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  • Joined: 08 Jul 2001
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SMS Prototype M404
Post Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2004 4:07 pm
Last edited by Bock on Tue Feb 17, 2015 12:22 pm; edited 4 times in total
*EDIT* Dumps released
http://www.smspower.org/forums/6480-ReleaseSMSPrototypeM404BIOSSMSStoreDisplayUn...
http://www.smspower.org/forums/7751-SegaMasterSystemPrototypeAmpStoreDisplayUnit...

Unusual font:




No serial number, EPROM BIOS with Japanese marking:




Unusual boot sequence:









There's also a 3 mb video on http://www.smspower.org/misc.
I couldn't boot a cartridge with it.
I'll have to try the expansion and card ports later. See if I can dump and BIOS and see if there's any booting code.

Also, the plastic is different from production plastic. I cannot explain it with words, but it looks definitively different.
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HC Andersson
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Post Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2004 4:39 pm
Looks like a faboulous startup seq!
Can't explain why, but it reminds me of R-Type a little.


Quote
> Unusual font:
>
>
>

> No serial number, EPROM BIOS with Japanese marking:
>
>
>

> Unusual boot sequence:
>
>
>
>
>
>

> There's also a 3 mb video on http://www.smspower.org/misc.
> I couldn't boot a cartridge with it.
> I'll have to try the expansion and card ports later. See if I can dump and BIOS and see if there's any booting code.

> Also, the plastic is different from production plastic. I cannot explain it with words, but it looks definitively different.
 
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Post Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2004 4:44 pm
Quote
> Unusual font:

Is that the Mark III font, unitalicised?

Quote
> Unusual boot sequence:

And, might I say, a LOT nicer than the standard one...

Quote
> I couldn't boot a cartridge with it.
> I'll have to try the expansion and card ports later. See if I can dump and BIOS and see if there's any booting code.

Hmm... bitrot? I'd be surprised if it really doesn't boot. The EPROM should be simple enough to dump for those with hardware...

...this is all very cool stuff. How are you finding all this within a few weeks of arriving?

Maxim
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Post Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2004 5:21 pm
Quote
> > Unusual font:
> Is that the Mark III font, unitalicised?

Looks like. But the 'A' on the Mark III font is slighty different. There's a space between the middle horizontal bar and the left diagonal.

Quote
> > Unusual boot sequence:
> And, might I say, a LOT nicer than the standard one...

Yes.
Too bad it doesn't have sound.

[...]
Quote
> > I couldn't boot a cartridge with it.
> > I'll have to try the expansion and card ports later. See if I can dump and BIOS and see if there's any booting code.

> Hmm... bitrot? I'd be surprised if it really doesn't boot. The EPROM should be simple enough to dump for those with hardware...

I have hardware but not here. And I'm so incompetent I'd be afraid to damage it, so I'll try using the proven-working cartridge first. But that be in a few months only.
Hope it's not already damaged (but I don't think so. It would be really bad luck if only the media booting code would be damaged and not the opening logo).

Documentation of what bitrot is, courtesy of Maxim: http://sf.victoly.com/Bit-Rot/bitrot.txt

Quote
> ...this is all very cool stuff. How are you finding all this within a few weeks of arriving?

Just, waiting. I'm waiting since 7 years that people get rid of their stuff, one by one. And I'll probably be waiting much longer. Fact is that dozens of people on the internet have very interesting stuff. Most do not even care about them. I'm just trying to harass people regularly so that they know if they have to get rid of their stuff, they can turn back to me. :)

The guy who sold me this SMS obviously never tried it or he would know. I guess he was more into Atari stuff. Anyway, he got rid of some stuff and I bought everything I could.
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  • Joined: 16 Dec 2004
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Post Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2004 2:32 am
Wow!

I wonder if this unit is the type that would accompany that early Fantasy Zone I traded you? It would seem possible, as Sega would have needed units to demonstrate to people before they were ready to ship the final product.

Maybe I should track down the guy I got my early fantasy Zone and Ghost House from and see if he has one of these SMS's, and would sell.
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Post Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2004 12:53 pm
Very cool Omar.

First thing I notice is that the IO is pure logic. Could we have a close up shot of this?

a s.
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Post Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2004 11:51 pm
Hey Bock,

Can you take a "close" picture of the main board of this SMS?
It's interesting to see what are the ICs present in this
circuit board.

Thanks
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  • Joined: 29 Jun 1999
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Post Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2004 2:26 pm
Amazing Bock! This one is really a holly grail!!

Congratulations!


PD


Quote
> Unusual font:
>
>
>

> No serial number, EPROM BIOS with Japanese marking:
>
>
>

> Unusual boot sequence:
>
>
>
>
>
>

> There's also a 3 mb video on http://www.smspower.org/misc.
> I couldn't boot a cartridge with it.
> I'll have to try the expansion and card ports later. See if I can dump and BIOS and see if there's any booting code.

> Also, the plastic is different from production plastic. I cannot explain it with words, but it looks definitively different.
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ApolloBoy
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Post Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2004 5:28 pm
That startup sequence looks SWEET!!!
 
madcrow
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Post Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2004 1:57 pm
They should've kept the proto BIOS screen. it's way cooler than what they ended up including. Maybe they needed space for the maze game or something, but it was a bad chyange imo.
 
  • Joined: 08 Dec 2005
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Post Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2014 1:38 pm
From here, via here and here.

An article from the German "Happy Computer" magazine (October 1986), which includes a picture of one of these Master System prototypes!
heft001.jpg (101.2 KB)
heft001.jpg

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