Voltage problems with EverDrive carts?

[kruuth]

I came across this page detailing some issues going from 5v to 3v flash chips:

https://db-electronics.ca/2017/07/05/the-dangers-of-3-3v-flash-in-retro-consoles/#comment-2809

Has anyone read this and is he correct?

[lee4]

read here for answer
http://krikzz.com/forum/index.php?topic=6614.msg51195#msg51195

[kruuth]

That's what I thought.  I just wanted to be certain.  Thanks Krikzz for addressing this.

[nio]

The link is down, where can i find the answer? thanks

[EverDriver]

How do you think why after long years can't you see anywhere (including this forum) a lot of posts (or at least one single post) from angry customers complaining EverDrives killed (or at least damaged) their consoles.

[Mister Xiado]

Yes, complaining is the first thing people do, and do so with great gusto. If Everdrives were frying game systems, we wouldn't be here buying them constantly. My problem is that I'm running out of systems that I give a damn about, so I'm down to getting an N64 ED if nothing blows up in my face, finance-wise [FLAG]. Alas, I don't have nostalgic feelings for the Game Boy, Game Gear, Master System, or GBA, and to be honest, the N64, either, in spite of the time I had spent with Goldeneye and Ocarina of Time.

[EverDriver]

Yep. It's true.

It can be explained.
Human beings by their nature are lazy creatures.
They do anything mostly when something makes them to do that.

If you are happy with your product you don't need to do anything except using it without reporting anyone about your happiness.
And if you are not happy with your product you just don't have a choice you must do something to solve the problem.

There is a logical contradiction: even if single EverDrive ever has caused any damage to even single console you just wouldn't know about us.
You wouldn't be here. And that guy wouldn't have written his article.

Our customers buy our products for years not to damage (or kill) their consoles.
They buy them for getting a lot of retro enjoyment without negative consequences.
And that's why we become popular enough that you could find us and write that question here.

[bakageta]

He tried to a proof/measurements update, and I still take issue with some of those results. He speculates that most data lines are only spec'd for ~5.2mA, but didn't bother to go check datasheets. Not all consoles are equal, and measuring the voltage on his genesis data lines doesn't tell us anything about what it's actually spec'd for. I'll use the SNES and Super Everdrive v2 for an example, since that's where we're at.

Here's the datasheet for the SNES CPU, or at least what it's based on. The data lines on it are spec'd for up to 20mA out, with 10mA being typical. Output high voltage can be as low as 2.4v. The ~4.6v @ 12.5ma he calculated for the everdrive is WELL within these specs. Since that was the only fault he had with this everdrive, I see no reason it's not perfectly safe even by their crazy-high standards.

I haven't looked up datasheets for every console he reviewed though, and it wouldn't surprise me if some weren't as robust. The NES CPU looks like it can't handle much current at all on the data output, which matches right up with cheap repros killing them FAST.

[EverDriver]

Krikzz already posted such information here concerning the datasheets and specifications.
Even our first very old products were safe. Our most recent devices have much more efficient design.

[polyh3dron]

Krikzz already posted such information here concerning the datasheets and specifications.
Even our first very old products were safe. Our most recent devices have much more efficient design.

Do you have a working link for Krikzz's response? The link above no longer works. I'm interested in reading it. Thanks!

[EverDriver]

Unfortunately the reponse has been deleted by accident.
Maybe try to check google history or archive.org. Maybe they stored it for the future generations.
In any case the best way to get the answer is just to read the respective datasheets and specifications yourself.
You don't need to be a hardware guru to understand them.