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Best bios to use with the multigame cart? Problems with Unibios 2.3?

alexupton

alexupton

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Hello, I received my multi-cart the other day and think it's great, but have some strange problems to report.

Motherboard = NEO-MVS MV1FS
Bios = Unibios 2.3
MicroSD = Samsung EVO 32GB. Formatted as Fat32 with SDFormatter on OSX.

Problems:
  1. Corrupt GFX header on the Unibios 2.3 boot screen.
  2. Random "unable to read filesystem" issues resolved by power cycling.
  3. Random hangs at "Initializing filesystem"
  4. Some games crash the Unibios 2.3 at boot.
  5. When Unibios crashes on slot 1, unable to switch to slot 2 or 3.

Questions:
  1. Should I upgrade to Unibios 3.2 or go back to the original NeoGeo bios?
    1. If original NeoGeo bios is preferred then is there a preferred official bios version release I should use?
  2. Should I increase the SD card read timeout from 4 to a higher value?
  3. Are the SD card read issues perhaps related to compatibility issues with Unibios 2.3

Any suggestions on things to do differently would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
 
alexupton said:
Hello, I received my multi-cart the other day and think it's great, but have some strange problems to report.

Motherboard = NEO-MVS MV1FS
Bios = Unibios 2.3
MicroSD = Samsung EVO 32GB. Formatted as Fat32 with SDFormatter on OSX.

Problems:
  1. Corrupt GFX header on the Unibios 2.3 boot screen.
  2. Random "unable to read filesystem" issues resolved by power cycling.
  3. Random hangs at "Initializing filesystem"
  4. Some games crash the Unibios 2.3 at boot.
  5. When Unibios crashes on slot 1, unable to switch to slot 2 or 3.

Questions:
  1. Should I upgrade to Unibios 3.2 or go back to the original NeoGeo bios?
    1. If original NeoGeo bios is preferred then is there a preferred official bios version release I should use?
  2. Should I increase the SD card read timeout from 4 to a higher value?
  3. Are the SD card read issues perhaps related to compatibility issues with Unibios 2.3

Any suggestions on things to do differently would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Hh there!

MAcs are always giving trouble with those dot files. There is a tool called dot_clean. Please use it with your microSD. Also please format your microSD as FAT32 (if you havent done it yet) and make sure you use the highest possible cluster size.

About the BIOS, it's better for testing purposes if you use the original stock BIOS. Definitely worst case a newer UNIBIOS is preferred to an older one.
 
You will get the scrambled logo using the unibios. Unibios pulls the image from the cart in the slot. (Slot 1 on multi slot?) Being that the games need to load on boot the needed data isn't yet there when the unibios is looking for it. It's normal with our cart and unibios. I believe you can just turn off the splash screen if it is bothersome to you.
 
Sp33dFr34k said:
Sounds like the same issues I have with my MV-1F.

@twistedsymphony reported the same issues with his MV-1FS, if you can confirm TS?

FYI, I have tried with unibios 3.1 and the stock bios. Made no difference.

Take a look here for the reports here:

Darksoft Neo Multi Help thread
Click to expand...
From what we are trying now. Something (either menu, firmware or microSD is sending or processing not properly the game list found on the microSD) It it's a firmware or menu thing, we'll release an update. If it's a microSD thing, we'll tell how it shoould be formatted to be sure.
Sorry if that's been asked before, but on which computer are you formatting and is it FAT32 with bigger possible cluster size?

P.S. To everyone please post directly the post to which you want to refer, it will make reading you better. For @Sp33dFr34k case, you just clink on the post number (207) or (175) and share it: Darksoft Neo Multi Help thread and Darksoft Neo Multi Help thread
 
@alexupton your issues are identical to what I and @Sp33dFr34k have reported. In my testing the bios makes no difference I've used an original bios and unibios 3.2 and the results were the same.

