Dumping Dreamcast GD-ROM/GD-R Discs

Here are all of the current methods of dumping Sega Dreamcast GD-ROM/GD-R discs, from best to least.

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1. (BBA) Method by -=FamilyGuy=- & Dot50Cal, for dumping GD-R discs

Hardware needed:
A Dreamcast BroadBand Adapter
A Screwdriver
A Piece of Tape
A Crossover Ethernet Cable
A single track retail Sega Dreamcast game (Sonic Adventure works well)
At least one CD-R

Comments:
This is currently the best method of dumping GD-R discs, created by -=FamilyGuy=- & Dot50Cal here.

Steps here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?cnbkymnjomt

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2. (BBA) httpd-ack Method:

Hardware needed:
A Dreamcast BroadBand Adapter
A Crossover ethernet cable
At least one CD-R

Comments:
There are other BBA methods for dumping GD-ROM discs, but this is currently the best (GD-R discs are unsupported).

Steps here:
http://dumpcast.thekickback.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=153

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3. (SCSI) HKT-0500 Cross Products Dreamcast GD-ROM Duplicator GD-X

Hardware needed:
A high density DB 50-Pin (Clip Type) SCSI cable
A 50-pin SCSI PCI card (Adaptec AHA-2940 Ultra).

Comments:
This unit is able to dump both GD-ROM & GD-R discs.

Information here:
http://segakatana.com/hardware.php?cat=dcdev&id=hkt05

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4. (SERIAL) DreamRip Method:

Hardware needed:
A Sega Dreamcast Coders Cable
At least one CD-R.

Comments:
This method is terribly slow since data is being transfered through a serial connection (GD-R discs are unsupported).

Steps:
Download the a DiscJuggler or Nero image of dcload 1.0.3, burn to a blank CD-R, and load it on your Sega Dreamcast. Connect your Sega Dreamcast coders cable to your Dreamcast and to your PC. Then, download and extract dc-tool GUI and DreamRip v2.01. Open "dctoolgui.exe" in the directory that it was extracted and make sure the config is set to "DC-Tool Serial" & "Upload and Execute." Click "Browse," select "dreamrip.bin" in the "tools" folder, and finally click the "Upload and Execute" button.

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5. (SERIAL) HKT-0120 Sega Dreamcast Development Box Method:

Hardware needed:
A high density DB 50-Pin (Clip Type) SCSI cable
A 50-pin SCSI PCI card (Adaptec AHA-2940 Ultra)
An RS-232 DB-9 serial cable
2x High Density DB 50-Pin (Clip Type) active terminators
Sega Katana SDK - Release 10.1 (Software)

Comments:
This unit is able to dump both GD-ROM & GD-R discs, but at a terribly slow rate since data is being transfered through a serial connection.

Steps here:
http://www.segakatana.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=306

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I wonder if the method involving a Yamaha cdr-400 was true...

 

I tried that Kalisto firmware on a Yamaha 400t once. It showed up as SEGA GD-R1999 when my Adaptec controller was scanning for SCSI devices during MS-DOS boot, but I didn't get it to work. Maybe it was a joke The good news was that it was easy to restore the original firmware....

One issue after flashing the 400t with the Kalisto firmware was that the tray did not open.... So I restored the original firmware, inserted a GD-ROM, closed the tray, and then flashed with the Kalisto firmware again....

When I tried to use the drive on a Windows computer, it got identified as "SEGA GD-R1999 SCSI Worm Device", but Windows did not map it as a drive. I googled a bit about WORM drive issues, and found out that many used a generic CD-ROM driver for old optical Yamaha drives. I installed this driver for the drive, and it showed up as a CD-ROM. But - it did not read GD-ROM discs...

So maybe it doesn't work.. Or maybe it does, but that there is more to it, than what I did...

 

There was also another method utilized by a few scene groups at the time.
It involved an ACER CDROM Drive being opened, Inserting a special TOC Disc, removing the TOC Disc without opening the drive door and inserting a GDROM.

I did have a Drive and TOC disc but never had a GDROM to test it on but I have been told it does work and was used extensively by the scene for that period.

 

@auMatt

I actually use this method with a lite-on drive, I even made a tuto (in french) of the method.

http://dreamagain.free.fr/layout.php?p=tutoGD

If anybody wanna translate it and post it here, you have my permission as long as you gimme the credits I deserve for writing it and everything.

-=FG=-

 

I always thought the TOC method was fake.

Well, you learn a new thing every day.

Very interesting read, thanks

 

Anyone knows where can i find the tutorial:
5. (SERIAL) HKT-0120 Sega Dreamcast Development Box Method:
:shrug:

 

Sorry to bump a thread, but the HKT-0120 method would be really useful if anybody has the guide or knows how to do it...

 

Hey Rez!

I have no written backup of it, as it was all on segakatana.com, but I developped the method with Mark back in the days.

