THE END ALL BE ALL DC BURNING GUIDE

[Agozer]

Your DC_flash.bin file is corrupt. Replace it. Use nullDC instead though.

[Threepwood Mark]

ok, i've managed chankast to work: games works perfectly while won't on my dc.. but the old backups still work! don't know what to do!

 

edit: new backups (even if different brands: tdk, verbatim) won't be read as a music cd: they aren't read at all..

Edited February 11, 2008 by Threepwood Mark

[Dynamo]

I'm peeping this guide out, as I'm venturing (for the first time) into the world of DC pirating as I speak.

 

My near six-year old DC (June 2000) is still pretty much a baby (don't think I've managed to log in even 100 hours into it) and I'm very concerned about preserving it as much as I can and having it fall victim to burned media like I've heard many people's DC's have supposedly succumbed to, so I'm gonna try to go above and beyond to make any burns as good as possible.........or maybe I'm just worrying too DAMN much.

 

Full version of Alcohol 120%? Check.

 

Good CD-R media (TDK)? Check.

 

Solid CD-burner? Check.

 

I'll be experimenting on small, relatively simple games first to see how it goes.

 

Also, any suggestions for the best DC boot disc out there? I'm sure I'll be needing one.

 

I've got my "sources" for DC stuff, so I'm not asking for it, but I'm just waiting for a definitive word on a good boot disc and what kind of DC ISO releases or games I should be aware of that won't vibe well with my DC. Know of any ones guys?

[gavin19]

Also, any suggestions for the best DC boot disc out there? I'm sure I'll be needing one.

 

IIRC Utopia 1.3 was the final/best version. I have like 130 DC games and only 2 need a boot disc. AFAIK you can make non-SB into SB anyway.

[Dynamo]

Well, I went ahead and burned a self-boot ISO (Marvel Vs. Capcom 2), followed the instructions almost exactly except I burned my disc at 4x........and it worked! Solid copy of MVC2 that plays damn near perfectly, except for a handful (can count 'em on one hand) sound stutters here and there.

 

To be honest though, I could literally feel the vibrations coming off of my DC's GD-ROM as it read the game, and it did look like it took a second or two longer to load some screens and sounds. Keep in mind that my DC is still pretty new, with not even 100 hours logged into it. I was just wondering if it is true that CD-R's make the DC GD-ROM drive work harder and shorten its lifespan.

 

Regardless, I'm always on top of taking care of my DC, cleaning its laser, keeping it dust-free.........

 

Hopefully future burnings will go successfully, I'll let you know in the coming days and weeks! Thanks!

[Devia Eleven]

Low quality media can be the case, also the burn speed can be the case.

[Shibathedog]

I hate when people say that CD-Rs make the laser work harder and will cause it to break.

 

Yeah because the laser has to move up and down the disc more, but thats what an optical drive is supposed to do. Its going to move up a billion times as you use it anyway. Is playing audio CDs bad for it? No! See where it stops making sense?

 

You can always re-align anyway if it stops reading discs. One of my Dreamcasts is super gay and I have to re-align it all the damn time, but it still works (I think something is loose in it thats causing the re-alignments not to stay) and it did that before I ever put anything burned in it.

 

If you really want to avoid this paranoia you can add dummy data to the beginning if the disc to force all the data to the outer edge, but its a lot of pain in the ass extra work.

 

As far as boot discs go, I always had the best luck with DC-IE, its really only supposed to be an import enabler (hence IE), but it usually works as a bootdisc too. Also try DC-X, DC_HAKKAR (I think its spelled that way), and even try a gameshark/action replay, some games are picky and weird. I think DC-X is the one that lets you force any game into VGA mode which is nice.

 

You can also patch non-selfboot games to be selfboot, which makes things a lot easier, there should be a bunch of tutorials floating around.

 

One more thing, The guy who said it works on the emu and not the DC, but his old burns work, That sounds to me like a media issue, you might have to step it up to Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim to be safe. That or the emulator can fill in missing stuff the DC can't and get it to run. Try verifying the data on the disc with the image.

[Devia Eleven]

Well the Dreamcast contains a very weak laser, so it is to be expected for it to have a hard time reading backups. Using the best media is the way to go, and make sure you are always burning self boots, it will save you the time. Also, try to expiriment in burning backups at different speeds and see what speed your Dreamcast is comfortable with.

[Dynamo]

Well, my CD-RW drive's max write speed is 16X, the Memorex CD-R I burned MVC2 to as a "trial" has a listed speed of 52X, as does the pack of TDK CD-R's I bought this past weekend (to use with the DC).

 

Now that I think about it, I'm not gonna try to go too much out of my way to protect my DC..........too much reading tutorials, methods and all that crap. Patience is a virtue of mine which has disentegrated over the years........I just wanna play dammit!

 

I'll still try to use common sense in dealing with these back-ups of course..........whatever common sense that may be. My trial with a Memorex CD-R was a success, now I'll go and try them with TDK CD-R's.

[Inky]

two words.

Pot Tweak.

 

after good media, a pot tweak is the best thing you can do for a tempermental DC.

[Threepwood Mark]

what is a pot tweak?