Esquire Fox Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 I purchased a Jaguar CD dev unit earlier this year. The seller mentioned not being able to get it working, so I gave it a shot. The problem was of course the imfamous red screen. After a week of attempting to solve the problem, I put the project down and considered that this BIOS was likely corrupt. However, just this week I came across an article that mentions that the Jaguar CD dev unit must be paired with an Atari Jaguar dev console: http://rdemming.home.xs4all.nl/Atari/JaguarCD/index.htm "If you turn on the Jaguar and the screen becomes red, then you have probably set the CD to the developer BIOS but the Jaguar is set to the retail BIOS." Can anyone here confirm that the Jaguar Console must have a Stubulator (1994) development BIOS to work with a developement CD unit? If that is the case, where can I get an EPROM with the required BIOS installed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+rdemming Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Yes, the CD dev BIOS is an unencrypted ROM and can only be run by a BIOS that skips the encryption check. Thus you must use the Atari dev BIOS (stubulator) in the Jaguar to be able to use a CD dev unit. If you are handy, you can install a flash chip in the Jaguar with the dev BIOS. Would be interesting to test if the CD dev bios can be encrypted and be used on a retail Jaguar. Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esquire Fox Posted December 11, 2012 Author Share Posted December 11, 2012 Thanks for the confirmation. I would like to mod one of my Jaguar consoles with a dev BIOS, but I am unsure of how to obtain the flash chip with the BIOS on it. I don't have any hardware that can interact with EPROMS, so I can't make use of the files provided on the website. Would anyone here be willing to supply a chip with the Stubulator BIOS installed? I'd be willing to pay for the service of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sh3-rg Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 I pulled a stubulator bios out of a stub jag to replace with BJL (why bother soldering when I had a jag sat there with a socketed eprom? ), if nobody else can help I can have a hunt around for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esquire Fox Posted December 11, 2012 Author Share Posted December 11, 2012 Sounds great. Let me know if it turns up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omf Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 (edited) a stubbed jaguar isnt a great deal of use unless you have an alpine, well the debugging features anyweay i think i have somewhere a retail cd bios that has been hacked to run unencrypted discs if that is what you intend to do? i can make the appropriate stub eprom for you if you want, if you want to pay shipping from uk that is? Edited December 12, 2012 by omf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esquire Fox Posted December 12, 2012 Author Share Posted December 12, 2012 Well, considering it is an original pre-production dev unit, I'd rather not mod it. However, since it is socketed, it wouldn't be difficult to just pull out the old EPROM and preserve it. Are there any noticable downsides to using a stub Jaguar? Does it play normal and unencrypted cartridges? I might be interested in both EPROMs, so I can try the easy switch on the CD first, but I'd have the stub BIOS if I ever needed it. Do you have a generalized estimate of how much that service would cost along with shipping? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omf Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Well, considering it is an original pre-production dev unit, I'd rather not mod it. However, since it is socketed, it wouldn't be difficult to just pull out the old EPROM and preserve it. Are there any noticable downsides to using a stub Jaguar? Does it play normal and unencrypted cartridges? I might be interested in both EPROMs, so I can try the easy switch on the CD first, but I'd have the stub BIOS if I ever needed it. Do you have a generalized estimate of how much that service would cost along with shipping? <£10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esquire Fox Posted December 12, 2012 Author Share Posted December 12, 2012 Sounds good. Thanks for offering to help. Send me a message when you get everything together along with the price. As for the payment method, I assume Paypal would be acceptable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omf Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Sounds good. Thanks for offering to help. Send me a message when you get everything together along with the price. As for the payment method, I assume Paypal would be acceptable? pm me your address so i can get an accurate price Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esquire Fox Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 I'm back to provide some closure to this incase anyone with a similar problem comes across this thread. omf kindly provided me a hacked retail CD BIOS which I installed in my Jaguar CD Developement Unit. Now, the Jaguar CD works with my retail Jaguar console. No more red screen of death. I've preserved the original CD Developement BIOS chip incase I ever decide to mod the Jaguar console with a Stub '94 BIOS. Thanks again for all your help! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.golden.ax Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 This thread was a great read and a fantastic show of working together within the Jag community. Keep up the good work! