Does this Dreamcast read pirated games?

[Metoroid0]

I found some Sega dreamcast motel HKT-3030 AND I HEARD NOT ALL dc consoles read pirates...
Also he swid he doesnt know if dc laser works for games but it dos read audio cds....

 

[sirhc1982]

they all read pirated games, its just how you create the bootable disc, some of the older ones can read bootable disc with first track/session being a short audio, and the second track/session being game data, while the newer dreamcast can only read bootable disc where the first track/session is short data track, and the second track/session is game data

 

[masenko]

i have two UK HKT-3030 and they both read backups fine but from what i heard the last batch of Japanese dreamcasts were fix to read originals only. best bet is to find a self boot dreamcast disk online (google) and see if it works

 

[Metoroid0]

Just to confirm that i got the dreamcast, everything is perfect, i burnt CD's @ 4X the speed and it reads instantly! also 16X instant read....
HKT-3030 (EUR) Works with backups!

Anyway there is anothe minor issue that im afraid dont become big one....ill make another topic but just saying... when i touch back of the DC's AV out picture is acting funny ant than its all black on the TV...i touch it couple of times and its cool...im afraid if its idk.. DAC or connections on MB, but i opened up the DC and everything seems fine, no phisical damage as i can see with naked eyes...

 

[fille]

first thing to do is disconnect your psu and clean the contacts with isopropanol.
to do that you have to unscrew 2 screws,and gently pull out the psu,then you see-
6 silver pins,clean them good,its a known problem dreamcasts.
also try to reflow the contacts below the psu connector,maybe something loose or-
bad solder joints ect...

 

[Metoroid0]

first thing to do is disconnect your psu and clean the contacts with isopropanol.
to do that you have to unscrew 2 screws,and gently pull out the psu,then you see-
6 silver pins,clean them good,its a known problem dreamcasts.
also try to reflow the contacts below the psu connector,maybe something loose or-
bad solder joints ect...

Oh wow you know a lot..i will, thanks

 

[fille]

clean those contacts verry good,but DONT!!! bend them.
thats all what i say.
within time all dreamcast gona have this problem.

 

[Metoroid0]

Oh, ok, i will!

I have one small question since you know a lot about these stuff..i dont wanna bother but...
i took out DC battery, it wont save time, but i have hard, like HARD time finding exactly the same one xD any better solution?
Is there a way to connect CMOS directly to power with resistors?
Im rookie in electronic stuff, dont take me for real, it was an idea xD

 

[Daggot]

they all read pirated games, its just how you create the bootable disc, some of the older ones can read bootable disc with first track/session being a short audio, and the second track/session being game data, while the newer Dreamcast can only read bootable disc where the first track/session is short data track, and the second track/session is game data

Not true, there are 3 revisions of the Dreamcast and they all have their own differences. It's also better to refer to them by the revision models that are circled on the sticker at the bottom so I'll do so. Revision 2 is a tossup with homebrew and etc(which I'll refer to as Mil-CD for the rest of this post). The Dreamcast revision 0 is the designation for the first retail models out of the factory on launch day in NTSC and NTSC-J regions and are rare(didn't even know they existed until one came into my collection and the chances of finding one in the wild are slim so most never list this one). They can play Mil CD, have heat sinks, metal cooling pipes, metal fan enclosures and radiators making their temps cooler than any other revision and are equipped with higher quality Japanese made GDRom drives as opposed to their younger siblings Chinese GDRom drives. There are drawbacks though. They use 5v power through and though and later models switched to 3.3v. This means that a GDROM replacement such as the GDemu can't be installed because the rev 0 will fry it. Revision 1(and 2) Dreamcasts have plastic fans and Chinese drives but there are a shit ton out there and the revision 1 at least can all play Mil CD games. Revision 2 Dreamcasts are where the arguments occur. There's a number of them out there that can't play Mil-CD games and it's a debate on weather its from the dying drives, the way the GDRom drives were produced at the end of the DCs life cycle or a BIOS update made to specifically block it from SEGA. Either way most people interested in Dreamcasts tend to avoid these later models.

Sorry for the shitty writeup but that's pretty much a crash course on Dreamcasts for those who needed to know.

 

[Metoroid0]

They have heat sinks, metal cooling pipes, metal fan enclosures and radiators making their temps cooler than any other revision and are equipped with higher quality Japanese made GDRom drives as opposed to their younger siblings Chinese GDRom drives.

