8BitMods MemCard PRO User manual

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All customers who have purchased two or more MemCard
PROs (either directly from 8BitMods, or from a reseller) and
use them simultaneously on the same system, are kindly
advised to contact us at [email protected].uk for a
replacement, free of charge, due to an OLED display issue
that can cause it to stop working without warning.
Replaced cards, and cards sold and fulfilled by 8BitMods
after 10 July 2021 are not affected by this issue.
If you want to know if your card is affected by this issue,
you can send us your card’s serial number / MAC address
via email, and we can confirm for you.
IMPORTANT WARNING!

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MemCard PRO is a modern reimplementation of the original Memory
Cards for the PlayStation console.
By utilising FPGA technology and a dual-core 240MHz microcontroller,
it is able to provide mass storage through a microSD card interface to
the Memory Card slot of your console. This allows the card to create an
extraordinary amount of Virtual Memory Cards (VMCs) for your games.
On top of that, it is able to connect to your local wireless network, and
provide more features through an intuitive Web User Interface
(WebUI).
Finally, it implements a proprietary set of commands that allows other
devices and peripherals, like optical drive emulators, to communicate
with the card, for automated card switching and game detection.
With the MemCard PRO you can forget about stacks of Memory Cards,
and running out of storage space at the most crucial moment of your
gaming experience.
INTRODUCTION

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MemCard PRO requires a formatted microSD card in order to
work. Any microSD card rated Class 4 and above will work,
from 1GB to 2TB. Each gigabyte of storage space amounts to
approximately 8,000 VMCs, each with 15 blocks of storage
space.
To prepare your microSD card, you will need a computer and a
microSD card reader (or a full size SD card reader with a
microSD to SD card adapter).
Download the official “SD Card Formatter” software from the
SD Card Association: https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/
formatter/
Run the formatter and select your SD card. Select “Quick
Format” and give it a “Volume Label” if you’d like. Press the
“Format” button.
You will also require the MemCard PRO latest firmware and
operating system. You can download the file from the following
link: https://install.appcenter.ms/orgs/beta-ucu9/apps/
memcardpro/distribution_groups/public
Once you download your file, extract its contents to the newly-
formatted microSD card. You should have three new items in
the root folder of your card:
• mcu.bin (file)
• fpga.bin (file)
• os (folder)
Safely-eject your microSD card from your computer and plug it
into the microSD card slot of your MemCard PRO.
Please Note: if you decide to replace the microSD card on
your MemCard PRO, you will need to repeat the instructions on
this page for the new microSD card.
You can now plug the MemCard PRO in to either slot of your
PlayStation, PSone, or PlayStation 2* console.
*PlayStation 2 support only works for PlayStation 1 games
played on PlayStation 2 consoles. PlayStation 2 Slim consoles
are not supported, as they do not provide enough power to the
MemCard PRO. However, you can do a modification to the
console to rectify this. Please contact us for the PS2 Slim
modification instructions via email at “[email protected]"
INITIAL SETUP

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1. Plug your card in to Slot 1 or Slot 2 of your PlayStation, PSone
or PlayStation 2 console.
2. Power up your console. The logos “8BITMODS.COM" and
“MemCard PRO” will appear on the OLED display in this order.
3. MemCard PRO will then load a VMC and display its name on
the display. The first time you power up the card,
“MemoryCard1” will be created on your microSD card, and will
be loaded and displayed on the MemCard PRO OLED display
(see fig. 1).
4. As soon as your game launches, it will detect the Memory Card.
In-game usage is the same as a normal Memory Card, which
means you can save and load games as you’d normally do.
5. Each Virtual Memory Card provides 8 channels of extra virtual
cards. You can think of each channel as an extra whole memory
card that you can use in your games. Each channel will provide
storage for 15 blocks.
6. You can switch channels in many different ways. Most games
support memory card hot-swapping, and MemCard PRO
simulates the hot-swapping action every time you change a
Channel or VMC.
7. To go to the next channel, you can press the right physical
button on the MemCard PRO. Other ways to go to the next
channel are:
1. Through the game pad with the following combo:
L1 + R1 + Select + D-Pad Right
2. Through the WebUI on the Home page.
8. To go to the previous channel, you can press the left physical
button on the MemCard PRO. Other ways to go to the previous
channel are:
1. Through the game pad with the following combo:
L1 + R1 + Select + D-Pad Left
2. Through the WebUI on the Home Page.
9. In order to create and select a new VMC with 8 more channels,
press the following combination on your game pad:
L1 + R1 + Select + D-Pad Up
The card will switch to “MemoryCard2” and Channel 1. If the
files for MemoryCard2 don’t exist on the microSD card, they will
be automatically created. If they already exist, MemCard PRO
will mount that card instead. Pressing the same combination
again, will go or create “MemoryCard3” and so on.
Basic usage
Fig. 1: The display after booting for the first time, showing the VMC name at
the top-left, the current Channel at the bottom-right and the read and write
indicators.

