Dreamcast game running issues

[xfxchilde]

Hello,

I'm new here to the forums and i ran into my first issue. I used to have a Dreamcast back in the day and when i burned the backups had to use the Utopia disk, so this self/auto boot stuff is new to me.

Anyways on to the issue. Sometimes never, sometimes once in awhile sometimes almost 99.99% of the time (depending on what game it is) sometimes they dont play and sometimes they do play. I dont understand how the same disk doesnt think its a game disc but if i turn off the console and turn it back on it will play.


Any ideas what the issue is? I have an october 2000 DC v1.


Thanks!!

-Tom

[deadlegion]

The laser is probably on it's last legs.

[xfxchilde]

Any suggestions i could try?

[deadlegion]

Maybe a pot adjustment could be made? idk
You could just replace the laser with something like GDEMU.

Zorlon should pop in at some stage and give you some tips so just wait for a bit before doing anything.

[xfxchilde]

Yikes, i just bought this thing from a local game store that deals in new and retro systems, I'm hoping there is a way for me to attempt to "clean it" or something otherwise im going to take it back to have it exchanged i have 30 days. I don't want to do that just yet because i don't know if the only other system they have left is before Nov. 2000 or not. This system is a lot "cleaner" than the other one was as well.

Also on that note, i havent even seen the USB GDROMs that i can even purchase right now I've looked over the net recently. I was going to buy a dreamcast that doesnt read cds or something to "test" installing it.

Thanks,

Tom


I traded this system for another one from 99' also a V1. Its doing the same thing. I'm starting to wonder if its my download or if im getting a mix of good and bad CDRs. I bought a 100 pack of Memorex from walmart. I read those should be OK though. This is driving me crazy.

I was just skimming through the forums more and i noticed a post from Zorlon. He said at the end of his post

"P.P.S. give me a list of none working games as the other issue may be that they are not built correctly I know we currently have though I hope to help in fixing this, a bunch of none working Dreamcast cdi images on our main server, Utopia should not be required for a fully Mil-CD compatible Dreamcast that is all PAL dreamcasts and NTSC-U Dreamcasts dated Model 0 and 1 and model 2 dated October 2000 and earlier there are a few Dreamcasts mostly NTSC-U versions that only work with data/data Mil-CD's, this kinda sucks for any games with CDDA tracks though"

I have a dreamcast now from 1999 and its still a V1. I wonder if this is my issue now.

Do you know of an upload where the game is data/data and one that is data/cdda so i can test my dreamcast? Also, even if the game is CDI, is there a way to still use a boot disk without the system trying to self boot the screen. I noticed some of the games i downloaded go to "music". I tried using the game shark cd to boot it but that didnt work either. I read somewhere that the gameshark (CDX) can be used on NTSC-U dreamcasts to boot PAL games, so i figured maybe it would boot anything. I saw a recommended game of Headhunter but could only find it in PAL. The odd thing was my old dreamcast booted the PAL game without issue. Didn't try on the new one yet.

I'm pretty lost in all of this. I miss the old Utopia days where i knew it was going to work lol.

I really appreciate everyones help here alot. If there is anything i can do to help support the forum, let me know!

Thanks,

Tom


TL; DR

Is there a boot disk out there to boot my mil-cds?
What is a data/data and a data/cdda game i can test to see if my dreamcast reads both?
What is the best CDR media to use to burn games.

[Zorlon]

The laser pot may just need a small tweaking for it to be able to read CD-R's more reliable

CDDA = Music tracks

No there are no Mil-CD boot CD's that kinda defeats the point of Mil-CD's
Today the best way to make a Mil-CD is data/data unless the game uses music tracks then for those the best method is cdda/data
http://www.epforums.org/showthread.php?83089 has a nice list of games/release group versions and later in the list I did start to include the boot type
Personally I use Verbatims but the brand has little to do with anything as far as CD-R's or other burnable media goes as all brands have good and bad media it has more to do with where they are produced as to the quality

[xfxchilde]

@zorlon

So according to the post you linked me to if its a mil-cd (self boot) its not a data/data or cdda/data mil-cd self boot is its own option and since mine is a v1 from 99' it should boot no matter what unless the media is bad or something is wrong with the GD-ROM correct?

