Can a Dreamcast Be Modded To Play Dvds

Post by **abeisgreat** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 2:03 pm

There was a post on craigslist selling one that supposedly could but I dont think its possible i know you cxan play VCDs but i dont think DVDS am i wrong?

Post by **marurun** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 2:06 pm

Yeah, I'm pretty sure there's no way to make the Dreamcast read DVDs without replacing the laser and drive mechanism, creating a new drive controller, and reprogramming the system firmware, and probably some other stuff that person likely didn't do as well.

Post by **abeisgreat** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 2:07 pm

Ok i was right Man im smrt

lol

Post by **racketboy** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 2:09 pm

And if you did put a DVD drive in, you'd no longer be able to play the DC's GD-ROM format.
Kinda defeats the purpose (unless all you play is ripped CD versions)

Post by **abeisgreat** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 2:11 pm

ya like i said thats what i thought

Post by **marurun** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 2:49 pm

I dunno, Racketboy. If the GD-ROM is a lot like a CD, a DVD Drive, with proper firmware update, might be able to read it. A CD drive wouldn't, but it's possible a DVD drive could be made to. I wonder if anyone has looked into this.

Post by **racketboy** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 3:00 pm

marurun wrote:I dunno, Racketboy. If the GD-ROM is a lot like a CD, a DVD Drive, with proper firmware update, might be able to read it. A CD drive wouldn't, but it's possible a DVD drive could be made to. I wonder if anyone has looked into this.

Considering, you can't do it on a PC, I don't think you're gonna pull it off on a Dreamcast.

Post by **marurun** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 3:47 pm

Not that I consider Wikipedia the expert on all things technical, but their write-up on the GD-ROM format does make it sound like it might be possible.

"A normal CD-reader will not read beyond the first track because, according to the CD table of contents (TOC), there is no data there. With modified firmware that looks for a second TOC in the high-density region it is possible to read data from the high-density region even on a normal CD-reader."

Just because it hasn't been done doesn't mean it can't. It just means nobody who knows enough to do so has been motivated enough to do so. That said, it might truly be impossible, but I don't think anyone on this board is technically skilled or knowledgeable enough to say definitively 100% can't be done.

Post by **racketboy** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 3:53 pm

marurun wrote:Not that I consider Wikipedia the expert on all things technical, but their write-up on the GD-ROM format does make it sound like it might be possible.

"A normal CD-reader will not read beyond the first track because, according to the CD table of contents (TOC), there is no data there. With modified firmware that looks for a second TOC in the high-density region it is possible to read data from the high-density region even on a normal CD-reader."

Just because it hasn't been done doesn't mean it can't. It just means nobody who knows enough to do so has been motivated enough to do so. That said, it might truly be impossible, but I don't think anyone on this board is technically skilled or knowledgeable enough to say definitively 100% can't be done.

Nothing is impossible. But I don't think it's very likely or practical.
Even if you got the drive to read the data, you would also have to get the rest of the system to read and play the games properly. Being a proprietary console as opposed to a PC makes this even more difficult.

Post by **opethfan** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 6:31 pm

If I remember correctly, the GD drive is simply a CD drive with the lens working twice as quick as the disc spinning, or vice versa...

...Could quite easily hack a firmware for that.