Some Dreamcast questions

Looking for some pricing info really. I have been in touch with a guy who has a shed load of Dreamcast stuff. He has a Dev kit but has never used it, he likes nice items so he thinks he may keep it, but if he thought someone may use it he may part with it. To get him to part with it I need to be able to talk money with him so...

How much do Dev kits go for with all the manuals?

How much would 5 GDr writer drives be worth?

He also has 30 blank GDr, I guess bundle them in with the Dev kit?

System 2 disc, how much is it worth? What does it do?

GDr, used, has 001 written on. How can this be booted on a normal DC? Can you use the system 2 disc to boot it? Thought I read that somewhere!

Dreamcast Loop Checker. What is this?

Any help much appreciated :smt023

 

personally to myself the manuals aint worth shazbot, but i guess if you wnated them you will be prepared to pay for them.

cost of the dev kit is variable on condition and which revision

5 gd rom drives? they been ripped out of a dc? not a lot maybe £2.50 each? :smt017

30 blank gd-r -> again depends on what you are willing to pay.

i've seen system 2 dics go for as much as $500usd - they are only used to boot gd-r on a retail dreamcast however with a dev box you don't need it and with wombat's trick all dc can boot gd-r

whatever is on the burned gd-r will boot on the dev box

can't rememebr about loop checker :smt022

 

Sorry, that should have said GD writers not rom drives.

Cheers for the answer tho LeGIt :smt023

What revisions of the Dev kit are there & how do you know which it is? Is there a label on the back?

 

there are a shitloa dof revisions some with labels some with coloured stickers by the modem port ;o if it says dreamcast on the front and has 4 green circle stickers by the modem it should be a 5.24 if it says katana on the front and has yellow rectangle stickers by the modem it is a 5.16 ;o

 

as far as I remember the loop checker is the cable used by the DACheck software tool to diagnose problems to the midi port.
If you run DACheck without the loopback cable attached it will report an error.

Jollyroger

 

I've used DA Check without any midi hookups whatsoever though. As far as I'm aware (as of R10 anyway) DA Check specifically checks the status of the built in Debug Adapter, although within the same DA Check program is the ability to etst the GD-M (the hard drive/virtual drive GD emulation). I never actually noticed any errors in DA checkit usually passes all tests without any midi hookups :smt023

 

you are correct, the DACheck only uses a small subset of tests to diagnose problems on the Set 5.24
The tests I intended to mention ar the Set 5.24 self-test mode that is activated operating on the fourth dip-switch if remember correctly, it is mentioned in R10 documents anyway.
When you start the devkit in self-test mode it checks the loopback cable too, and reports the error on the AICA midi port if it is not there.

I haven't had the devkit for a while now and I don't remember clearly these things...

Jollyroger

 

The loop checker is a disc. It has written on it 'Dreamcast Loop Checker Version 1' (so I'm told)!

 

then it must be something else...
there definitely is a midi loop check cable too...

Jollyroger

 

Isn't this disc to check for error loopings on a game? you boot it first then put the gdr of the game.

I think we already discussed about it here.



PD

 

That's the 3rd dip I'm sure ;p the 4th dip seems useless. The actual test being performed is determined by the positioning of the rotary switch in conjuntion with the enabling of dip 3. Some of the tests give different results between using VGA or TV, and some only work on 1 but not the other.

 

yes, the tests are different based on the rotary switch, if you check one of the tests on the AICA chip should the midi loopback if I remember correctly.

Jollyroger

 

....

I have a Set5.24 devkit,that is the final version.

Both DAcheck and the Self Test mode do not need a Midi Loopback cable,even if the documentation mentions so.None of them reports any errors on my system and i do not use a Loopback cable.

Self test mode is the 4th dip switch(the third is useless) and yes it gives different tests on various territories.The most complete one is when on NTSC mode,that is Rotary->0.

Also on my system the Self Test works only on Composite,never on VGA even if the documentation says it is VGA-only.

As for the Loop Checker Disc,no idea...

Also i made a new topic on the DC devkit,check it out...

 

http://www.assemblergames.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?p=7622&highlight=#7622

 

Re: ....

Doh :smt019 I remembered 1 of them was useless, haven't used my Set 5.24 for anything other than games / cd player since the 1st month after buying it. That 1st month of exploring / screwing the hell out of it sure was fun though!!!

By the way - anything interesting on your 5.24's hard drive? :smt033

 

I clearly remember seeing the loopback not present error on of my 5.24s, bah...

Jollyroger

 

...

Nope,my Devkit's hard drive was empty...

Crissybwoy,make sure you get a Set5.24 unit.You can verify if it is a Set5.24 unit by looking at the Bottom where it has a Sticker...If the serial number goes S524... then it is a 5.24 revision.Earlier revisions have problems,are not final hardware and do not work with later SDK revisions.

Also try to check out if it works.Many of them had problems,a very frequent of them being Dead video output.If you need any help on how to verify the kit's reliability and the seller knows shit,let me know,i can tell you what tests to perform.You actually need to see the self test mode running and have a SCSI card so you can setup a connection and test the transitions between CPU-OS modes and GD Drive->Hard Disk emulator Modes +Run one or two binaries.

Ane remember,never plug out any cords while it is working....

I would say,if it is complete(with GD drive) and in working condition,600 euro would be good.As for the manuals,you can part with them as everything is on PDF in the SDK documentation.

 

has anyone ever fixed the video output when its gone pop? I assume it uses std DC video chips.

 

My dev box never gone pop -_-

It's lasted roughly 4 months with me and I've abused the hell out of it (yes I even regularly remove and add controllers,monitors, heck even the power lead when it's still powered up) and non eof the ports or anything has ever blown -_-

When I inspected the PSU after I dismantled the dev box 3 months ago entirely,it seemed to be German and of decent quality construction so I would wager they pop because people ain't using the switch on the back for the different country power settings or a sub-standard cable.

As for video out popping the connectors could have built up a static charge or been full of dirt and other crap -_-

 

...

I do not know anyone who has fixed it,and yes it uses standard DC parts.If you find out where the problem is you can change it or have an experienced electrician do the job.The problem surfaced when you unpluged cables while teh box was operating.

The problem is what is faulty?Is it the Video Output chip?some other shit lying around like capacitors and stuff?

When my first devkit died i would connect it,hear sound but no image.When i captured the frame buffer with a utility for Screenshots the image was ok in the Video memory.So what was the problem?Was something faulty,was the Power supply unit delivering insubstansiable power and the image could not reach my monitor?Also my monitor was getting the right resolution,albeit all black.

Also many people complain that they do not get any image at all.It might be that they have the Devkit in CPU mode where it just waits for a binary to be loaded and it does not execute initially the boot rom.

The way to see if your devbox has a problem with Video output is teh following:

Set the first 2 dip switches down in order to get composite out and connect it to a TV.Then flip the 4th dip switch ON to get the self test runnin.Power it up,give it some time to boot properly,sth like 15 seconds.If you do not get any image,but the LEDS above the switches are flashing fast,then it means the devbox actually executes the tests.In this case you may have a problem.We are talking about Set5.24 units here as i have no idea if earlier revisions operate differently.

If anyone has problems contact me and i will try to help you as i have spent a lot of time on it and somewhat know what to look for.An irc meeting where we can tlk is the best option.And if you have it hooked with SCSI to a computer we can check even more.