SD card corruption when resetting back to Saroo from Albert Odyssee (firmware 0.5)

[hworld]

With the new firmware 0.5 we are able to reset back to the Saroo menu by pressing A+B+C+Start to first get to the Saturn menu and then pressing Start again to go back to Saroo.

I randomly happened to try this feature out on Albert Odysee (North American version) and it corrupted my whole SD card. I can reproduce this every single time.

Some notes:

• SD card was formatted with FAT32.
• It does not happen with Panzer Dragoon Saga. Not sure if there are other games that also cause corruption.
• I have a Japanese model 2 Saturn.
• If you only reset back to the Saturn menu and then reset the machine, it doesn't cause corruption. It's only when you press Start at the Saturn menu to go back to Saroo that the SD card becomes corrupted.

[georaldc]

I have a Japanese model 1 HST-3210 Saturn and I've had 2 different microsd cards get corrupted now since acquiring a Saroo cartridge 2 days ago. The first time was a little after I put in 0.5 files. Games worked fine then suddenly, the Saroo got stuck in a sort of initialization screen that showed a row of colored boxes. SD card was corrupted at this point. I used a second SD card I had laying around that was in FAT32 and immediately put in the 0.5 files. I didn't know that 0.3 had more files in it but the Saroo continued to work just fine afterwards. After an hour though, my Saturn stopped recognizing the Saroo and kept bringing to the CD player screen. My cartridge's red led lights would still light up though, with one of the lights just blinking. SD card was again corrupted at this point so I reformatted it to exfat, put in 0.3 files (this got the Saroo working again), ran the firmware update menu item that appears and then put in the new 0.5 files.

I'm not entirely sure what caused the SD cards to corrupt. The only thing common that I remember last doing before the corruption was playing Christmas Nights. With the first SD card, the game froze when accessing the gallery and subsequent attempts started showing that screen with the row of colored boxes. With the second SD card, no freezes occurred during my Christmas Nights playthrough but the Saroo just stopped working after I went to use the Saturn again an hour later.

[tonysantosl]

Also happened while I was playing Shutoku Battle '97. I saved the game into the 'RAM cart' within the game menu. Maybe it's having trouble with games that have the option to save to the cartridge directly?

I also faced this issue after reseting back to the CD Player (ABC +Start) and pressing start again to go back to saroo menu.

[georaldc]

Also happened while I was playing Shutoku Battle '97. I saved the game into the 'RAM cart' within the game menu. Maybe it's having trouble with games that have the option to save to the cartridge directly?

I also faced this issue after reseting back to the CD Player (ABC +Start) and pressing start again to go back to saroo menu.

Maybe. Nights has backup ram support as well but I didn't use when I ran into issues.

To be specific about SD card corruption, it's only the Saroo folder that becomes corrupted in my case. All other files in the SD card outside that are still readable (though at this point, the whole SD card switches into readonly mode)

[tonysantosl]

Also happened while I was playing Shutoku Battle '97. I saved the game into the 'RAM cart' within the game menu. Maybe it's having trouble with games that have the option to save to the cartridge directly? I also faced this issue after reseting back to the CD Player (ABC +Start) and pressing start again to go back to saroo menu.

Maybe. Nights has backup ram support as well but I didn't use when I ran into issues.

To be specific about SD card corruption, it's only the Saroo folder that becomes corrupted in my case. All other files in the SD card outside that are still readable (though at this point, the whole SD card switches into readonly mode)

Yeah, its corrupting only the SAROO folder. Maybe its safe to say that the hard reset feature implemented in v0.5 isn't stable right now.

[Redpad]

Also go my SD card corrupted while using the reset feature.

[tpunix]

I can't repeat this issue with my card. There have a test version that more safe when access save file. Please test it. test.zip

[tpunix]

In this version, user must prepare the save file. SAROO don't create them. There have a bat file that can create empty saves. gen_save.zip

[czapa86]

Happened to me also on firm 0.4 after saving to ram cartridge ssfirm.bin or mcuapp.bin (don't remember which one) became corrupted with the same file size as SS_MEMS.BIN.

[hworld]

@tpunix The new version is working for me with Albert Odyssey. No more SD card corruption.

I am on Linux, so I converted the .bat file to a bash file for testing.

