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I know this Pi Loader issue occurs on some Naomi games as well as the Atomiswave Games, it does it on Border Down I found when playing about with netbooting.

It doesnt cause any issue for me as I just use a Pi setup to boot a single game and I prefer to leave it with one game and then edit a file on my sd card to change it to another game when I've had enough, much like owning the original games and swapping around every so often. Plus its a lot cheaper than the pi loader solution as there is no screen/control, etc. I've also got mine configured so I don't need a zero key security pic plugged in to boot the games.

I'm guessing the issue is down to the fact that net booting wasn't originally designed to rapidly change games, and some of these games were never originally designed to be net booted either.

I've not looked at how the multi game Pi Loader version works but I'm guessing it sends a command to the net Dimm to restart the Naomi so that another game can be loaded, so this could possibly be an issue with the firmware revision on the net dimm itself. Mine is currently 3.17 and I had issues with it not resetting when I was testing it out.
Hold up, so not only can you netboot some games without having to hard reset the naomi, but you can also netboot without a zero key?????????????
 
FWIW - I noticed that Border Down also doesn't net boot to the next game as mentioned above; so it is obviously not just Atomiswave games. However, I did find out that the Naomi games will load (such as Border Down) upon pushing the test button and then exiting - after you exit it will load the game. So the issue with some roms is the inability of the piloader to notify the net dimm to reset the Naomi and allow the next game to load. For Naomi games; the pushing of the test button automatically reboots the Naomi and thus it will go to the next game. This "work-around" doesn't work for the Atomiswave, however, as the test button does not reboot the Naomi after exiting. If there was a way to reboot the Naomi with the Atomiswave games - it should work to get to the next game without a hard reset of power for the entire cabinet.
If anyone knows how to reboot the Naomi from the Atomiswave game or test menu; I would appreciate it.
 
However, I did find out that the Naomi games will load (such as Border Down) upon pushing the test button and then exiting - after you exit it will load the game.
That is a good tip. I need to walk to the naomi/pi anyway, so pressing the test button to be able to load another game is minor effort.
 
I know this Pi Loader issue occurs on some Naomi games as well as the Atomiswave Games, it does it on Border Down I found when playing about with netbooting.

It doesnt cause any issue for me as I just use a Pi setup to boot a single game and I prefer to leave it with one game and then edit a file on my sd card to change it to another game when I've had enough, much like owning the original games and swapping around every so often. Plus its a lot cheaper than the pi loader solution as there is no screen/control, etc. I've also got mine configured so I don't need a zero key security pic plugged in to boot the games.

I'm guessing the issue is down to the fact that net booting wasn't originally designed to rapidly change games, and some of these games were never originally designed to be net booted either.

I've not looked at how the multi game Pi Loader version works but I'm guessing it sends a command to the net Dimm to restart the Naomi so that another game can be loaded, so this could possibly be an issue with the firmware revision on the net dimm itself. Mine is currently 3.17 and I had issues with it not resetting when I was testing it out.
Hold up, so not only can you netboot some games without having to hard reset the naomi, but you can also netboot without a zero key?????????????
Yes, someone wrote a script that keeps resetting a timer that stops it from dropping out of the game, the script needs to keep running to enable the game to work with a key chip installed, it was a bit annoying having it running on a laptop all the time so I downloaded the single game pi loader and changed it so that it runs the script linked in below at startup from the roms folder on the sdcard and then the script continues running until the cab is turned off as I modified a usb cable to power the Pi from the Naomi.

Then when I want to change game I take the SD card out and edit the naomi_boot.py file to change which rom file to boot to. For conveniece you can use a large card and keep all the roms on there you like and then its just a quick edit to change the game.

The script below needs editing to work on the pi as it is designed to be run from a command line giving the rom name and ip address, basically the variables just need editing in the script with the values instead of getting them from the script being run.

http://www.neo-arcadia.com/~naomi/na-o-mi/naomi_boot.rar
 
FWIW I have been netbooting NAOMI 1 for a while now and probably 1/4 of the NAOMI titles I load require a hard-reboot in order to load another game...

