Gd-rom in the PC???

Coolsvilleman · October 29th, 2004, 12:48

I think I just had one of the most brilliant or stupid ideas ever. I was think would it be possible to rip open an old dreamcast and remove the gd-rom drive which is able to play chankast disks then to place the drive into an old cd-rom drive (obviously with some tweaking and soldering). Does anyone think this is possible and would drivers be a problem. Imagine all the old games we could play with chankast and a real gd-rom drive. I figure the internal connectors of the gd-rom can't be too much different than a standard cd-rom, and from what I've seen in some old cd-player they actually unplug very nicely. I'm sure the power connectors can be easily adapted to fit the gd-rom. The only problem I forsee is drivers, which I'm hoping we can work around with some of the amazing programers of chankast or other dc emulators.

I'd be willing to work with someone on this sort of project. If it did work I'd like to also make a manual with pictures to show others how to rig it up as well. I have a couple old cd-roms i can break apart but now I need a dreamcast. My friend has one but I don't think he wants to break it just yet.

Then again if this sounds to impossible, or if someone has done, tried this already please make sure to tell me why it won't work. Also if anyone has internal shots of a dreamcast I'd like to see them, I'm searching google now.

After searching for about 30seconds I found shots at this site which make connecting the gd-rom to the PC VERY possible.

http://devcast.dcemulation.com/pictu.../dreamcast.php

It looks like all we would need is an adapter of some sorts to connect them! Oh it only I had one I'd be bustin it open now!

__________________

Q6600 Core 2 Quad || Soundblaster X-Fi Extreme HD || e-VGA 8800GTX || 4096mb 4-4-4-12-2T Dual-Channel RAM || MSI P6N Diamond || 2x 320GB Hardrive || 5.1 Speakers || Remote control || 8x USB 2.0 || DVD/CD ±RW Drive || 1x IEEE1394

www.coolsvilleman.homedns.org Normally down. E-mail me for a DVD @ coolsvilleman@gmail.com

Last edited by Coolsvilleman; October 29th, 2004 at 12:52.. Reason: update!

Oalboukharey · October 29th, 2004, 13:49

Hey! I thought of that idea too!, but literally the GD-ROM Drive isnt about the Laser of the drive, its the SCSI thingy, it controlls the commands coming from the disc to the machine, to make read the High-Density area of the disc. I sugest to do a bit more research like i did when i thought of this idea too.

**Dark Watcher** · October 29th, 2004, 17:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oalboukharey

Hey! I thought of that idea too!, but literally the GD-ROM Drive isnt about the Laser of the drive, its the SCSI thingy, it controlls the commands coming from the disc to the machine, to make read the High-Density area of the disc. I sugest to do a bit more research like i did when i thought of this idea too.

Actually the GD-ROM drive is actually a regular CD-ROM IDE drive. The only thing that sets it apart is the firmware drivers and commands that force the drive to read at two variable speeds (Low and High)..Oh..and commands that tell it to avoid the seperator ring. So how does the Dreamcast now how to do this stuff?

Using a special chip of course...check out Oak Tech's OTI-9220 chip

__________________

**Dark Watcher** · October 29th, 2004, 17:13

This guys site is quite informative

HERE

Hope this helps

__________________

Coolsvilleman · October 29th, 2004, 20:24

Ok so I see why this would be quite a challenge. And that site really helped. But couldn't we take that board and chip and gd-rom and since its IDE compatible soldner the IDE wire from a computer to the actual board therby allowing the correct handling of the optical drive. I wish I had a dreamcasr to see where the cd-rom board connects to the mainboard and what kindof connectors it would use. Especially if its IDE compliant it should be easy to connect as a sepearte cd-rom if the correct locations on the mainboard could be found.

