Sega Saturn / Rhea

kahel

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Apr 4, 2014
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251
I had a chance to get a Rhea from the first production run and i just wanted to share how awesome it is and how happy i am with it.

For those who don't know , Rhea is the latest project from the creator of the GDEMU. It is a small pcb that replaces your Saturn (20 pin models for now) CD-ROM and lets you load the disk image directly from a SD card to your saturn. The installation is a little more complicated then the GDEMU , you will need to find a 5V line , a ground and solder a wire to both of them to power the Rhea.

Like the GDEMU , the selection of Image is done via a button on the PCB but is accessible when you open you saturn lid. There is no on screen menu so you need to keep a list of the images you have on your SD card. It the thing that most people complain about but for me it not a big issue compared to being able to play disc image and not having to worry about my Saturn CD drive breaking .

Rhea also has a automatic region patch that let you play japanese games on your US saturn without modding or a Action Replay. You can also do the reverse like play US games on a Japanese Saturn.

The read speed is not faster nor slower then the standard Saturn CD drive. The read speed is limited to 2X by the bus speed itself compared to the DC who read games faster with the GDEMU compared to the GD-ROM drive. So it totally transparent that you are playing game from a SD card instead of the drive except that you don't have a CD drive making sound like it going to roll over and die .

This is a great alternative to installing a mod chip in your saturn. I have been able to play games that i would have only dream of seeing because of the prices. You can take most image available on the Net and convert them to the CDI format. I keep a library of Saturn Games on my PC Hard drive ready for Rhea and copy those that i play the most on my Rhea.

I played many US and Japanese games and have not encountered any issues or problem so far.

So far only the earlier 20 pin models are supported but he is working on a version that would work on a 21 pin saturn.

It one of my best purchase so far beside my JNX supergun of course.

Here a link to his site: https://gdemu.wordpress.com/
 
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Kid Panda

The Chinese Kid
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Jun 13, 2010
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12,514
I had no idea this was around, I might grab one simply cause I have a Saturn with a dead drive. Thanks for the heads up!
 

opt2not

Genam's Azami Sharpener
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Very nice. I want one of these, as well as one for my DC but it sucks that you can only use a v1 DC for it. I have my tried and true v0 and its a PITA to go hunt down the right models.
The USB-GDROM by MNEMO looks promising but the information about that release went dead at the tail-end of last year.
 

everten

Edo Express Delivery Guy
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Sep 2, 2012
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The Rhea sounds great. Hopefully they can work something up like the Naomi netboot LCD game selection or an on screen menu.

How much did you pay?
 

kahel

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Apr 4, 2014
Posts
251
I had no idea this was around, I might grab one simply cause I have a Saturn with a dead drive. Thanks for the heads up!

No problem , I know there are quite a few Saturn Fans on the board and considering the price of the rarer imports , it worth a look at.

The Rhea sounds great. Hopefully they can work something up like the Naomi netboot LCD game selection or an on screen menu.

How much did you pay?

I paid 130 EURO shipping included . I know that the creator said that he did not plan on creating any screen menu because he says it would be way too slow and i think he would prefer to create a GDEMU for the PCE or Sega CD next.
 

everten

Edo Express Delivery Guy
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$150 US isn't that bad. Maybe that price will come down once he places a larger order with the supplier.

I guess the game selection isn't terrible. SD cards are so cheap you can probably just do 1 game per card and label them.
 

Jeneki

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Jan 22, 2013
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I've had extremely bad luck with CD drives over the last few years. One Saturn, two PS1s, one PCE :( . Those were all unmodded systems with nothing out of the ordinary going in (besides being old).

So yeah, this is exactly the type of product I've been hoping for, for quite a while now.
 

Zapperkhan

Kula's Candy
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Oct 2, 2013
Posts
306
Almost went in for one. But it not loading games faster had me hold off. I know it's a limit of the hardware, but still expensive for what it is. I love my GDEmu though. So simple to install and use and it loads games like twice as fast.
 

KalessinDB

Mr. Big's Thug
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Dec 17, 2013
Posts
202
I have Mnemo's USB replacement for 3DO and the GDEMU for Dreamcast... they're both pretty cool but I do like Mnemo's work a little bit more. May some day pick up Rhea when he gets a second production round going, only because I know he typically does limited runs... but I do really prefer the USB loading with a menu to SD loading.

Plus my Saturn is chipped and has a region free bios already so yeah.
 

MidnightMonkey

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Jun 1, 2014
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It'd be nice to get one of each if people didn't close shop after a limited fucking preorder run. I remember the first time I ran a business.
 

KRiSX

King's Dry Cleaner
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Jul 29, 2013
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376
i'm very keen for one of these, but getting one could be difficult... the guy making them seems to only be interested in doing very limited runs so unless you're prepared to watch his site like a freakin hawk you'll probably miss out... i've got one of his GDEMU's but only way I could track one down was by buying a console with it pre-installed, no big deal but I've already got 2 saturn's, kinda don't need another one lol
 

ggallegos1

Cholecystectomy Required.,
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I'd actually love to get this for the high dollar Saturn games and the permanence of the device (my laser is already dying on me as it is ). Im watching the PSIO already and will probably hop on that one.
 

SmokeMonster

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Jan 25, 2014
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I like the idea of the Rhea and will probably eventually buy one myself. Are there plans to ever implement an on-screen menu?
 

Azra113

Street Hoop Star
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Dec 26, 2010
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This is great news. Thanks for sharing.

Si jamais j'arrive a m'en procurer une. Pourrait tu m'aider avec l'installation ? Chui trop sauvage pour soh, j'ai peur de casser la machine. :lolz:
 

everten

Edo Express Delivery Guy
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The ordering page for Rhea has been opened. https://gdemu.wordpress.com/ordering/ordering-rhea/ You just need to send him a request to be added to the list.

Sure i can help with the installation but i don't have any fancy connectors so i just solder the wires directly to Rhea and the 5V / Ground.

Thanks for the heads up that ordering is opened. I just sent him a request.
 

kuze

Akari's Big Brother
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Apr 20, 2013
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The ordering page for Rhea has been opened. https://gdemu.wordpress.com/ordering/ordering-rhea/ You just need to send him a request to be added to the list.

Sure i can help with the installation but i don't have any fancy connectors so i just solder the wires directly to Rhea and the 5V / Ground.

Thanks for letting us know. I normally only check his homepage and didn't see that an ordering page had been added.
 

opt2not

Genam's Azami Sharpener
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Yeah, get in while you can. I was stalking his ordering page daily, and as soon as it was opened I sent him a request.

He responded promptly and let me know I'm on the order-list. I assume he's still working on the assembly right now, 'cause he said the waiting time is about 1 week before it ships out.
 

MidnightMonkey

Loyal Neo-Disciple
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Jun 1, 2014
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That's weird. I bitched about it, and the orders opened up a couple of days later. Maybe I should just bitch and whine more.

Picked up that shit!
 

everten

Edo Express Delivery Guy
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Sep 2, 2012
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Just got shipping confirmation on my Rhea.
 

opt2not

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Awww, I haven't even got my payment request yet!

Do you know if shipped you a V3.1 board?
 

kuze

Akari's Big Brother
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Awww, I haven't even got my payment request yet!

Do you know if shipped you a V3.1 board?

He said on the blog that all units being shipped from now on will be solder free, so I'd imagine so.
 
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