which sega dreamcast can not play backups?

hello, im in new territory when it comes to sega dreamcasts and i plan on buying one with the intention of playing backup cd's and later buying the retail copies, i live in north America.

i've been reading a lot of conflicting information about what models play backups and which do not. i figured going to a forums that specializes in dreamcasts know-how would be my best option.

i guess i should start off with what i've gathered.

all 3020's play backups, while 3030 models are random

all dreamcasts that came in the orange and white box can play backups while the later models that came in the black and blue box manufactured after oct.2000 got rid of the mil-cd support.

all PAL dreamcasts play backups

the oct.2000 date is just a rumor and all dreamcasts can play backups?

and thats all i can find that is relevant, any knowledge on purchasing the right model dreamcast is appreciated

 

Models made in japan after october 2000 are hit or miss on not being able to play backups. I have yet to see one made in china october 2000 or later that cant play backups. Basically 99% can play them just fine.

 

Some Dreamcasts like Back ups better than others. You won't beable to play ALL BACK UPS ON ALL MODELS.

at least that's the case with me.

 

im curious plz explain

 

mine seems to play everything i throw at it

 

can you tell me what htk model it is and what the number is inside the circle and what the manufacturing date is ?

 

i guess i can add that all Chinese dreamcast's also play backups

 

Non mil-cd compatible Dreamcasts are extremely rare, and there's no empiric rule to know. The later the DC has been manufactured, the more likely it is not to support mil-cd, but it also depends on where it was manufactured. IIRC the either chinese or japanese later units can be uncompatible, but I don't remember which one.

What GodOfHardcore means is that most DC are unreliable at booting backups, although that only holds true for units that have been used and teared, new-in-box ones should works well out of the box.

 

i plan on buying a dreamcast model
HKT-3020
Manufactured: June 2000 AE
AE Made in JAPAN
Has 1 in circle NTSC - U
670-14081H

this one is verified to work

 

It is the Japanese model 2 later made models that had the kabuto changed to remove the mil-cd supported. Also i have an early made DC that doesnt like audio/data style backups but will load data/data backups just fine.

 

So wouldnt it be best if you had a link83 bios (Might as well) installed on a VA2 console so it can play backups?, or it doesnt work like that?.

 

Yes, it works like that

 

Sweet. if i ever run into a V2 ill be sure to install a link83 in there.

*edit* i figured the v2 had a different IC on the board that stops Mil-CD's from working i guess not its just the bios. Right on

 

It's just the bios, the dual-bios mod may require a little tuning, but someone on here actually dumped the no-mil-cd bios using a piggybanked second bios.

 

ill report back when i get the model i specified and see if it can play a backup

 

If you do that, and have some extra time, you can also contribute to this list :
http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?33064-Dreamcast-hardware-list-based-on-internals

 

x

 

i was looking at dchaven

 

I've personally never encountered a dreamcast that wouldn't play backups. I've probably tried on about 15 so far. I think the ones that don't play backups are pretty rare.

 

good news to hear, it looks like mine will be here tomorrow