SEGA Saturn cracked at last

[PatmanQC]

I have burned anything to my chipped consoles for a long time but I say have rreally good luck Memorex brand.

[Retro-Nerd]

Originally Posted by SquawkBox

Meh, ImgBurn won't work properly with such old drives, I am not blaming anyone for using it extensively, it's just that first batch of Plexwriters obviously weren't tested, hope you don't think I am bullshitting . ImgBurn can see the one I got, but it will make coasters out of it (not just randomly, consistently). Alcohol 120 may consists in superfluous shareware for 99,99% of folks still dealing with optical media, fine by me, I'll just keep using it. I have other optical drives (branded SATA DVD & BD recording drives) at my disposal in perfect working order, so it's not like I am stuck with the Plexwriter. This said, I'd rather use it over the other ones for old console based games, and I find Alcohol 120 UI way more elegant anyway (I fancy its ISO mounting abilities too).

Never had a single issue burning CD Images for my PC-Engine Duo, Saturn, PSX 1 or Dreamcast with Imgburn. Also burned some Amiga CD and CD32 games. Of course not with an ancient CD-Rom burner. I know that some CDTV games makes problems, but that's a different problem. Mostly used the Verbatim brand (not the fakes!).

[SquawkBox]

Verbatim get their production batches of blanks from various factories, and the ones located outside Japan have less stringent quality procedures. Nowadays, blank media from Taiyo Yuden are said to offer better consistency in terms of reliability. Probably, it wouldn't be noticeable unless duplicating media is part of your job, but still it should be mentioned when debating about quality VS quantity.
I had a few issues with mostly unscratched DVD-R media I had used for archiving purposes (parts of the layer had become unreadable after some time), and I too mostly use genuine Verbatim. Before HDDs were big enough, we used to burn a lot more, and it wasn't always Verbatim, (or Sony, or Memorex) or bust (I remember a friend pulling my legs because of I had bought a batch of "Pony" DVD-Rs) plus it was a time-consuming task so we were inclined to burn at full speed. Rule of thumb (for archiving, not for redbook audio / old gen console game CDs), adjust burn speed for half the media is labeled for e.q. if you have 16X DVD-Rs or DVD+Rs at your disposal, burn them at 8X.

[SquawkBox]

Originally Posted by Retro-Nerd

not with an ancient CD-Rom burner.

It's not so much that the Plextor SCSI CD burner is ancient (it is, but chances are even older IDE CD-Rom burners are supported), it's the fact that Imgburn dropped the ball completely so that one cannot ask for support tickets should she or he need to report some issue (or have them increase its database of supported burners). Of course, if you use the same setup, the same burner, the same parameters, the same blank media over and over, it's unlikely anything weird may happen time, and time again.
Consider this : I just got myself a modded NTSC Gamecube (lucky me, I am aware of that ). First game I wanted to have on disc was Mario Kart DD. Guess what, I could make a perfect burn of the NTSC-U ISO of that game with Alcohol 120 in conjunction with the Sony DVD burner (it's the AD-7280S), such wasn't the case when I tried burning with it ImgBurn. For the record, on my other computer, the one equipped with a Pioneer BD-RW drive (it's the BDR-209D), my attempts would result in read errors each time the Cube attempts to read said copy made with either tool.
Make what you want with these findings, I'd say at least the team behind Alcohol deserve some kudos for their hard work and dedication. Of course, it would require a lot more trial and error to come with the conclusion that ImgBurn is crap at burning Gamecube ISOs (not my point anyway). This said, I for one shall continue using Alcohol 120 over Imgburn when burning GC 8 cm DVD-Rs with sound enough reasoning to backup my decision.
Also, among the other aspects of this blank CD DVD burning for consoles debate to have in mind, ImgBurn wasn't made to run with Windows 10 and well... it seems it just won't. Also, at the risk of sounding like I am nitpicking, the "use genuine Verbatim" advice really could not apply to the Gamecube burning scenario. As you may or may not know, it's specifically the Ritek 04 batch of blanks that are required to ensure best compatibility.

Anyway, to end this rant on a positive note :
https://www.retrorgb.com/fenrir-sega...e-updates.html

[dreadnought]

Originally Posted by Retro-Nerd

Never had a single issue burning CD Images for my PC-Engine Duo, Saturn, PSX 1 or Dreamcast with Imgburn

Same here, though I burn only for PSX. Also never had problems with any non-branded CDRs, even though there are quite a few of these in my collection.

