Good reliable memory card that holds lots of storage?

[areyareadyherewego]

The VMU's seem like they're likely to get filled up quick

I want a memory card that has lots of space but also isn't going to corrupt my game saves over time, etc

[Anthony817]

They all have only 200 blocks. What you will have to do, is search for 2x, 4x, or 8x memory cards on eBay. The officials are only 4X, but unofficial 3rd parties make all 3 versions. You have to switch them with a page button to select which bank you use.

I remember a while back there was talk that there was a theoretical limit to how large VMU's and memory cards storage could be, but it never transpired that anybody ever made them with that limit in mind. Does anybody else here know what I am talking about and can verify this who is more technical than myself?

I would love to see somebody come out with a modern memory card that had a micro SD slot in it so we could back up saves directly to it or something or just find a way to have a lot more space.

[Nico0020]

Don't forget you can also use the VMU tool disc (Dreamexplorer) to unlock an extra 44 blocks on your VMUs. This even works on the official 4X memory cards.

Get it from blueswirl here http://bswirl.kitsunet.org/vmutool/release/about/

[NightBreeze]

I wonder why the 4x uses 4 banks of 200 instead of 800 considering you can unlock 44 more (presumably reserved just in case and never used). Could it be that the 4x was made that way just to save money (i.e. no need to develop anything new, just slam together 4 VMUs sans screen)?

Does anyone know if a custom >244 block MU was ever attempted? Maybe there’s a hardware limit like max address of 256 or something?

[areyareadyherewego]

Don't forget you can also use the VMU tool disc (Dreamexplorer) to unlock an extra 44 blocks on your VMUs. This even works on the official 4X memory cards.

Get it from blueswirl here http://bswirl.kitsunet.org/vmutool/release/about/

aside from that one Japanese game, any issues at all with unlocking more blocks reliability wise?

just don't want corrupted game saves I pour tons of time into

Also what an odd thing to restrict the user from being able to access!

the official dreamcast 4x with the light looks kinda cool but pretty pricy / somewhat hard to find

Also with gdemu, do u need a 3rd party app to do memory management or can I still access the default dreamcast menu (with bopping around controller, settings, memory, etc)

[Anthony817]

Also what an odd thing to restrict the user from being able to access!

The Sega Dreamcast's Visual Memory Unit comes with 128 kilobytes worth of storage space, however, 28 of those precious kilobytes are reserved for the system to use exclusively. This works out at 200 blocks available by default for use with save games, with each block using up a mere 0.5kb.

Also with gdemu, do u need a 3rd party app to do memory management or can I still access the default dreamcast menu (with bopping around controller, settings, memory, etc)

You can access the main menu. After all it loads up GDEMU like a disc. So you can set your DC and the app to skip the Sega Boot and license screens to make it load more seamlessly into games, as well as setting the system to autostart games skipping the dashboard completely.

[areyareadyherewego]

Also what an odd thing to restrict the user from being able to access!

The Sega Dreamcast's Visual Memory Unit comes with 128 kilobytes worth of storage space, however, 28 of those precious kilobytes are reserved for the system to use exclusively. This works out at 200 blocks available by default for use with save games, with each block using up a mere 0.5kb.

Also with gdemu, do u need a 3rd party app to do memory management or can I still access the default dreamcast menu (with bopping around controller, settings, memory, etc)

You can access the main menu. After all it loads up GDEMU like a disc. So you can set your DC and the app to skip the Sega Boot and license screens to make it load more seamlessly into games, as well as setting the system to autostart games skipping the dashboard completely.

'reserved for the system to use exclusively'

so unlocking those kilobytes is probably a bad idea? ill probably get a large memory card eventually when I find the right deal

[Anthony817]

Not such a bad idea, really it was not utilized except for in a web browser and I think the only game that has issues not detecting the VMU is MSR. But other than that, it is a small price to pay to have more memory blocks.

[areyareadyherewego]

Not such a bad idea, really it was not utilized except for in a web browser and I think the only game that has issues not detecting the VMU is MSR. But other than that, it is a small price to pay to have more memory blocks.

nice and the disc juggler image for the 'Dream Explorer' works with ImgBurn and that CDI plugin?

its pretty easy to get that space back? I may have to do it already haha

think its equally 'safe' if I do it for a 4x official card or some kinda 3rd party (be it standard size or expansion)

[Anthony817]

I did it for all of mine and had no issues. And yep, just burn with IMGBurn and DJ plugin files and should be good.