I've never used that USB port on top of my Mega EverDrive Pro. I decided I wanted to explore that a bit, but I'm having difficulty with it. I downloaded the Megalink tool, and it just says it can't find my MED. I have tried with two different cables. I have the console on when trying. There really aren't any instructions for this, so I don't know what I'm doing. I am a Windows user, so I don't not want a Linux or Mac solution, please. I thought perhaps my two cables are charging-only cables, but considering it's micro USB, I'd like to explore other avenues first before purchasing a new cable. Does anyone have any information or tips that can help me?
This was the old tool for the Mega Everdrive X7, I dunno if the Mega Everdrive Pro uses the same but this includes a sample program and the source for the USB tool: https://krikzz.com/pub/support/mega-everdrive/x3x5x7/dev/
That will not work because the X7 just takes in any data sent over serial. The pro wraps the serial data in a command. I'd be happy to help figure out how the pro's USB port works, much like my research on the X7, but I'm currently not in a place to put down $200. The question I'd like to pose saxman is, are you running the accompying ssf-tst.md on the console side before running the PC app? Just in case it relies on the console to do a handshake.
I have tried running that ROM on the cart while attempting to make a connection to it. Tried read and write operations in conjunction with the batch files. I've tried anything and everything to get it to recognize that something is there. No luck. What's amazing to me is there's almost no information out there on the internet, aside from comments talking *about* the USB port. I found this page, but I'm a Windows user, so this doesn't seem to help. Makes me think virtually nobody uses the USB port. Stumped!
I've seen people discussing them, but usually in discord servers. This is a good example of the problem with discord servers, information isn't permanent. I think I've seen people talking about them before on Sik's server.
I am not opulent enough to afford a Mega Everdrive Pro—I have an X5. That said, by the looks of it you put edio-mega.md on the cartridge, boot that, then while it's running connect the USB cable and send commands by running megalink.exe with one of the various arguments it supports.
Yeah, if specific details have been shared in the manner I'm looking for, they must have been outside the web. My searches did reveal to me though how much more popular all the Nintendo EverDrives are though, which stunned me, but I suppose I shouldn't actually be that surprised. That's exactly what I did. But Megalink just says it can't find the Mega EverDrive, no matter what commands I use, or even if I run it with no commands at all. I even tried multiple versions of the software. I found a third micro USB cable laying around, begging to be used, but that one didn't yield results that were any different. The good news is I am finding micro USB cables to be super cheap online, even ones that are said to allow transferring data. So if nobody is able to come up with a solution, I might throw some bucks at the problem to see if I get lucky. I am having doubts that's what the problem is, but for the price, it wouldn't be a huge setback.
Is the MED visible in device manager and having driver nicely installed ? There should be some ST virtual COM port driver or such available to use for it. I don't remember the details anymore at this point...
That's strange because I'm pretty sure I needed FTDI for Everdrive X7 to work with USB/Serial. Maybe I misremember, I'm sorry.
I did wonder if I was going to need some special driver for this. Taking what has been said here, I did some searching and found this: STSW-STM32102 - STM32 Virtual COM Port Driver - STMicroelectronics It says this isn't appropriate for Windows 10 and up. I can't seem to locate an alternative driver. Any suggestions? EDIT: I watched this video: It said get the STM32 Cube Programmer. I installed the entire thing. I found "STM32Bootloader.inf" with drivers in C:\Program Files\STMicroelectronics\STM32Cube\STM32CubeProgrammer\Drivers\DFU_Driver\Driver. I installed it. It says it was successful. I don't see any new USB items in the Device Manager though. I still get the "ERROR: EverDrive not found" message. EDIT 2: I did go back and noticed it "installed", but on zero devices: I went through the steps to disable device driver signing and then tried again: Still says zero devices. I have no idea why, or if that's normal. I also found that I can install "legacy" devices under "Ports (COM & LPT)". There, I found some STM stuff. I installed them all: Still doesn't work. I swear, if I get this working eventually, I'm making my own video on this. Nobody should have to suffer like I am right now!
There's definitely an FTDI chip on the X7 but Pro uses ST specific stuff. I only made stuff work in winXP years ago and I have been unable to find any files from the time...
Just a quick follow-up... I ordered a USB cable. I'm hoping that solves the problem. Two people I have spoken to outside of these forums have indicated they didn't have to install any drivers, that it worked out of the box with Windows 10 and 11. So that makes me think I just don't have the right kind of cable. We'll see what happens!
Yay! The new cable did the trick! So the moral of this story is, at least on modern Windows machines, it should work out-of-box. BUT, if it's not, it may very well be your cable. I got one of those nice StarTech.com cables, because nobody makes them better in my opinion.
I honestly hate this about not just USB cables but also HDMI cables. There is wild varying in quality that not only affects how well it works, but the actual abilities of the cable. It makes them almost like silent revisions. I had a hell of a time finding an HDMI cable that supported my TV at 120 hz, for example, and I have so many USB cables that are charging only (i.e. they don't connect the data lines). Very, very annoying. On the subject of shitty cheap cables, rca phonojack cables, like ones at the end of headphones.... OMFG they suck so badly these days. Constant interference when you brush against the connection, they give out all the time. IDK what's been happening, it feels like all sorts of cables these days are crapshoots.
There's a simple rule, if it has braiding on top you avoid it. None of the cables with braiding on top have shielding in them from my experience. It actually is expensive to make the braid so the manufacturer skimps elsewhere such as the actual shielding which is also expensive. Nice to hear it ultimately was the cable that was the issue ~
Omg this is like the opposite of conventional thought, you would expect if it has braiding it would be a premium cable. Noted.