#!/bin/bash

if [ ! -f SS_SAVE.BIN ]; then
  echo "Create SS_SAVE.BIN ..."
  echo "Saroo Save File" > SS_SAVE.BIN
else
  echo "SS_SAVE.BIN already exists."
fi

truncate -s 67108864 SS_SAVE.BIN

if [ ! -f SS_MEMS.BIN ]; then
  echo "Create SS_MEMS.BIN ..."
  truncate -s 8388608 SS_MEMS.BIN
else
  echo "SS_MEMS.BIN already exists."
fi

echo "Done!"

[georaldc]

@hworld for what it's worth, I tested Albert Odyssey (USA) as well with 0.5 and soft reset and returning back to the Saroo menu did not corrupt my SD card

[blorp-style]

I was also able to corrupt my card just now while playing Sonic Jam (USA). I was pressing abc+start a couple of times just to test functionality and then the card became corrupted. Is it possible the type of sd card matters? I was using a sandisk, but ordered a Kingston just to contrast.

[Redpad]

I feel that bacause of the auto backup internal save file feature, whenever we accces the cd player, the Saroo is trying to write to the SD card while using the ABC+start reset feature, and going into the Saroo menu too fast, is corrupting the SD card.

[georaldcamposano]

I feel that bacause of the auto backup internal save file feature, whenever we accces the cd player, the Saroo is trying to write to the SD card while using the ABC+start reset feature, and going into the Saroo menu too fast, is corrupting the SD card.

IIRC mine got corrupted without even triggering a reset. I was playing a game, powered the console off and came back to a corrupted SD card several hours later. That does make me wonder if I powered off the console as the Saroo was writing a save file to the SD card (like you are describing). Maybe it's a race condition thing and that's why it's random. I so far tested about 5-6 different games, doing a soft reset and immediately jumping back to the Saroo menu in between and haven't been able to get a corrupted SD that way. Even tried the game mentioned in this issue (Albert Odyssey) and got no corruption.

[BernieStolar]

I have just had my SD card corrupt after 1 day of using 0.5. Was Playing Sega Rally Plus Netlink edition (USA) A+B+C Start back to Saturn menu and press start to boot back into Saroo. Came up, but wasn`t listing any games. Rebooted and wouldn't work at all after that.

Checked SD card and there was a load of file names (names unreadable) in Saroo folder, with no ISO folder in sight.

Might have to start doing regular backups of my save file.

Model 2 Pal VA5 Mainboard

[BernieStolar]

Just happened again after playing Sega Rally Plus. Reset Saturn this time and let it go into Saroo and has corrupted it once again. This is what i`m getting on the SD Card.

[isfet0]

I had this exact same thing happen to me last night when I tried to load up Nights. I wasn't even able to reformat the SD card or delete the corrupted date (which looked exactly the same as pictured above), and had to load up a new SD card altogether. The copy of Nights I had wouldn't load, so I shut the system off, and then turned it back on, only to find that Saroo wouldn't load. Checked out the SD card and the SAROO folder was corrupted. I thought it might have been because the SD card was a knockoff SanDisk or something, but now I'm not so sure.

[BernieStolar]

I`m able to format my SD Card still and set it backup again. Even though the data was corrupted and nothing visible, windows was still showing the SD Card as full.

I going to prepare a new save file with the link tpunix posted and see how it goes.

[blorp-style]

The card will show as full after reformatting but it is possible to manually wipe it clean. I did this and was able to use my card again after corruption.

[isfet0]

I believe you! But I could not manually wipe it clean, by deleting items, or by trying to reformat it, so the card is as good as dead for me.

Edit: OK, tried again when I got home. Turning off "quick format," I was able to format the card. Phew.

Is gen_save necessary if I have those files from the previous build?

[BernieStolar]

Is gen_save necessary if I have those files from the previous build?

This is what i`m testing atm. I was using old saves that came with SD Card and was getting issues with corrupting my sd card. So i generated a new save like tpunix said and am currently trying it out atm. Will report back at a later date if it works.

[Mikeylovesretro]

So this happened to me as I just updated the firmware as I received the saroo

[tonysantosl]

Guys, as I said before, resetting the console back to the CD player though A+B+C+Start isn't stable and will probably corrupt your SAROO folder.

It's wise to avoid using this function until @tpunix update the firmware.

[BernieStolar]

Guys, as I said before, resetting the console back to the CD player though A+B+C+Start isn't stable and will probably corrupt your SAROO folder.

It's wise to avoid using this function until @tpunix update the firmware.

I used nothing but reset and powering on and still happened.

[BernieStolar]

Well i tried generating a a new save file and trying again. Unfortunately it doesn't look like its the solution. Booted out of Panzer Dragoon 2 and same result. Gonna try test version which tpunix posted, to see if its any better.