Basically, you use a standard serial cable bridging the hkt-0120 and a PC, and you make a serial upload slave gd-rom project (http://mc.pp.se/dc/serslave.html) for working on the GD-M. Maybe dc-load works too, I'm not sure. Memory is fuzzy as it's been a while.

Then you simply boot into the upload slave (it hangs at the sega screen or at a terminal-like prompt IIRC) and load any programs via serial as if it was a retail DC (e.g. the gd-rom ripper DreamRip 2.01 that now allows you to dump gd-r on the devkit.)

Hope I've been of help!

Cheers!

FG

[EDIT]

Check the two last links there for info on ripping gd-rom via serial: http://www.consolecopyworld.com/dc/dc_utils_guides.shtml

 

Just for those who missed this, with this method it IS POSSIBLE to dump GD-R's, simply first boot the System Disc 2 and after that the httpd-ack disc, without turning of your system.

 

Thank you Family Guy! Got some demo discs to dump this week or next so this should be really really useful!

EDIT: This version doesn't contain the dreamrip.screc I'm told to send to the Dreamcast, and none of these files will send correctly through TeraTerm...

EDIT EDIT: Regardless, by switching to GD mode and inserting the disk it will start to dump using the version of gdrip that has the .screc file.

 

It's been literally 8 years since I used a coder's cable and I only suggested the method to Mark for dumping GD-R, we were actually surprised it worked so well. I'm not used to messing with dreamrip and teraterm at all anymore.

Of course you'll have to switch from GD-M to GD-Rom drive for dumping a gd-r . You can also make a utopia gd-m project to play non-selfboot rips and load some homebrew using the same switching trick.

If you succeed as I'm sure you will, a small guide would be really nice!

 

I will write up a small guide once it's done!
Would I need to credit the people who've written programs and guides I've had to use and go between?

Currently dumping Sonic Adventure, seems to be working as it's been sending data to the PC for the last 76 minutes. Fun, fun.

 

It's always better to thanks those that helped one way or another if you can find who it is. I'd say that the method is by Mark30001 and FamilyGuy, based on the generic coder's cable method by bero and I'd thanks the author of the guides you used to understand the procedure!

Seems it's working! Beware that it can be long though! IIRC it's gzip compressed on the fly, so you saved a bit of time, especially for empty chunks! Keep in mind that the data tracks will be dumped in 2048 bytes/sector. Which is ok for playing either on emu or real DC, but that for preservation purpose it's better to have 2352 bytes/sector dumps. AFAIK this can't be done via coder's cable (with dreamrip, someone could write a program that does it, but it'd take a LONG TIME, roughly 24h as compression would be useless here.).

GD-R can be ripped in raw mode using a sd-card cable or BBA via a retail dreamcast using a swap trick and properly formatted cd-r. I'd be interesting to have a sd-card adapter for devkits, but I don't think it'd be easy to do.

 

I'm probably going to invest in the SD method for my retail unit. I have some Dream On demos to dump and my dev unit does not like some of the rips of games that are out there. I've been trying to find .gdi dumps but for some things, like these demos, this is impossible.

And it's a shame about these not being perfect for preservation, I'll probably go through and redump everything I dump here at a later date with a different method. As long as these will work in emu mode though, it should be fine.

EDIT: The method created a non-standard .iso file that your GDI2Data tool didn't like, but after converting it to .iso with ISO Toolkit it worked and I now have the contents of DreamOn 9 extracted.

 

What baud rate are you using? I think the dreamcast serial port can run much quicker than most built in pc serial ports.

 

Using DC-to-PC serial connection, with the standard MAX232 chip, the transfer speed is around 7 kB/s. The DC serial port can achieve at least 1.5 Mbps, which 192 kB/s. It seems it can communicate with a pc twice as fast by removing some caps on the mobo (what some must do to make the sd-card adapter works). Someone designed a usb coder's cable that achieved that kind of speed iirc.

Though IIRC the sd-card cable achieve around 500 kB/s, so maybe those numbers I quoted are only true for connection with pc.

[EDIT]

I believe that the coder's cable design by bero is actually a clone of the serial port in the katana devkit, so that R3Z would have the same limitations: http://wiki.assemblergames.com/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=hkt01_internal_05.jpg

 

I just ripped some GD-ROM games, thanks to -=FamilyGuy=- and HIS TIP. Thanx, dude!! You are the man!!

The problem is I got one game gave me some headache, because the ripping process was stopped because of read error. After tried to clean the GD-ROM sometimes usind a soft flannel I use to clean my notebook touch screen, and adjust the Dreamcast's optical reader to get stronger, I was able to rip the disc in both .BIN and .ISO formats.

My question is: There's some way to check the integrity of the files to see if the ripping process was done perfectly with no loss of data?

 

You're welcome. You can compare with the dumpcast database, If that game was already dumped. See www.dumpcast.thekickback.com

 

Sadly, the games I ripped are not cataloged (that's why I take initiative to rip them: To catalog and preserve them).

Any other suggestion to check them before I make them public?