all the same but once I put the SD back in the megadrive the game image didn't show up and the game didn't start

Search for chdman and convert the images to CHD, I didn't use the game manager with Sega CD games but I can tell you that audio CD works fine when loading games from the SD Card.

WheelerMD said:
Hi,

this is my first post...

I have the mega drive 2018 SD and im trying to add extra games. I have fully read this post and found it extremely useful but im struggling to get master system and mega CD games to work.

I have tried both custom firmwares from post 171 and neither seem to work for me.

They appear when i turn the mega drive on and i can select them but when i go to play them i get a black screen and return to the description screen.

my roms are .sms .cue or .chd

Any suggestions would be helpful.

thanks

Looks like the games have space in their names, that's the most common cause for this error. Remove the spaces and try again, the console doesn't like spaces and some special characters.

ranja81 · Jul 29, 2019

rrifonas said:
Search for chdman and convert the images to CHD, I didn't use the game manager with Sega CD games but I can tell you that audio CD works fine when loading games from the SD Card.

Tried chd man but the game tries to start then goes black and goes back to the main screen. Normally they would start up fine from the zip. Any other suggestions? I must be doing something slightly wrong.

ranja81 · Aug 1, 2019

So after quite a bit of testing last night I find that the picodrive versions cannot play chd files at all even with the bios files included. I've also found no way of getting picodrive to play music on mega cd games whether this is in bin cue format, zip or cue img.

The genesis gx version plays them fine but obviously cannot play 32x.

DoctorEvil8 · Aug 8, 2019

ranja81 said:
So after quite a bit of testing last night I find that the picodrive versions cannot play chd files at all even with the bios files included. I've also found no way of getting picodrive to play music on mega cd games whether this is in bin cue format, zip or cue img.

The genesis gx version plays them fine but obviously cannot play 32x.

Sega/Mega CD will play the music in games with the PICO emulator. Add both the CUE and the BIN file to the SD card, but have to point to the CUE file, not the BIN file in the allgames.ini file. You will get the music this way.

stewartlegg1971 · Aug 21, 2019

Hi there...
Im using the latest pico drive version...and im getting graphical glitches on most 32x games... is this normal??

Alphons Potters · Aug 21, 2019

rrifonas I just noticed noq that the picture of the Mega Drive logo when you use the Custom Firmware has cut off when you select the ABOUT section.
Can you fix this please? It's very small. Thanks buddy!

rrifonas · Aug 21, 2019

Alphons Potters said:
rrifonas I just noticed noq that the picture of the Mega Drive logo when you use the Custom Firmware has cut off when you select the ABOUT section.
Can you fix this please? It's very small. Thanks buddy!

I don't know if I can fix it. I'm checking here and the logo is in the same place as the other pages...

Alphons Potters · Aug 23, 2019

rrifonas said:
I don't know if I can fix it. I'm checking here and the logo is in the same place as the other pages...

Weird... because I am using the Mega Drive firmware (not the Genesis) and I though you maybe photoshopped the about section in it). But O well it's a small graphical error.
Just wanted to let you know

rrifonas · Aug 23, 2019

Alphons Potters said:
Weird... because I am using the Mega Drive firmware (not the Genesis) and I though you maybe photoshopped the about section in it). But O well it's a small graphical error.
Just wanted to let you know

The About section was "photoshopped" with Paint. My eyes are not so good, but I can see the logo is on the same position as the other files in the EU version.
I can provide you the original files (US page and one page with the EU logo) if you want to change it.

Alphons Potters · Aug 23, 2019

rrifonas said:
The About section was "photoshopped" with Paint. My eyes are not so good, but I can see the logo is on the same position as the other files in the EU version.
I can provide you the original files (US page and one page with the EU logo) if you want to change it.

It's on the same position buddy but look CLOSE to the right part. There is a small section cut off when you go to the ABOUT section

Alexmegadrive1985 · Sep 1, 2019

Hi sorry I am confused about updating the firmware. I have just bought a UK Megadrive Flashback HD from Argos. On Atgames website the firmware is for the Genesis Flashback so it must be for the US version? In the menu system for my console it already shows SD card in the menu. Do I need to update the firmware to play roms on sd card or does it do it straight out of the box? Could someone please direct me to thr UK firmware? Thanks in advance!

dcuk7 · Sep 1, 2019

There is no "UK firmware", AtGames only offers updated Genesis-branded firmware. If yours shows SD card on the menu then you have everything you need to play ROMs from the card.

I would suggest taking a look at my game manager app if you want to customise your console with box art (the standard SD card option from AtGames doesn't support box art). @rrifonas made a custom firmware that allows games to be added to the main menu. He also created them with both Genesis and Mega Drive logos so you can pick the one that matches your region (although this is only cosmetic, the actual firmware is the same no matter which you have).

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