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An Optical Drive Emulator is a device that allows playing your
backups through a microSD card, a USB drive or a Hard Disk
drive or SSD. These devices usually have a “launcher” menu
system, where they list the available games on their storage
medium. Selecting a game launches it, either by completely
resetting the console, or by using a technique called “FastBoot”
which can load the game without a reset.
MemCard PRO implements a proprietary protocol, that allows
such a device to send the unique Game ID that is being
launched to the card. This allows MemCard PRO to identify
which game is being launched, and automatically create a VMC
for that specific game. If the VMC already exists, it will mount it,
making it easy to forget about switching to the right VMC that
has your game saves for that specific game.
Furthermore, it allows MemCard PRO to make use of its internal
game database, and show the full name of the game you are
playing.
At the moment of writing, the “XStation ODE” has released an
update that adds support for GameID, while “Mode” and
“PSIO” are working on adding support as well.
You don’t need to do anything to enable this functionality. It is
enabled by default, when an ODE is detected.
While every effort has been made to add all known games to
the database, some may still be missing. If you find a game that
shows the GameID instead of a full name on the display, please
let us know, and we will add it with a firmware update.
Known limitations:
• Homebrew games and translations / conversions may not
have been mastered with a GameID. If that’s the case,
MemCard PRO will revert to the first available generic VMC
(MemoryCard1). You can reach out to the developers and ask
them to assign a dummy ID, which we can then assign in the
database for proper identification
• At the moment, you can switch to a generic card in-game
with the previously mentioned game pad combos, but there
is no game pad combo to return to the automatic card once
this is done. You can return to the game-specific VMC by
restarting the game and launching through the ODE’s
launcher app, or by manually mounting it in the WebUI.
• GameID is only possible when paired with an ODE, Unirom
or FreePSXBoot with Unirom. The latter two can be used to
auto-switch VMCs even when booting an original CD-ROM!
Using with an ODE
Limitations & Exceptions

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1. MemCard PRO can connect to your local wireless network
and allow you to change its hardware settings and manage
the card’s state and storage remotely. In order to connect
your MemCard PRO to your local wireless network for the
first time, please follow the instructions below.
2. With a microSD card plugged in and MemCard PRO
connected to your console, power up your console and
wait until MemCard PRO shows the default screen on its
display (Fig. 1).
3. Using a Computer or Mobile device (phone or tablet),
bring up the Wireless Networks. You should see a new
network available in your area, called “MemCardPRO-
(serial number)”. Select it to connect to it.
4. Once you select the MemCard PRO access point, it will ask
you for a password. The password is mcpadmin
5. Select OK or Connect. Your device should connect to the
MemCard PRO access point.
6. Open your default Web Browser, and navigate to the
following URL: http://192.168.4.1
7. You will be greeted by the WiFi Setup Wizard. Follow the
instructions on your screen to complete the setup and
connect your MemCard PRO to your wireless network.
8. On the final step the device will automatically restart after
you click the button. The MemCard PRO access point will
disappear and your device should connect back to your
local wireless network. If this doesn’t happen, please
manually re-connect to your wireless network.
9. After the card finishes restarting, it should be connected to
your wireless network.
10. To access the WebUI, you need to find MemCard PRO’s
assigned IP address first. You can easily see this by
pressing and holding down the left physical button on
MemCard PRO. The display will change to show the
assigned IP address. Write this down somewhere
convenient, and use it to access the WebUI from any device
connected to the same network as your MemCard PRO.
For example, if your MemCard PRO’s IP address was
“192.168.1.230”, open a web browser on a computer or
mobile device, and type it in the address bar like “http://
192.168.1.230/"
11. If you did everything right, you should be looking at the
home page of the MemCard PRO WebUI.
WiFi & Remote Features

