DSM Games - SAROO Visual Loader v0.2.0
Hardware-test distribution - packaged 16 October 2026
====================================================

YOUR CARD ALREADY WORKS: DO NOT FORMAT IT.
This is David Morrill's SAROO Dynamic Frontend, not a stock SAROO release.
No ROMs, BIOS images, MCU firmware or FPGA update is included.

RECOMMENDED: WINDOWS 10/11 64-BIT
1. Extract this entire ZIP onto your PC. Do not copy the whole release to the SD.
2. Insert your existing SAROO SD card. Back up your saves and configuration to the PC.
3. Open Windows Manager and run SAROO Frontend Manager.exe.
4. Select the correct SD drive. Choose "Boot straight into the frontend" and
   click "Install / Update". The app preserves your existing firmware as
   SAROO/ssfirm.bin.orig and verifies copied files by SHA-256.
5. Click "Build library & artwork". Optional covers: put cover.png or cover.jpg
   inside each corresponding SAROO/ISO/<game> folder first. Games without a cover
   get a generated title card. Rebuild after adding games or artwork.
6. Safely eject the card, insert it in SAROO, then power on the Saturn.

FIRMWARE REQUIREMENT
The automatic-boot package replaces only SAROO/ssfirm.bin on the card. It uses
SAROO's 12 February 2026 Saturn firmware plus the frontend hook. Its documented
pairing requires SAROO MCU firmware dated 260212 or newer. Do not replace your
mcuapp.bin, FPGA files, game files, saves, or saroocfg.txt with anything else.
If your MCU version is unknown or older, use "Keep my firmware" instead.
This replacement can change Saturn-side behavior from your currently installed
ssfirm.bin; keep your own original backup for rollback.

NO-FIRMWARE-REPLACEMENT MODE
Choose "Keep my firmware" in Windows Manager before Install / Update. Start the
frontend from the stock menu: Run binary file -> frontend.bin@200000.
This standalone mode is documented as less tested than automatic boot.

MANUAL INSTALL (ANY OS)
1. Copy your current SD:/SAROO/ssfirm.bin to a safe location on your PC. Also
   copy it to SD:/SAROO/ssfirm.bin.orig if that backup does not already exist.
   Never overwrite an existing backup blindly.
2. Open Manual SD Files. Merge ONLY its SAROO folder into the SD-card root.
   Replace ssfirm.bin and the two frontend binaries. Keep your existing
   SAROO/frontend/config.txt if you already have one. Do not replace the entire
   SAROO directory, and do not create SD:/SAROO/SAROO.
3. Leave your SAROO/ISO games, saves, MCU/FPGA and saroocfg.txt in place.
4. Eject safely and boot. The frontend can list games without a prepared artwork
   database. Use Windows Manager to build the library and artwork later.

EXPECTED CARD PATHS
SD:/SAROO/ssfirm.bin
SD:/SAROO/ssfirm.bin.orig                   your own original firmware
SD:/SAROO/frontend/frontend.bin
SD:/SAROO/frontend/config.txt
SD:/SAROO/BIN/frontend.bin@200000
SD:/SAROO/ISO/...                          your existing games, unchanged
Library preparation adds library.db, art.pak and cache under SAROO/frontend.

ROLLBACK
* For one boot: hold B while powering on to request the stock menu.
* From the frontend: START -> Stock SAROO menu.
* Permanently: use "Restore stock firmware" in Windows Manager, or copy your
  own original ssfirm.bin backup back to SD:/SAROO/ssfirm.bin.
* Removing SAROO/frontend/frontend.bin also selects the stock-menu fallback.
* Manual SD Files/extras/ssfirm_stock_samecompiler.bin is an upstream A/B-test
  build. It is NOT a backup of your own previously working firmware.

CONTROLS
Left/Right: browse. L/R: letter jump. Y/Z: -10/+10 games. Up/Down: shelves.
A: play. X: favorite. START: options. Hold B at power-on: stock-menu fallback.

RELEASE STATUS
This is an installable hardware-test distribution, not a real-hardware-certified
stable release. The retained producer run passed build, host, emulator tours,
emulated SAROO handoff and Windows smoke tests. This packaging session checked
archive hashes/CRCs, payload identity, frontend CRC and install/update/restore/
library operations on temporary test-card directories. No real SD card, Saturn,
Windows GUI or new emulator run was used during repackaging.

Runtime, firmware, launcher and installer source are unchanged from the recovered
v0.2.0 artifact. This manager distribution uses its existing installed-system-font
fallback rather than bundled TTF files. Windows title cards can therefore differ
slightly in typography. Re-run artwork preparation to regenerate title cards.

SOURCE AND EVIDENCE
Repository: https://github.com/davidsmorrill/EtcEtcEtc
Producer run: https://github.com/davidsmorrill/EtcEtcEtc/actions/runs/37420964620
Producer head: 4e2cd083963fcc88de4339a22bb3fa23a90f115e
Embedded payload git revision: 72744991d6 (retained unchanged)
Original artifact ID: 11392968037
See RELEASE-MANIFEST.json, QA-RESULTS.json and SHA256SUMS.txt for exact identities.
The package is delivered as a chat download; no GitHub release or website publish
was performed, and no GitHub Actions were triggered during this task.
