Flashcart and Multicart List - All systems

[+remowilliams]

So if you save a game you have to reset it? That could get annoying fast if you just want to save and continue on.

 

If you want your save to uh save to the card then yes you need to reset. You can save all you want while in a specific game.

[StoneAgeGamer]

 

So if you save a game you have to reset it? That could get annoying fast if you just want to save and continue on.

 

Well technically you can "save" and continue on, but the saves won't be backed-up to the SD without hitting reset. Yes, though, unless you get in the habit of hitting reset once you are done playing then it could be frustrating. I don't think this issue applies to games that use memory cards, because you still need a memory card for them, it just applies to games with internal saves.

[Mark Wolfe]

Hi All,

 

I just go word from the guy who is selling the GDEMU device for the Dreamcast. A friend of mine and I are going to be buying two, I got my placeholder email in early. I am wondering if anyone else here has ordered yet, if you have received it and if some good and kind soul could post any and all info on the device, forums, feedback, etc... I have some info saved, but I wanted to check in and see if anyone had some inside or first hand info on the device, I am especially interested in experiences with installation and what they used for storage, etc.

 

Also, I heard that it needs a boot disc of some kind or the device that was popular a few years ago that fits into the Dreamcast expansion port that used stripped down versions of some games and also ran emulators. I have one, but I forget where I found it since it has been so long. so, I would appreciate assistance in putting all the pieces together to get these working when they arrive... I'm actually sick in bed today or I would spend time searching and googling myself bu my brain is a bit morre foggy than usual due to some sort of bd cold or flu... I figured I've helped a few or more times on this thread so it wouldn't be inappropriate to ask for help in this instance.

 

This thread was where I first heard about this device so I am hoping this is where I will get all the links and info out there on the GDEMU device since we are paying next week.

 

thanks everyone

Mark Wolfe

 

PS: any news on the PSIO?? and for that matter has there been any response from the GDEMU guy on allowing help from US distributors/manufacturers, most importantly Stone Age Gamer. So far it seems this guy is going the way of the megaVIC20 cart... one at a time, with a LON turn-around waiting list which was a year long when I was waiting for mine.

 

may the Atari gods bless this forum!

I'm going back to bed to recuperate so maybe I can enjoy the weekend. I almost never get sick. this is probably the first time in about 5 years I've gotten anything more than the sniffles.

[Greg2600]

Mark, I'm assuming you were on the GDEMU waiting list? I did not because I thought the competing projects were farther along, but they seemed to have stalled.

[Mark Wolfe]

short answer "yes", long snarky answer I was not aware of any other way other than to get on a list to get one

 

I was contacted and given a certain amount of time to come of with the funds. he alluded to sending others out so I was just asking if anyone here had gotten one yet or at least gone through the order process.

 

he is very nice and very flexible about the money "incoming date"...he see,s aloof when I mention there are many people interested that would help him in a number of ways, I pointed in the direction of ATARIAGE and some of its members... he did not reply to that portion of emails. so he either wants the joy of doing this all by himself or he already has help that remains nameless... the latter, I kinda doubt

 

m

[Greg2600]

I'm still somewhat concerned about the drastically raised system temperature as a result of removing the GD-Drive assembly.

[Mark Wolfe]

Regarding DK and his GDEMU project. the very day he released the sign up list I put myself down for two. I hen began a nice thread of email conversation that went very politely until I asked him these questions:

 

 

Heya DK. I have a few questions. Many of which have been brought up at AtariAge and other places

The first thing is cooling... Many people are concerned about cooling. I have yet see a substantial answer to that question.

The second thing is the size of the ISO...FAT formatting found in SD/sdhc can not hold larger than 4GB... What about games that are larger? How will those games be dealt with?

Lastly, you have made mention of PayPal releasing your funds to invest into newer versions of the GDMU... If we buy now, where is the assurance that there will not be a better GDMU coming out next year or even next month? Will you take older versions in as a downpayment towards upgrades? Are we stuck with older versions?

I have to say I am having second thoughts unless you can address my concerns.

