SEGA Mega Drive / Genesis (Project Lunar) Hack Update Part 3

SEGA Mega Drive / Genesis (Project Lunar) Hack Update Part 3

By in News

 

Hi all, just a small update on the project as we are still being asked for more news. Because we are busy with the project, this will be just a small (unstructured) blog update. We will just bullet point things that have happened since the last blog post so apologises on the quality of post.

  • Things are full steam ahead as have now gotten our hands on the EUR/JPN/US models and have managed to dump them all and learn all of their secrets and stuff we needed to know. Yay!
  • We are still working on the best way to inject the mod. We have a Custom Kernel almost there so that’s currently still being worked on.
  • Currently a lot of work is being piled into the payload (the meat of the hack) so far we have coded up and tested:
    • Enabling RNDIS – Added SSH + SFTP support
    • Added fully loaded busybox
    • Enabling NAND RW access
    • Disabling ROOT password
    • ZRAM Compression optimisation
    • Fixed the clock speeds to 1.344ghz
    • Added MOTD + other ssh helpful stuff
    • Full kernel backup and FileSystem backup
    • On console repartitioning and FS setup for more internal storage
    • Added RetroArch 1.7.9 with working gamepad support
    • Other stuff and things
  • We did a full test run with the 1.344ghz clocking by leaving a MD mini clocked at 1.344ghz running for 48hours running rom demos via the stock m2engage emulator. We never exceeded 48c and SSH+SFTP remained open without crash so we believe this is more than viable and safe to use. (That being said we won’t take any responsibility for any damage it may cause and it will be an optional toggle if you wish to use the “Blast Processing” mode.)
  • We asked the members on the discord for a couple of games that had lag spikes in and we recorded a couple of videos running them at 1.344ghz and it appears the lag went away. You can find those videos here:
  • To Answer a people regarding 32x and Mega CD. Yes it’s possible and feasible, here was a demo of 32x games running on the MD mini at stock 1.0ghz for a base level test. (We was going to do a megaCD one too but had bad image at the time)

So, there is a lot going on right now and the project is still underway so please don’t panic if we aren’t posting updates everyday. Again we aren’t going to rush this, set any deadlines or make any big promises. If we are the first people to release a hack then great, however that’s not our aim, our aim is to get something out that on day 1, people will be able to appreciate.

If you haven’t already, jump in the discord where you can discuss about the Megadrive or ask any of the devs questions here: https://discordapp.com/invite/8gygsrw it’s also nice to have the community discussing and keeping the chat rooms buzzing!

Lastly two open questions for you all…

  • Check our the ASCII logo above image. Can you do better with our Project Lunar logo? The requirements is that it must be ascii, max 38 char wide and 12 lines high. Send them in comments below!
  • If you also check the screenshot you will also see the available space on the NAND as it currently stands in MB. It’s not a lot… Also each save state can take upto 850kb and it works out to 3/4 of the DATA partition. We want to offer a no USB solution however our gut feelings is that it would be safer and easier (also ware out the nand less) if we did a small payload on console and have the roms/cores/ra loaded on a USB in a number of ways:- USB drive via OTG cable out back
    – USB drive via one of the front ports (limited to one controller)
    – USB drive via a hub in either OTG or front portI know this is a downer for some however due to the layout of the nand OOTB and how the stock UI/Emu operates it won’t give us much of leg room to work with. This being said we will still endevour to make internal only a viable solution. The question is…Is this a big game killer for you? If so let us know. If it turns out all of you only want internal only then we will look into this with more urgency.

Thanks again for all your support!

ModMyClassic

Mod My Classic

40 Comments

Steve Posted on2:48 pm - 3rd October 2019

Thanks a lot guys! OTG Support would be preferred to using the front port for sure.

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Espiox Posted on2:57 pm - 3rd October 2019

Thanks for the progress update! Personally I would prefer internal rather than USB.

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Harland Posted on3:06 pm - 3rd October 2019

Personally, I would prefer a non-usb solution, but am totally understanding if it can’t be done.

Thanks so much for the great work folks!

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Sergiohulkie Posted on3:19 pm - 3rd October 2019

I prefer to charge the roms un internal mode. I don’t like more usb and cables out the console 😔
Congratulations for the job!

