How to burn a Dreamcast Image file?

[quaycur]

I burnt the image file to a CD, but it doesnt play anything on my dreamcast.

I also think it was a .nrg file or something, if that means anything. I also used alchol 120% to burn the image, and set it as a "Normal CD".

Heres a pic of the CD's contents

[Gospel]

With .nrg files, you use Nero Burning Rom to open that image and burn it to a CD.

Try reburning it with Nero, and see if the game plays.

If that doesn't work the game may not be self bootable, in which case you would need the Utopia Boot Disc.

[Soeru]

Did it come as an ISO file and you unpacked it? That happenned to me once by accident. If it came as a bunch of files then it should have something like "1st_read.bin" on it, so you'll need to use utopia or make the game self-bootable by using the tools here: www.dcemulation.com. Most likely it came as an .ISO file and you mistook it for a .rar and unpacked it. Hope this helps.

[Mr. Crow]

If you burn it with nero you have to use 5.x verison which can be found at www.oldverison.com
Or your dreamcast was made after october 2000.

[quaycur]

geocities.com/dreamcastfaq is the site I went to, I downloaded Ikaruga which is at geocities.com/dcikaruga.

I think he packs his file diffrently from most people, but i'm pretty sure I did the procedure correct, (since its step by step with pics

Ok, I'll have to try the Nero thing, and on the site it says its selfboot.

Also, I'm not sure if my Dreamcast was made before or after november 2000, if it was after theres no way that It can play burned disc? But, i'm pretty sure it was before because my uncle use to download games off the net and take out the music (because they were to large or something) and then I could play the game on my Dreamcast.

Off to try Nero, THANKS.

EDIT: I can't seem to find that version of Nero your talking about, Infact, oldversions.com doesn't really give me any useful information, maby I'm using it wrong? Also, if possible can somebody give me a link to it? If you have to through PM would be fine, |thanks|.

[Gospel]

I've burned DC ISOs with the newest Nero (Ultra 6) with no problems, but here is a guide Da1m0n has written. (Da1m0n is of course, the main guy who supplies DC games on that "other" website.)

A brief guide on Da1m0n's Dreamcast game rips
---------------------------------------------

After putting up my first few DC games on suprnova, a lot of people in the forums complained about having all sorts of problems burning them correctly so that they would work. This rather surprised me, so to this end I'm compiling a few helpful tips in this guide. Corrections and additions are more than welcome; you know where to find me.

General info:

All of my rips are done by myself with Nero 5.5.10.42 from 100% tested and working CDR games. All of them are selfbooting and include the game music (CD audio tracks) if there ever was any. Wherever possible, I have downloaded original Echelon/Kalisto/etc. releases and applied all the important patches that can be found at http://www.dccopyworld.com/ - note, though, that all of my games are meant to run on an NTSC Dreamcast. Some have selectable 50Hz/60Hz modes, some don't, and a few may not run in RGB/VGA video modes.
Also note that all games WILL fit on 700MB/80-minute discs, though some require slight overburning. You will NEVER need 90-minute discs or other such silliness.

How to ensure a successful burn:

Use Nero 5.5.10.42 (or a newer 5.5.x.x) whenever possible. Older 5.5.x.x versions of Nero may have problems with the images, so if you encounter strange errors - particularly an "Unexpected Exception," but also misreported image sizes - you will have to update. Even 5.5.9.x is probably too old already.
Turn any and all wizards off, and ensure that Nero is running in full mode rather than Express mode (whether you use a registered version or the 30-day trial). Otherwise, important options may not be accessible to you.
To set up Nero for overburning, select the Expert Features tab in the Preferences dialog, enable overburning and set the overburn time to 82:00:00.
From the File menu, select "Burn Image," and once you load the .nrg image, !!!MAKE SURE!!! to set the write method to Disc-At-Once/96 (the 96 is key here). This is necessary for correct session offsets, otherwise your DC will not boot the burned CD (even with the help of a boot disc). Regular Disc-At-Once may in some instances work fine (depending on your PC setup and CDRW drive) but is not guaranteed. As a matter of fact, regular DAO does not allow overburning whereas DAO/96 does.

Other options:

*** UPDATE ***
According to the latest feedback I've gotten, Nero 6 Ultra DOES work well for Dreamcast games. The trick is that you have to use DAO instead of DAO/96 to burn the image correctly - the exact OPPOSITE of what you should do in Nero 5.5! This is a bit surprising, but they seem to have made changes in the burning engine fundamental enough to explain this. So, to recap: When using Nero 5.5, burn in DAO/96. When using Nero 6, burn in DAO only!
*** END OF UPDATE ***

Alcohol 120% appears to be a favorite alternative among users for burning Nero images. You should use RAW-DAO mode, rather than RAW-SAO, for burning. Since I've never used Alcohol 120%, I'm not aware of any other options that may need set.
DaemonTools may be used to mount an .nrg image and burn it with DiscJuggler or the like, if you're more comfortable with that method. Again, I know nothing about that :-) so you'll have to post any questions to the ######## forums.

ENJOY!!

[Sprung]

That is great.

Although, I want to go on record that in all my 253 DC ISOs, I have never had to do ANY of that. I use Alcohol 120%, and it if doesn't work, I use Nero 5.10.blah.blah. If that doesn't work, I find a new ISO, cause that one is junk.

I double click on the ISO file, and all the settings the original creator of the ISO file had, are applied when I try to burn.

[quaycur]

Gospel, I was going through all your steps Perfectly, Until I hit the DAO/96 part. I see the Disc-At-Once option, but I cannot find the 96 part. So, Could you please try to explain to me how I can get that option, I did Everything else correctly, but cannot Find that.

Weird eh?

As of now i'm just gonna try Sprungs way and see if it works, I'll let you guys know later.

But wheter it works or not, could you try to explain and help me out a little bit more with my problem Gospel? Thanks.

[quaycur]

Ahh Man, I only have 4 more Disc left and I'm stumped.

Ok, what I did was everything in your step, Gospel.

Except: I didn't get to do the "96" part, I only used DOA, without the 96 (can't figure out how to do that.) And I had Smart-Burn checked, and "write" check in the "Action" box before you burn an image. I left simulation and determine maxium speed unchecked. I also dont remember what the write speed was ( would that matter?)

And it didn't work. I ... Need ... Help ...


EDIT:---------------------------------

WOW! Do I feel DUMB! After I put in the disc, it would say "checking disc" and then go away, Like it would previously with the disc i messed up on. Except, that was before I took off Auto Start. .... Yeah, it works, and I feel dumb. But can you still tell me how to get that 96 part gospel? Thanks.

[Gospel]

Sorry I couldn't reply to you before you burned some coasters, but here:

After opening the image, select "Write Method", and tab the option down to "Disc-at-Once/96".

[quaycur]

Mine doesnt have the /96 part. Can, um, I dont know why.

Maby post pics if you can or something? I'm using version 5.5.10.42 by the way.