...and I am pretty sure that a few Atomiswave titles DON'T require a reboot (though most do). I am fairly sure that Dolphin Blue doesn't... but I've gotten in to a habit of simply rebooting every time anyway so I am not 100% sure.
 
FWIW I have been netbooting NAOMI 1 for a while now and probably 1/4 of the NAOMI titles I load require a hard-reboot in order to load another game...

...and I am pretty sure that a few Atomiswave titles DON'T require a reboot (though most do). I am fairly sure that Dolphin Blue doesn't... but I've gotten in to a habit of simply rebooting every time anyway so I am not 100% sure.
Same here, I'd guess I've tried a good 80% of available Naomi titles over the last year and a bit (missing tate games and other unplayables on standard controls), and the 1/4 or so needing a hard reset sounds about right. Just the way it is, I'm happy to be playing them at all.
 
Yeah, I don't mind having to do a hard reset either. I find that if I can change games too easily, I flit from game to game like a butterfly with ADD flits from flower to flower: getting some nectar from each, sure, but never enough to satisfy, never taking the time to enjoy.

I even ordered Darkstar's Darksoft's ST-V multi without the rom-changer add-on, just so that I have to swap the pins about if I want it to load another game - I'd never have put as much time into Terra Diver if I hadn't had that restriction.
 
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Ahaha, I always do that for some reason data:image/png;base64,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
 
Perhaps a dumb question, but with so many multi-game kits, etc. available - is it possible to think a multi-game CF card (32 GB) could be created with a menu system to select the games, etc? The CF cards are already available for Naomi 1/2 and Atomiswave use and with a basic menu system one could select any game and exit back as done with other platforms using a HDD or otherwise. Since the Net Dimm is inconsistent for multi game play; perhaps CF is the answer to create a multi-game platform that wouldn't require the swapping of CF cards or Net Dimm. Again, perhaps a dumb question and I am sure it has been discussed before. One can already play them on a one-to-one basis with CF or Net Dimm; which is great so not a big deal, but cool nonetheless to think of a multi game CF card possibility. FWIW.
 
Perhaps a dumb question, but with so many multi-game kits, etc. available - is it possible to think a multi-game CF card (32 GB) could be created with a menu system to select the games, etc? The CF cards are already available for Naomi 1/2 and Atomiswave use and with a basic menu system one could select any game and exit back as done with other platforms using a HDD or otherwise. Since the Net Dimm is inconsistent for multi game play; perhaps CF is the answer to create a multi-game platform that wouldn't require the swapping of CF cards or Net Dimm. Again, perhaps a dumb question and I am sure it has been discussed before. One can already play them on a one-to-one basis with CF or Net Dimm; which is great so not a big deal, but cool nonetheless to think of a multi game CF card possibility. FWIW.
Yeah, I guess one could create a menu that will let you choose which game to load from the CF although that can be already done with the Raspberri Pi.
 
Correct, but it would offer a couple of advantages; 1) for those of use that already have CF adapters AND Raspberry Pi for Net booting - it brings the CF adapter back as a way to do multi-gaming for another cabinet. I would love to use both for a vertical and horizontal cabinet to allow the use of all the vertical Naomi games on one cabinet and the horizontal on the other. 2) As shown on this thread, the Rasberry Pi net booting approach doesn't work for all games without a hard reset and it would seem the CF card process would be more consistent and reliable as a multi-game setup and work for all Naomi 1/2 and Atomiswave games? Again, may not be a "big" deal for most but for those of us with CF adapters it makes them a little more flexible and viable as an alternative to the Rasberry Pi net boot. If it won't be that "difficult" to do; it would be appreciated. Of course, easy for me to say having no knowledge as such to do it. Just some thoughts. Thinking if the Sega Lindbergh can have a multi-game setup with a HDD, the Naomi can have the same type of menu approach with a CF card; perhaps even the exact same menu. In the end; those of us with CF adapters would have just one more way to use them and take advantage of the extensive Naomi 1/2 Atomiswave titles without changing the cards (which can be expensive to buy for each CF card) as well for those of use that don't want to rewrite the cards all the time.
 