[simbin]

Panzer Dragoon II Zwei (USA) for me. Didn't know about the issue until it happened.

[blorp-style]

Tried playing Sonic Jam again and the card corrupted even without pressing abc+start. It happened just by powering off the Saturn.

[hworld]

It might be nice for everyone with issues in this thread to try out the fix that @tpunix posted here: https://github.com/tpunix/SAROO/issues/113#issuecomment-2118846267

It seems that the corruption is at least confirmed to be happening in many scenarios, but it would be great to confirm if the new build fixes it or not.

[georaldc]

It might be nice for everyone with issues in this thread to try out the fix that@tpunixposted here: #113 (comment)

It seems that the corruption is at least confirmed to be happening in many scenarios, but it would be great to confirm if the new build fixes it or not.

What's interesting is how you were able to get your SD card to corrupt consistently with Albert Odyssey, but I couldn't reproduce that behavior at all with 0.5 using the same game. I haven't tried the test version yet. Waiting to see if I can find another instance of mine getting corrupted again (like some others reported, mine previously got corrupted outside of using soft reset. Saturn either froze mid-game or just stopped recognizing the Saroo cartridge)

[isfet0]

Yeah installed the test build but am away from home so haven’t done thorough testing, yet. So far though, haven’t had another card corruption

[blorp-style]

I can't repeat this issue with my card. There have a test version that more safe when access save file. Please test it. test.zip

Hi. I used the test build with both Sonic Jam and Albert Odyssey and was unable to replicate the corruption bug. This new build appears to work.👍

edit: looks like I spoke too soon. I was able to corrupt my card with Sonic Jam this evening using the test build.

[xstationfan]

Created new memory files with the .bat provided and 0518 test build posted above

Fighters Megamix JP or US is a good test. do an arcade run through (doesn't take long, isn't difficult) then IGR+start back to Saroo menu or power cycle (either/or) will result in predictable corruption. Doesn't do it 100% of the time after every play through, but more often than not. Even one round I had corruption where enemy disappeared and did not return. On power cycle, corruption.

[Mikeylovesretro]

Created new memory files with the .bat provided and 0518 test build posted above

Fighters Megamix JP or US is a good test. do an arcade run through (doesn't take long, isn't difficult) then IGR+start back to Saroo menu or power cycle (either/or) will result in predictable corruption. Doesn't do it 100% of the time after every play through, but more often than not. Even one round I had corruption where enemy disappeared and did not return. On power cycle, corruption.

So I played the game a few times with no changes using .05 and had no issues. Using US version of the game

[xstationfan]

weird are you using exfat or fat32?

I tried a different card and exfat, and 518 build seems good to so far. did a couple arcade playthroughs.. the issue may be fixed! can't tell if it was one element or the other or the combo but looking hopeful!

[Mikeylovesretro]

weird are you using exfat or fat32?

I tried a different card and exfat, and 518 build seems good to so far. did a couple arcade playthroughs.. the issue may be fixed! can't tell if it was one element or the other or the combo but looking hopeful!

Using a 32G SD Card Fat32 and only have that game on there. Using Firm V0.5 only.

[georaldc]

weird are you using exfat or fat32?

I tried a different card and exfat, and 518 build seems good to so far. did a couple arcade playthroughs.. the issue may be fixed! can't tell if it was one element or the other or the combo but looking hopeful!

It seems to be fairly random. I haven't tried Fighters Megamix yet, but I have tried other games people have reported being problematic and haven't had those cause any corruption yet. I also still am on the current 0.5 release. Fat32 has given me issues earlier (2 different sd cards getting corrupted under different circumstances).

I'm on exfat right now and so far haven't had any problems yet.

[xstationfan]

weird are you using exfat or fat32? I tried a different card and exfat, and 518 build seems good to so far. did a couple arcade playthroughs.. the issue may be fixed! can't tell if it was one element or the other or the combo but looking hopeful!

It seems to be fairly random. I haven't tried Fighters Megamix yet, but I have tried other games people have reported being problematic and haven't had those cause any corruption yet. I also still am on the current 0.5 release. Fat32 has given me issues earlier (2 different sd cards getting corrupted under different circumstances).

