Replacement hardware for the Katana devkit

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Replacement hardware for the Katana devkit

Post by T_chan »

[This is a summary of years of posts from Assemblergames, ported over since it is closing, and summarized for the ease of use]

WORK IN PROGRESS

SCSI Cable
SCSI cable with male-male HD50 connectors, usually 2-3 meters long (6-9 ft).
Example of shop that is still selling new cables: Winford (USA)
Connected between the "SCSI-A" port on the devkit and the SCSI pci card on the PC.

SCSI Terminator
2 Active SCSI terminators with HD50 male connector, to connect to the "SCSI-B" & "For GD-WRITER" ports.

SCSI Card for the PC
Recommended hardware according to the SDK: Adaptec 2940U SCSI PCI
Compatible hardware:
  • AHA-2940 - 10 Mbytes/sec max card
  • AHA-2940AU - 20 Mbytes/sec max card (Note that due to the devkit limitations, you will not read those speeds, but the transfer speed seems to be a little bit more stable with this card)
  • Adaptec SlimSCSI 1460 PCMCIA - revision 'D' - confirmed by Dreamcast in the post below.
  • Adaptec USB2Xchange - tested OK by Dreamcast on a real Windows 98SE installation, cfr the posts below. Windows 98SE in a VM has problems though.
  • basically, any SCSI card with external HD50 connector should do, but the 2 cards mentioned above have a Windows7/10 driver, cfr other post in this forum.
  • Avoid Adaptec 2940 SCSI cards with a W or UW (eg 2940UW), those do not have a HD50 connector, so you will need an adapter & test it for yourself to see if it works. The SDK mentions also the 2940UW though (with adapter).
Serial Cable
TODO

C1/C2 Cable
TODO

Extension Cable
TODO - probably this cable, but not tested yet

Video Cable
On a SET5, locate the 4 dip switches on the front panel marked as "DIP SW".
The 2 most left switches select the video output (from left (SW1) to right (SW2)):
- VGA output connector: SW1 UP, SW2 UP: regular VGA cable
- RCA (yellow) connector: SW1 DOWN, SW2 DOWN: regular composite (RCA) cable
- S-Video connector: SW1 DOWN, SW2 DOWN: S-Video cable
- (? not tested) VGA output connector to (?) SCART: SW1 UP, SW2 DOWN: RGB output (NTSC/PAL) - custom cable ?

Midi Cable
TODO - explain self-test

Harddisk
Original hardware: Seagate Medalist ST34520N, 4.55 GB - 8bit data bus - 5 to 10 Mbytes/sec
(TODO: add notes about formatting & partitions)
Replacements:
  • SCSI2SD SCSI-SD adapter:
    V5.0a - confirmed by T_chan. File transfer speed: 1.3 MB/s
    V5.1 - confirmed working on a SET4 by Jackhead.
    V6 - early revisions / firmware might have issues. Tested by Sizious, who worked with the creator of SCSI2SD to fix this.
    V6.02 - confirmed working by Sizious. File transfer speed: 2.3 MB/s

    TODO: settings and speed test
  • CF AztecMonster SCSI-CompactFlash adapter: (obsolete). Tested by Jackhead - working.
  • SD SusanoMonster SCSI-SD adapter: replacement of the CF AztecMonster, but nobody has tested that yet with a Katana devkit.
  • AztecMonster II SCSI-SATA/SSD adapter: (obsolete). I couldn't make this work with the devkit, might need to test more in the future.
  • ARS-2000SUP SCSI-SATA/SSD adapter with frame: expensive, but working (I tested it with a recent Samsung SSD), and it comes with a nice metallic frame that fits the devkit perfectly. Don't hope to have any speed advantage compared to the SD/CF solutions though, the devkit seems to be the limiting factor.


GD-ROM drive
The GD-ROM drive of the Katana devkit can be replaced by the GD-ROM drive of a normal dreamcast. The cables are somewhat shorter on a normal dreamcast, but that isn't a problem.

GD-ROM drive latch
Original hardware: TODO
Compatible hardware: Self-test chip
Original hardware: ST M27C160-100F1 16Mbit UV eprom from STMicroelectronics
This eprom can be physically removed from the devkit, and erased via UV light, and reflashed via a universal programmer like the TL866/TOP3100 (TODO: check compatibility)
(TODO: normally not reflashable via SCSI, only the bios/flash can be reflashed via SCSI ?)

