GDRom drive replacement found!

[Anthony817]

http://dknute.livejournal.com/39276.html

Now a real permanent Dreamcast with 100% compatibility is a reality folks!

[SWAT]

This is a prototype and too expensive...

[ms18e]

Theoretically it is possible to replace GD driver with a user defined circuit, emulating GD driver interface signals with FPGA/MCU and load dreamcast game image from flash memory, but the problem is, the specification of GD driver interface is unavaiable, and it is costly in both time and money...

[Anthony817]

He plans on shrinking the technology down to a smaller board in the future. I seen some go for $50 on Ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/MCU-BOARD-STM32F103-...0562467483

[SWAT]

We can only wait and hope

[DoctorNicholas]

Why not skip the disc making and go straight to making a hard drive attachment for the bottom of the console with some more hardware extensions? (like 1gb more ram and vram, and stuff). With a software already installed on the hard drive that is like a menu system (like the xbox 360's) and it shows all the games you have installed on the hard drive.

[SWAT]

Yes, it would be ideal. G2 bus is four times faster than G1 bus.
It's good for the HDD, but this bus is slow for memory, 20 times slower than system memory. And only 64 MB. But this is usable for some stuff, as an example of a SPU memory (AICA connected by G2 bus).
I was thinking over some extension board, which would have Ethernet, video/audio decoder, USB host and/or HDD. But I do not have sufficient knowledge to implement it

[DoctorNicholas]

if you can make soemthing that communicates with the modem/ethernet plug like ive seen some people do (put rca jacks on it and use that for video instead of the video cable itself), then you can probably make an ethernet adapter. you can make a hard drive/ usb flash drive / etc. just like how an sd card adapter is made. im no mechanical genius but i suppose thats how it works.

[arthur2shedsjackson]

A practical ethernet adapter integrated into the system would be very impressive - One of the biggest problems with the current situation is the high cost of the ethernet adapter (as has already been mentioned in other threads here)

Is there a reason why it's so difficult to add an ethernet adapter to the Dreamcast? I would have thought it would be a simple process (but I don't know much about these things!)

[SWAT]

The process is not too complicated, but it can make only a specialist.

[DoctorNicholas]

because sega left us with no key blueprints, it is harder to make one.

---

but if you make an attachment that makes the system like current gen, then most likely you can make an ethernet adapter for that and code the os of the attachment to make the dreamcast games believe that is the internet.

[Anthony817]

A Japanese guy made one years ago, from off-the-shelf parts, but I don't think it could really do anything with any online games.

[cybdyn]

I'll try do this things for PS1 at first. than for DreamCast. and other consoles....

the project actually calls "PSIO" ( estableshed by Hauntead360 ). I make all hardware support.

as for DreamCast - we got a lot of GOOD enough info about G1/G2 interface...
and also the "DreamShell" by SWAT can make dreams come true....!!!

really only one problem - TIME !

ps: work in progress.....