Multible Naomis?

[nio]

I read some stuff that you can link multible naomis for more power. What games make use of that option? What is it good for?

 

[jassin000]

I only know of 4 games that could make use of the "multi-Naomi" config...

Airline Pilots
F355
F355 2
Strike Fighter

I've never actually seen the mult-Naomi board, I believed you could link normal Naomi's together basically making the same thing.
However according to System16.com...

"The multiboard is 4 NAOMI boards plugged into a central motherboard. If you plug multiboard software into normal motherboards, it runs at approximatly half speed and the sound is very low (but the music plays at normal speed)"

So I guess that's a no go then?
As you NEED that "special" central motherboard?

Multi-Naomi PCB

As for its use, I believe it was only to drive the multi monitor/video output of these games...

 

[twistedsymphony]

So the deluxe versions of Airline Pilots and Strike Fighter had 3 CRTs each, and each monitor got it's own NAOMI (since it needs to generate 3X the graphics). There were normal single monitor versions of these games that only used 1 NAOMI.

F355 Challenge 1&2 went a step further. the normal, single monitor F355 Challenge NAOMI was a special version had 2 NAOMI mobo's in the same housing for double the power. AFAIK it's the only game like this. Then the triple monitor deluxe version had even more (I'm not sure exactly how many)... so yeah, that's a lot of NAOMIs.

From what I understand other games wont run on these setups, and even if they did, they wouldn't benefit from the extra power because they wouldn't be programmed to utilize it.

 

[jassin000]

Then the triple monitor deluxe version had even more (I'm not sure exactly how many)

The theoretical hardware limit is said to be 16 Naomi's, no idea if Sega ever actually used that many for anything.

 

[twistedsymphony]

I think F355 Challenge supported 4 players. no idea if you could link 4 deluxe cabs together... that would be something though...

 

[MetalliC]

Then the triple monitor deluxe version had even more (I'm not sure exactly how many)...

F355 Deluxe uses 4 NAOMI mobos, 3 of them output video, 4th is main game.

there is one more game series which uses multi - Derby Owners Club.
main/server unit in this games is 2x mobo muli, both output video to big screens.
satellite units is regular NAOMI1, connected via fiber-optic network.

The theoretical hardware limit is said to be 16 Naomi's, no idea if Sega ever actually used that many for anything

that seems to be not correct. this thing designed to be 1x master mobo, and upto 3x slave mobos, so 4 max.

 

[twistedsymphony]

The multi-board units like F355 and Derby Owners club connect together differently than the Fiber-Optic network correct?

I think maybe Jassin is confusing the network linking from the multi-board setups.

 

[MetalliC]

F355 and DOC uses common communication board (840-0001E / 837-13489), same as many other games.

but yes, it possible was used by Sega PR people to show big numbers, 16x mobos if linked 4x F355 DX cabs (however I'm not sure if this game supports 4x network players ? 2x for sure)

 

[Darksoft]

Like these ones

 

[Dache]

That's a little bit pornographic.

I notice the BIOS on there says 'EPR-21864' - is it a custom BIOS? Anything interesting known about it?

 

[MetalliC]

I notice the BIOS on there says 'EPR-21864' - is it a custom BIOS? Anything interesting known about it?

yes its custom. have custom visuals, non-standard multiboard handshake/protocol, in the rest its a REV C NAOMI 1 BIOS.

 

[Gakman]

One day, if talented someone can check differences of this F355 custom BIOS C with standard BIOS C, and check differences between BIOC C and H, he can build a F355 custom BIOS H, to use a DIMM board on multi-Naomi . And I'll kiss him for that (or not if he don't want ).
Because I have only 3 F355 and 1 F355-2 stacks. I can't play 4 players game, or twin F355-2.

 

[MetalliC]

@Gakman I've told already - the difference is multiboard handshake/protocol.
i.e. at some point master board boot bios then game from rom, while rom-less slaves boot to bios and waiting for commands from master, so both game and slave's bios have to use same 'language' to understand each other at this moment.
F355 have it not the same as normal BIOSes, moreover it is even different in versions - old-nolink-DLXonly is not same as later DLTwin or F355-2

to get that you want game code have to be modified to 'talk' on regular bios multi-protocol.

 

[Gakman]

Yes I know. And I understood it's a hard work but it can be done, too. I have only twin cabs and stacks.
But it's a kind of challenge, since I can buy another F355 "twin" stack to play 4 players, and keep 1 F355-2 for solo play.