Does the Master System adapter allow for Mark III cartridges?

[Damien]

Does it?

[Matthias_H]

No, since the Mark III pinout is different from western Master System carts. With the right connection, the firmware should support one as well as the other.

[Muzer]

Out of interest, does the same apply to Master System cards, or is that a different protocol? (I haven't actually seen one, they're not particularly widely used )

[Matthias_H]

http://www.smspower.org/maxim/Documents/Pinouts

[Damien]

Any hope of having an adapter for those? Apparently it would also bring compatibility with SG-1000 / SC-3000.
Or an adapter for the adapter



I just found this
http://www.tototek.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_6_12&products_id=74
Is it compatible with the retrode?

[JonY]

I just found this
http://www.tototek.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_6_12&products_id=74
Is it compatible with the retrode?

I have tried several similar products:

• Sega Power Base Converter
• Sega Master System II Converter
• Datel Pro Mega Master

None of these allowed the Retrode to read the SMS cart that I had inserted, and that Tototek product is essentially the same thing.

Two options as to making an adapter for the Master System Card and/or Mark III:

• Make an adapter out of a donor SMS/GG cart and a Master System Card/Mark III cart connector that plugs into the current SMS/GG plug-in adapter. Sitting in between the cart and the plug-in adapter, it would route the signals from the cart/card to the correct pins on the SMS cart edge. I'm foreseeing a problem in that it could be a bit unwieldy
• Make a whole new plug-in adapter from a donor MD cart and the relevant edge connectors, just like the SMS/GG one but wired for Mark III and Master System Cards.

It would be easy enough to try. I am not sure how the information differs from the Standard SMS cart, but there is only one way to find out if it works...

If anyone has a Master System card or Mark III cart they are willing to send my way, I would be willing to make such an adapter to test.

[Matthias_H]

@Jon - So how do PBC and your adapter differ in wiring? Don't have the time to check it myself atm, but here's a schematic:

http://www.gp32x.com/board/index.php?/topic/56748-making-a-power-base-converter/

[Muzer]

Isn't the PBC essentially a passthrough device because the Mega Drive is inherently backwards-compatible with the Master System? If so, shouldn't you be able to read ROMs from the PBC, and so firmware support would be possible?

[Matthias_H]

Possible yes but I have not yet implemented it.

[JonY]

@Jon - So how do PBC and your adapter differ in wiring? Don't have the time to check it myself atm, but here's a

The wiring I used is on the left, and the one from the schematic you posted is on the right. They are mostly the same, but the end of the address lines are different.

Retrode SMS plug-in adapter      Power Base Converter   
----------------------------------------------------------
MD Edge  Signal   SMS Edge       MD CART  PINNAME  MS CART
B20      D00      F14            B20      D00      F14
B23      D01      B14            B23      D01      B14
B26      D02      F15            B26      D02      F15
B29      D03      F17            B29      D03      F17
B28      D04      B17            B28      D04      B17
B25      D05      F18            B25      D05      F18
B22      D06      B18            B22      D06      B18
B19      D07      F19            B19      D07      F19
B17      A01      B13            B17      A01      B13
B15      A02      F13            B15      A02      F13
B13      A03      B12            B13      A03      B12
B11      A04      F12            B11      A04      F12
B09      A05      B11            B09      A05      B11
B07      A06      F11            B07      A06      F11
B05      A07      B10            B05      A07      B10
B03      A08      F10            B03      A08      F10
F04      A09      F22            F04      A09      F22
F05      A10      B21            F05      A10      B21
B04      A11      F20            B04      A11      F20
B06      A12      F21            B06      A12      F21
B08      A13      B09            B08      A13      B09
B10      A14      B22            B09      A15      F23
B12      A15      F23            F06      A18      B19
B14      A16      B20/F08        F09      A21      VCC
B16      A17      B01            F10      A22      GND
F06      A18      B23            F30      !SR      GND
F10      A22      F25            F32      !CI      GND
F11      A23      F24            F28      XXX      F25
F16      /C_OE                   F16      !0E      F24
F17      /C_CE    B19            F17      !CE      B20-F08
B02      +5v      B25
B31      +5v      B08/F03
B01      GND      F16
B18      GND      B16
B32      GND      B15

Incidentally, I only tried my powerbase/master base II/Pro Mega Master adapters when I first got my Retrode. I just plugged SMS Choplifter into the Pro Mega Master and then into the Retrode2, and some chunks of the ROM it produced were the same as the (working) ROM dumped via the SMS plug-in adapter.

It's late, I hope all of that makes sense...