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After setting up the WiFi in the previous chapter, you should now be able to access the WebUI.
The WebUI allows you to do a couple of things that are not normally possible in any other way. You can
• See the mounted VMC and Channel from any remote device
• Force-mount any VMC
• Remotely browse your VMCs and download or upload files
• Change the device settings
The WebUI also allows you to perform a firmware update remotely, by checking for the latest version and informing you of a newer
version than the one installed in your MemCard PRO.
The WebUI

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WebUI Home Page
The Home Page of the WebUI shows you information on the current VMC, and
info detected from the ODE if you are using one. It also allows you to change the
current VMC channel with the click of a button.
On the top side, the card name or game name is displayed. In ODE mode, the
unique GameID is also displayed below the card name.
The current channel is also displayed, and two arrow buttons next to it. Clicking
the left or right buttons will switch to the previous / next channel accordingly.
There are also two buttons that allow you to navigate to the Card Browser
(coming soon) and the Settings.

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WebUI Settings Page
The Settings page allow you to configure your MemCard PRO. The available
options are:
•Wi-Fi Switch: Allows you to turn off the WiFi receiver / transmitter on MemCard
PRO. Please note that doing so will completely turn off the WiFi radio. You can only
re-enable the WiFi radio by resetting the MemCard PRO settings back to factory
defaults.
• Load last used card on Reset: This feature allows you to enable / disable
loading the last used VMC automatically on power up. This option is enabled by
default.
•Display Saver Mode: This option allows you to select what MemCard PRO does
when triggering the display saver mode. The available options are “Dim” and “Turn
Off”. OLED displays are naturally bright, but can suffer from burn-in when showing
static text for long period of times. In order to reduce the effect of this, MemCard PRO will automatically dim or turn off the display
after 30 seconds of inactivity. When there is activity it will automatically brighten or turn on the display, until the next period of
inactivity.
• Display Brightness: You can select the display brightness by moving the slider. MemCard PRO offers 10 steps of brightness. This is
the “bright” mode, and doesn’t affect the brightness of the dimmed mode - which is always at the lowest scale.
• Firmware Version & Update: The currently installed firmware version is displayed here. Upon loading this page, MemCard PRO will
check the latest available version on the remote server and enable the button if a newer version is available.
• Performing a firmware update: If the Update button is available, clicking it will start the update process. Please let the process
complete before removing MemCard PRO from the Console or turning the console off!

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The Card browser is a utility in the WebUI that allows you to
view, manage and load your VMCs remotely.
When you first click on the web browser, you will be prompted
to download a special database template file that you need to
manually add to your microSD card. Once you download the
file, simply copy the “scancache.db” file to your microSD card
root. Put the microSD card back into the MemCard PRO and
power up. When you visit the Card Browser again, you will now
be greeted with an empty list, and a message prompting you
to refresh your contents.
To refresh the card contents, press the blue “Scan” button.
MemCard PRO will start scanning your MemCard for VMCs and
it will add them to the Card Browser. This only needs to be
done once.
Once scanning is complete, the table will show the available
VMCs on your microSD card.
You can now create a new VMC, rename your VMCs, mount
them remotely or delete them. If you use an ODE, the VMC will
be added to this list automatically.
If you have VMCs from an ODE, you will notice that the name is
“Not Set”. To populate the name automatically, click on the
yellow “Fetch” icon next to it, and the name will be populated
from the gameID database if it exists there.
Card Browser

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Card Browser
When you create a new VMC you are prompted to enter a name
for it. You can any name you like for it. This name you choose will
be displayed on the OLED display when you mount it.
You can also rename any VMC that you’ve created before, or VMCs
that were generated through the GameID mechanism. Renaming
them will override their default name, but their GameID will still be
associated with the game and will be displayed when a GameID is
received.
To rename your card, simply press the white “edit” button. A pop
up will appear with a prompt to enter the new name. Once you are
happy with the name, click on the “Save” button and the name will
be saved to the MemCard PRO database.

