Hi folks, I'm modding my Dreamcast with an internal CF-card reader, dual bios and PicoPSU. My goal is to have it overclocked as well using a switch. So far I've removed the internal PSU and replaced it with the PicoPSU kit. I've also installed a 2.5inch CF-card reader. I'll post some pictures soon, but it fits the Dreamcast perfectly, because the 2.5inch version of the reader is meant for 44-pin P-ATA (as in powered) laptops, it takes the power right from the IDE cable making the adapter less wide (because there's no external power plug). Pin 1-40 are the same as on the regular IDE cables, but pin 42(logic) and 43(motor) both supply 5V to power the CF-card reader. So I've used a 20cm 44-pin pata IDE cable which is the exact length I needed to place the reader where the the PSU used to be. Just strip the wires apart and you can route 5 or 6 wires trough the small round holes of the metal bottom plate. Also the G1 test-points feature 2 spots for 5V as well making up for pin 42 and 43 See: https://fnhack.files.wordpress.com/...ta-pins-pic-guide_zpsbzvmgvcq.jpg?w=434&h=600 Now the first time it didn't work because I've had the jumper still set to master-mode. But after removing it, it worked right away and DreamShell picked up my 8GB card. I've tested my dump of Sonic Adventure 2 which works perfectly with DMA mode enabled. And the funny thing is that there's almost no loading times at all So definitely an improvement over my old sdcard reader. Now some questions: 1. I've tried my Soldier of Fortune dump but that one seems to lag terribly when playing from my CF-card. Basically when I start a new game, it will constantly display a network-icon in the upper-left corner indicating there's some connections problem. But I'm playing the single player campaign mode.. I've only did the gdi optimizer on the dump which converts the bin files to iso. Also in order to make the game start I need to set the following options: - Emulate CDDA audio - Emulate async read (in sectors): 16 (set by Emulate CDDA audio) - Loader memory: 0x8c000100 (set by Emulate CDDA audio) - Enable Direct boot mode - Disable Fast boot mode According to the IDE compatibility list it should work fine.. so I'm not sure why the game is lagging and showing connection problems in single player mode. Any ideas? 2. Even though I'm going to piggy back a flashable bios chip, I'd like to change the console's region using DreamShell. On mmmonkey.co.uk it says I need to put 12v on R512. http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/dc-region-4.jpg However it says it's not safe to keep this wire permanently connected. Is this true? if yes, is there a better way to have permanently write access to flash-area where the region settings are stored? 3. I'd like to overclock my Dreamcast to either 240MHz or 270MHz using a 40 or 45MHz clock generator. There's been some forum threads on around the net that says 240MHz should give a nice speed bump in emulators such as DreamSnes. So I was thinking of going for a 270MHz overclock with a nice switch to toggle between stock and the 45MHz clock generator. Anyone who has some experience with a 270MHz overclock? Is it stable? e.g. can I play Super Mario World for a few hours ? Does it really benefit over 200MHz in emulators such as DreamSnes and Gens4ALL ?
Yes, it's true not the leave it connected. You can remove the need for this wire by unprotecting the flash chip. But I don't know of a way to do this in the dc, you would need to remove the chip and do it in a programmer.
Yes. No. Over 240MHz depends on your particular DC and luck. I heard people reaching 280, but mine never even booted at over 240 MHz.
Thank you -=FamilyGuy=- and Bad_Ad84, I'll not leave the 12v wire permantely connected to R512 then Regarding overclocking, I'll try both a 40MHz and 45MHz generator and post the results using both DreamSnes and Gens4ALL. Now if only someone knew how to get Soldier of Fortune running from my CF-card without the heavy lagging (and network-disconnection icon) then I could die happy.
Normally, soldier of fortune can run normally with dreamshell but maybe you can try with a optimized iso. for overclocking I had a look on the mod wrote by family guy. Its very good and thanks to him. I hope I can found some mod, on this forum too.