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Pedro Albino Posted on4:23 pm - 3rd October 2019

External USB All the way

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Duke Nukem Posted on4:33 pm - 3rd October 2019

Bitchin’

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    admin Posted on12:14 pm - 9th October 2019

    Bitchin’

    Reply
Himeno Posted on4:45 pm - 3rd October 2019

Can you post the list of roms from the EU modell

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    admin Posted on12:13 pm - 9th October 2019

    check our classic mods reddit for the full list

    Reply
Javier Posted on4:52 pm - 3rd October 2019

Hi.
Thank you very much, first of all, for investing your time in a hack for everyone.

I have read that you are thinking that it is only a hack for OTG, and I would like to ask you if it is not too much trouble, that the option of recording and keeping the games in the internal memory in the style of the SNES mini also be maintained, I think a lot People would appreciate it.

Thanks again for everything again, and best regards

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sahasrahla Posted on7:26 pm - 3rd October 2019

OTG support would be perfect, thank you for your hard work!

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Jon Posted on11:41 pm - 3rd October 2019

I think I’d probably wait for the internal option, if that meant less games being able to be added to the console.

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Himeno Posted on12:06 am - 4th October 2019

Please Make a Rom list of the roms that are on the EU modells

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    admin Posted on12:13 pm - 9th October 2019

    check the classic mods reddit page or discord – sega dev channel

    Reply
Alex Posted on1:15 am - 4th October 2019

Great work so far! hopefully you can keep the same colors of the stock UI (blue) rather than white. I think the blue original color looks the best. I wonder if the Japanese stock UI is white.

Regarding the USB drive vs internal rom storage it would be awesome if it can be done all internally but I am OK with either one. I mostly play with one controller (single player) anyway so I don’t find an issue having the 2nd USB port taken up to store roms.

If I want to play MK with a buddy will I be able to use a USB hub so it can fit 2 controllers plus the USB drive?

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FJTR Posted on7:25 am - 4th October 2019

I think the main solution would be to enable USB OTG out back and install the hack there Leaving the Nand “stock” like Bleemsync on Playstation Classic.

Regards.

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FJTR Posted on7:31 am - 4th October 2019

Or Internal micro SD Mod like Snes mini?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF-ew5C32rk

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    admin Posted on12:12 pm - 9th October 2019

    It’s still being investigated

    Reply
      FJTR Posted on5:08 pm - 11th October 2019

      Thank you so much!!.

      Reply
Hugo Posted on8:32 am - 4th October 2019

Dear ModMyClassic team,

I don’t know much about the possible future setbacks on the console in case of doing it internally, but if using an USB in the backport is safer, I’d rather do it this way.

Thank you for everything.

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Steffen Posted on1:21 pm - 4th October 2019

Great, thanks for the update and your work on this. 🙂 I don’t mind the games being on a usb stick, if that’s the best way to do it.

Another question: In case all the Genesis menu, box arts and roms are hidden on the European version, is it possible to link them to the menu, so that they become accessible?

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Tom Posted on7:40 pm - 4th October 2019

Thanks for your work, take your time and do it right! But also thanks for the updates–even a one-liner is nice to have.
For me, internal-only is very important–I plan to do with this what I’ve (mostly) done with my other mini consoles: turn off the games I’m not interested in or aren’t appropriate for the kids, and add on the half-dozen or so that “should have been there” but aren’t.

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Javi Posted on11:23 am - 5th October 2019

Hello, I would like to contribute an idea.

In the existing 6-button control for the Mega drive Mini, a single press on the “mode” button allows you to access the console pause menu.

This may be fine for most games, but when you have the Hack ready, in the few games that use the mode button (Lost vikings, etc.), that can be a problem, since pressing it to use it in the game, that menu will appear.

Would it be possible to include an option in the hack that disables the function of going to the main menu by pressing the mode button, and keeping it only in the START as in the 6-button control?

Many thanks for the work you are doing, and excuse my bad English

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    admin Posted on12:12 pm - 9th October 2019

    It technically could be possible but I don’t know if we will have the time to implement this any time soon

    Reply
Shaun Posted on6:44 am - 6th October 2019

I am cool with USB loading from OTG unless it resulted in lag or something detrimental like that. Best of luck

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Shirakani Posted on9:24 am - 7th October 2019

Great work guys, absolutely looking forward to your release! Take all the time you need as quality over speed, every single time.

