I know. If I could flag myself “Off-Topic”, I would. LoL.
On-topic: That’s a shit load of hardware just to play a video game. I love it!
Even though I have a NAOMI kit, I can’t deny I feel jealous after seen your set-up!
Really nice! I think I will start to save money to get mine running…
And it seems like everytime someone post in this thread, I get more questions… so here are the latest:
The NetDIMM should be in a specific version to ensure best results with more games?
Is there any other version with more memory…? I remember someone here stated there is a 512MB that is required to play some games.
I’ve been looking for the games “out there” and I think I’ve found all of them… and I see they could fit in a single SD card… is ok to do this or do I need a single SD card for every game?
3.17 would allow you to netboot but i believe you need 4.01 to do the compact flash. As someone mention in this thread the new Senko No Ronde would be the only Naomi game that is needed for 512mb.
As for your question about the SD Card
Netboot is w/ your PC a SD Card is not needed.
CF Card you will use individual Compact Flash Card.
Raspberry Pi would be the one to use your SD Card & can fit all your games.
I thought 3.03 allowed netbooting as well?
And I think Melty Blood Actress Again also requires the 512mb?
Anyhow, I got the new version of the RPi code in SD card.
I’m STILL running into the same problems where almost all games are rebooting after the “Loading game now…” screen, and giving me the “ERROR 33: Gateway cannot be found” issue. Again, the only games that still work are Ikaruga and Tetris.
I’m going to try netbooting normally via a PC and seeing if I’m seeing the same results.
My NetDIMM diagnostics comes out clean, so I’m really at a loss of what could be the problem. The PIC chip?
Double-post here, but only because I did some more investigation, and as such, I kinda want to bump the thread.
So, I redid some tests.
I tried a few other scenarios:
- Netbooting with transfergame.exe, and my test game (Gigawing 2) reboots at the same spot as when I’m loading it with Piforcetools (ie, right after the “Now Loading Game…” message)
- Netbooting with Python, using Naomi_boot.py, Gigawing 2 loads just fine and I played for a good 10 minutes with no issues
- Went back to Piforcetools, and Gigawing 2 craps out at the usual spot.
So that rules out the issue that my NetDIMM/PIC chip are faulty.
Still have no idea what could be wrong with my Raspberry Pi setup.
Ok, lots and lots of fresh info for me! Thx rcaido for sharing your knowledge!
Now, is hard to update the NetDIMM’s firmware… is this even possible?
It depends.
If your firmware is <3.03, you’ll need to use the GD-ROM upgrade disc. However, from what I’ve been told, the disc is pretty much nonexistent in terms of being shared, so you’ll have find someone who has the disc and offers the service.
On the flipside, if your firmware is >=3.03, you can do it through the network with a PC hooked up to it.
Like @rcaido said:
Minimum of 3.03 (if not 3.17) required for netbooting.
4.01 (official) required for official Compact Flash card use
4.02 (hacked) required for homemade CF card use.
Maybe its your bios? Can you see which version you have?
Also try removing the Security Pic, you really dont need it, its only used for the flashcart but that could be interfering with it if its defective.
My BIOS would be EPR-21576H (Japan); both my Naomis originally had 21577D (earliest US version, I think) but I sent them off to be reflashed, so that’s what I have now.
I tried removing the security PIC, but the problem is, the script being run from the Raspberry Pi doesn’t continually ping the netDIMM (like the way Naomi_boot.py does), so as far as I can understand, I’d still need the PIC chip.
I was recommended to leave the PIC plugged in and netboot using Naomi_boot.py. As per my previous test, this should work with no issues. Then after a few minutes to ensure the game is running properly, kill the Naomi_boot.py script and have the PIC take over. If the game continues to run for 10+ minutes, then the PIC is fine, and there’s something weird with the way Piforcetools from the RPi is doing things. On the other than, if the game craps out shortly (~1min) after I kill the script, then the PIC is at fault.
Unfortunately, I’m at the office, and I can’t check this out until I get home tonight.
As an aside:
Damn, it sucks that I changed jobs at the end of November. If I was still at my previous job, I would’ve brought the RPi and Naomi to my office and tweaked with it there. Hahaha.
