Dreamcast GD-Rom Drive Emulation

[Treamcaster]

Long story short, can something be done about this system Krizz?

[MottZilla]

I think it was brought up before. The answer I think was not anytime soon.

[KRIKzz]

I have no plans to do something for CD systems

[APE]

I want an optical drive emulator for the Vectrex.

[cybdyn]

"Dreamcast GD-Rom Drive Emulation" is still under developing! ;)

dunno why не doesnt prefer cd systems. : less wires, async access to data, more powerful consoles. maybe more complex in developing.

APE - are you seriously about the Vectrex?

[amrod]

I was looking around and just found this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DIY-SD-SDHC-...#ht_1524wt_890

from what little I have read bout it, it seems to be interesting just limited to 32gb

[sonicdude10]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DIY-SD-SDHC-...#ht_1524wt_890

I have one and they don't work worth a crap. When they do work the load times for some games is so slow that they are non-playable.

[atreyu187]

I have over 100 SDISO's working at least 90% speed with the latest RC-1 build myself. Finished Skies of Arcadia last night using VGA form the USA version and it very playable. The SD card has came a long way lately.

[-=FamilyGuy=-]

I have over 100 SDISO's working at least 90% speed with the latest RC-1 build myself. Finished Skies of Arcadia last night using VGA form the USA version and it very playable. The SD card has came a long way lately.

I'm impressed/sceptical about this. However, it'd be cool if someone could make a marketable dreamcast drive emulator, I'd sure be willing to pay from $50 to $150 for a unit depending on the quality. What'd be really great is a 2.5" sata/ide HDD case built in with a gd-emu board as a drop in replacement for the optical drive! Even beter would be to have a usb plug accessible from the lid to access the hdd. This would be "KRIKzz's quality level", but I'd take anything decent.

Good luck to those working on that!

ps: (cybgyn, am I right to assume you're russian?)

[atreyu187]

I just posted my pack of 100 SDISO's in the usual places give it a try, what do you have to lose? One thing should be said some games HAD CDDA but if they did it is gone as the app doesn't support CDDA playback. Neither do optical drive emulators, just look at the WODE. Ever tried to play F-Zero or Eternal Darkness? Zero sound as it doesn't and apparently can't support CDDA playback. So it is no fault of my own the CDDA is missing from some and not others. Also taking the SFD's down a notch in games like Spawn where Cacpom made them all 9,000 kilobits per second well outside of what VCD can handle and the SD card reader for that matter. But doing stuff like reducing bloated SFD files, converting ADX to 32k stereo instead of 44k stereo make a world of a difference in playback and nominal loss of quality, at least none I ever notice even on VGA. I take SFD's right up to the limit when downsampling at 1,150 kilobits and 32k stereo if it is of any use to you but yields much better results.

[Hedgeyourbets]

Pretty much every SDISO of atreyu's I've ever used has been of excellent quality and indeed every regular burnt to disc ISO too

[-=FamilyGuy=-]

Well seems it requires somewhat heavy downsampling, but still it's the closest we can get from playing dc from HDD right now. Unless the guy who was working on a BBA streaming program has succeeded. I'd still prefer a drive emulator, no offence. I love the sd-card adaptor (in fact I'm the one who convinced jj1odm to resume working on this little wonder), but unless there are 3rd party gd-burner and gd-r discs going on the market, the best thing for preservation would be a drive emulator. As for cdda, I think it's lazyness of developpers in face of the complexity of cdda/money they'd get in return, greed in a word. They knew the wode would sell wether it plays cdda or not, as it allows pirated games. Yet I find it stupid to buy a wode since every wii games works well on a hdd and gc one on sdhc... A drive emulator for DC should be focused on preservation rather than instant lower quality warez, there's cd-r for that.

[Treamcaster]

I'd sure be willing to pay from $50 to $150 for a unit depending on the quality. This would be "KRIKzz's quality level", but I'd take anything decent.

QFT.

[veganx]

I just posted my pack of 100 SDISO's in the usual places give it a try, what do you have to lose? One thing should be said some games HAD CDDA but if they did it is gone as the app doesn't support CDDA playback. Neither do optical drive emulators, just look at the WODE. Ever tried to play F-Zero or Eternal Darkness? Zero sound as it doesn't and apparently can't support CDDA playback. So it is no fault of my own the CDDA is missing from some and not others. Also taking the SFD's down a notch in games like Spawn where Cacpom made them all 9,000 kilobits per second well outside of what VCD can handle and the SD card reader for that matter. But doing stuff like reducing bloated SFD files, converting ADX to 32k stereo instead of 44k stereo make a world of a difference in playback and nominal loss of quality, at least none I ever notice even on VGA. I take SFD's right up to the limit when downsampling at 1,150 kilobits and 32k stereo if it is of any use to you but yields much better results.

