store a emulator or program in dc hardware ? suffer no more

timefun · Post by **timefun** » Thu Dec 13, 2001 7:46 am

is it possible if we could store a pro or emu into the dreamcast hardware and play it from there when needed, instead of putting a cd with emu or pro in the dc etc.?

i know nothing about hardware stuff so please don't laugh for such lame question, it is just an idea that i would like to share.

if this is possible then can we somehow customize the dc menu (the one built in the dc with play, music, vmu,settings menu) with something like "play mp3, play vcd, play emu, play pro," or so on. and let it flash able so the pro or emu can upgrade further on.

if it requires to mod the dc to do so then i will be the first one to test it out..
cause i would love to have this feature for the dc.

NiGHTSFTP · Post by **NiGHTSFTP** » Thu Dec 13, 2001 1:38 pm

Wouldn't work... physically.

RAM is erased after a computer (or game console) is shut off.

Thats why when you create a ramdisk in DOS on yer old 486, it erases itself after every power-down...

Anyway. There is no physical (permanent) storage medium, although there is a Hard Drive mod, but the transfer rate is godawfly slow.

Not a bad question though.

radish28 · Post by **radish28** » Thu Dec 13, 2001 1:55 pm

answer: build a HD ide through NetBSD just liek Bitmaster did and make the transfer rate fast then run it off that.

XantiaX · Post by **XantiaX** » Thu Dec 13, 2001 3:56 pm

i remember seeing on a board once, somebody who had made a 128mb VMU using a flash card, worked and everything the DC used to get confused with how many slots there were lol, but surely you could do sumthing similar? i mean u culd make like the save file contain the majority of the roms files... u'd still need a cd to boot tho, or maybe use a flash card instead of an HDD?

timefun · Post by **timefun** » Fri Dec 14, 2001 8:28 am

so anyone know if we could make the vmu in the controller port to tell the dc what to do.. because i've made some really cool animations for vmu and lots of them on my computer... when i got in the vmu(out of battery) i couldn't do anything with it.

maximum size Nexus Memory Card only hold 16M(3856 blocks)(16mb??)
can we have a memory card more then 20mb of space?

is there a way to mod the dc to load these vmu-animated on TV screen with out the need of a cd with emu for it?

if a hard drive is available can we load stuffs with out booting it from a cd?

what about all the stuffs at the dc menu, where does it stored? i thought it has graphics and screensaver and litle program to play audio cd which may hold some mb of data... so maybe we can clear it out and have our own menu with mp3 or vcd player.

we need a full information on dc hardware and every single bit it contains.

DukeofURL · Post by **DukeofURL** » Sat Dec 15, 2001 1:18 pm

the programs "play" "music" "memory" and "options" I believe are stored in the BIOS, which would be impossible to edit, or delete etc...

On the other hand, with the saturn, and early models of the PSX, there was an expansion port which if you had something such as "gameshark" plugged into it, it would run that program and skip going to the bios. (Unless you had a CD in, in which case it would load the CD)

I believe the DC has an expansion port, (the modem slot says expansion) try thinking about something going in from there, like the hard drive idea.

Hmm, actually, there would be no drivers for the hard drive unless you loaded them off of a CD, does anyone know anything about the Gameshark like cartridges that plugged into the PSX and Saturn?

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Sat Dec 15, 2001 4:37 pm

I could of sworn I replied to this thread... Was there a board glitch, or did my post get deleted for some reason?

W??l · Post by **W??l** » Sat Dec 29, 2001 1:33 pm

if some one knows how to mess with the bios that might work

W??l · Post by **W??l** » Sat Dec 29, 2001 1:34 pm

SORRY :oops:

Post by **I.M. Weasel** » Fri Jan 04, 2002 11:56 pm

I think changing the default selection screen would be a awesome mod.

The default selection screen is maybe stored in the BIOS or if it has an internal ROM chip. But thats just a speculation.

If the 'Gameshark' skips over the dc's internal bios and prompts you with its own screen then you could try to redirect to your desired selection screen fom the VMU or Boot disk.

MidnightObsidian · Post by **MidnightObsidian** » Sat Jan 05, 2002 12:59 am

Overwriting the boot menu would be physically impossible.

However, if someone could capture the bios instructions, decompile the code to extract the graphics and GUI structure, and rewrite it from the ground up (using the original hardware code), recompile it, use a machine that costs hundreds of dollars to write it to a new BIOS ROM chip, then solder the bios chip into the Dreamcast while keeping the physical size small enough to fit under the metal shield without breaking and/or shorting out, it WOULD be possible.

I, for one, think it would be very worth it.

::winkwink::

Sorry; the mod concept is really cool, but the execution would be virtually impossible, unless the serial port possesses the ability to override the BIOS. (By the way, that terminology is incorrect. Without the onboard BIOS, there would be nothing to tell the system to look in the serial port for something to override its BIOS. Of course this doesn't matter; it's a petty detail. I just figured I'd let you all know.)

Good luck, though. If someone attempt and succeeds, I'll give you my first born child. >= )

store a emulator or program in dc hardware ? suffer no more

store a emulator or program in dc hardware ? suffer no more with cds.

Unfortunately, nope.

oof