 

 

Here is his rather rude and incorrect reply... first of all does anyone know of a FAT32 SD card being able to hold 2TB??? ummm nooo because if there was you'd see them for sale all over

 

secondly, since we have no way to rip GD-ROM games, the output is often over 4GB... I know of many games that exceed 4GB... often times games have certain parts ripped out, like music, so check out DKs RUDE Reply

 

Lastly he is not Ford or GM.. we re not talking next year's model but one he implies he will begin work on as soon as funds clear... doesn't that make YOU a little uneasy?

 

 

Deunan Knute

5:05 AM (4 hours ago)

From the top:

I belive the "cooling issue" to be a very loud, but a single voice of
a concerned buyer. I do not belive the PSU temperatures are anywhere
near dangerous (to itself or the console).

The original GD-ROMs have a capacity of about 1.2GB. What exactly do
you need to store on the card that would require files of over 4GB in
size? FAT32 itself can cover up to 2TB.

You have no assurance. Just like with everything else you can buy, be
it a TV, a PC, or a car, or whatever really, the manufacturer can
release a new version the next they after your purchase. That's the
way commerce works.

I've tried to address all your technical questions, even though you
apparently didn't read any of the pages I prepared with explanations.
Then you don' like my attitude, and now you're having second thoughts,
bring up "issues" and require assurances. Tell you what, I think it
will be better if we we parted ways here. This is a hobby for me, not
a business.

So, this should calm your mind: I'm cancelling your preorder. You will
not be charged. Andy and all emails you will send after this one will
be ignored.

D.

 

Now, I see another glaring error here, he is NOT a TV or CAR manufacturer... he alludes to improving his device using OUR hard earned dollars. now unless he does it like KRIKKZZ does it, I think this guy is dreaming if he thinks people are willingly going to dump good money after bad considering his attitude. Also his inaccuracy regarding 32TB FAT 32 SDHC cards... I mean that for me really took the cake, I implore all of you reading this to write him and complain about his less than business like tactics... people being shut out for asking simple questions. I did indeed read his accompanying "fine print"... I read the paper, I'm not sure if he wrote it or someone else did, about cooling and he showed a piece of cardboard with holes cut in it... THAT was supposed to answer the question?

 

The bottom line he refuses to share, he refuses to play nice, and he is... well... let's call it what it is, he's being a dick

 

here is my final response... I suggest the rest of you wait for a better, newer, more capable device that uses a hard drive that can be a 500GB from a laptop and some way to connect to the damn thing... what he has here is a proof of concept that he is trying to pawn of as a completed product... STAY AWAY... especially since you can't even ask a question for fear of being dropped...

 

 

wow, everything everyone said about how difficult you are, how prone you are to tantrums and resistant you are to help from PROFESSIONALS is true!!!

Once your device comes out it will be copied, it will be cheaper and better, I give it about 6 months to a year

BTW Genius: FAT32 on an SDHC card only holds 4GB... where in HELL do you get that it holds up to 2TB

from wiki: The maximum possible size for a file on a FAT32 volume is 4 GiB minus 1 byte or 4,294,967,295 (2³² − 1) bytes.

I may not know anything about GDROM, but I DO know that many Dreamcast Game ISOs exceed 4GB when ripped. Since that is the format most Dreamcast games are in, I see a problem up ahead since your device does no rip Dreamcast games, so all your lip service regarding "piracy" means nohing in the face of that.

I'm glad I saved my friend some money, we can wait for a better product to come along, with more features and a cheaper price. Thanks for doing the legwork.. if you shared he burden of manufacturing you might not be so stressed as to lose a sale all because of your temper... I was perfectly respectable in my letter to you, you had no right, other than we all have to be mean & cold hearted to behave the way you did.

M

Remember, we are not talking $100 USA like a KRIKZZ cart... we are talking more than twice that in EUROS, that plus shipping, etc, very unreliable tracking and no recourse if it gets lost in the mail... this guy is a novice when it comes to customer service and he has no idea, other than the technical stuff, what he is doing.... I implore all of you to STAY AWAY

[Mark Wolfe]

If anyone would like to see the previous, friendly emails I had with him, please PM me... he was nice up until the point that he wasn't. I didn't deserve that. he completely freaked out which is a sign of stress I myself know very well

 

He has bitten off more than he can chew...

 

he will have many more problems, which is again showing him as a non professional, he has no clue what he is doing and if he had accepted help that was offered [not by me] then he would be flourishing now

 

ah well

[Mark Wolfe]

oh and the one question I forgot to ask was: "What happens when paypal pulls the plug on you and everyone is issued a refund [after a few months] and you are stuck with no CC processing?"