I don't quite get the reason why CDDA would not be possible in ANY optical disc drive emulator.
Wode could support streaming audio and this subject was beat to death, the only reason it doesn't support is because wode developers don't feel like to.

If someone developed a GD Drive emulator it could have CDDA if this was aimed since the beginning.

I appreciate your work, Atreyu, I have your Tosec collection and it's a very nice project you're doing there.
The only thing is that Dream shell still sucks, it improved like hell since the RC4 beta to RC1 but it's still a small baby.

I bet the next update will be the one that will make it useful and will be closest thing to an ODE we'll have this year.
The HDD support will be awesome, even if it only support IDE HD.
Faster loading will also be there. I bet we are on the verge for the possibility of a DC with the entire library with just a press of a button, just like anything the Everdrive touched.

BTW, I bet if we did a fundraising for Krikzz develop the DC ODE he would agree. hahaha

[-=FamilyGuy=-]

QFT.

Given the price of the existing everdrives products, the limited amount of potential customers, the amount of work involved and the need for a little profit, I think this is really fair. The existing everdrives products are a commercial success afaik (correct me if I'm wrong KRIKzz) even with this price range. Please note that I use the KRIKzz case as an example of similar products that were successful, I don't want to put pressure on KRIKzz.

I don't quite get the reason why CDDA would not be possible in ANY optical disc drive emulator.
Wode could support streaming audio and this subject was beat to death, the only reason it doesn't support is because wode developers don't feel like to.

Just as I said, there were lazy and greedy, they knew it'd sell anyway. Fact is that if such a product get made for DC, it should be complete as it won't be a "piracy breakthrough" (aka "personal backup breakthrough"), we can already play downsampled/slow games on cd-r/sd. While cd-r is REALLY decent most of the time, quality varies depending on games and releases. For preservation purpose a disc emu would be the best option.

[veganx]

Given the price of the existing everdrives products, the limited amount of potential customers, the amount of work involved and the need for a little profit, I think this is really fair. The existing everdrives products are a commercial success afaik (correct me if I'm wrong KRIKzz) even with this price range. Please note that I use the KRIKzz case as an example of similar products that were successful, I don't want to put pressure on KRIKzz.

No one want to put pressure on Krikzz because we all know how much he works on his products. I've once pointed out (at another forum) the skunkboard, a flash cartridge for the Atari Jaguar.
It had 3 hardware revision, that means, the guy produced 200, then 200, and later 150. This piece of trash needs a computer to flash the games, which is a pain, it also includes 3 usb ports, one mini where you flash the games, 2 regular which you could use for an USB storage.
You know how many software improvements it got since the first? 0
The software is the same since the first batch. The same happens with the Atari Lynx flash cartridge.
Now analyze this fact and compare to the amazing support Krikzz put on his products.

That being taken of my chest, moving to the Everdrive market. The everdrive requires a console and the cartridge, nothing else. A monkey could play the ED on any system.
Now if you produce a GD Rom replacement it's impossible to build one that would not require opening the console or soldering.
This would cut down the public by 1/3 or even less.
Only real hardcore fans would be interested in a GD Rom emulator.

[-=FamilyGuy=-]

A 10 years old kid with a screwdriver can swap a gd-rom optical drive for another one, or for an hypothetical emulator. in fact the drive connects to the mobo pretty much like a cardridge does, it's a socket and a connector that slides in each others.

[veganx]

But you need to open the console. You know lots of people would avoid even changing a lamp, imagine changing our hypothetical drive emulator.

[Aydan]

Despite the difficulty, the day that Dreamcast games can be loaded from an SD card, USB card or external hard-drive will be one of the greatest leaps of technology for any retro fan. I know there's a basic SD thing out there but I've heard so much mixed messages as most of them seem negative. The idea of being able to rip my GD roms and play them without any loss in quality and without worrying about my dreamcast laser dying would be awesome. Of course I'd rather see this happen on the PS1 first. The library of games on that system is unlike anything else out there.

[sonicdude10]

So the big question now is this: Is ANYONE stil working on this thing? I've been waiting for 2 years for one to be made with no luck. WHY??? The PS2, PS3, Xbox, Xbox 360, Gamecube, and Wii all have something like this. Why did Sega get left in the cold? I geuss I'm what some would call a "diehard fan" since I've opened mine up so many times I've lost track. Swapping the GD ROM for an IDE PCB board would be nothing for me. Getting software and ISO files set up as well would be easy for me. Someody get a move on with this 'cause I'd pay for one even if it is rather costly. Yeah, I'm that much of a diehard fan.