I'm starting to notice that (quality of media) is important. i never used ImgBurn until a few days ago when i started burning DC games again. I was looking at the main write window and i saw these Memorex CD-Rs are in fact "Manufacturer: CMC Magnetics Corp."

My wife bought a 5 pack of Maxwells a while back, i actually forgot about them until i started complaining about the CD-Rs to her and they popped up as "Manufacturer: Ritek Co."

Guess what happened when i burned the exact same CDI with that Maxwell CD-R on x4.. You guessed it, my Dreamcast showed me the SEGA screen in 1.5 seconds.

So i have 100 CD-Rs of this CNC crap, what do i do keep burning the same CDI until i get one that actually plays? I have zero use for these other than Dreamcast

What i don't understand is this... Maybe you can help explain.. The CDI's i burned that don't work, my computer can read. Why cant the dreamcast?

Thanks,

Tom

[deadlegion]

Dunno about DC in particular but Ritek discs are ok for cheap media. You might see a bad disc or two out of 100 but they're way better than CMC.

[xfxchilde]

@deadlegion

Whats the best media that isnt cheap but not 20 dollars per cd-r either. Is there something above the Ritek, that i can 99.999% rely on? Something i can find on amazon would be great.

I was looking at these but never used them before, they seem better than the Memorex i have now, http://www.amazon.com/Verbatim-DataL.../dp/B001TQCSUE

Thanks,

Tom

[deadlegion]

@deadlegion

Whats the best media that isnt cheap but not 20 dollars per cd-r either. Is there something above the Ritek, that i can 99.999% rely on? Something i can find on amazon would be great.

I was looking at these but never used them before, they seem better than the Memorex i have now, http://www.amazon.com/Verbatim-DataL.../dp/B001TQCSUE

Thanks,

Tom

I don't have any specific advice for you I don't have a DC myself, and haven't had to burn any PSX games for quite some time.
Pretty sure most of the blank CD-R discs I have boxed away are Ritek, but some might be Verbatim (made in Singapore iirc).

Same story for DVD-/+R blank media...most are Ritek, some are Verbatim (mostly dual layer discs) and there's a small spindle of crappy CMC discs there for burning videos for the kids.

[Zorlon]

The bit you don't understand is that PC drives are always better than console drives at reading data from CD-R, they have much better error correction ect that is part software and part hardware, that and PC drives are designed to read burned media but console drives are not intended to read data from a CD-R only pressed media being GD-Rom or CD-Rom (Pressed Mil-CD's even though no Pressed Mil-CD media was ever released outside of Japan, Mil-CD compat was removed for later v2 Dreamcasts hence the Mil-CD aka selfboot exploit no longer works in those models)

I shop from the UK so can't give any great advice on where to buy from

My Verbatims came from Amazon UK (sold by Amazon) I know those I got are good but it has been some time since I got any

My advice would be once you find quality media from a supplier keep using them, again brand plays little part in this

[xfxchilde]

@deadlegion @zorlon

Thank you for the advice both of you. Zorlon, thank you for explaining that to me as well. I really appreciate all the help you've given me. I'm going to do EP Premium for a year next week when i get paid again to show my support. I'd do it now but i need to find decent media and so far ive blown about 50 dollars and all i have is about 150 CNC Crap discs that my dreamcast will read once or twice and then i have to reburn the game 3 times to play it again. its so terrible.

I just went to best buy and came home with some Verbatim, its CNC as well. Bought a 50 pack instead of 100 this time though haha.

Can you link me to the CD-Rs you buy Zorlon this way i can either see if they will ship them to the US or have a "US Counter-part" I wish they just told you or there was a website that told you what model numbers are what disc manufacturer.

Thanks,

Tom

[Zorlon]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Verbatim-434...=verbatim+cd-r

I have used discs from WHSmiths also that are verbatim both DVD's and CD's, last CD pack was just a 50 spindle from WHSmiths

the serial number is the same whatever the manufacturer is unfortunately, the same this happens with DVD's for DVD's the only way to find out is to read the header of the DVD once opened

[xfxchilde]

@zorlon

No this is good this is a different model than what i bought I have Verbatims #94691 Your link says extra protection on the plastic and mine doesn't say that at all. Mine just says CDR. too bad it isnt prime, i have prime haha.

Thanks a bunch!!!

[Zorlon]

They are on Amazon Prime, in the UK... maybe not for import though I guess