__________________

Q6600 Core 2 Quad || Soundblaster X-Fi Extreme HD || e-VGA 8800GTX || 4096mb 4-4-4-12-2T Dual-Channel RAM || MSI P6N Diamond || 2x 320GB Hardrive || 5.1 Speakers || Remote control || 8x USB 2.0 || DVD/CD ±RW Drive || 1x IEEE1394

www.coolsvilleman.homedns.org Normally down. E-mail me for a DVD @ coolsvilleman@gmail.com

Oalboukharey · November 1st, 2004, 23:01

Yo! have any of you thought of the idea of ripping the drivers off the Bios, i know this becuase the Bios is what contains everything the Dreamcast needs, including what commands is sent to read the GD-ROM discs. Anyways.....good luck trying to find out as i have my little project to do with my Dreamcast....which is Upgrading it.

**Cid Highwind** · November 1st, 2004, 23:15

Perhaps the instructions of the BIOS only will not be enough..... The laser must be able to read the higher density as well. And when the hardware will be different, it will only work when you have the combination of the instructions from the Bios + the normal laser being replaced by the one of the DC.

__________________
PC Specs:
CPU: Intel Q8200 @ 2.8GHz // GPU: Sapphire ATi HD5870 1GB // Mobo: Gigabyte EP35-DS3
RAM: 4GB Kingston HyperX DDR2 1066 // HDD: 1TB Samsung Spinpoint // SPU: Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music
PSU: Hiper Type-R 580W // Monitor: Iiyama B2403WS / 1920*1200

Join the NGEmu Folding @ Home community NOW!

Oalboukharey · November 1st, 2004, 23:37

Not really, a laser can read anything....its only what tells it to do and also its the speed of the drive that helps read the High-Density area of the disc and that is controled by the Bios of the Dreamcast.

__Xzyx987X · November 1st, 2004, 23:50

It's not quite so simple. I believe the DC's BIOS handles acess to the GDROM via the MAPLE bus, so in order to use the BIOS's own code you'd have to interface with the GDROM through that. For compatibility reasons though, this may be the best approach anyway.

__________________

This week's top 3 songs:

Xzyx987X - The man with the name you can't pronounce.

Coolsvilleman · November 4th, 2004, 14:03

Boggers... my dreams have been shattered. Well maybe someone in hardware engineering can pull up the specs on the gd-rom and find a way to connect it to the pc. Until then my hardware skills are severly limited and so I doubt I could get it working.. without frying at least 100 dreamcasts and 50 pcs.

__________________

Q6600 Core 2 Quad || Soundblaster X-Fi Extreme HD || e-VGA 8800GTX || 4096mb 4-4-4-12-2T Dual-Channel RAM || MSI P6N Diamond || 2x 320GB Hardrive || 5.1 Speakers || Remote control || 8x USB 2.0 || DVD/CD ±RW Drive || 1x IEEE1394

www.coolsvilleman.homedns.org Normally down. E-mail me for a DVD @ coolsvilleman@gmail.com

KanedA · November 7th, 2004, 12:55

theoretic idea: to make a peace of hardware that could be used as a GD-ROM to PC/CDROM adapter/converter

__________________

o43 · November 21st, 2004, 10:20

Wouldn't it be a lot simpler to make a DC software that communicates with a PC by the modem for example and reads the gd-rom when the PC asks him to?
I know the modem is very slow, but it's only an example, we could also use the coder cable, a usb/pad slot converter,...
What do you think of this?

__________________
Turion64 ML34 1,8GHz | 1024MB DDR400 | x700 256MB

**n_w95482** · December 5th, 2004, 07:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by o43

Wouldn't it be a lot simpler to make a DC software that communicates with a PC by the modem for example and reads the gd-rom when the PC asks him to?
I know the modem is very slow, but it's only an example, we could also use the coder cable, a usb/pad slot converter,...
What do you think of this?

You can rip the game with either a coder's cable (very slow) or a broadband adapter (much quicker). If you wanted to play the game off of the DC (like an external CD-ROM) then you would have to use the broadband adapter although it isn't practical to do so, nor have I heard of anyone actually doing that

__________________
Later.

__Xzyx987X · November 22nd, 2004, 08:55

Someone already did that... How else do you think they were able to get the data off the GDROMs in the first place? It just isn't fast enough for actually gameplay though, which was the whole point of conecting it to the PC.

