Dreamcast double memory mod

[Deleted User]

Dreamcast forum user tsowell upgraded his Dreamcast's system SDRAM from 16MB to 32MB.
He released a explanation of how the mod works and instructions for doing it.
This mod is very cheap to perform if you have the skills and parts are only a few dollars, for the memory and a bios chip.
The modder said that it cost him 12.66 USD for two IS42S32800J-6TLs. Bios is seperate.
This is going to be most useful for development (extra memory for debugging functions), emulators (able to load larger ROMs), and homebrew ports of games/software with heavier RAM requirements.
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[FAST6191]

Is the DC homebrew scene still that active?

 

[Deleted User]

Is the DC homebrew scene still that active?

Dunno.
People are very excited over at the Dreamcast forum. Maybe there will be homebrew that takes advantage of the additional RAM.

 

[FAST6191]

Dunno.
People are very excited over at the Dreamcast forum. Maybe there will be homebrew that takes advantage of the additional RAM.

People on specific forums do tend to get excited about things, and often not without due cause. Whether it translates to the larger world is a different matter.

That said I am not really sure what we have as a reference here.

The xbox speed boost? I actually saw it noted on a TV game show, not a lot resulted from it though.

GBA RAM boost? One flash cart, nice result for one tech demo really (EZ3 PCE-CD emulation). Pogoshell perhaps but that is more a standardisation problem.

DS RAM boost? Bit more stuff thanks to a nice library ( https://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/3_in_1_Expansion_Pack_for_EZ-Flash_V#Third-Party ). Far from dominant though.
Other enhanced DS flash carts (so mostly the DSTwo)? Some nice stuff there I guess but it was also one of the top tier flash carts and offered a fairly considerable boost.

All of those were reasonably current consoles as well with serious homebrew scenes (indeed only really the PSP and Wii might be able to join them). The latter two were also buy a cart and plop it in there where this is some soldering. Grabbed a random datasheet and looks reasonable for a bit of drag soldering (as in you could do it with a decent firestarter iron), and it is only a couple of pins lifted before you solder it down I suppose and flying a wire to a corner pin.

 

[duwen]

Is the DC homebrew scene still that active?

There's a lot of indie stuff being released for Dreamcast at a steady rate, including fully licensed ports of various games (some Neo Geo arcade titles, Another World, etc).
This extra memory mod could see a lot more stuff find it's way to the system.

 

[FAST6191]

There's a lot of indie stuff being released for Dreamcast at a steady rate, including fully licensed ports of various games (some Neo Geo arcade titles, Another World, etc).
This extra memory mod could see a lot more stuff find it's way to the system.

I have been watching that over the years, were it not for that I would have been using words like dead.

However as a boon to that sort of thing... dubious.

On the other hand all those graphics mods seem to be considered a stock thing much akin to buying a VMU so the DC may buck the trend.

 

[wolffangalchemist]

I have been looking for an excuse to open my dreamcast and do something else to it. i already have a dual bios mod, serial to sd mod, overclock mod, and ide to cf mod for loading games from dreamshell iso loader. i imagine int he future this could be very useful so i will wait a bit for some stuff to be released that uses it.