New Test Reveals Possible Source of SAROO Problems

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📰 New article from RetroRGB

New Test Reveals Possible Source of SAROO Problems

https://retrorgb.com/new-test-reveals-possible-source-of-saroo-problems.html

Here’s your punchy, newsletter-ready version:

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SAROO’s Secret Glitch? A Race Condition in Disguise

You plug in your SAROO, launch Shining Force III, and—bam—audio glitches, crashes, weird freezes. For years, Saturn fans shrugged it off as “just how it is.” Now, a new test proves it’s not random. It’s a bug.

A developer named TrekkiesUnite118 built a simple checksum tool that loads and verifies game files over and over. On every other ODE, emulator, or modded Saturn? Perfect runs. But SAROO? Failed checksums—12 times in 3,000+ tries. One failed load = one game crash. Not okay.

The kicker? Someone added a sector delay of 10,000… and the glitches vanished. That’s not a fix—it’s a band-aid hiding a deeper issue: a race condition in the FPGA code. Data arrives out of order, and the system panics.

TPUnix, SAROO’s creator, just responded: “Looks like the FPGA firmware has some problem. I’ll debug it later.” (Yes, that’s the official response.)

Meanwhile, AliExpress sellers are cashing in on an unfinished product. JT Studios’ version? Still your safest bet—until this gets patched.

The SAROO’s promise is huge. But if the foundation’s shaky, even 1M of RAM won’t save you.

— From Sega Saturn SHIRO!

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