__________________

This week's top 3 songs:

Xzyx987X - The man with the name you can't pronounce.

October 29th, 2004, 12:48	#1
Coolsvilleman Emulation to the max! Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Canada Posts: 2,560	Gd-rom in the PC??? I think I just had one of the most brilliant or stupid ideas ever. I was think would it be possible to rip open an old dreamcast and remove the gd-rom drive which is able to play chankast disks then to place the drive into an old cd-rom drive (obviously with some tweaking and soldering). Does anyone think this is possible and would drivers be a problem. Imagine all the old games we could play with chankast and a real gd-rom drive. I figure the internal connectors of the gd-rom can't be too much different than a standard cd-rom, and from what I've seen in some old cd-player they actually unplug very nicely. I'm sure the power connectors can be easily adapted to fit the gd-rom. The only problem I forsee is drivers, which I'm hoping we can work around with some of the amazing programers of chankast or other dc emulators. I'd be willing to work with someone on this sort of project. If it did work I'd like to also make a manual with pictures to show others how to rig it up as well. I have a couple old cd-roms i can break apart but now I need a dreamcast. My friend has one but I don't think he wants to break it just yet. Then again if this sounds to impossible, or if someone has done, tried this already please make sure to tell me why it won't work. Also if anyone has internal shots of a dreamcast I'd like to see them, I'm searching google now. After searching for about 30seconds I found shots at this site which make connecting the gd-rom to the PC VERY possible. http://devcast.dcemulation.com/pictu.../dreamcast.php It looks like all we would need is an adapter of some sorts to connect them! Oh it only I had one I'd be bustin it open now! __________________ Q6600 Core 2 Quad \|\| Soundblaster X-Fi Extreme HD \|\| e-VGA 8800GTX \|\| 4096mb 4-4-4-12-2T Dual-Channel RAM \|\| MSI P6N Diamond \|\| 2x 320GB Hardrive \|\| 5.1 Speakers \|\| Remote control \|\| 8x USB 2.0 \|\| DVD/CD ±RW Drive \|\| 1x IEEE1394 www.coolsvilleman.homedns.org Normally down. E-mail me for a DVD @ coolsvilleman@gmail.com Last edited by Coolsvilleman; October 29th, 2004 at 12:52.. Reason: update!

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Switch to Linear Mode Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

October 29th, 2004, 13:49	#2
Oalboukharey Banned Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: UK Posts: 203	Hey! I thought of that idea too!, but literally the GD-ROM Drive isnt about the Laser of the drive, its the SCSI thingy, it controlls the commands coming from the disc to the machine, to make read the High-Density area of the disc. I sugest to do a bit more research like i did when i thought of this idea too.

October 29th, 2004, 17:13	#4
Dark Watcher Coffee Demon Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Darkness, Unknown Posts: 2,909	This guys site is quite informative HERE Hope this helps __________________

October 29th, 2004, 20:24	#5
Coolsvilleman Emulation to the max! Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Canada Posts: 2,560	Ok so I see why this would be quite a challenge. And that site really helped. But couldn't we take that board and chip and gd-rom and since its IDE compatible soldner the IDE wire from a computer to the actual board therby allowing the correct handling of the optical drive. I wish I had a dreamcasr to see where the cd-rom board connects to the mainboard and what kindof connectors it would use. Especially if its IDE compliant it should be easy to connect as a sepearte cd-rom if the correct locations on the mainboard could be found. __________________ Q6600 Core 2 Quad \|\| Soundblaster X-Fi Extreme HD \|\| e-VGA 8800GTX \|\| 4096mb 4-4-4-12-2T Dual-Channel RAM \|\| MSI P6N Diamond \|\| 2x 320GB Hardrive \|\| 5.1 Speakers \|\| Remote control \|\| 8x USB 2.0 \|\| DVD/CD ±RW Drive \|\| 1x IEEE1394 www.coolsvilleman.homedns.org Normally down. E-mail me for a DVD @ coolsvilleman@gmail.com

November 1st, 2004, 23:01	#6
Oalboukharey Banned Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: UK Posts: 203	Yo! have any of you thought of the idea of ripping the drivers off the Bios, i know this becuase the Bios is what contains everything the Dreamcast needs, including what commands is sent to read the GD-ROM discs. Anyways.....good luck trying to find out as i have my little project to do with my Dreamcast....which is Upgrading it.