Front Panel - Rotary Switch
Original hardware: Rotary DIP Switch JAE 42J 34GT-E

Power Supply
Original hardware: Bestec Power Electronics Corp Model ATX250
Replacements: TODO ? rechargeable battery replacement (ML2032) with socket, cfr jackhead's post here
Last edited by T_chan on Sun Jul 07, 2019 1:07 am, edited 6 times in total.
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Re: Replacement hardware for the Katana devkit

Post by Dreamcast »

I can confirm that the Adaptec SlimSCSI 1460 PCMCIA also works and is a great option for people with laptops that have a PCMCIA slot. Note: be sure to get the 'D' revision as it comes with the correct HD50 cable. You can tell which is the right one because on the front of the box it says "With Windows CE Support" and will list the cable on the side of the box.

I will be able to test the Adaptec USB2Xchange soon with the Dev.Box. This cable converts from HD50 Fast SCSI to USB 2.0. The major advantage of using a SCSI to USB adapter is that a lot more host system options become available without relying on PCI or PCMCIA. For my testing so far, I was able to install Windows XP in a virtual machine and pass the USB2Xchange through to it from the host machine. This way, you can have legacy support within a modern environment.
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Re: Replacement hardware for the Katana devkit

Post by T_chan »

Thanks for the info ! Looking forward to the results with the USB2Xchange :)
Post updated.
Any specific reason to use a VM with XP on it ?
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Re: Replacement hardware for the Katana devkit

Post by Dreamcast »

The USB2Xchange has been tested with a Set 5 Dev.Box and these are the results:

Windows 98SE: This OS was avoided because it lacks native support for USB 2.0 (what the USB2Xchange is). It is, however, possible to get USB 2.0 support in a Virtual Box environment using these drivers. There may be better / more stable drivers, but these are the ones I found to work first. I will update if a better solution becomes available. If you try to downgrade the VM in VB to use USB 1.1, the USB2Xchange will be detected every time, but when you try to install its drivers the OS will lock up. Once all the drivers installed, the SDK applications were able to communicate with the Dev.Box.

Windows 2000: This OS works if you install SP4 as it then has USB 2.0 support, however, for an unknown reason, the ASPI driver and the USB2Xchange driver cannot communicate and you will get ASPI manager / SALSA failure errors. You will still be able to access the HD's contents via the adapter as it shows up as a drive under "My Computer."

Windows XP: This OS supports USB 2.0, however it has the same issue Windows 2000 does with the ASPI driver not being able to communicate with the USB2Xchange driver. You will still be able to access the HD's contents via the adapter as it shows up as a drive under "My Computer."

Note: ASPI 4.71 and the latest USB2Xchange driver were used for this testing on all OSs.

>>> EDIT / UPDATE: <<<

There's a major problem with the 98SE setup. Codescape works fine. I can send programs to the Dev.Box and it communicates fine. GDWorkshop and the capture tool (for screenshots) cause the adapter to crash immediately on their startup. The only way to recover is to force close them / restart Windows and unplug / plug the adapter back in. DACheck works to initially see that the two sides are present, but running the test causes the same crash about halfway into it. So far, I have eliminated:
  • Needing a power supply for the USB2Xchange. I used a 5V / 1A supply and it didn't make a difference. It appears the device either gets sufficient levels from the USB port or SCSI port (the adapter can switch between the two as needed for power).
The next step is to determine if the USB driver was the issue. I've read that Windows ME natively supports USB 2.0, so I'm going to try getting Windows ME setup.
Last edited by Dreamcast on Mon Jun 17, 2019 11:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Replacement hardware for the Katana devkit

Post by T_chan »

Was the DA recognized by Windows ?
(ie, do you see the DA in the device manager ?)
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Re: Replacement hardware for the Katana devkit

Post by Dreamcast »

T_chan, yes, both show up correctly and Windows even tries to find a driver for it, which I choose to ignore since there isn't one. I found someone else who was trying to use the USB2Xchange with a non-gaming related device and they too couldn't get it to work with ASPI on an NT kernel OS (2000/XP). Funnily enough, they ended up getting the same 1460D PCMCIA adapter I tried and it worked for them on 2000/XP.

