region free DC Question

i have been checking out alot of dreamcast threads on here. (really the main reason why i join here today) and i keep seeing things like this:

My dreamcast is from America (i think, bought it used), and it plays regular american game. It also plays japanese and korean burned games. I have yet to try actual japanese cdi's. Does that mean my dreamcast is region free or because i burned the games it automatically thinks its a normal game?

-also no mods have been done by me atleast to my system-

side note, is there a way to check were my dreamcast came from? (i don't have the original box though).
Thanks,
Chi kitory

 

The region lock is for real GD-rom games, burn game on CD (MIL-CD) do not have any region restriction.

You can see the region of the DC on the sticker below.

NTSC-U is Americas
NTSC-J is Japan
PAL is Europe

 

thanks perfect. So i'll be getting a second DC then to allow for region free for the gundam i just bought.

 

If you want you can run GD-ROM from every region using the "DC-X Bootdisc" (a commercial boot-disk like the 'Freeloader' on GC).

 

Or just use the free to get "utopia boot disc" and/or Xploder Demo-disc (this last one uses the same method/code as DC-X, and has the best compatibility).

 

You can also do a mod to the console and run a disc to permanently change the region of your console. If you change the region it also changes the color of the boot swirl. Region free makes it black.

http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/sega/dc-region.htm

Its only one wire so its not too bad.

 

I use the DC Region Changer too. It makes thing much easier as most of my games are Japanese, and I can just switch the region of a PAL machine rather than use DC-X every time.

 

Silly question time. Got a Japanese DC and just scored a VGA box for it but I'm having problems with non-selfbooting burned ISO's. I tried using my old version 1.1 Utopia disc and the DC just rejects it as it's not VGA compatible so I d\l version 1.2, patched it and it boots at least but goes to a black screen whereupon my monitor says 'out of resources'. I then put a game CD in, the attract music starts playing but still no visuals. I've tried flicking the toggle switch on the VGA box but it makes no difference, still a black screen. Flip the lid on the DC and the monitor springs back to life. So my question is, if I burn a copy of the System Disc 2 that's floating around, will it solve my problem? Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask but I've spent all day looking into this and got nowhere. Any info or advice gladly received.

If this post breaches any forum rules please forgive me and edit/delete as applicable.

 

System 2 disc is for GD-R

Not every game has VGA support.

Just because utopia supports VGA doesn't mean the game you load will.

Buy the games It will say if it supports VGA on the box

 

I'll try to re-upload the xploder demo disc (tomorrow), the best free availible boot disc for original games!

 

I can mod your DC to be region free if you don't want to use a swap disc.

 

I think some boot discs can force VGA, or maybe some games can be patched to support VGA... I'm sure I've heard of one or the other, and someone around here is bound to know.

EDIT: yeah you need the DCX boot disc, and there's also a switch trick. Plenty of info on google search for:
dreamcast force vga

 

First post, yeh you sound legit.

The region changer is a great way to do it semi-permanently on a region by region basis. A modchip would do it permanently across all regions OR you could solder in a chip to flash a replacement BIOS to that is region free. Sorta the same concept as a modchip but more work, more cost and more chances to screw up.

Though modchips are really hard to find these days.

 

I'm new and I guess my post doesn't sound legit.
If you need a chip or someone to install the chip just PM me
Got feedback in other forums.

 

Thanks for the feedback folks

Interested in a VGA forcing disc so that I can run my original JPN release of KOF 99 Dream Match and not have to d/l a rip and attempt to patch that.

 

I don't want to disrupt anyone's sales but it does feel like a waste using CPLDs to make Dreamcast modchips now that there's several hacked bios out and even a flashrom (with a software flasher that runs on the dreamcast itself) diagram out on the internet.

 

Sorry for being a right royal pain in the arse, but could someone possibly point me in the right direction of a disc/loader that will force VGA output please? I've looked and looked and come up with nothing except for a clone cd image of DC-X which apparently does work, only trouble is the disc can't be read because it's not itself VGA compliant, I load it and the monitor just blacks out and says ''out of resources'' and the machine has to be turned off. Any and all feedback and help appreciated.

 

So hook up the DC to a normal TV and check out how DC-X works/confirm you've got a good burn.

 

You can try to hex edit the .cdi image to support VGA.

-open the file in the hex editor (preferably CDI format)
-search for the string "KATANA"
-at some point nearby you should see "JUE" followed by some numbers
-change the number string after "JUE" to "0799A10"
-save the file and burn

 

In fact just change the 61th byte of the ip.bin to a 1, the others bytes you said might be needed for the game periferal support or WinCE settings.

So if you got a game with its unhacked ip.bin that got that string: 0799A00

Change the RED byte to 1: 0799A00 -> 0799A10

But no matter the actual string, only change that byte! The other bytes don't have to be changed.

FG