What model mvs do you have? I have these problems on an mv1fs and @Sp33dFr34k has them on his mv1f.
 
@alexupton I've used a stock and unibios 3.3 on my mv-1fs and having the same problems as you and others. I brought my cart to a friend yesterday and we put it in his 4 slot cab and it was working better. The issue seems to be with our motherboards. Just give it time and I'm sure they will figure out a fix.
 
APDWaldo6 said:
@alexupton I've used a stock and unibios 3.3 on my mv-1fs and having the same problems as you and others. I brought my cart to a friend yesterday and we put it in his 4 slot cab and it was working better. The issue seems to be with our motherboards. Just give it time and I'm sure they will figure out a fix.
Click to expand...
Out of curiosity did your friend's 4 slot have a unibios?

I have two different model 4 slots and both crash constantly and ignore inputs sometimes with the unibios and the multi, but work perfectly otherwise. I'm curious if this is the case for others as well.
 
There was some glitches which I believe is known with the 4 slots but we didn’t get any crashes. I’m pretty sure he uses the unibios but I don’t know what version he has. We put it in the 2nd slot on the board and left a regular cart in the first slot (I thought I read something about doing it like that in the forums but I might be mistaken as I wasn’t really paying attention because I only own 1 slot motherboards).
 
@APDWaldo6 @twistedsymphony @Darksoft @Sp33dFr34k @Mitsurugi-w

Thank you for your replies.

Looks like creating the filesystem on the SD card with a 128k cluster size has improved the filesystem read times, but the cart menu on cold boot will sometimes still report that its unable to read which is fixed by a power cycle.

I replaced my Unibios 2.3 with an official bios release:

  • Version = sp-u2.sp1 (USA V2)
  • CRC32 = E72943DE
  • SHA-1 = 5C6BBA07D2EC8AC95776AA3511109F5E1E2E92EB
  • Stability has not improved over Unibios 2.3.

SD Card Type = Samsung EVO 32GB - http://a.co/17smWti
SD Card created as Fat32/128k cluster size and hidden files and dirs removed via: newfs_msdos & dot_clean
  • newfs_msdos -v NEO -F 32 -c 128 disk5s1
  • dot_clean /Volumes/NEO/
  • rm -rf /Volumes/NEO/.*

Problems:
  • Magician Lord - Mid-game play reset into boot intro loop. Can break out to a different virtual slot.
  • IronClad - Can switch to IC once and play - Switching back to IC after another game failure causes boot intro loop.
  • Cyber Lip - Can not switch to alternate virtual slot after a complete play through.
  • Menu - Appears that the menu is not entirely alphabetically sorted. Random titles mixed with in titles of a different letters title.
I haven't tried much else under the official bios release but can run additional tests tonight if that would be helpful towards identifying a resolution for those of us with a MV1FS motherboard.
 
alexupton said:
Menu - Appears that the menu is not entirely alphabetically sorted. Random titles mixed with in titles of a different letters title.
Click to expand...
I noticed this too. The menu is sorted alphabetically by title, but the list itself is displaying the rom names. "The King of Fighters xxxx" is in the "T" section, but you're looking at "KOVXX" next to a bunch of rom's that start with "T" in the list. Does that explain what you see, or is it different?
 
alexupton said:
Problems:


Magician Lord - Mid-game play reset into boot intro loop. Can break out to a different virtual slot.

IronClad - Can switch to IC once and play - Switching back to IC after another game failure causes boot intro loop.

Cyber Lip - Can not switch to alternate virtual slot after a complete play through.

Menu - Appears that the menu is not entirely alphabetically sorted. Random titles mixed with in titles of a different letters title.
I haven't tried much else under the official bios release but can run additional tests tonight if that would be helpful towards identifying a resolution for those of us with a MV1FS motherboard.
Click to expand...
Are these the only games you tried or the only problems you found?
 
Darksoft said:
alexupton said:
Problems:


Magician Lord - Mid-game play reset into boot intro loop. Can break out to a different virtual slot.