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1. What file system formats does MemCard PRO support?
MemCard PRO only supports a simple MBR partition
scheme with a FAT32 or exFat volume. Please use the
official SD Card Formatter software for maximum
compatibility
2. Can MemCard PRO work without an SD card?
MemCard PRO will not work without a microSD card
plugged in.
3. What consoles does MemCard PRO support?
MemCard PRO has only been tested with the original Sony
PlayStation, Sony PSone and PlayStation 2 Consoles.
PlayStation 2 Slim consoles and the PS3 Adapters do not
work with MemCard PRO without modifications to these
consoles.
4. What VMC card formats does MemCard PRO generate /
support?
MemCard PRO can only create and use raw Memory Card
images. The file extension used is “.mcd” and the files have
no extra headers. Any header-less memory card image can
be used with MemCard PRO, as long as it is properly
named and has the .mcd extension.
5. Can I use my MemCard PRO saves with an emulator /
Can I use my emulator saves with MemCard PRO?
Yes! Both use cases are possible as long as the files used
have no extra headers. An easy way to check if your
memory card file will work with MemCard PRO is to check
its actual size. The file should be exactly 131,072 bytes
long.
6. The Gamepad combos are not working!
MemCard PRO can only detect gamepads button presses
from the controller connected to the same port as the card.
I.e. if you’ve plugged your MemCard PRO to Slot 1, the
controller should be plugged in to Slot 1 as well for
MemCard PRO to detect the button presses.
7. I have connected MemCard PRO to my local wireless
network, but I can’t open the WebUI page!
A few different causes can lead to this, with the most
common being that the remote device is not on the same
subnet as MemCard PRO. You should connected to the
same network as MemCard PRO in order to access its
WebUI. Another reason is that MemCard PRO was
unsuccessful connecting to your wireless network. You can
try moving the console and MemCard PRO closer to your
router if that’s the case. If you don’t see an IP address on
MemCard PRO when holding the left physical button, then
the card could not connect to the WiFi. If that’s the case,
MemCard PRO will default back to an Access Point after the
next power cycle, and you can attempt the WiFi setup
again.
FAQs & Troubleshooting

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8. Can I disconnect from my router and “forget” the
associated WiFi SSID?
Yes, you can do that by resetting the MemCard PRO to its
factory defaults. To do this press and hold the left physical
button on the device and power up your console. Keep
pressing the button until the factory reset prompt appears
on the display. Choose “Yes” to confirm. The MemCard
PRO will restart and it should have been reset to Access
Point mode. You should be able to scan for the access
point and start the WiFi Setup Wizard again.
9. I’m using a PS2 and the game pad combos don’t work!
Due to the differences in the PS2 hardware, MemCard PRO
is unable to detect the controller key presses. Please use
the WebUI to switch channels and cards instead.
10. The MemCard PRO is hot! Will it damage my system?
The MemCard PRO has been tested extensively for safety,
wireless radiation and spurious radiation and was found to
be in line with FCC and Europe’s CE certification
requirements. The source of the heat on the MemCard PRO
is the Intel Max10 FPGA, which is designed to run hot. The
MemCard PRO reaches maximum temperatures of about
50-55°C in a 22°C room ambient temperature, while the
Thermal Junction (Tj) is at 125°C. This heat is expelled
externally from the console, therefore it cannot cause any
adverse effects to the main console.
11. I disabled the WiFi from the settings page, but now I
want to enable it again. How can I do that?
The only way to re-enabled the WiFi, is to perform a factory
reset. You can do this by holding down the left physical
button on the MemCard PRO card while powering up the
console. This will not erase your saves, but it will reset all
settings back to factory defaults.
FAQs & Troubleshooting

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Declara'on of Conformity
Manufacturer:!
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Product Model(s): LC"441!
Complies with the following European Direc'ves:
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Conforms to the Following Standards:
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Signed:
Title: Director
Date: 08/06/2021