To build a menu you basically have to develop "a game" on whatever platform that menu will run, so you if you're doing this for Lindbergh you'd need the skills and tools to develop a Lindberg game. Granted it'd be a very simple "game"; one that just looks at a directory and generates a list, lets you use the inputs to move through that list and then launch the item selected.

Even still, you'd have to go through this development process for every system in which a menu was desired.

This might be easier with NAOMI since the Dreamcast development tools are available (no idea if they also work on NAOMI) But for something like Lindbergh I don't even know if those tools have been leaked.

Not to mention that the skills and techniques used to build a menu like that are completely different than the skills needed to build this hardware that we use to swap games. Like being a painter and playing guitar, some people can do both others cannot.

Darksoft is a smart guy for sure. I don't know what his programming skills are like but just because he develops this hardware doesn't mean he's also the best suited for developing a software menu system to run on it.
 
Perhaps a dumb question, but with so many multi-game kits, etc. available - is it possible to think a multi-game CF card (32 GB) could be created with a menu system to select the games, etc? The CF cards are already available for Naomi 1/2 and Atomiswave use and with a basic menu system one could select any game and exit back as done with other platforms using a HDD or otherwise. Since the Net Dimm is inconsistent for multi game play; perhaps CF is the answer to create a multi-game platform that wouldn't require the swapping of CF cards or Net Dimm. Again, perhaps a dumb question and I am sure it has been discussed before. One can already play them on a one-to-one basis with CF or Net Dimm; which is great so not a big deal, but cool nonetheless to think of a multi game CF card possibility. FWIW.
Yeah, I guess one could create a menu that will let you choose which game to load from the CF although that can be already done with the Raspberri Pi.
I started that kind of multi-game, by using an ssd on cf system.
But haven't go further since netboot can do the work too
 
Perhaps a dumb question, but with so many multi-game kits, etc. available - is it possible to think a multi-game CF card (32 GB) could be created with a menu system to select the games, etc? The CF cards are already available for Naomi 1/2 and Atomiswave use and with a basic menu system one could select any game and exit back as done with other platforms using a HDD or otherwise. Since the Net Dimm is inconsistent for multi game play; perhaps CF is the answer to create a multi-game platform that wouldn't require the swapping of CF cards or Net Dimm. Again, perhaps a dumb question and I am sure it has been discussed before. One can already play them on a one-to-one basis with CF or Net Dimm; which is great so not a big deal, but cool nonetheless to think of a multi game CF card possibility. FWIW.
Yeah, I guess one could create a menu that will let you choose which game to load from the CF although that can be already done with the Raspberri Pi.
I started that kind of multi-game, by using an ssd on cf system.But haven't go further since netboot can do the work too
Netboot needs a 2nd computer or a raspberri. Here the idea is to make a new BIOS/firmware that would list the contents of the CF.
 
OK
I was thinking about an software on cf which is a menu to load games or something.
But in that case, it's quite useless too, since you still have loading time and it's better to swap cf then.

I have already found an solution for loading time, mainly improve it.
That's the main purpose of this

 
Nice with the news of a new firmware with load time improvements. The idea of the CF multi-card would be to avoid the need to physically swap a card and the need to have multiple CF cards (expense). Also, I guess I wasn't sure but if I remove the CF card in the middle of a game and put in another CF card - do you have to reboot the Naomi or entire cabinet to load the new CF card? I wasn't sure it was good to remove the CF card with power on and should shut down the cabinet/Naomi in order to change the card. Perhaps that is not the case, but my practice is to shut down the Naomi before changing the CF card and adds time to the process of going from game to game. FWIW.
 
well hot swapping is not a good thing, since cf card is powered. It's like, but in worse, removing any usb card while using it.
It's safer to shutdown your cabinet.

And afterall, even if it doesn't brick your cf, you have to reload the new one.
 
Sounds interesting Tyler. How much has it improved the load times so far?
 
Cool, anyone have a link for the 4.03 firmware?
 
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