"Let's make GD ROM emulation happen" Facebook group.

1. Remove the GD-Rom Drive
2. Replace with DCIO
3. Insert internal 2.5 HDD With a bay to easy insert and remove the HDD
4. Maybe an internal USB hub to Switch and external USB port for accessing the HDD from the PC
5. Connect DCIO with serial port and DC Custom Menu (OS) For loading the games.

 

I like that idea. IF the device can be connected through the expansion port then I'd be happy.

Adapter on the expansion port.
Hacked karaoke unit or custom 3d printed case.
2TB drive (or 2 if it has support for 2 devices on the IDE port).
USB readers for the drives to allow for updating from PC without removal of drives.
Drop games on it.
Profit?

 

Yeah, but I was thinking of a lot of hacking going on.

#1. The cheapest I seen a used karaoke unit going for on Ebay was $111 free shipping.
#2. I was thinking maybe passing some wires through it to connect to the hdd while just residing in the case.

The usb idea would be great, but it might be hard to implement unless it was already a usb drive and hacked to use a splitter of some kind so it could connect to both a PC and the DCIO unit.

The one in the picture above the guy that made it did a convincing job with a "dummy?" usb port. Just look at the original unit before he modded it.

 

I was thinking of something a lot simpler for the USB. The drive will be connected directly through IDE or SATA with adapter. The USB adapter would be connected directly to the drive through IDE or SATA depending on the drive. As long as the DC IO is off while connected to PC and the USB adapter unplugged while the DCIO adapter is on there won't be any need for a splitter. Maybe the splitter for allowing the 2 access adapters to be hooked at the same time but there shouldn't be any need for an active switching splitter. A passive splitter should do fine.

 

i plan buy device you sell

 

@cybdyn

Can we have the dimensions of the board and will it be re sized in future

Edit: Never mind i figured it!

 

Wait, I just had a thought. If you were to get to load from CD isos couldn't you theoretically create mods of retail Dreamcast games that have higher quality audio and textures? I know that you can't allow supper HD textures because the DC couldn't handle it but think of say a slight increase to them without causing the console to slowdown too much. I'm also thinking about the benefits this has for homebrew where filesize limits wouldn't really matter anymore.

 

awesome work. can't wait to revive my old gd-rom busted dreamcast with one of these!!

 

@cybdyn

Can you upload some photos of the DSIO assembled and some with it deployed on top of Dremcast?

If you have time!!!

 

i'll try, but dont know, current version is big, size almost same as original board. the idea was make same board to shape it to metal shield/case from native gdrom board. but i start think maybe better make it less size, and better use ARM mcu. but it's for future, on current board i can try make support of hdd, and maybe high speed SD protocol. so maybe no need change much.

 

http://s018.radikal.ru/i525/1310/85/0139d2225210.jpg
http://s018.radikal.ru/i518/1310/1e/a109960a99b7.jpg
http://i036.radikal.ru/1310/37/cc0b24e814c7.jpg
http://s012.radikal.ru/i319/1310/b6/cb929909a612.jpg
http://i021.radikal.ru/1310/c4/e28dfe916736.jpg








dont know - is it what you asked for...

 

just as idea how make it less size/cheap

http://s09.radikal.ru/i182/1310/f3/df2b983eedd8.jpg

 

Wow.. That looks really nice..
You could add a breakout add-on board for HDD?

 

board, ide-sata bridge or ide hdd directly.

 

I was thinking along the lines of Xk3y/3k3y usb connector breakout add-on.
Where you connect the IDE bridge with flat-cable, that way free up space inside the box, and have the ability to make a larger IDE/SATA board placed outside the DC itself if needed.
Could be an additional separate feature making the main board a cheaper solution if only SD is wanted.
...Just a thought.

 

can the usb part be a plug in board

 

@cybdyn thanks for the photos! keep working on the project

 

Looking good, once you project is finished I definitely want one! The days of disc swapping are almost behind us! Also this makes it possible to play beta releases on full speed (instead of lower speed because of how the DC runs CDR's)

 

Can't wait, definitely getting one as soon as its released!

 

Same here! Whats better then an GD-M for the retail dreamcast ?
A GD-M that doesn't require SCSI and other stuf just to configure it but just uses plain HDD's or SD cards