It's nice to hear about SD solution for Saturn, though batches of 50 most likely mean there will be a very (x10) long cue. Saturn prices will probably also shoot up because of this kit, maybe I should finally grab one...

Lol, just accidentally saw what the asking prices for Saturn games are like now. ~500 quid for Panzer Dragoon and the rest oscillates around ~100 mark? Wow

(Random off topic remark; why bother with burning GC games when you can run them off a modded Wii?)

[Retro-Nerd]

Burning GameCube games ist indeed pointless these days. A ODE is also available as it seems (of course out of stock, like 98% of all homebrew devices. Unless the Chinese do a proper clone like for GDemu).


https://shop.dansprojects.com/gc-loader-pnp.html

[SquawkBox]

Granted, there is no need to burn Gamecube games (the same way you don't actually need floppy drive noises when playing Amiga games from WinUAE, it's there for nostalgia purposes or prove me wrong). This said, I can assure you don't need any ODE and you don't need a Wii or Wii U either (have in mind GC video output beats the Wii's in terms of sharpness and clarity).
Provided your Cube is dotted with a second serial port, you can get one of these affordable printed boards called the SD2SP2, plug in a microSD card, fill it in with GC ISOs, and there you go (really, check on ebay or follow that link, I got mine for 7,99 € + 2,05 € shipping fees, I don't know for sure if it will cope with 256 GB microSD cards, but with 128 GB ones preferably SanDisk ones, it will, currently using it with a 32 GB SanDisk microSD card). Since some games e.q. Wind Walker bear an exploit, you don't even need to have your Cube modded (think hack exploit softmod), although it's definitely a welcome addition due to the lack of USB ports on the console. Previously, all we had at our disposal was the SD Gecko, a memory card adapter which could read from a microSD card when plugged in into either of the MC holders, but did cause some stuttering with FMV playback and wasn't exactly an eye-pleaser.

[ Show youtube player ]

(YT video bears a 15 second period of promotion for this modder's supplier, I feel I should mention it since some folks here despise any form of ad in links)

Ok, allow me to continue, almost done . What you will need though is a physical copy of the toolset called Swiss, sometimes it is provided with the SD2SP2, sometimes not. Swiss is updated every once in while, so ordering a small batch of blank mini DVD-R's might be a good idea whether you plan to burn GC games or not, always burn at the slowest speed. Amazon France do offer some branded G04 Ritek's and that brand is... Memorex, not Verbatim, better luck next time , not cheap, but you shouldn't need to order thousands of them.

[SquawkBox]

These guys do sell modded Gamecubes + the microSD card holder printed board + a copy of Swiss on a mini DVD-R at a reasonable price :
http://www.keepitretro.co.uk/en-gb/collections/gamecube
(I am not affiliated with them in any way),
Though it's obvious the Xeno (XenoGC) chip has taken precedence over the other chips (its popularity might have something to do with the fact that it's dirt cheap), it's not the only one out there up the challenge, namely the Qoob and the Viper modchips are equally good at enabling full reading of imports & backups, if not better.

[Retro-Nerd]

The 21pin Fenrir ODE is finally available (restock end of June as it seems). Time to play more Sega classics. I was too annoyed changing CDs/burning CDRs. The Satiator is probably a nice ODE too, but way too expensive. App. 250 vs 100 Euro (Fenrir)

[str0m]

Yes I didn't even know they had released the 21 pin version then spotted it on their site randonly a week or so ago. Eagerly awaiting the restock! I do have a 20 pin model 1 but only one of them, got about 6 model 2s (ahem.....lol)

Life so much easier as you say, gdemu clone in a couple of my DCs were great purchases

[512k]

Playful banter mode but still on-topic

Cheapskates get yourself a terraonion mode and a 2tb ssd and fatten the belly of the sega beasts.

Banter mode off

None the less i understand the need for the Fenrir ODE.And can say this am so glad to see ode accepting the status quo aka the redump sets without any conversions it about time.

The rhea clonecd support only was bloddy annoying.

[512k]

Fenrir July Update Brings New Features – Nested Folders & Screenshots

https://www.retrorgb.com/fenrir-july...reenshots.html

[Spriteer]

Got recently a Saturn with cartridge to use backup CDs. Mostly just to play Panzer Dragoon.

[str0m]

Nice, I missed the 21 pin stock Will keep a look out for the next batch or just get the 20 pin