Hey! my DC have metal fan!! what does that mean??

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clean those contacts verry good,but DONT!!! bend them.
thats all what i say.
within time all dreamcast gona have this problem.

Oh wait, i just wathced the video..i dont have problem with console reset, but AV out port...

 

[fille]

it could be the pins inside your av port

 

[Daggot]

Hey! my DC have metal fan!! what does that mean??

That's interesting. If you want to know the revision number I'm not sure about EUR but there is usually a number on the bottom circled. If you wanna know more about the 3 models internal differences since you're already poking around inside then check this video here.

Oh, ok, i will!

I have one small question since you know a lot about these stuff..i dont wanna bother but...
i took out DC battery, it wont save time, but i have hard, like HARD time finding exactly the same one xD any better solution?
Is there a way to connect CMOS directly to power with resistors?
Im rookie in electronic stuff, dont take me for real, it was an idea xD

If you mean the battery inside of the DC it's a CR-2302 if I recall and I've never tried getting rid if it entirely so I'm sorry but I wouldn't know. Be very careful though and make sure to get a rechargeable variant of the battery though because the non-rechargeable ones that you would usually place in a VMU have been known to explode once inside the DC and nobody would want that.

 

[fille]

i also hat that problem with hanzo vga box,he sended a new cable and problem solved.
if i where you,try new cable first.

 

[Metoroid0]

That's interesting. If you want to know the revision number I'm not sure about EUR but there is usually a number on the bottom circled.

This is my Dreamcast...

 

[Daggot]

This is my Dreamcast...

That's a PAL revision 1. Thats certainly a curiosity in itself. I've heard of a few PAL revision 1s that have metal fans unlike the rest of them, in fact they were even mentioned in the description of the video I linked earlier. I've never seen one myself though. Maybe they used some leftover fans from the revision 0s once they started shipping revision 1 units worldwide.

 

[Metoroid0]

That's a PAL revision 1. Thats certainly a curiosity in itself. I've heard of a few PAL revision 1s that have metal fans unlike the rest of them, in fact they were even mentioned in the description of the video I linked earlier. I've never seen one myself though. Maybe they used some leftover fans from the revision 0s once they started shipping revision 1 units worldwide.

Well actually i have no heat sink, like that big block, just fan frame is metal, screwed to motherboard from the bottom. and gd rom is also made in indonesia i think

 

[Daggot]

Well actually i have no heat sink, like that big block, just fan frame is metal, screwed to motherboard from the bottom. and gd rom is also made in indonesia i think

A revision 1 doesn't have a heatsink. The metal fan by itself is what I was mentioning. Yeah the GDRom drives are made around there too but I couldn't remember if it was Indonesia and China or Taiwan and China so I just said China to play it safe.

 

[Metoroid0]

revision 1 at least can all play Mil CD games.

What are Mi CD games??

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A revision 1 doesn't have a heatsink. The metal fan by itself is what I was mentioning. Yeah the GDRom drives are made around there too but I couldn't remember if it was Indonesia and China or Taiwan and China so I just said China to play it safe.

I see...and what does "made in indonesia" means for me, and metal fan? im guessing regarding the fan, that metal shell means it better distributing heat than plastic....but im guessing its minor compared to heat sink pipes

 

[Daggot]

What are Mi CD games??

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I see...and what does "made in indonesia" means for me, and metal fan? im guessing regarding the fan, that metal shell means it better distributing heat than plastic....but im guessing its minor compared to heat sink pipes

It means the drive was built and assembled in Indonesia. Should be about the same quality as other rev. 1s and 2s.

Mil CD is a format developed to add multimedia features to music CDs like for the Dreamcast but when hackers got ahold of it they used the format to break the Dreamcast copy protection and make the current selfboot software. Mil CD support is support for burned games

Oh and few more things that you might be interested in. While you're replacing that battery try messing with the controller ports fuse. If you plug another controller in while the DC is on or unplug one the fuse has a chance of blowing and controllers wont work until it's replaced. These days though you can replace the fuse with a Polyswitch fuse. Heres a good tutorial for it

http://blog.kazade.co.uk/p/dreamcast-controller-board-fix-right-way.html

The website also contains a guide for building a dreampi which is DIY device that can take Dreamcast games online and allow some private servers. It's easy to put together but in the early days configuring the software was a pain but I can confirm that it work..

EDIT: accidentally deleted my comment on MIL CD games so I added it back in

 

[fille]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIL-CD