I'm on exfat right now and so far haven't had any problems yet.

beginning to think you’re onto something with exfat

no issues for me either knock on wood

[owwii]

I had my SD card corrupted twice using both the original 0.5 build and the 0518 build. The first was after playing Street Fighter Alpha 2 and powering the system off from the game menu. The next was after a session of playing Street Fighter Zero 3 and Powerslave (both using the cartridge saves) and powering the system off from the Powerslave main menu. Using a SanDisk Extreme 255GB SD card formatted in FAT32.

[Mikeylovesretro]

I had my SD card corrupted twice using both the original 0.5 build and the 0518 build. The first was after playing Street Fighter Alpha 2 and powering the system off from the game menu. The next was after a session of playing Street Fighter Zero 3 and Powerslave (both using the cartridge saves) and powering the system off from the Powerslave main menu. Using a SanDisk Extreme 255GB SD card formatted in FAT32.

from what it's looking like the issues seem to be occurring more on fat32-formated sd cards

[Learngames]

You could say that version 0.4 is the most stable, right?

[hworld]

I just had SD card corruption with Winter Heat using the reset to menu feature. Same as when I had with Albert Odyssey. So I guess the new build isn't fixed yet. I was using fat32.

I also set my config to use file sorting right before it corrupted. I wonder if that's related at all, or just a fluke.

[Mikeylovesretro]

So as stated previously it is occurring on SD cards formated on Fat32. Instead, use exFat format as I have been using that, and seems to be more stable as I haven't had any issues.

[owwii]

After two SD card corruptions in FAT32, I reformatted my SD card in exFAT. I have run through the same set of games and processes that caused issues before and this seems to have fixed the issue. I will report back if anything changes. Thanks for all of your help.

[BernieStolar]

Been trying the Test version out what TPunix linked to and has been going ok. But booted out of need for speed this morning and corrupted the card. Going to try and format in exFAT like others have reported, see if that solves the issue.

[AndyJango]

Hi, I was testing those days, with the new build, and for now the best way to avoid corruption, is trying to not shut down/reset the console while the game is running with things in screen, for example in fighting games, pause the game wait a few seconds and then shut down/reset. or if you can go to the most static menu and wait too then turn off the console. I was doing that in a lot of games and I didn't get a single corruption. if you use the abc+start and go to staturn menu. go to options in console and then wait a seconds, to reset/shut off. I hope this helps bros

[tonysantosl]

I've been using v0.5 for 3 weeks or so and I never had any issue with SD card corruption since I stopped using the controller reset shortcut.

Of course it's also recommended to not turn off the console during any writing process, which will probably cause the same issue.

[BenoitCaron]

Started using my SAROO for the first time yesterday. Tried different games without issues. Then rebooted the console and the SAROO wouldn't show the menu anymore. I had to reformat the sd card to get it working again.

• I did try A+B+C+start at some point before it stopped working, but I don't think it stopped working right at that moment.
• Card is 32GB ExFat
• Card content was still fully readable on my computed, no garbled filenames

[SegaReplay]

Same happened to me yesterday when exiting Hexen. I was able to replace the firmware files on my SD and reboot without issue. Reading the rest of the comments here leads me to believe that this is an overarching issue, not necessarily related to a single game. It was said we should consider the controller reset as "unstable." This is what I will do for the time being (get my butt off the couch and walk over to reset the ole Saturn like a cave person, lol).

[Sonic1995xmas]

saroo corrupted crashed while playing hercs adventures froze during gameplay exFAT jap model 1 elite board newest firmware

[tzmwx]

Hello: We have tested and could not replicate this issue. Can you provide more information?

For example: Sega Saturn version? BIOS version? Game name? SD card brand, model, capacity and format? Where did you buy the Saroo? Do you have a photo of the PCB?

Or more details

[blorp-style]

Hello: We have tested and could not replicate this issue. Can you provide more information?

For example: Sega Saturn version? BIOS version? Game name? SD card brand, model, capacity and format? Where did you buy the Saroo? Do you have a photo of the PCB?

Or more details

Hi, I can recreate this issue 100% of the time. Sega Saturn version: VA0 (USA model 1) Bios: NTSC-4-V1.00a Game Name: Sonic Jam (USA) SD card brand: Sandisk 64 gb FAT32 and Kingston 64 gb FAT32 Saroo seller: Shop1102636850 Store on Aliexpress (Saroo board says v1.6 on it)

Method:

1. Enter Sonic Jam (USA)
2. Select Sonic & Knuckles (no lock on)
3. Complete level 1 (Mushroom Hill Zone)
4. Wait for level 2 to begin (Flying Battery Zone)
5. Power off Saturn
6. Power on Saturn
7. Card should now be corrupted