I'm adding an update to my initial results. I haven't been able to determine the cause, but GDWorkshop, running the tests and the capture utility all cause the adapter to crash.
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Re: Replacement hardware for the Katana devkit

Post by T_chan »

a pity...

Things I would try (if not done yet):
- use 2 terminators on the devkit
- disconnect the HDD from the devkit, and put the DA on SCSI id 0 (to try to see if it's a problem of multiple devices, or driver/command issues)
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Re: Replacement hardware for the Katana devkit

Post by Dreamcast »

T_chan, I've been using two active terminators on the Dev.Box from the beginning. I haven't tried one device on the chain, but that's a good idea.

The odd thing is that Codescape seems to work great, which I would have thought would have been the problem application since it's constantly polling the Dev.Box.

The interesting thing about DCCAP.EXE (the capture utility which is one of the programs that crashes the adapter) is that it has its own DLL called "DCASPI.DLL". It's worth a look into it as there is some crazy stuff in there. It mentions "babel.cpj" (the Tower of Babel demo project), it says the internal name of the DLL is "KATANADA.DLL", it mentions the SEGA Saturn and "cartdev"... just some weird references.

It doesn't look like it is its own ASPI implementation as it references WNASPI32.DLL. DACheck and GDWorkshop don't use DCASPI.DLL as far as I can tell, so there's no immediately apparent commonality between the applications.
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Re: Replacement hardware for the Katana devkit

Post by Dreamcast »

Update: Windows 98SE was installed on a laptop (no VM). ASPI 4.71 was installed and when the USB2Xchange was attached, it was recognized by Windows and the downloaded drivers installed without issue. DCCAP.EXE worked as expected and captured a screenshot from the Dev.Box. Both the D.A. and GD-M tests were performed using DACHECK and both systems passed (green at end).

I suspect the problem under the VM was a bad driver for VirtualBox's USB controller under Windows 98. Additional testing will be done to find a suitable controller driver as my ultimate goal is to be able to connect to the Dev.Box using the SDK tools run within a VM through the USB2Xchange and to the Dev.Box.
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Re: Replacement hardware for the Katana devkit

Post by T_chan »

Fantastic news, big thanks for the info !
I suppose then a real Windows7 & 10 installation would work with MekugiAspi too.

Main post updated.
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Re: Replacement hardware for the Katana devkit

Post by Quzar »

I'm working on trying to set my dev box and GD Writer up again for the first time in years and figured I'd report some of my details.

I'm trying to connect this to a Windows 2008 SP2 (32bit, not R2) workstation. I have a number of scsi cards connected for other devices and wanted to test a Tekram DC390 with the units but had no luck finding compatible drivers (if anyone has some, I'll retest) so I defaulted to an AHA-2940U2 (BIOS v2.11). The active terminators used are old Sun units that I yanked off some Solaris boxes years ago (text on them says "Regulated 150-1785-02").

The hard drive that came with the unit never worked, and at this point I don't even know where it went (I bought it in '06 or so). Back when I got it I had installed a wide to SCA adapter to use a cheaper SCA drive. It seems that either it was misconfigured or non-functioning as with that drive Windows would not boot with the unit attached and I couldn't get any other response from it. I ended up replacing it with a drive I found: IBM DCAS-32160 (2160MB). It's my understanding that the standard 4GB drive was partitioned to have a 2GB fat32 partition for the workshop, so I figured this would be suitable and it seems to be recognized fine.

One of the bits that might be novel for these was my choice for ASPI dlls. I went through testing quite a few and had problems with the most common ones different versions of the 'official' adaptec ones did not work. I ended up using Ratoc's 2.02 wnaspi32 implementation. Seems to work fine and DA check shows up green.

I am looking for a few answers though that maybe one of you has:
1) Is that device at ID0 normal? I'm thinking that perhaps I don't have the hard drive configured with the right ID.
2) I can't remember, or find how to set the system to just read a regular GD. 4th dip down, DA checker set to 'OS Mode'. Got it :)
3) Is there any method for dumping/reading a GD-R via this hardware? I have a number of them that I've never taken the time to dump, including one that might be just blank/unwritten.
Attachments
Ratoc v2.02.PNG
GDWorkshop via Ratoc v2.0.2 ASPI.PNG
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