IronClad - Can switch to IC once and play - Switching back to IC after another game failure causes boot intro loop.

Cyber Lip - Can not switch to alternate virtual slot after a complete play through.

Menu - Appears that the menu is not entirely alphabetically sorted. Random titles mixed with in titles of a different letters title.
I haven't tried much else under the official bios release but can run additional tests tonight if that would be helpful towards identifying a resolution for those of us with a MV1FS motherboard.
Click to expand...
Are these the only games you tried or the only problems you found?
Click to expand...
The only games I've tried after switching to system bios version sp-u2.sp1 (USA V2). I'll try more tonight.
 
Darksoft said:
alexupton said:
Problems:


Magician Lord - Mid-game play reset into boot intro loop. Can break out to a different virtual slot.

IronClad - Can switch to IC once and play - Switching back to IC after another game failure causes boot intro loop.

Cyber Lip - Can not switch to alternate virtual slot after a complete play through.

Menu - Appears that the menu is not entirely alphabetically sorted. Random titles mixed with in titles of a different letters title.
I haven't tried much else under the official bios release but can run additional tests tonight if that would be helpful towards identifying a resolution for those of us with a MV1FS motherboard.
Click to expand...
Are these the only games you tried or the only problems you found?
Click to expand...
Just tried the following with similar results:
  • Virtual slot 1 = Ninja Combat = Working.
  • Virtual slot 2 = Metal Slug 5 = Not Working - Bios boot loop. Can not break out have to power cycle.
  • Virtual slot 3 = League Bowling = Not Working - Reboot loop immediately after "Winners don't use drugs" screen. Can not break out have to power cycle.
@'Darksoft please let me know if there's any specific tests or screen captures that would be helpful.

Thank you.
 
That's not normal. I think you have a problem with your motherboard. I've never seen so many games failing ever and specially with a MV1FS which works well.
 
Darksoft said:
That's not normal. I think you have a problem with your motherboard. I've never seen so many games failing ever and specially with a MV1FS which works well.
Click to expand...
All of my original MVS cartridges work perfectly... For example, my Metal Slug 5 cart and League bowling MVS carts both work flawlessly.
 
alexupton said:
Darksoft said:
That's not normal. I think you have a problem with your motherboard. I've never seen so many games failing ever and specially with a MV1FS which works well.
Click to expand...
All of my original MVS cartridges work perfectly... For example, my Metal Slug 5 cart and League bowling MVS carts both work flawlessly.
Click to expand...
Then it must be the microSD that still holds something from the OSX.
 
Darksoft said:
I think you have a problem with your motherboard. I've never seen so many games failing ever and specially with a MV1FS which works well.
Click to expand...
that's pretty typical of my experience on my MV1FS.

it's not game specific but I get un-escapable reset loops frequently, especially on slots 2 and 3.

Please tell me you have a MV1FS on it's way to you so you can start troubleshooting this version directly.
 
Darksoft said:
alexupton said:
Darksoft said:
That's not normal. I think you have a problem with your motherboard. I've never seen so many games failing ever and specially with a MV1FS which works well.
Click to expand...
All of my original MVS cartridges work perfectly... For example, my Metal Slug 5 cart and League bowling MVS carts both work flawlessly.
Click to expand...
Then it must be the microSD that still holds something from the OSX.
Click to expand...
I just tried the cart on a spare MV-1 motherboard and it appears to be working perfectly. The only issue I've encountered thus far on an MV-1 was the menu music squeaked a few times with a high pitch noise while loading the roms into the virtual slots. I think for now I'll swap out the MV1FS in my cabinet in favor of the MV-1 and keep the MV1FS around for further testing.

@'Darksoft sounds like there are a few users reporting compatibility issues with MV1FS, I'm happy to help run some tests if that will help you isolate the problem.

In the meantime, time to go swap motherboards and play some games :)
 
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