 

Because he WILL lose his paypal... we've all seen it happen a dozen times.

[+thegoldenband]

I may not know anything about GDROM, but I DO know that many Dreamcast Game ISOs exceed 4GB when ripped.

I don't think this is correct; the GD-ROM format itself can only hold 1.2 GB. Obviously a multi-disc game like Shenmue will total more than that, but you're dealing with each disc as an individual file.

[Greg2600]

Shit, so you're off the preorder now Mark?

 

I do agree with him on the FAT32 thing, that really should be enough for all DC single-disc games. When you say we can't rip GD-ROM discs that is not correct, it's been done for several years now and I don't remember any monstrous files. However, you are correct that the ISO's out there, when unpacked, could larger than 1.2 GB. Honestly there's not much he can do about using FAT32, it's what even Krikzz uses, and most anybody else.

 

On the GD-EMU version subject, again I don't totally blame him for updating the product. He's right, it's not a business, it's a hobby, and often the only way these guys can make improvements is to spend a lot of money to produce new prototypes. The PSIO/DCIO guys have been doing that as well. People compare to Krikzz, but Krikzz started out working on the Megadrive and SNES, and the requirements for board prototyping were much cheaper. By the time he got into advanced boards like Mega-Everdirve and the N64 stuff, he was well into his business so he had cash on hand. He too has redesigned SuperEverdrive, EverdriveMD, and Everdrive 64 several times. With ANY of these homebrew flashcarts, you simply have to assume that new development may be done. Yes that means you could have spent $200 for something inferior, but it's the nature of the game.

 

His cooling explanation on his blog was frankly terrible. He seemed to have confirmed the issue, and then his solution was to drive holes in the side of the DC??? D'oh!

 

Mark, you are correct, Paypal problems may only be beginning for him. Krikzz never really got into Paypal issues, because PP does not service Ukraine in the first place.

 

Frankly I originally had no intention of buying his product directly, as I found his refusal to even talk mass production AND his refusal to cooperate or help other GD-EMU homebrewers like "OzOnE" to be rather petty. As for his response to Mark, well it's not a surprise. He's been very aloof and communicated poorly in the past, which is his choice. However, he was pretty black and white when preorders started that if anyone had any kind of issue with payment, he was simply going to move on to the next person in the list. He had no interest in dealing with complications. So I assume Mark's issues were enough for him to pull a Soup Nazi on him, and next in line!

 

Unfortunately, the way DCIO is (not) going, this guy's unit may be the only fully functioning DC-EMU project for quite awhile. If dknute were to "finalize" a GD-EMU design, and then license it to be made by Stone Age Gamer or someone like that, I would purchase it. The design IMO is not ready enough for me, particularly because I don't think the hardware has been properly tested/designed for installation. The installation I've seen some people have to do is pretty messy.

Edited June 2, 2014 by Greg2600

[Mark Wolfe]

I have many games that exceed 4gb. I thought the GD format is a higher bit depth or layers or something... I don't know exactly, but it should be easy to find out... go find a dreamcast download site and look at the file sizes

 

what I meant about how "we" no longer have the ability to "rip games" is because they've all been ripped so no one needs to anymore. it requires the very rare ethernet attachment that goes in the upgrade slot... how many of those are left?

 

and why are so many Dreamcast games missing parts, missing music, and no I don't mean the ones for the SD reader

 

and hell yeah I'm off the list, that should open two slots for anyone who wants to deal with this crackerjack.... and hope that paypal does not nab him in the middle of YOUR transaction

 

M

 

@Gregg2600: you mean the only GDEMU project until his is backwards engineered right? I'm willing to lay dollar bills on the fact that within 6 months to a year, a NEW product will be available. i can wait that long

[Mark Wolfe]

here is a way to tell:

 

[removed link to obvious place to find ISOs and check sizes]

 

I myself am going on memory. I remember many discs almost fitting or having to have items removed to fit a DVD. some would run on CD, but some needed DVD and it was larger than 4GB...

