# Is it safe to play burned copies of games on a dreamcast?



## RemixDeluxe (Apr 22, 2012)

I just recently got a Dreamcast and I wanted to buy a few games for it. Before I do I wanted to ask how safe would it be to play games burned onto a DVD. The reason I ask is because on my Wii I burned some Gamecube games on a DVD and played them, after awhile it put a strain on the Wii's lens and I ended up having to pay for a new drive.

Will there be any damage to my Dreamcast if I play with burned games?


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## yusuo (Apr 22, 2012)

No there shouldnt be any damage, ive been doing it for years but FYI the dreamcast won't accept DVD's standard CD-R will do the trick


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## finkmac (Apr 22, 2012)

It won't accept CD-RW discs, either...


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## Sheimi (Apr 22, 2012)

Look for the model # on the sticker on the bottom. If it's made after October 2000, then it won't read burned games. If it was made before October 2000, then you can play burned games.


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## Coto (Apr 22, 2012)

Original GD-Roms (original Dreamcast games) will work smoothly on the lens (little strain) but CD-Roms will cause *little strain* (as CD-ROM isn't the default media for playing legal DC games). However the lens comes from a regular/modified CD-ROM drive (you can even swap them with an old CD-ROM drive if you're lucky enough/mod the lens's tray physically).




Sheimi said:


> Look for the model # on the sticker on the bottom. If it's made after October 2000, then it won't read burned games. If it was made before October 2000, then you can play burned games.



Yeah later models won't read CD-Media by their *Audio/Data* CD-ROM Media layout. But changing to Data/Data CD-ROM layout will make CD Backups (selfboot) on those consoles.


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## finkmac (Apr 22, 2012)

Sheimi said:


> Look for the model # on the sticker on the bottom. If it's made after October 2000, then it won't read burned games. If it was made before October 2000, then you can play burned games.


Wrong, If it's made after October 2000, it can't read burned AUDIO/DATA images. DATA/DATA format images will work, however...


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## Sheimi (Apr 22, 2012)

Ah, never knew of changing it to Data/Data CD Format.


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## jinnpan (Apr 23, 2012)

Buy JVC or DataLifePlus AZO by Verbatim. This media are best for use with the DC. I'm sure anyone else will say TDK, Memorex or Sony but most brand (well known and unknown) use a chemical dye made by CMC Magnetics. CMC Magnetics Corporation dominates the CD-R market. 
CMC is the worst media to buy. CMC CD-R's ability to maintain reflectivity is poor giving it a very short life span. It also delivers the weakest reflection contrast and thus can cause read errors when run on old CD drives.

The best media is made by: 

1. Mitsui Toatsu Chemicals. MAM-A bought the patented dye which has a characteristic gold color. MAM-A Gold CD-R

2. Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation [MCC]. The makers of AZO and Super AZO. Only one company carries MCC CD-Rs which is Verbatim under the DATALIFEPLUS AZO Series.

3. Taiyo Yuden/JVC. Taiyo Yuden invented the CD-R, along with Philips and Sony, on June 13th, 1988. At the time, Taiyo Yuden was the only manufacturer of CD-R media in the world, supplying media to many well-known CD-R distributors. The CD-R was not given the boost it needed until 1992. In that year, CD-ROM drives were introduced into the computer market. At that point, the CD-R market changed from mainly audio applications, to the data market, which because of its quick market expansion gave the CD-R notoriety and market success. As time passed, many Taiwanese manufacturers started to release their own CD-R media, thus resulting in a decrease in prices that continues today. With the market changing rapidly every day, Taiyo Yuden has managed to keep quality their number one issue. Because of this, they continue to be one of the best quality CD-R products in the market today.

I side note: CD-Rs which have a fun color recording surface [BLACK, PURPLE, BLUE, RED, ORANGE] are also made with CMC Dye. You will see no improvement in using COLOR bottom CD-Rs


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## Rydian (Apr 23, 2012)

My DC's disc-reading ability was slowly killed by me playing CD-R backups on it all the time.

It was not a quick process, but it didn't last more than about half a year before I needed to do laser alignment tweaks, and even with that it eventually started having trouble reading retail discs.


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## jinnpan (Apr 23, 2012)

I still have my launch system and I have been using CD-Rs since 2000 using Taiyo Yuden CD-R and it's still going strong. The only maintenance I do is clean and re-greased the gears and laser sled


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## Fellow (Apr 23, 2012)

Make sure the games you backup are selfboot, otherwise you'll need a boot disc.


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## username___ (Jun 27, 2015)

Check a tool for converting CDI images to Data-Data format for DC. It's possible to burn it to CD-R so dreamcast will read it flawlessly in most cases. 
It also able to create multigame compilation CDI images:
https://github.com/ArtemBogush/DreamcastCdiTool


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## retrofan_k (Jun 27, 2015)

grab either of one of these and forget about burning discs:

https://gdemu.wordpress.com/installation/gdemu-installation/

http://3do-renovation.ru/USB-GDROM_Controller.htm


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## codezer0 (Jul 27, 2015)

Funny... my very first Dreamcast managed to survive for about 6.5 *years with playing CD-R backups* and legit games no problem. What killed it was a failed exhaust fan. But the replacements since have had no problem with any.

Even so though, I have heard of a WIP of a replacement mod that replaces the original GD-ROM motor with a PCB and an internal USB/SD port. At least with this, we'd finally be able to play 1:1 GD-ROM ISO's and in theory, kill any incompatibilities that have been experienced otherwise trying to make the games fit onto the ~700MB of CD-R space.


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