Dreamcast SD Mod: Is it hard and will it work if the laser is done?

greedostick

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I know a guy who has a DC with a bad laser. He might want to do an SD mod. Is it possible without a working laser?

If so where would one buy kits?

Also is the mod good? I heard they use to run slow or something?
 
Kid Panda

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You talking about the GDEMU? Those are only done in small batches and sell out within 30 mins.
 
DNSDies

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There is also a Serial I/O to SD card mod. It's slower than GDEmu, and still requires a working laser to boot the system into the SD loader.

Is the laser diode itself failing, or the mechanical portions? Try cleaning and re-greasing all the moving parts of the laser assembly with lithium grease.
The drive motors are all off-the-shelf standard parts you can buy new online for $3-5 if they're failing. They'll be quieter than the old ones too.
 
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greedostick

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OK thanks, I will let him know. I'm not sure what's wrong with it. He said it doesnt spin.
 
ggallegos1

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He could also try recalibrating the laser, that fixed mine when it had reading issues.
 
DNSDies

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ggallegos1 said:
He could also try recalibrating the laser, that fixed mine when it had reading issues.
Click to expand...

Messing with laser pots is always an option. If it's already broken, you can't break it worse.
Just be aware that the DC pot has some red epoxy holding it in place, so you need to break that, and mark the original position to have a point of reference.
You can also adjust the height of the disc spindle to put it closer to the laser by turning a locking screw on the spindle motor and moving it very slightly lower.
 
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sparksterz

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I gotta say I recommend USB GDRom highly. It's definitely not cheap, but it's a pretty no fuss installation. Though it doesn't have a pretty menu system I guess that's important to some people :smirk:
 
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ginoscope

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I don't have a GDEmu but I got a Rhea in my Saturn from the same guy and I have been very impressed with how it functions. The install was super easy and does not require anything but a screwdriver. The only annoying thing is ripping games to the correct format but once you have it down it's not that big of a deal.

A tip for anyone trying to get a GDEmu or Rhea is to create a wordpress site and subscribe to https://gdemu.wordpress.com/. Make it so any updates to his site sends you an email. Yes, it is very annoying but that was how I was able to score a Rhea. They do sell out really fast.
 
city41

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GDEMU is trivially easy to install. However, it's only compatible with certain Dreamcasts.

I absolutely love the GDEMU, I can't recommend it enough.
 
Wachenroder

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DNSDies said:
I have one. It's slower than GD emu, so you get longer load times. Many games are incompatible.

It's fine for homebrew mostly, or smaller games that don't stream data.
Click to expand...

when you say incompatible, do you mean they just straight up wont work? or that they crash or what?

also.....so its a usb to sd adapter. how is that supposed to work on the dreamcast?
 
city41

city41

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ginoscope said:
A tip for anyone trying to get a GDEmu or Rhea is to create a wordpress site and subscribe to https://gdemu.wordpress.com/. Make it so any updates to his site sends you an email. Yes, it is very annoying but that was how I was able to score a Rhea. They do sell out really fast.
Click to expand...

I did the same thing and that enabled me to get a gdemu, rhea and a phoebe.
 
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DNSDies

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Wachenroder said:
when you say incompatible, do you mean they just straight up wont work? or that they crash or what?

also.....so its a usb to sd adapter. how is that supposed to work on the dreamcast?
Click to expand...

It's not USB to SD.
It's a special adapter that plugs into the Serial Port on the back of the dreamcast.
It's incompatible in that the dreamcast serial speed is a little slower than the GDRom's read speed.
Some games do not even boot.

Here's a list:
http://www.dc-swat.ru/forum/thread-1329.html

This list is outdated, as I understand there is a new ISO format and dreamshell program that makes some of these work/work better.
It's not as good as GDEmu, but it's a hell of a lot cheaper and works fine for emulators.
 
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