Sega Saturn SD card loader runs via controller port

[mechaMenace]

https://twitter.com/TZMWXdiyer/status/1568676626782887937


This does not look expensive to produce. The modder uploaded the pcb design, which requires little soldering, though some of it is SMD soldering, at which I've never succeeded, though I haven't tried much. If someone produces these, I'd snag it. The PS2 mem card loader I shared on this forum turned out to be a real win @$20 and who knows when that will stop being made.

I'm curious whether it would support multi-player games via the multitap. Boot the device via the multi-tap and use the remaining ports for other players.

[mechaMenace]

Just bought the sucker:
Someone on ebay is selling them $15 shipped to the USA. It may be an early model with a later version getting more improvements, but as is, this can boot ISOs and backup saves to / from SD cards. I might as well take advantage of a prefab while it's available. The software it uses is used for other purposes among the Saturn community, so even if development stops on this thing, it should still work.

That seller also has a bunch of other mods he / she makes from designs on the net, if you want to add anything else to your cart. I'm not afraid of losing $15 even if the seller sends nothing / is a scammer. I sell on ebay all the time and let me tell you, the buyer has the seller by the balls--not the other way around. It is much more of a hassle when a buyer scams you. As a buyer, you can say anything and ebay will force you to refund. Even when a buyer does this multiple times (as reflected by their un-redacted feedback), the buyer account still remains up.

[mechaMenace]

If anyone else is interested, here's the link:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/314297913920

[JerryTerrifying]

That is a really cool development.   I don't know if I'll end up buying one but it is awesome that so many new Saturn piracy methods are becoming available.

[mechaMenace]

Definitely. I'll post something here about my experience when I get around to it. It took a while to get to the PS2 SD loader which runs via the memory card slot. That actually worked well, though I didn't run a ton of compatibility checks. I dloaded iso and booted it. It makes casually checking things out a lot easier.

I'm very appreciative of the people hacking together these solutions that allow you to keep the working optical drives. I do keep a stack of CDR, DVD+/-R but I don't want that to be my primary method for testing things. I'm glad they still turn up at gsales, since I don't want to go out of my way to buy new old stock. BTW, Verbatim's are the best CD / DVD / floppy disk makers.

[mechaMenace]

Got it! I actually got it last week on Wednesday, but only opened it today. That's a little less than three weeks from Spain. I dloaded some ISOs. My hope is time-willing that I can figure out the loader this weekend.

[JerryTerrifying]

Let me know if you like it.  I like the doodads I got from TerraOnion.  They work very well and were easy enough to intal.  It's also easy to add new ISOs.