The Dangers of using 3.3V Flash Carts in Retro Consoles

[ClodBuster]

Voltage divider:



Not as sophisticated and stable as a true voltage regulator (regardless of old style linear regulator or modern style switched regulator), which is much better suited for a wide range of input voltages and shifting loads.

But it will work if these criteria are met:
V-input stays constant and predictable all the time.
R1 (series resistor) is physically sized to take up the heat (Wattage) that occures in the voltage drop.
R2 (flash cart) stays constant in value all the time time.

[TR0N]

Have the latest TED so i'm good.I have thought about selling my old everdrive md to buy the latest model.

[SignOfZeta]

Voltage divider:



Not as sophisticated and stable as a true voltage regulator, which is much better suited for a wide range of input voltages and shifting loads.

But it will work if these criteria are met:
V-input stays constant and predictable all the time.
R1 (series resistor) is decent sized enough to take up the heat that occures in the voltage drop.
R2 (flash cart) stays constant in value all the time time.

Yes, but would it cause issues on a data bus? He's saying there should be level translator ICs in there, he never speaks of simple regulation or load. The 5V stuff has to read and write at 5V and the 3.3V stuff has to read and write at 3.3V. Also, data lines have almost no current consumption so resistors barely work the same way as they do with a light or a heater or a motor or something.

[ClodBuster]

Why should this cause issues?


EDIT: I have now read the linked article, and from what I can see, some Everdrives that are rated as "bad/avoid" actually use series resistors to drop the voltage.

1. So am I correct in the assumption that the resistors chosen are not the correct resistance value?
2. Does the author of the article generally dismiss series resistors, in favor of proper voltage level translation using semiconductors?

[Johnpv]

Dude, in my 40 years on this earth, scientists have gone back and forth countless times on whether or not it's OK to eat eggs, eat butter, drink wine, etc. etc.  MTBE is OK; MTBE is not OK.  It's fine to spray DDT in people's faces, oh wait no it causes reproductive problems.  I get that in theory these devices are not optimized for the hardware on which they are running.  Comparing this to a car recall is ridiculous.  We're talking about video games.  Wake me up when peoples' systems actually start taking shits en masse and maybe I'll care.

Yeah not even remotely the same.  You're comparing apples to oranges.  This isn't some doctors guessing at partial data it's a manufacturer specifically saying using voltages higher than 3.3v on this line will break things.  Literally the manufacturer of the part is saying this is bad don't do this and you're still questioning it.  It's like saying yeah my tires are only rated for 80 mph but until some one drives them at 160 and they blow that's what I'm going to do.  Besides since no one was looking for this who knows how many systems these have killed. 

[sirhcman]

It's like saying yeah my tires are only rated for 80 mph but until some one drives them at 160 and they blow that's what I'm going to do.  Besides since no one was looking for this who knows how many systems these have killed. 

I'll take a dead system over a blowout at 160 mph any day of the week. It's all about perspective.

[Necromancer]

I checked my TED and it's a version 2.2.  I'm good to go!

Sorry if I missed it, but I didn't see anyone answer if the neoflash is safe or not.

Also, I didn't see an answer to just what is ruined.  It's all well and good to say systems are being "killed", but there's a big difference between a system with a melted pcb and all its components and one where a $3 voltage regulator dies after 5 years of heavy flashcart use or a system that needs new caps after 10 years instead of them lasting 30 years.  I'm not saying it's okay to build shit wrong, of course, but some consequences are a lot more worrisome than others.

[esteban]

^ Necro: Still no word on:
Neoflash (not that it matters)
gameofyou (only a handful of us have one, I think)

[SignOfZeta]

It's not going to be a voltage regulator. A regulator isn't going to care about such a small difference. The problem is that your CPU, your RAM, and anything that touches the flash is having more current pumped through it than normal.

Exactly WHAT will fail is anyone's guess, maybe nothing, but the parts at risk aren't common diodes and resisters, they are more important things like your CPU.

[ClodBuster]

Well said.

[crazydean]

I also want to hear about the NeoSD.

It's good that this information has come to light. Although, multi-carts have already been known to damage consoles. It will help us all make better decisions in the future. However, no one is saying what exactly is being damaged in these consoles. I assume every console model will have a different component fail since the weak link in every system is different.

With this news being made public and assuming the flash cartridge manufacturers don't change their designs, we will start seeing one of two things popping up:

1. Nothing will change because the amount of current isn't enough to actually damage the parts.
2. The repair guys will start putting out PSAs explaining the cause of the problem and how to fix it on a particular console model.

Also, please stop comparing the death of a gaming console to f*cking cancer or a car crash. I would much rather lose all of my consoles than have cancer.

[Necromancer]

^ Necro: Still no word on:
Neoflash (not that it matters)

Heh, that's accurate.  I never use mine instead of the TED.

[SignOfZeta]

Why should this cause issues?


EDIT: I have now read the linked article, and from what I can see, some Everdrives that are rated as "bad/avoid" actually use series resistors to drop the voltage.

1. So am I correct in the assumption that the resistors chosen are not the correct resistance value?
2. Does the author of the article generally dismiss series resistors, in favor of proper voltage level translation using semiconductors?

Resistors only work when there is load in a system. RAM doesn't do any real work so whatever resistance value you put in there is basically meaningless. It's always going to be within a few mV of 5V no matter what the resistor is because RAM isn't designed to drop voltage. Of course, it *is* dropping more voltage now because some dipshit is using incompatible flash but logic chips should be all using the same voltage level to avoid as much switching trama as possible.

[SignOfZeta]

^ Necro: Still no word on:
Neoflash (not that it matters)
gameofyou (only a handful of us have one, I think)

I think we can assume all cheap cards have this issue, including the French ones, the Canadian ones, all of Tobias's shit, most likely every repro.

I don't know if any of the cards you mentioned even work anymore (not mine!) but there are now 10x as many copies of Magical Chase as there used to be so I don't know about those...

[MrBroadway]

Dude, in my 40 years on this earth, scientists have gone back and forth countless times on whether or not it's OK to eat eggs, eat butter, drink wine, etc. etc.

Actually, you mean the media have gone back and forth. The science generally doesn't make claims that large. Go and read the actual studies, and you'll see they're not as alarmist as others make them out to be.