USB GDrom Thread

I'm happy for you
Enjoy your modded usb dreamcast

 

Has anyone been in contact with MNEMO recently? I have sent him a couple of emails to purchase a USB-GDROM over the last couple of weeks without success. Is he still making/selling them?

Ted.

 

he very recently changed his site to just that email... so i would assume he is still doing it... but must understand there are LOTS of back order he is probably working on

 

I ordered one 12 days ago and sent payment via Paypal to him. Does anyone know how long it takes on average for him to make and send to you? I asked him for a tracking number when he ships it and all he said was "I will send as declared". I know his English is not so good, so just wondered how others who have dealt with Mnemo in the past with regards to shipping time, etc.

Also, can someone recommend a good USB drive to use? I heard USB 3.0 is not supported or something or doesn't work well, dont know if that's true?

Thanks

 

I am hoping WD drives work well because that is all i plan to use. Sadly no one has tried to format bigger than 2 TB so when i finally get the Extra Funds i plan to buy a USB-GDrom and format a 4TB and see what happens... why do that.... well i figured why not turn my dreamcast into a one stop all in one entertainment device lol... Movies, Music, emulation, ect should be interesting.

 

Order time: I never had any problems. I usually asked him "shipped?" and he responded with "yes". A few days later they arrived. But this was before the "mainstreaming" of the cards so I guess his workload has increased.

I've used both USB2 and USB3 drives. Seagate and WD, no problem. I buy the small 2 1/2" external disk. Have not found any that did not work yet, part from some random USB stick I had laying around. If you do find an USB3 drive that does not work, I guess you can do the trick I use with my XBOX360 xk3y. Run it though an USB2 hub. Works just fine there.

As far as "Bigger then 2TB", it supports FAT32 which has a limit of 2TB, thats why nobody tried a bigger drive since it would be pointless to try.

 

@Turranius So is PS3 and most users who use externals on Wii and Wii-U prefer Fat32. I have found many links pointing to custom software to Format Larger Hard drives to fat 32. people have claimed to use Miniaide fat32 Formatter. They posted that for PS3 and Wii and that 32 and 64 clusters work best.

 

I think if I remember right, I may have waited 10-14 days for my order to come. This was when he only took wired money, so I was quite nervous, but he delivered. Hopefully he ships soon.

 

I have the V5 Adapter in a Model 1 NTSC DC.

I can confirm the following USB stick does not work. It only brings up the menu but freezes when loading anything (GDIs and CDIs) no matter what FAT32 cluster size you use.
128GB PNY USB Turbo 3.0 sticks (model #P-FD128TBOP-GE).

 

@shengoro86 thanks for the heads up... maybe we should make a compatibility list or incompatibility of hardware and games/Emus (glitches or improvements over normal Disc Drive)

 

Bought where?
As a reminder, where you buy our card is a strong indication wether you bought a legit one or a bootleg one.

 

Took mine about a month from payment.

Ill be testing some more stuff but sadly I won't have enough time to contribute enough to generate a good list.

Is this question for me?
The PNY stick was bought from Walmart in official PNY packaging.
The USB-GDROM, I bought it directly from MNemo himself.

 

If Walmart, should be an official one, so. Don't let the packaging foul you, pirates made lot of progress on this aspect of things.

 

yeah i only buy my usb media from walmart, target, and amazon.

Does anyone know if japanese_cake's DC bios has issues with the USB-GDROM Controller? I may flash my bios with it to get that sweet intro.

 

Beware of Amazon: only buy when sold by Amazon, not when sold by a third party and shipped by Amazon or when sold and shipped by a third party.

 

Good to note. Thank you.

I grabbed more43 USB sticks with verified good sectors. Ill test them with CDI, GDI, and QoL testing. I won't be able to test firmware updating b/c im on the latest FW which isnt even on MNemo's site yet.

I was wrong. I did a full format with a Ease Partition Manager.
This stick now works flawlessly on FAT32, 64K Clusters, without Quick Format.

 

Glad it's working for you.

 

Also curious about the overclock compatibility...

I do know for instance that for the Saturn it was stated 'dangerous' to flip the 60Hz switch while the console was running if you had a modchip installed, as the voltage increase could fry the said chip...
So I'm wondering if the same theory applies to the DC, as I have a 12v fan attached to the back, connected on the same switch which enables the overclock to cool the unit a bit more. Now I'm not gonna flip that switch at random, but do have some questions...

- would the fan (if running) drop the voltage to a normal 12v or not, as I read contradicting statements in previous posts?
- would the overclock prevent the USB mobo from running decently, or even frying it as it runs the console at a higher speed?
(I think not...correcty me if I'm wrong)

If the overclock would make the DC USB run similar as with a regular GD-drive (bar a couple of games running too fast) and has no voltage impact on the USB hardware, then I'd guess the extra cooling helps, and I would have the OC enabled almost all of the time..

My WIP-DC is still opened up, so I can't test myself, but might consider purchasing an extra console just to have this USB hardware running untill I have the initial DC running again...



EDITs:

- Am I blind or do I see two USB connecters on top of each other??
Why not for the external versions....it would be awesome if he makes a version with one internal and one external port...
http://www.stoneagegamer.com/dreamcast-usb.html

- on Mnemo's order page it states the following:
- address for shipping
- phone
- your account
- item(s) and quantity
I assume he just wants your PayPal mail address??


- I'm also looking forward to pics of a successful internal HDD mount.

 

Don't enable or disable the overclock while the console is running, it will crash unless you do it in under 4ns, AND even then it probably won't work unless you're extremely lucky. AFAIK it's not dangerous in itself, but why risk it?

 

Wasn't planning on doing this whilst running, but if enabled before powering up, it will work without any possible hickups, you think?