Newbie Question. Won't detect VMU

[DCNoob]

Hey I checked the FAQs and some other threads and they didn't say anything about the VMU so... I just loaded up a game on chanka for the first time and it gave me a message saying that the game did not detect a vmu in slot 1 of controller a, so i wouldn't be able to save my data.



I had already gone to the Plugins option and selected a VMS as slot 1 of controller A. There wasn't a VMU option though so I assumed VMS was the right thing to do. I also tried changing the plugin type from "Input Plugin xxx" to "Input Plugin by ElSemi".

Next I found the VMS Browser and there were no VMS files created yet so I just pressed Write.EXE to create a VMS file. I restarted the Chankast again after this but still the game didn't detect the VMS.

At one point it had created 3 more VMS bin files while I was messing around, two were VMSA1 and VMSB1, and then there was a third, but I deleted all of them to try over from the start to get it to work.

Any insight?

[Agozer]

The only difference between a VMS and a VMU is that the device is called a VMS (Visual Memory System) in Japan, and VMU (Visual Memory Unit) everywhere else. So yes, the two abbreviations mean the same thing.

The input plugin you use hasn't got anything to do with VMUs.

btw, The emulator is called Chankast. Give nullDC a go, as it is better than Chankast. If you still want to stick with Chankast, cheate and empy file named VMS.BIN and then set Controller A to use a VMS. Note that you usually need to format the VMU data in the Dreamcast BIOS before you can use it.

[DCNoob]

>.< Well how exactly do I format VMU data in the dc bios then? >.< And sure I'll look into nullDC too. Thanks.

[DCNoob]

Update: Well I downloaded the nullDC emulator and it does seem to run smoother than Chankast, but I'm still having the problem with detecting the VMU. I had a thought after a while that the problem might be that the VMU bins were all marked as "Read Only" but it turns out they were not, so I'm out of ideas again. The VMU detection doesn't work for either emulator. In nullDC in the maple option roll out it says the subdevice file name is vmu_data_port01.bin, and that file does exists in the nullDC folder, but it's not detecting it because in nullDC the file name is greyed out in the menu roll out.

All the FAQs don't mention anything about having to set anything up for VMU files so I'm not sure what's going wrong here.

[Agozer]

file does exists in the nullDC folder, but it's not detecting it because in nullDC the file name is greyed out in the menu roll out.

That's how it's supposed to be. Just because it's greyed out doesn't mean that it doesn't work. Still, why VMUs refuse to work for you in both emulators is a mystery.

Make sure that you have nullDC VMU selected for Port A in Select Plugins window.

[DCNoob]

Ok well case closed. Last night I finally found a post on another forum telling me how to format the vmu file. All the posts kept telling me to "open" or "load" up the bios and edit the vmu section, but no person or no website told me what program or method you use to browse .bin files.

Instead apparently I was just supposed to go to the "File" option of the dreamcast screen you get when you don't have a game in, and then delete the data from there.

[Agozer]

Instead apparently I was just supposed to go to the "File" option of the dreamcast screen you get when you don't have a game in, and then delete the data from there.

Yes, that is exactly how it's done. Maybe I should have told you in detail. :/

[Dark Mits]

The strange part is that you got the message "No VMU Unit inserted" or something similar. Most games I've played using all 3 emulators (Chankast, DCEmu, NullDC) were giving me the message "VMU Unit not formatted" instead.