CD-R's

[dbeamer407]

I have a Dreamcast with a manufacture date of Dec 2000. It doesn't read CD-R's with emulators or backups. Is there a way to get this version of the Dreamcast to read CD-R's?

[lisalover1]

Unfortunately, no. Even a Dreamcast modchip only will let you play imports. I recommend trading your DC in for an older model.

[Hatta]

Apparently with a little manipulation of the disc image, you can get your late model Dreamcast to boot CDRs. Here's how. I haven't tried this, so let us know if it works for you.

[dbeamer407]

Thanks for the info. I already have an older one I bought for $10 at Electronics Boutique a few years back and it handles CD-R's just fine. Maybe a year or two ago I bought a second Dreamcast with all connections and 2 controllers for $6 at a Goodwill. When I plugged it in it booted but the controller wouldn't respond. Today I fixed the controller problem by yanking the bad resistor and replacing it with a wire instead. My son grabbed Sonic Adventure (an original copy) and put it in and right away the controller responded and it was up and going. Later we tested some backups and it wouldn't read any. I wasn't even aware that there were models that couldn't read CD-R's until today. Most of the backups I have are self boot already and I'm not certain if the link refers to a different kind of image or not but I will test it out and report back. At the very least I have a nice backup piece of hardware for playing originals on and it was only $6. Moreover I learned how to fix the controller port problem (very easy).

[GrandMasterJimmy]

Thanks for the info. I already have an older one I bought for $10 at Electronics Boutique a few years back and it handles CD-R's just fine. Maybe a year or two ago I bought a second Dreamcast with all connections and 2 controllers for $6 at a Goodwill. When I plugged it in it booted but the controller wouldn't respond. Today I fixed the controller problem by yanking the bad resistor and replacing it with a wire instead. My son grabbed Sonic Adventure (an original copy) and put it in and right away the controller responded and it was up and going. Later we tested some backups and it wouldn't read any. I wasn't even aware that there were models that couldn't read CD-R's until today. Most of the backups I have are self boot already and I'm not certain if the link refers to a different kind of image or not but I will test it out and report back. At the very least I have a nice backup piece of hardware for playing originals on and it was only $6. Moreover I learned how to fix the controller port problem (very easy).

That is a horrible thing to do, it will work for a while, but if the same thing happens that causes it to blow, your memory cards will get blown instead. It's in place for a reason. Replace it with a 10 Ohms resistor.

[Ziggy]

Yeah, replace it with a resistor and not a wire. That's like replacing a fuse with tin foil.

[dbeamer407]

Thanks guys I will definitely replace it with the resistor. It certainly won't be hard to replace (I just replaced all the caps on two Game Gears). The controller port fix I read said it wasn't necessary but putting a little more thought into definitely makes it seem like the best thing to do is replace the resistor.

I really, really appreciate being called out on this "fix". First of all I would hate to influence others to do something that might damage their console. Also I would hate for there to be one less Dreamcast out there for something so trivial. I've only been a passive gamer my whole life but my son is really into it and I enjoy helping him track down the things he treasures. Bringing new life to a once broken console means so much to him and therefore gives me a huge sense of accomplishment. I'm about to post my own cautionary tale in the Nintendo forum in a few moments. Hopefully it will save others some pain.