In an ideal world, I’d say when installing games if you could select exactly where you wanted them to go (internal or external) would be perfect. That way you could have a mixed setup where say, you had MD specific games internal, and 32X/MegaCD stuff external, or however. If we absolutely had to choose internal only or external only I’d lean towards external. Its possible to buy really tiny USB flash drives nowadays anyway that are practically invisible and it would be an absolute dream come true to have every MD/32X and MegaCD game available! The proverbial ‘Sega Tower’ without actually having to build the tower.

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Sketcz Posted on12:52 pm - 7th October 2019

I’m running my UK Mega Drive Mini on a 720p Samsung HDTV, and it has this awful, awful banding problem when applying the CRT filter:
https://imgur.com/wqUFqif

This should not be happening. The system outputs 720p, and my HDTV is 720p. Why is there banding? There should be no banding.

It seems not everyone has this, and I can’t understand why this is happening. The SNES Mini, unhacked, does not have this problem when running on the same TV (Model LE32A456).

Is there the possibility that hacking MDM would allow for fixing the CRT filter? Can it even be fixed? I like the stock emulator just fine, but I cannot understand how this sort of problem made it through quality assurance before launch.

If you need more information or photos, please feel free to email me.

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    admin Posted on12:09 pm - 9th October 2019

    People have been compiling about this filter and it being crap. We MIGHT be able to fix it otherwise you won’t get this when using the RA sega cores and the CRT filter on that.

    Reply
DarthTron Posted on8:01 pm - 7th October 2019

Personally, I am cool with all of the USB based options being implemented, as the initial way we use the hack!!! However, if you need to know which one I prefer the most…
I prefer USB drive via a hub via OTG!!! I would also eventually hope to have a “internal only solution”, so I can add a “core” set of extra games to the Genesis Mini!!!

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    admin Posted on12:08 pm - 9th October 2019

    OTG will be one of thing we will aim for first release

    Reply
YoshiAngemon Posted on12:29 am - 8th October 2019

Like I said on a few video comments, I had prophesied that it would come down to using a USB Flash Drive to mod the Genesis Mini. If I’m right, then I estimate that it would be the same case with the TurboGrafx-16 Mini, when it comes to it. But take your time, that’s all I can say at this time.

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    admin Posted on12:07 pm - 9th October 2019

    We will just need to acquire a TG16 mini and then add it to our long to do

    Reply
Villodre Posted on12:43 am - 8th October 2019

I’d personally prefer a USB mod. I know internal is the tidiest and most pretty way to do it, and would even love for the MD Mini one of those internal upgrade PCB the SNES Mini has (Super Storage) but that’s too far on the future. For now on I’d like for the Mini to have the option of adding all types of games and, perhaps, recreate the original menu with them.

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full_metal_zombie Posted on6:27 am - 8th October 2019

___ ____ ____ _ ____ ____ ___
|__] |__/ | | | |___ | |
| | \ |__| _| |___ |___ |
88 88 88 8888b. 8888b. 8888ba
88 88 88 88 `8b 88 `8b 88 `8b
88 88 88 88 88a88aaa88 88aa8P’
88 Y8. .8P 88 88 88 88 88 `8b.
888888`Y888P’ 88 88 88 88 88 88

It seems to format incorrectly when posted here. Kept it simple.

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    admin Posted on12:06 pm - 9th October 2019

    This is cool, I will reformat it slightly but I will likely use this

    Reply
2zeek Posted on7:25 am - 8th October 2019

First of all, thank you for your job!
I guess internal only is a not good option. You said about Sega CD game support, but a roms much bigger than internal storage. I think, a hub in front USB would be fine, like in PS Classic mod.

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    admin Posted on12:06 pm - 9th October 2019

    We are now looking at internal+external solutions

    Reply
Nev G. Posted on4:20 am - 23rd October 2019

Will there be a way to add games/roms to the current OS without changing to RetroArch?

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Kevin Posted on5:26 am - 23rd October 2019

Ok so otg is good internal is good usb on front is good i am happy with what ever you guys decide but how about some kind of option thing where we can choose cause otg is kinda a pain some times and usb takes up a controller port internal takes up space so if we had the option on the fly to choose wouldnt that be a all around better way so they can use the option that best fits their needs just saying but if its not easy to do or not possible i understand wish someone would make a simple otg usb support that didnt takd up so much space it would be great have a great day thanks

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John Sandlin Posted on4:55 pm - 7th November 2019

So know hack yet?

Reply

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