*** EDIT ***
So after some troubleshooting, it would seem that there’s a problem with my PIC, as it doesn’t seem like it’s responding well to the ping from the netDIMM properly.
Which sucks, because now I gotta send off my existing PIC to the guy (from another forum) who burned it for me, and he’ll check it out and ship me another one. Which means more waiting time.
Though I suppose I can’t complain too much, since that guy is pretty much doing this for free for me anyways…
I can burn Naomi Bios and Netdimm PIC chips if anyone needs some :D.
I also make JVS voltmeter pass throughs and PSU extension cables :D:
And netdimm booting is total god mode for naomi owners. if you’re not doing it, you’re not pro.
The primary issue is, netdimm booting takes a TON of power. I have a blast city and while it’s possible, I have to crank the PSU’s 3.3v and 5v rails up to the max… makes it a pain.
How in the world did I miss this thread!!! I can’t wait to get my cyberlead running with one of those netboot kits.
I have my NetBoot kit sitting at home waiting to play. I am going to fashion up a cool replacement panel for my Kraylix and shove my Naomi setup in it with the guts of the World Series baseball cab thats falling apart. Using the light up area I’ll install the LCD and then use some if the extra buttons on the bottom for the buttons to control the Kit. Should be awesome when done!
Thanks to TrvistyOJ for hooking us up with the kit!
@Lemony - I have to make some new power cables for my setup, off hand what make is the connector for the Naomi?
YOU ARE IN KOREA, GET BACK TO VACATION!
I was waiting in the airport to get to Busan… Geez!
The Raspberry Pi netbooting setup is doubly cooler when you splice/crimp up a wire to use the 5V pin header on the Naomi filterboard itself to power up the RPi. 
@"Jasen Hicks"
Those power cable headers for the Naomi are of the brand “JST”.
6-pin model number, male plug: JST VLP-06V
8-pin model number, male plug: JST VLP-08V
I only know all that because I need to buy some too.
Thanks Freedom! I’ll be ordering a few when I get home. If you need a few let me know, I can pop a few in a USPS first class envelope for pretty cheap.
@armi0024 - I’m waiting in line to see some historical King Michu artifacts… So don’t get on me for posting up!
Just showing off some pics of my new toy. I just finished it today. It uses a PicoPSU for power. I added an orange LED for the power light. I replaced the case fan with a silent one, I hope I can locate a quiet CPU fan sometime. The controls are being handled by the Sega I/O internally. S-Video is a CXA2075M, as it seems to be highly regarded, I’m going to have to play with the resistor values a bit or just add some RGB pots internally so I can set it just right. VGA still works and it is what I use for video, I just threw the S-Video in for fun. I also managed to stuff the Compact Flash card reader into the Netdimm for a very console like feel. Now I need to print out some cool game labels for the compact flash cards.
EDIT: The Naomi does not play nice with any of the CXA’s (2075/1645/1145) they all have random rolling screens and some funky colors depending on the games played. I’m going to switch it out with an AD725AR since those work well with the Naomi.
EDIT 2: Turns out it was a grounding issue, always double check ground wires, lol. The CXA2075M works fine, I still think 15khz is way to flickery on the Naomi.
http://i.imgur.com/igY90Dl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/qwdwlom.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/fcriXhm.jpg
that’s pretty cool! how did you do it?
I desoldered the 50pin scsi connecter on the Netdimm as well as the IDE connecter on the adapter and then wired it up inside. It’s one of these http://www.ebay.com/itm/40-Pin-CF-to-IDE-Adapter-Compact-Flash-Card-IDE-Hard-Drive-Bootable-/291008485015?pt=US_Drive_Cables_dapters&hash=item43c1751697
NICE.
I’ve been planning to do that myself as well. I have a PicoPSU and Sega I/O coming in the mail for that exact reason.
I’m probably going to pimp mine out a tad more; throw in a couple of @undamned’s UD-USB boards, and put in a full JROK 4.1 for composite/S-Video/component support too, even if I’m not really going to use them much.
Can we get some pics of the intenals?
Great job!