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Thread: SEGA Dreamcast SD-Card Mod without a working GD-ROM Drive...

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    Senior Member retroborg's Avatar
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    SEGA Dreamcast SD-Card Mod without a working GD-ROM Drive...

    Good day!
    I have a EURO PAL Dreamcast with a non operational GD-ROM drive, which I don't want to replace. Is it possible to perform this mod:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh6SxdUk_Xk
    And run the appropriate software Dreamshell / BootDreams directly from the SD Card and run commercial games as ISO / CDI images from the SD card, or is the GD-ROM needed?!

    I also saw this tutorial, but it is not made clear if it is possible to run DreamShell & BootDreams directly from the SD Card without the need of an operational GD-ROM.

    http://www.dallaslive.de/vdr/project...t/index-en.php

    Any info, guides or links to clarify this and to successfully complete this mod will be highly appreciated.

    Thanks in advance.

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    Going Retro!!! Ferral's Avatar
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    Re: SEGA Dreamcast SD-Card Mod without a working GD-ROM Drive...

    I believe that some of them you don't need the drive from what I have read, others though does need it.

    Personally I would replace the drive regardless so you have a fully functional Dreamcast.

    Also look into the USB version of it :

    http://www.theisozone.com/tutorials/...ndisk-adapter/

    Bear in mind though SEGA do still own I.P's etc and sell remastered Dreamcast games on Steam, so these cards are great for Homebrew stuff but the ISO's are classed as piracy

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    Senior Member retroborg's Avatar
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    Re: SEGA Dreamcast SD-Card Mod without a working GD-ROM Drive...

    Thanks for the info!

    Well I would order a new GD-ROM Laser, but the defective one I have now is the R48G_149 for the Samsung board and apparently the SPU3200 for the JVC board which is readily available in eBay, is not fully compatible with the Dreamcast, it does not play commercial games out of the box and needs additional modding and fussing to do so.

    Oh and I also cut the 16 Pin Ribbon cable that connects the GD-ROM to the Board by accident, so I’ll need one of those too and from what I saw it is not included with the New GD-ROM laser.

    So, what are my options?

    Thanks in advance

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    Re: SEGA Dreamcast SD-Card Mod without a working GD-ROM Drive...

    I would look into replacing the entire drive unit instead of just the laser

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    HEXUS.Metal Knoxville's Avatar
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    Re: SEGA Dreamcast SD-Card Mod without a working GD-ROM Drive...

    The second tutorial does say at one stage that if you perform the Dev BIOS mod you should be able to boot Dreamshell directly from the SD card although having never used it or modified my Dreamcast I'm not sure if you can then use Dreamshell to load your homebrew software from an SD card as well.

    I do remember a piece of hardware being designed and manufactured to replace the disc drive and do exactly that though called GDEmu so that may be worth a look.

    In an ideal world though I have to agree with Ferral and say that I'd probably just replace my drive and keep my Dreamcast fully functional for those rare but fun occaisions when there's a few people round that fancy some Soul Calibur or Powerstone multiplayer action

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    Re: SEGA Dreamcast SD-Card Mod without a working GD-ROM Drive...

    Quote Originally Posted by Knoxville View Post
    The second tutorial does say at one stage that if you perform the Dev BIOS mod you should be able to boot Dreamshell directly from the SD card although having never used it or modified my Dreamcast I'm not sure if you can then use Dreamshell to load your homebrew software from an SD card as well.

    I do remember a piece of hardware being designed and manufactured to replace the disc drive and do exactly that though called GDEmu so that may be worth a look.

    In an ideal world though I have to agree with Ferral and say that I'd probably just replace my drive and keep my Dreamcast fully functional for those rare but fun occaisions when there's a few people round that fancy some Soul Calibur or Powerstone multiplayer action
    If anybody could point me to the right direction of where to obtain a new full GD-ROM Drive, I would highly appreciate it. In ebay I see only the Laser Unit My Dreamcast is a EURO PAL Model by the way and I'm in the EU.

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    Re: SEGA Dreamcast SD-Card Mod without a working GD-ROM Drive...

    There were a couple of sites based in Hong Kong that used to, or at least I'm fairly certain they did. I haven't bought anything Dreamcast for a while bar a new VMU but gonig back into my favourites neither seem to stock as much as they did

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    Re: SEGA Dreamcast SD-Card Mod without a working GD-ROM Drive...

    Whenever one of mine start to creak I just buy a spare Dreamcast off eBay. Probably not that much more expensive (although prices seem to have gone up recently?).

    I hadn't looked in to an SD card Mod but I am tempted to have a go at it now as I have at least one system with a dead drive unit.


    Edit: look at #261744360425 on eBay - going as spares/repairs but for 9 quid you might get lucky and have some other spare bits as well.
    Bonus Edit: Looks like the 14088E (Samsung board)
    Last edited by virtuo; 26-01-2015 at 01:38 AM.

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    Senior Member retroborg's Avatar
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    Re: SEGA Dreamcast SD-Card Mod without a working GD-ROM Drive...

    Thanks for the info.

    I also found these 2 mods:
    It can be bought here for 100 Euros.
    https://gdemu.wordpress.com/ordering/

    Also this one which is supposed to be better.
    Dreamcast USB-GDROM Controller:

    http://www.retrogamenetwork.com/2014...e-alternative/

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0PXT8-tTXY

    But I see only 8 were produced and it costs 130 Euros.
    Anybody know where I could get one?

    So how well do these 2 perform and which of the 2 should I get?

    Oh By the way. It says that:

    GDEMU is compatbile with VA1 model Dreamcasts from all regions

    IMPORTANT: VA2 model is not compatible. Mating GDEMU with VA0 model mainboard is possible but will cause permanent damage to the device. See installation instructions.
    So how can you tell which version you have without taking the whole console apart?
    I would prefer not to at the moment.
    Last edited by retroborg; 26-01-2015 at 12:07 PM.

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    Re: SEGA Dreamcast SD-Card Mod without a working GD-ROM Drive...

    Quote Originally Posted by retroborg View Post
    So how can you tell which version you have without taking the whole console apart?
    I would prefer not to at the moment.
    (I'm 99% sure this is the case)
    If you look at the silver sticker underneath the console - bottom right you should see a box with "PAL E" in it (denoting the region). There should be a little circle next to it with a number in it. That'' be the VA model - I think most of the euro models, certainly all the ones that I have seen have been VA1. VA2 would have been one of the very last models, not sure if any of the Euro models were VA2..

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    Senior Member retroborg's Avatar
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    Re: SEGA Dreamcast SD-Card Mod without a working GD-ROM Drive...

    Quote Originally Posted by virtuo View Post
    (I'm 99% sure this is the case)
    If you look at the silver sticker underneath the console - bottom right you should see a box with "PAL E" in it (denoting the region). There should be a little circle next to it with a number in it. That'' be the VA model - I think most of the euro models, certainly all the ones that I have seen have been VA1. VA2 would have been one of the very last models, not sure if any of the Euro models were VA2..

    Yeah I just checked, it's a VA1
    Thanks!

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