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Action Replay Plus problem
wildzero - Jun 23, 2002
  wildzero Jun 23, 2002
I am trying to boot up Street Fighter Zero 3 with the Action Replay Plus cart, but it stops at a screen with japanese text. I am pretty sure it is asking for a 4MB memory expansion, which the Action Replay Plus should provide. Anyone run into this before? Possibly a cart gone bad? Thanks!

 mal Jun 23, 2002
Do you have an Action Replay Plus or an Action Replay Plus 4M?

The former has 1MB expansion only.

 wildzero Jun 23, 2002
I have an Action Replay Plus 4M which I bought from lik-sang.

There seems to be plenty of defective cards about from reading what others have to say in other threads.

Cheat entry works, game save backup works, region select works, just not the memory expansion. Buyers beware.

 ExCyber Jun 23, 2002
The AR4M+ could be better. I experience minor graphical glitches in Samurai Spirits 4 (I've heard that minor glitches in 1M SNK games are exceedingly common with the AR4M+), and severe glitches in SFZ3 (which seems to work fine for most people). Strangely enough, Vampire Savior works flawlessly. As long as we're on the subject of AR hardware glitches, does anyone know what the "Vampire Savior fix" actually does? I'd imagine that it enables some type of mirroring, but I don't know enough about the hardware to be sure, and the pictures I've seen show only the specific points that need to be modded and not how they fit into the circuit.

Anyway, if the game isn't detecting the expansion RAM at all, I think it's most likely a problem with one of the PAL chips; the detection procedure is supposed to involve triggering an "identification" byte read, and AFAIK the PAL chips are the only components in the AR4M+ that are capable of responding in the appropriate way.


  
	
	

		
		

			Cheat entry works, game save backup works, region select works


It's much less likely for just one of these to fail (compared to all of them failing or just the expansion RAM failing), because they're all software-based and share the same hardware.

 ajnin Jun 23, 2002
i have a Action Replay Plus 4M, with the switch at the front. i got 2 from lik-sang and one was faulty .. the other was ok..

you might want to try this. open up the place case and just insert the cart into your saturn. this made the faulty one work alittle better...

 wildzero Jun 24, 2002
tried to insert the cart without the case but still no go. mine is autoswitch though.

I'm pretty sure now that I have a lemon on my hands.

Now... the question becomes: what cart should I buy for RAM expansion purposes? this... or this?...

Also, would the seemingly official saturn 4MB cart work with games that require 1MB expansion as well?

Thanks a lot for the help everyone.

 Ace of Shades Jun 24, 2002
This is just a suggestion, but I have seen this a few times before. Are you sure it's not that you haven't run out of system memory rather than not having a 4mb RAM cart recognised?

Also I've had the 4mb AR Plus corrupt my saturn system memory before, once it corrupts the memory it usually won't let you play any games until you entirely clear it. Backup what you can of your system memory then clear it all off the system. It's worth a try rather than buy another

 klakalou Jun 24, 2002
i bought one brand new from a import shop and it was defective, did same thing as yours. get a refund, thats what i did.

 ground zero Jun 24, 2002
I bought 2 and one was defektive.

The other one works fine, but i didnt try the 1M or 4M Function yet.

Multinorm does not function with Panzer Dragoon Saga, Game stops and screen says i have to pull out the cartridge :-(

The Backup Memory Function freezed on my 20 Pin Saturn Console with both modules, but works fine on the 21 Pin Model (my white Saturn console, ) Maybe it doesnt work with 20 Pin Saturns?

 wildzero Jun 24, 2002
Doh! lik-sang will not do refunds for products which you have recieved for more than 10 days... sux to be me.

 Shakey Jake33 Jun 26, 2002
While we're on the subject of AR+4M carts, when running Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fughter in APL mode with this cart, It runs horrid, jerky in everything including the audion, glitches everywhere, half the level not appearing, it's certainly not playable. Yet it runs fine on my Japanese Saturn. I know I'll have to fit a 60hz switch, but I just wanted to check if I was the only one to get this problem?

 mal Jun 26, 2002
It's a 50/60Hz issue alright. To get it to run properly on a PAL Saturn you'll need to fit a switch.

It certainly isn't isolated to you.

 Shakey Jake33 Jun 26, 2002

  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by mal@June 26 2002,14:12



It's a 50/60Hz issue alright. To get it to run properly on a PAL Saturn you'll need to fit a switch.



It certainly isn't isolated to you.


It's a major bitch cause I broke my last PAL Saturn in an attempt to fit a 50/60hz switch, so I'm certainly not gonna try it again (only just managed to find a new one a few days ago, fot the pricy sum of £4! Advantage of being a Saturn fan )..

I have a White Japanese Saturn, but it's sorta screwed...I get loadsa wavey lines on the screen before smoke comes out of the Saturn a few mins later...I have no idea why (Yup, i'm using Stepdown)... >.<