November 1st, 2004, 23:15	#7
Cid Highwind The Hunter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: NL Posts: 15,877	Perhaps the instructions of the BIOS only will not be enough..... The laser must be able to read the higher density as well. And when the hardware will be different, it will only work when you have the combination of the instructions from the Bios + the normal laser being replaced by the one of the DC. __________________ PC Specs: CPU: Intel Q8200 @ 2.8GHz // GPU: Sapphire ATi HD5870 1GB // Mobo: Gigabyte EP35-DS3 RAM: 4GB Kingston HyperX DDR2 1066 // HDD: 1TB Samsung Spinpoint // SPU: Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music PSU: Hiper Type-R 580W // Monitor: Iiyama B2403WS / 19201200 Join the NGEmu Folding @ Home community NOW!*

November 1st, 2004, 23:37	#8
Oalboukharey Banned Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: UK Posts: 203	Not really, a laser can read anything....its only what tells it to do and also its the speed of the drive that helps read the High-Density area of the disc and that is controled by the Bios of the Dreamcast.

November 1st, 2004, 23:50	#9
__Xzyx987X あの人 Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: In Front of My Computer Posts: 774	It's not quite so simple. I believe the DC's BIOS handles acess to the GDROM via the MAPLE bus, so in order to use the BIOS's own code you'd have to interface with the GDROM through that. For compatibility reasons though, this may be the best approach anyway. __________________ This week's top 3 songs: Xzyx987X - The man with the name you can't pronounce.

November 4th, 2004, 14:03	#10
Coolsvilleman Emulation to the max! Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Canada Posts: 2,560	Boggers... my dreams have been shattered. Well maybe someone in hardware engineering can pull up the specs on the gd-rom and find a way to connect it to the pc. Until then my hardware skills are severly limited and so I doubt I could get it working.. without frying at least 100 dreamcasts and 50 pcs. __________________ Q6600 Core 2 Quad \|\| Soundblaster X-Fi Extreme HD \|\| e-VGA 8800GTX \|\| 4096mb 4-4-4-12-2T Dual-Channel RAM \|\| MSI P6N Diamond \|\| 2x 320GB Hardrive \|\| 5.1 Speakers \|\| Remote control \|\| 8x USB 2.0 \|\| DVD/CD ±RW Drive \|\| 1x IEEE1394 www.coolsvilleman.homedns.org Normally down. E-mail me for a DVD @ coolsvilleman@gmail.com

November 7th, 2004, 12:55	#11
KanedA PS2 PAL[v9], PS3Slim PAL Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: PolanD Posts: 5,362	theoretic idea: to make a peace of hardware that could be used as a GD-ROM to PC/CDROM adapter/converter __________________

November 21st, 2004, 10:20	#12
o43 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: france Posts: 22	Wouldn't it be a lot simpler to make a DC software that communicates with a PC by the modem for example and reads the gd-rom when the PC asks him to? I know the modem is very slow, but it's only an example, we could also use the coder cable, a usb/pad slot converter,... What do you think of this? __________________ Turion64 ML34 1,8GHz \| 1024MB DDR400 \| x700 256MB

November 22nd, 2004, 08:55	#14
__Xzyx987X あの人 Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: In Front of My Computer Posts: 774	Someone already did that... How else do you think they were able to get the data off the GDROMs in the first place? It just isn't fast enough for actually gameplay though, which was the whole point of conecting it to the PC. __________________ This week's top 3 songs: Xzyx987X - The man with the name you can't pronounce.