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Jaguar CD Development Unit - Red Screen


Esquire Fox

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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?

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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

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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.

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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 by omf
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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?

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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

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  • 1 month later...

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!

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  • 4 years later...

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.

 

JagCDDevUnit_Serial.jpg

Edited by sheath
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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.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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.

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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?

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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.

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