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SAROO Firmware 0.9 Addresses Race Condition BugA new firmware update for the SAROO cartridge attempts to fix a bug that’s plagued the low-cost Saturn optical drive emulator for years. The SAROO’s creator, TPUnix, uploaded firmware version 0.9 to his Github today. Users should replace the mcuapp.bin and ssfirm.bin files on their SD card with the ones included in the download, and put the SSMaster.rbf file in their SD card’s update folder. Then pop the SD card back into the SAROO, power on the Saturn, then select the update option from the SAROO menu. Machine translated from his native Chinese, the release notes say: This release primarily contains bug fixes. It requires upgrading the FPGA firmware to version 06 on the Saturn console. 1. Fixed an issue where HIRQ settings could be modified simultaneously on the FPGA side. 2. Resolved compatibility issues when using 1P2P controllers concurrently. 3. Fast-forward and rewind functions are now available during CD playback. The checksum test when run on the SAROO two months ago showing data load failures.
That first issue refers to a race condition , a bug in which data arrives in a different order than a program expects, perhaps because multiple paths of code are running at the same time and one or more of them have incorrect timing. The problem was revealed in December when Saturn community member TrekkiesUnite118 made a test that simulates a basic file-loading procedure from a storage medium and checks whether it was successful. It revealed that the SAROO occasionally failed to load data, possibly causing audio bugs, crashes and other glitches that users have reported for years. Now that the new firmware is in users’ hands, it remains to be seen whether the problem is fixed. A member of the SHIRO! community, NoName141203, ran TrekkiesUnite’s test on the 0.9 firmware and found no failures after 38 minutes.  A photo NoName141203 posted to the SHIRO! Discord server showing SAROO firmware 0.9 passing the checksum test.
If firmware 0.9 does solve the longstanding race condition bug, games previously reported with compatibility issues may run better now. The community will need to go back and check games like Baroque, Last Bronx, Virtual On and many others — CHAP3L maintains a compatibility list based on tests shown on their YouTube channel . TPUnix last released a new firmware for the SAROO in December, shortly before TrekkiesUnite’s test, to add CD+G functionality and support for player two’s controller in the SAROO menu and to fix bugs. The SAROO is a work-in-progress homebrew cartridge that aims to emulate the Saturn’s CD block, allowing game images to boot from an SD card. It’s also offers 1M/4M expanded RAM and backup save memory, two things that traditionally are offered by separate official cartridges or by unofficial Action Replay cartridges. The SAROO project was revived in February 2023 when TPUnix started updating the project’s Github after it was thought to be dead in the eight years since its inception. Since that Github is open to anyone to see, the cartridge’s design can be built and sold by anyone, too. That’s just what Chinese sellers have done on AliExpress, despite the design and its firmware being an unfinished work in progress. SHIRO! often recommends JT Studios’ version of the SAROO for its reliable build quality relative to AliExpress sellers.
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