What's new
By:
Filters

Regular Dimm Owners w/4.02 FW - GDROM Compatibility Question

RealMFnG

RealMFnG

Legendary
Joined
Mar 27, 2016
Messages
5,015
Reaction score
4,525
Location
NorCal
I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but can anyone else out there with a regular Dimm, that formerly ran 1.xx firmware, now running to 4.02 firmware, if this renders the GDROM no longer compatible with the Dimm? I just got my regular Dimm back from @Mitsurugi-w. He performed the update to 4.02 for me. I don't have my CF reader ready just yet, so I am just trying to run GDROM games. But I can't for the life of me get it to work with the GDROM any longer. I get error:

Error 22
Communication error occurred between main board and option board.

I confirmed all my stuff works as I have other Dimm's that are still running 1.02 firmware. Seems odd that the GDROM would no longer work after the update to 4.02. Probably academic in the long run, but just want to know to be sure.
 
Sounds like something is loose in your DIMM. Press everything together tightly.
 
I took the Dimm apart. Gave some spray of Simple Green. Washed it under the sink. Poured distilled water over it. Air hosed it down with the compressor. Now it is drying in out in the hot spring air under some shade. Will swab the board contacts after it is dry for good measure.

But I don't know if that is it. Here is what I did:
  • Installed another 1.02 regular Dimm into same Naomi and connected GDROM, Pic, etc. It boots perfectly
  • Re-installed 4.02 Dimm into same Naomi and connected GDROM, Pic, etc. Get the same error; ruling out that it is an issue with the Naomi, I/O, PSU, etc
  • Swapped SCSI daughter board from 1.02 regular Dimm into same Naomi and connected GDROM, Pic, etc. Get the same error
  • Swapped SCSI daughter board from 4.02 regular Dimm to Dimm running 1.02. Booted without issue; ruling out it is a daughter board issue
  • Swapped SCSI daughter board from 4.02 regular Dimm with NetDimm ethernet daughterboard, I am able to connect to a network
What I am going to do now is to take my 4.02 NetDimm, which was upgraded to 4.02 via netbooting rather than surgery, then swap the ethernet daughter board for a SCSI daughter board and check the results.

Still the question remains if someone has a regular Dimm that was 1.02 firmware, then upgraded to 4.02, if they can still use their GDROM with it.
 
So after installing a SCSI daughter board from a regular Dimm and installing that board onto a NetDimm, replacing the ethernet daughterboard, I get no boot at all. Reversing the daughterboard swap and both boards function normally. The regular Dimm can run a GDROM. And the NetDimm can netboot. All of this is done on a the same Naomi setup with the same I/O board and PSU.

Probably a moot issue. But if anyone with such a regular Dimm running 4.02 fw and GDROM handy, can confirm the same, it would give me peace of mind. Now to get my DIY CF card reader working. Fingers crossed.
 
I've used gd-rom with 4.02 and it loads fine.
 
Error 22 is either a loose connection between the dimm pcb and daughterboard or the dimm and motherboard. Could also be a bad buffer but it worked fine here when I had it.
 
Mitsurugi-w said:
Error 22 is either a loose connection between the dimm pcb and daughterboard or the dimm and motherboard. Could also be a bad buffer but it worked fine here when I had it.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I know. But I can assure you, everything is seated correctly. My DIY CF card reader is getting the same error too which really blows. I am looking at this French eBay auction here, and the guy claims he had the firmware surgery done by a professional too and is getting the same error. Weird.

I am going to do two things:
  1. Remove the top casing of the Naomi to see if that allows the daughter card to seat better. Not sure if this helps though since even with this error, upon entering test mode I can successfully test the Dimm memory, with it errorring out when checking the GDROM (of course)
  2. Swap out Naomi's. I got 3 others I can play with.
Will keep you posted.
 
acblunden2 said:
Remove the top casing of the Naomi to see if that allows the daughter card to seat better. Not sure if this helps though since even with this error, upon entering test mode I can successfully test the Dimm memory, with it errorring out when checking the GDROM (of course)

Swap out Naomi's. I got 3 others I can play with.
Click to expand...
So I did this, still no luck. Even used a Naomi 2, same problem.
nem said:
I remember glstar having issues with his modded DIMM boards as well:

Sega Normal Non NET Dimm Upgraded to 4.02 - Problems....
Click to expand...
Yeap, that is me in a nutshell. I have all those symptoms. Switching daughter boards with a NetDimm and using netboot, it works perfectly, yada, yada, yada. I cleared network settings with the NetDimm's daughtercard, everything. When he mentions he gets a black screen, I solved that by switching SCSI cables only to encounter the Error 22 code. Maybe even glstar is the owner of this eBay auction.

The only think I can think of is to go from a multi-region BIOS to a single region BIOS.@'Mitsurugi-w' before I go through this trouble, can you confirm if your Naomi is multi-region? Or are you using a single region BIOS, if so, which region?
 
N2 with multi

If you want to send it back to me for testing please do so. I can even replace the buffer if need be.
 
Same. Tested it with an N2 and multi bios as well. Same results. Will take you up on that offer. But need to see if I can work out the kinks with the CPS3 cart you worked on for me too.
 
I'm not the owner of that auction.
I don't have error 22, but i have many many times black screen.
Then maybe sometimes it boot fine.
But this is totally unreliable.
I tried to swap daughter card, scsi cable etc...but i've never manage to understand why sometimes it boot but many many times not.
All those problems are only on Naomi hardware.
Works just fine in Chihiro and Triforce.
Would be great if Mitsurugi can take a look at it.
I'm sure of a bug in fw 4.02.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top