Optical drive replacements: Difference between revisions
		
		
		
		
		
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* iceGDROM (DIY, not a product)  | * iceGDROM (DIY, not a product)  | ||
* MODE - Multi Optical Drive Emulator [https://shop.terraonion.com/en/home/17-Terraonion_MODE_Dreamcast_Saturn_ODE.html Unreleased, preorder here]  | * MODE - Multi Optical Drive Emulator [https://shop.terraonion.com/en/home/17-Terraonion_MODE_Dreamcast_Saturn_ODE.html Unreleased, preorder here]  | ||
{| class="wikitable"  | |||
!colspan="20"|GD-ROM Optical Drive Features Comparison  | |||
|-  | |||
|style="background-color:#b6b6b6;" width="300" | Device:   | |||
| width="400" | GDEMU  | |||
| width="400" | USB-GDROM  | |||
| width="400" | MODE  | |||
| width="400" | iceGDROM  | |||
|-  | |||
|console revisions supported || va1 only || va0 and va1 || ??? (no va2 support) || ??? (no va2 support)  | |||
|-  | |||
|media type || SD cards || USB 2.0 storage<br>compatible with SATA to USB 2.0 bridges || SD, USB 2.0<br>SATA through built-in USB 2.0 bridge || SD cards  | |||
|-  | |||
|media capacity || officially, up to 32GB<br>large cards like 400GB and 512GB tested and widely used || up to 2TB || ??? || ???  | |||
|-  | |||
|menu type || officially, no menu, controlled by hardware<br>GDMenu graphical menu is current de facto default menu || text-based menu || List view and advanced covert art views || no menu, controlled by hardware  | |||
|-  | |||
|media format || FAT32 with images specifically named and in numbered folders<br>community tools such as GDEmu SD card creator exist to assist in creating cards || FAT32, drag and drop || ?? || FAT32, requires conversion to custom image format, files must be specifically numbered  | |||
|-   | |||
|image format || TOSEC GDI+BIN, GDI+ISO, CDI, CCD+IMG+SUB, MDS+MDF, ISO for homebrew disc-swapping (e.g. for emulator ROM discs) || TOSEC GDI+BIN, GDI+ISO, CDI || TOSEC GDI+BIN, GDI+ISO, CDI, CCD+IMG+SUB, MDS+MDF, Redump CUE+BIN/ISO  | |||
|-   | |||
|custom loader/bleemshell support || allows custom coded menus with direct control of console, can control of disc-swapping done through hidden API<br>Community menus exist including GDMenu, bleemshell, OpenMenu, etc. || none || none || none  | |||
|-  | |||
|bleemcast! GT2/TK3/MGS version support   | |||
| style="background-color:#ff9995;" | no<br>(support requires either firmware update to enhance CCD image support, or community effort to further crack protection)  | |||
| style="background-color:#ff9995;" | no<br>(support requires either firmware update to enhance CCD image support, or community effort to further crack protection)  | |||
| ???  | |||
| style="background-color:#ff9995;" | no<br>(support requires either firmware improvement for image support, or community effort to further crack protection)  | |||
|-  | |||
|availability || periodic sales done on creator's website, shipped from Poland<br>unofficial China-based clones widely available worldwide || sale's through creator's website, shipped from Russia || currently unreleased, ETA   | |||
|}  | |||
Revision as of 22:07, 17 April 2020
An optical drive replacement is a device that replaces the Dreamcast's GD-ROM drive with an alternative storage method, typically SD cards or USB storage. These devices typically use an FPGA to simulate the GD-ROM drive hardware.
Examples include:
- GDEMU (official version and clones)
 - USB-GDROM
 - iceGDROM (DIY, not a product)
 - MODE - Multi Optical Drive Emulator Unreleased, preorder here
 
| GD-ROM Optical Drive Features Comparison | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Device: | GDEMU | USB-GDROM | MODE | iceGDROM | |||||||||||||||
| console revisions supported | va1 only | va0 and va1 | ??? (no va2 support) | ??? (no va2 support) | |||||||||||||||
| media type | SD cards | USB 2.0 storage compatible with SATA to USB 2.0 bridges  | 
SD, USB 2.0 SATA through built-in USB 2.0 bridge  | 
SD cards | |||||||||||||||
| media capacity | officially, up to 32GB large cards like 400GB and 512GB tested and widely used  | 
up to 2TB | ??? | ??? | |||||||||||||||
| menu type | officially, no menu, controlled by hardware GDMenu graphical menu is current de facto default menu  | 
text-based menu | List view and advanced covert art views | no menu, controlled by hardware | |||||||||||||||
| media format | FAT32 with images specifically named and in numbered folders community tools such as GDEmu SD card creator exist to assist in creating cards  | 
FAT32, drag and drop | ?? | FAT32, requires conversion to custom image format, files must be specifically numbered | |||||||||||||||
| image format | TOSEC GDI+BIN, GDI+ISO, CDI, CCD+IMG+SUB, MDS+MDF, ISO for homebrew disc-swapping (e.g. for emulator ROM discs) | TOSEC GDI+BIN, GDI+ISO, CDI | TOSEC GDI+BIN, GDI+ISO, CDI, CCD+IMG+SUB, MDS+MDF, Redump CUE+BIN/ISO | ||||||||||||||||
| custom loader/bleemshell support | allows custom coded menus with direct control of console, can control of disc-swapping done through hidden API Community menus exist including GDMenu, bleemshell, OpenMenu, etc.  | 
none | none | none | |||||||||||||||
| bleemcast! GT2/TK3/MGS version support | no (support requires either firmware update to enhance CCD image support, or community effort to further crack protection)  | 
no (support requires either firmware update to enhance CCD image support, or community effort to further crack protection)  | 
??? | no (support requires either firmware improvement for image support, or community effort to further crack protection)  | |||||||||||||||
| availability | periodic sales done on creator's website, shipped from Poland unofficial China-based clones widely available worldwide  | 
sale's through creator's website, shipped from Russia | currently unreleased, ETA | ||||||||||||||||