 

 

oh please disregard the ISOs that have been broken down even more to fit with the SD reader that goes in the serial port

[+thegoldenband]

I have many games that exceed 4gb. I thought the GD format is a higher bit depth or layers or something... I don't know exactly, but it should be easy to find out... go find a dreamcast download site and look at the file sizes

 

Mark, the Sega spec itself says that the GD-ROM format can only hold 1.2GB, and some sources say it's really as little as 1 GB. I'm sure you can find larger .rar files that hold multiple disc images, but no single Dreamcast disc is ever going to be 4GB. It's just not physically possible on the medium.

 

EDIT: Linking to ISO/ROM sites on Atariage is not really a good idea.

[Rex Dart]

I remember many discs almost fitting or having to have items removed to fit a DVD. some would run on CD, but some needed DVD and it was larger than 4GB...

 

That's PS2/XBOX. DC games were never more than 1.5GB per disc. Edited June 2, 2014 by Rex Dart

[Mark Wolfe]

I found a few just glancing around that were 1GB or more... 1.1, etc FAT32 holds just less than 1GB and that dude said it held up to 2TB??? say whu? not on SD, maybe on a partitioned hard drive.

 

as I said I do not know anything about the gd-rom, to some I am sure that is obvious, all a, saying is it will require a lot of re-packing and let's not forget his other erroneous claims and the way he does or does not do business

 

 

you guys decide for yourself but I would never work with someone who was so tightly wound as that. all customers deserve patient and informative answers, especially if they are paying $200+ 'cmon !!!

[Mark Wolfe]

@Rex: I am not misremembering PS2 for Dreamcast... I am looking at the stack of discs now... I have hundreds, same goes for PS2 but those are elsewhere...

 

let's just hold the phone for a minute... FAT32 on and SD/SDHC card only holds just under 1GB... so... if a game is exactly 1GB or more it will NOT fit

 

case closed

[Greg2600]

Mark, I think the FAT32 issue is not that bad as I said. Are you sure you're not confusing it with FAT16? I have put many DC games on an SDHC 8GB card for the Serial SD adapter. Yes the ISO files you download may need to be unpacked and put on SD, which increases the size, but they were unpacked on the GD originally. Also, you can still rip GD Roms using the serial port SD adapter, ripping from GD to the SD Card.

 

As for backward engineering, honestly I wouldn't bet on that per se. To date I believe the only Krikzz carts that were bootlegged were the v2 EverdriveMD, and that I think was because he passed along some critical information to a Chinese company that was going to sell/make them for him. I personally am not fond of dk's attitude, but his product seems to work okay, but like I said as much as I am longing for a GD-EMU solution, I would rather wait until his or someone else's is more mass-production ready.

Edited June 2, 2014 by Greg2600

[SkinnyV]

No offence Mark Wolfe but I can kind of understand his reaction to your communications. In your message, you are coming off as someone who think Deunan should feel lucky that you are even considering buying something from him and give the impression that he should be trying to convince you to buy one. Truth is, most of the stuff you are saying are not accurate. First, there is not 4gb partition limit on FAT32, the 4GB limitation is on file size. Second, there is no 4GB Dreamcast ISO, the GD-ROM can only hold about 1.2GB so if you have anything bigger, either it's not a DC iso or it's a multidisc game with all the disc in the same archive. I have a 32gb SD card formatted as FAT32 loaded with DC iso as we speak. This is all information that could have been found by doing a 30 second google search yet you seem to argue about it like . Frankly, I was a bit worried to order after reading his term but my worry went away when had to deal with him for my GD-EMU. I had an issue with the SD-Card slot, the pin that tell whether or not an SD card is inserted broken when I first inserted the card and Deunan was extremely helpful and nice all throughout our communication and he even sent me a replacement SD cart slot (because I couldn't find this specific model for sale) without asking for any kind of payment for shipping or the part. The issue was not even a problem in assembly and he was in no way obligated to help me with that, yet he did. Also, I do not understand why people seem upset that he doesn't feel like giving his dev information to other. It's a commercial product, you don't see Krikzz or Bunny going around giving their information to other product maker. A lot of work goes into these things so I can understand why he want to try to get some cash out of it. All i nall, I really don't regret buying one from him and has no issue with it whatsoever. The heating PSU issue seem to be greatly exaggerated, they are build to handle much higher temp than that.

 

Oh and by the way, most of Krikzz product were bootlegged unfortunately. Even the Everdrive N8 started popping up on Chinese whole seller site recently. They have also cloned his Super Everdrive, his Everdrive MD and the Everdrive 64.

