The people working on the SDLoader have made significant improvements since it was revealed less than six weeks ago, from improved speeds and a new feature to a more appealing form factor.
As Shiro reported at the time, Murzik posted a thread about on SegaXtreme in late August about his invention — an SD card reader hooked into a Sega Saturn controller port that, using custom software Murzik wrote, could be used to move save files between an SD card and the Saturn’s internal memory.
It wasn’t the most elegant-looking thing, with the SD card reader at the end of a Saturn controller extension cord whose wires had been partially bodged to it. Its transfer speeds were slow, too — it took about nine seconds to load and execute 40kb of code.
But now it’s able to transfer data at a clip of more than 90kb per second as well as transfer save files to and from a memory cartridge, not just the internal Saturn RAM. And a new customized PCB from TZMWX for the SDLoader slots directly into the Saturn’s controller port — no need for cutting up a cord.
TZMWX is the creator of the portable Saturn and has taken an interest in the SDLoader for its ability to easily transfer saves to and from his mobile Saturn with a screen.
The performance improvements are thanks to Murzik optimizing his software’s code while TZMWX tested it and reported back on SegaXtreme.
Specifically, Murzik was able to use part of the Saturn’s SH2 CPU cache to store frequently accesed file allocation table driver structures and buffers to improve speeds. He also decreased the number of instructions used per byte, boosting speed via efficiency.
The idea of flashing new versions of PseudoSaturn Kai onto an Action Replay cartridge has been floated in the thread, and while Murzik said it would be possible, it’s a feature for later on down the line. For now, the SDLoader is only used for transferring save files.
And despite the speed increases, it’s still too slow to run games off of the device.
But for those who don’t have a Satiator but do have a PseudoSaturn Kai cartridge, building an SDLoader is a fairly cheap alternative to Slinga’s Save Game Copier utility for keeping precious save files safe. While the SGC’s functionality is virtually identical to the SD Loader when run off of a Satiator, it’s more limited when run off of a burned CD — the SGC can only transfer save games that have been included in the burn. To get saves off of the Saturn, you can plug your Saturn’s audio out to the line-in on a PC and use Slinga’s Save Game Extractor utility to transfer the data aurally, a process that’s slow but effective..
Those who want to try making their own SDLoader can find TZMWX’s PCB designs attached to this SegaXtreme post. You can find the software that must be burned to a CD or run off of an ODE in a ZIP file attached to the first post in Murzik’s thread.
Danthrax is a contributor to the Shiro Media Group, writing stories for the website when Saturn news breaks. While he was a Sega Genesis kid in the ’90s, he didn’t get a Saturn until 2018. It didn’t take him long to fall in love with the console’s library as well as the fan translation and homebrew scene. He contributed heavily to the Bulk Slash and Stellar Assault SS fan localizations, and has helped as an editor on several other Saturn and Dreamcast fan projects such as Cotton 2, Rainbow Cotton and Sakura Wars Columns 2.
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