Before the days of modern flashcarts, which use SD cards as a form of storage medium, in the case of the SD2SNES amongst many others. In the mid-90s, when this wasn't an option, the way you would play your SNES/SFC ROMs would be to use a floppy disk copier. This is a large flashcart consisting of a built-in RAM expansion; the first of its kind had either 8 MBit (1 MB) or 16 MBit (2 MB) of RAM (some allowing you to upgrade to 32 MBit (8 MB)) and a floppy drive, which came either internally or as an optional accessory from the manufacturer. The copier would allow you to back up your physical cartridges as a ROM file onto a floppy disk, and depending on the size of the games, a floppy disk could fit several games; for example: games larger than 16 MB would have to be split onto multiple disks due to the limitations on what an HD disk could hold.
Some copiers have the ability to play games with extra co-processors, such as the DSP-1 and Super FX, with the exception of requiring a donor cartridge because the copier does not contain or emulate those chips. In addition, some can even bypass basic copy protection mechanisms, mostly games that don't require SRAM, which earlier copiers couldn't do prior unless patches were applied.
Guides
Models
Super Magicom
In 1992, Front Fareast Industrial Corp. of Taiwan released the Super Magicom (MS-3201.) At the same time, they worked with China Coach Co. Ltd. to create their own version, the SuperCom Pro. 1. The Super Magicom was produced in two variations: one with 8 MBit of RAM and another with 16 MBit; the 16 MBit variant is the most common amongst users, whilst the 8 MBit variants were significantly less popular and are difficult to find.
Model Differences
List of differences between CCL and FF's versions of the Super Magicom:
Casing
The differences between the two models are that both units use different shells: the Super Magicom comes in a beige, rounded casing, whilst the SuperCom Pro. 1 uses an almost identical form factor to that of the Super Wild Card, with the only differences being the top of the unit having a light, dark gray color; the grills are embossed into the plastic; there is no dust cover covering the cartridge slot; and there is no internal floppy drive, reducing the height to a minimum.
Software
- Minor naming scheme changes to options were made on the main menu; for example: "IC CARD" (Super Magicom); "GAME CARD" (SuperCom Pro.1)
- The title has been altered from "SUPER MAGICOM" to "SUPERCOM PRO.2" on the SuperCom Pro.1 (despite the fact that a second model of the SuperCom Pro was never released).
- The SuperCom Pro.1 is limited to formatting high-density disks ranging from 1.44MB to 1.6MB. Super Magicom supports double-density formatting from 720KB to 800KB, as well as high-density formatting.
- The SuperCom Pro.1 BIOS appears to be based on version 3 of the Super Magicom BIOS.
- Since both units share the same motherboard, it is possible to swap a SuperCom Pro.1 ROM with a Super Magicom, and vice versa.