What is a .MD file?
The .md extension means both Markdown documents and Sega Mega Drive ROMs.
Sega Mega Drive ROM
- What it is
- A Sega Mega Drive / Genesis ROM image - a cartridge dump for the 16-bit console. Analyser reads the cartridge header: title, region and checksum.
- How to tell it apart
- A Mega Drive ROM is binary with the ASCII string SEGA near offset 0x100.
- Did you know
- Mega Drive cartridges carry the word SEGA near the start of the ROM, which the console checked for as a crude licensing lock.
- That trademark check, the Trademark Security System added to later consoles, was central to Sega v Accolade, the 1992 US ruling that made reverse-engineering for compatibility legal.
- The console runs on a 16-bit Motorola 68000, the same processor family found in the original Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga.
Markdown document
- What it is
- A Markdown document - lightweight text markup for readme files and notes. Analyser renders it and reads its structure.
- How to tell it apart
- Markdown is human-readable text.
- Did you know
- Markdown was created in 2004 by John Gruber to read as plain text first, which is why a README.md still looks fine even where nothing renders it.
- Gruber developed the original syntax with Aaron Swartz, the programmer and activist who also co-authored RSS and helped create Reddit.
- Because the early spec left many edge cases undefined, developers created CommonMark in 2014 to pin Markdown down to a single unambiguous standard.
- Open a .MD file
- Drag a .MD file onto the Analyser home page (or tap to pick one). It opens entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and it works offline once installed.