New firmware was released last month for the Fenrir — but only for its newest model, the Duo.
Version 1.5.8 of the firmware can be downloaded at the official website, where its release notes list the following features:
- Updated internal components
- Improve boot speed
- New cue parser
- Improve SD card compatibility
- Minor fixes
- [DUO] Improve drive detection
The optical drive emulator for the Saturn previously came in two models. Each one connected to a specific pinout on the Saturn’s laser assembly, so it was important for buyers to determine which kind of Saturn they had before choosing a Fenrir.
Those two models have been retired in favor of a new model, the Fenrir Duo, which works with both the 20- and 21-pin versions of the Saturn.
This is the first firmware that supports the Duo and not the 20- or 21-pin models. Its developer, Ced2911, confirmed via Twitter direct message that while the current firmware is for the Duo only, the next firmware update will be for all models.
The firmware was released Nov. 11, the same day that Ced announced that preorders for the Duo were available at Stone Age Gamer.
Stone Age Gamer’s website says the US$139.99 Fenrir Duo is expected to ship in February. The batch has 46 percent of its stock remaining as of the time this story was written.
The new storefront comes a few months after the Duo’s preorders sold out within minutes from Ced’s own webstore, as Shiro reported at the time. Those Duos were delivered to customers in October.
The Fenrir is a no-solder optical drive emulator that replaces a Saturn’s CD-ROM drive and runs games off of a micro SD card. It supports games in CCD/IMG, CUE/ISO (for single files) and CUE/BIN (for multiple files) formats. It first went on sale in spring 2020.
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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