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheath Posted September 23, 2017 Share Posted September 23, 2017 (edited) Hello, and sorry to necro this thread but it is relevant to my recent purchase of a Jaguar CD Development unit. While I'm waiting for it to arrive from the UK I am trying to figure out what I can as to how I can test it when all I have is a Retail Jaguar and a Skunkboard. This thread seems spot on, but I don't see any specifics other than physically replacing the Dev CD's BIOS chip? Is there any way to boot a Dev BIOS from the skunkboard so the CD Development unit can boot? I have found some threads on the topic, but nothing specific to using a Development Unit on a retail Jaguar. In addition to that I am curios what kind of AC adapter I need to test out the CD Dev unit, as mine doesn't come with an official adapter. I have seen various posts about Jag CD working with Sega CD or regular Jaguar AC adapters, but I would rather make sure I have the right one, or at least the right specs. At the moment I do not know whether this unit being from the UK makes a difference for this. Thanks in advance for any and all info. Edited September 23, 2017 by sheath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+madman Posted September 23, 2017 Share Posted September 23, 2017 There's a sticky here that answers your power question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheath Posted September 23, 2017 Share Posted September 23, 2017 Awesome, thank you. Sorry if this post is jumping the gun. I'm just trying to figure things out while I'm off work for once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neo_rg Posted September 23, 2017 Share Posted September 23, 2017 It might be a good idea to get hold of a 'cracked' CD bios. That way you'll have the best of both worlds. Bring able to run both encrypted and unencrypted CD's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheath Posted September 23, 2017 Share Posted September 23, 2017 Depending on the cost I'd be fine with that. Do I understand correctly that the bios in the Jag CD is just a standard IC I can pull out and replace? I haven't fond any pictures of the inards online yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neo_rg Posted September 23, 2017 Share Posted September 23, 2017 Yes yours may be socketed as its a dev unit, pull out and replace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheath Posted September 23, 2017 Share Posted September 23, 2017 Ok, that shouldn't be a problem even if I have to desolder. Overclocking a Genesis was a lot more work. I suppose we are talking about this? https://rdemming.home.xs4all.nl/Atari/JaguarCD/ I suppose it has already been discussed and found impossible to just use the skunkboard to boot my retail Jag into a developer/stubulator Jag bios? I'd rather not damage anything about this developer CD unit and want to keep its full capabilities intact. It would also be simpler to test it and make sure it is working if I'm not swapping out chips before I can even get that far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamus Posted September 25, 2017 Share Posted September 25, 2017 The Skunkboard doesn't map the BIOS ROM space, it only maps out the cart space. So what you want to do is impossible. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheath Posted October 9, 2017 Share Posted October 9, 2017 Alright, the unit is in and I tested it with the all-in-one PSU from retro game supply, both the red jaguar screen I expected. The psu works with my retail jag. So I installed the bios from console5 and now get a black screen with or without the jag CD plugged in to the PSU. I'm thinking of trying my Jag and Sega CD a.c. adapters next but wanted confirmation that a UK Developer CD unit doesn't need some converter or whatnot. Also, if the groups prefers a troubleshooting guide for this I'd like to know it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheath Posted October 9, 2017 Share Posted October 9, 2017 (edited) Stupid phone Edited October 9, 2017 by sheath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+madman Posted October 9, 2017 Share Posted October 9, 2017 The power supply is not likely to be the culprit here. Have you taken the CD apart and cleaned the edge connector extension on both ends? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheath Posted October 10, 2017 Share Posted October 10, 2017 I cleaned the pins on both ends of the board coming out of the bottom of the CD board that plugs in to the Jaguar Cart port yes. I did not remove any ribbon cables and attempt to clean the CD unit itself outside of blowing it with compressed air. Without the top CD plastic on I can see the laser jump when I power on the Jaguar, but only if the CD unit is plugged in to the power too. Out of curiousity, how long should I wait for the bios to load upon startup and should I be able to test the board itself by loading a Jag cart? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+madman Posted October 10, 2017 Share Posted October 10, 2017 Take it apart, there's a long edge connector that plugs into a socket on the Jag CD and the other end plugs into the Jag itself. That took my Jag CD from working 1 out of 20 times to working perfectly. Of course the Jag CD needs to be plugged into power. Not sure what you mean by "loading" a Jag cart. You mean plugging one into the cart slot of the CD? If so, yes, that will verify if the connectivity between the CD and Jag is working, which I suspect it is not based on what you've said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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