ISO Loader 0.8.x Beta + preview of DreamShell v4.0 RC 5

[CrisMod]

(18.09.2023 23:11)pcwzrd13 писал(а):  @CrisMod I can save you a bit of work. I just tested the game with a SATA adapter + HDD and it freezes consistently. It's definitely the SATA adapter that's the issue.

Hi pcwzrd13,

I've conducted some tests with both images, the one you provided and the one I found on this site signed by megavolt85. NOW IT WORKS(I have tested for 40 Minutes without problems)! I used Sega Rally 2 settings and below have attached the settings that work for me (and my MOD) without any freezes. I'm currently using IsoLoader 7.x (although I'll need to do more tests to figure out which version of IsoLoader 8.x works best for me).

I noticed that the two GDI images differ in size, even though they should be the same NTSC-U image. Is there some different background preparation involved? Or could megavolt85's image be from another region?

I'd also like to respectfully disagree with you on one point. We're talking about a modification from GD-ROM to IDE, where data emulation takes place, and then from IDE to CF or IDE to SATA, so we're dealing with three steps where the Dreamcast is extremely sensitive to any changes, even a single resistor can alter data transfer.

I've heard and seen people having issues with both CF and SATA adapters, and I imagine for developers, it's a headache to deal with all the minor differences in each MOD. In the past, apart from DragonCity's, I initially tried a cheap adapter from China that I had lying around for other IDE to SATA hardware, and that adapter was a disaster in terms of freezes, and so on.

Initially, I used high-quality IDE cables for connections (which are of excellent quality) until I discovered that, apart from the cable length, the Dreamcast is susceptible to even the tiniest data oscillations passing through the cables. This is why cable length and the type of cable through which binary data passes can affect the results (now I'm using the wires that are more lighter to avoid any oscillations from the waights of the cable and that emulate the moterboard connections, which give me more spasce to use sligltly longher cables which fits my type of MOD) .

I believe there's no one-size-fits-all modification for this type of Mod, but rather it's about finding the best balance between IDE connection length (if not using cables or minimal length is better), the type of translation between IDE to CF / SATA or whatever you choose, and the final product you select as storage (because even that can make a difference, we're talking micro-variations, but they exist).

So, IDE-SATA is more native than IDE to CF, one of them is regarding LBA, which CF must emulate and its extra translations. Freezing issues are often related to cable length and the adapter. I'll reiterate that even a single resistor can change the data transfer speed and cause freezes.

So, it's not that all SATA or CF adapters (as mentioned by other users) have this problem. The issue arises when adapting these technologies, and the freezing problem is also tied to the data transfer rate per second. CF is closer to the IDE speed, so SATA choices need to be made carefully, and not just any model should be installed. If the data transfer is too fast or too slow from SATA to IDE, it can lead to problems (addition if we talking about the type of actual chipset problems, where it need to translate accurately the actual datas to).

Anyway, it works perfectly now, and I want to thank all of you. I also thank pcwzrd13 for his wonderful list, which I imagine takes a lot of time to create. However, if needed, I believe we should test games under the best possible conditions with the mods and try to understand if the issue lies in the DreamShell source code or, as in my case, in the image preparation when converting to GDI or another format, or both.