Edited June 3, 2014 by SkinnyV

[Mark Wolfe]

ahh skinny v... a one time poster who comes to tell some other guy's side of the story...

I can wait for another product OR for him to go legit and stop being such a selfish, thin-skinned, cry baby

 

I'm not speaking for anyone else but many people I know do not take the spending of so much money lightly. I asked 4 questions.... and I got his awesome response which I posted here. i did not deserve that, not for $400+ bucks... I am SO very glad one time poster skinny V, that you found your way here to tell me how wrong I was.... thanks so much

 

DULY NOTED

 

oh by the way, my note said exactly what you just confirmed, that there is a 4GB limit on file size, I even quoted a source, it's just under 4GB. I never said there were no 32GB SD cards, I have them, what HE said in response was that FAT32 could hold 2TB files... wuh???

 

please site that reference.

[goldenegg]

ahh skinny v... a one time poster who comes to tell some other guy's side of the story...

I can wait for another product OR for him to go legit and stop being such a selfish, thin-skinned, cry baby

 

I'm not speaking for anyone else but many people I know do not take the spending of so much money lightly. I asked 4 questions.... and I got his awesome response which I posted here. i did not deserve that, not for $400+ bucks... I am SO very glad one time poster skinny V, that you found your way here to tell me how wrong I was.... thanks so much

 

DULY NOTED

 

oh by the way, my note said exactly what you just confirmed, that there is a 4GB limit on file size, I even quoted a source, it's just under 4GB. I never said there were no 32GB SD cards, I have them, what HE said in response was that FAT32 could hold 2TB files... wuh???

 

please site that reference.

 

 

Let's get this out of the way once and for all. FAT32 supports volumes up to 2TB in size and individual files up to 4GB. GDROMs can hold a maximum of 1.2GB. Sure, multiple disk games are larger, but those will comprise of multiple 1.2GB images so it's not a problem putting them on a FAT32 card.

 

Deunan never stated that it can hold 2TB files (read his response again and you'll see he doesn't say 'files'). You're pissed off that he cut you off and you're reading in to things which aren't there.

[Mark Wolfe]

another fan chimes in... I'm done with this argument. I was not arguing the gd-rom issue, i was arguing the idea that a 4GB file can fit on a FAT32 formatted disk, it actually won' fit 4GB but just under, but that's not the issue, or your beef. He misunderstood me, I misunderstood him... how is that a basis for being thrown under the bus due to a late night email when I was about to send him over $400? Is that a way for a seller to treat even a misinformed person? I was not rude, I was not condescending, I was asking simple questions... I was polite and formal... I did not deserve to be treated this way.

 

I was letting people know who are wary of new sellers how I was treated. that is all there is to it. mistakes were made on both sides, but this guy was rude, he was condescending, and he pissed me off.

 

I'm done talking about it.

[Rex Dart]

@Rex: I am not misremembering PS2 for Dreamcast... I am looking at the stack of discs now... I have hundreds, same goes for PS2 but those are elsewhere...

 

let's just hold the phone for a minute... FAT32 on and SD/SDHC card only holds just under 1GB... so... if a game is exactly 1GB or more it will NOT fit

 

You can determine how many GB are used by looking at a stack of discs? Impressive! Still, I promise you that no DC game is 4GB.

Also, FAT32 is completely capable of holding a 1.2GB file.

 

 

Hey you made front page!

[Tempest]

Knock it off everyone. Consider this your warning.

[PsychedelicShaman]

So, getting back on topic, here's some news on an option to connect an IDE hard drive to your Dreamcast: http://www.dc-swat.ru/blog/hardware/874.html

 

Dreamshell has been updated to handle the new G1-ATA adapter. This adapter looks like a very passive solution (I count zero chips), so my guess is the price should be pretty cheap. This does not require the removal of the GD-ROM. The use of multiple roms with the Dreamshell menu is a feature we've all been waiting for.

 

Again, credit goes to the amazing retrocollect.com which also has a video of this product in action: http://www.retrocollect.com/News/how-to-attach-a-hard-drive-to-the-sega-dreamcast-a-load-games-via-dreamshell.html

Edited June 3, 2014 by PsychedelicShaman