The new proposed "VM2" from Chris at DreamMods.net

[OatBob]

Deep review from ぽめ (POME) showcasing features and use. Much love went into this video from an avid VMS collector.

[ateam]

I decided to put together my own video review. Please keep in mind I'm not really much of a YouTube guy, nor a person skilled in video production. Hopefully what I've strung together is acceptable, though

[mistamontiel]

Excellent to learn all the knows! With 8bitmods' shit I was kinda bummed I wanted to keep array of games in one bank rather than one-by-one but then receiving one I highly prefer its automation, changed me

Wish this too but perhaps some firmware further

Contribution 2,305. VM2 in my hands in July seems pretty wishful thankin

[mistamontiel]

Wow, so bswirl kitsunet is no longer

Not to be a cheek, you said you would link Speud's software in description

[ateam]

Not to be a cheek, you said you would link Speud's software in description

The VM2 utility has it built in. I remembered that after I recorded, so it's a bit redundant to link to it.

I'll add this link though:
https://segaretro.org/images/5/5c/Vmuexplorer.rar

[DCGX]

I finally got around to setting up and moving all my saves to the VM2. It's been so long since I used a regular VMU that it felt so nice to see the screen again! I do wish the folder labels were able to accommodate more than 8 characters. That, and if they do have longer labels, the folders don't stay listed alphabetically. Minor gripes.

[ateam]

I finally got around to setting up and moving all my saves to the VM2. It's been so long since I used a regular VMU that it felt so nice to see the screen again! I do wish the folder labels were able to accommodate more than 8 characters. That, and if they do have longer labels, the folders don't stay listed alphabetically. Minor gripes.

Very cool!

By the way, you can use a FAT sorting tool (e.g., https://www.trustfm.net/software/utilities/SDSorter.php) before ejecting your microSD to alphanumerically sort your files/folders.

In the future, Chris may implement long filename support. Right now, it's a limit of the current FAT driver. He wants to make sure he doesn't fill up the MCU's ROM with such features until he's sure everything else he has in mind has been implemented, and sufficient room is left.

[DCGX]

I finally got around to setting up and moving all my saves to the VM2. It's been so long since I used a regular VMU that it felt so nice to see the screen again! I do wish the folder labels were able to accommodate more than 8 characters. That, and if they do have longer labels, the folders don't stay listed alphabetically. Minor gripes.

Very cool!

By the way, you can use a FAT sorting tool (e.g., https://www.trustfm.net/software/utilities/SDSorter.php) before ejecting your microSD to alphanumerically sort your files/folders.

In the future, Chris may implement long filename support. Right now, it's a limit of the current FAT driver. He wants to make sure he doesn't want to fill up the MCU's ROM with such features until he's sure everything else he has in mind has been implemented, and sufficient room is left.

That's not how I have the folders named, though. I have only the first letter (A, then B, then C, etc.), but there are so many games that start with "S" or "T" that of course a single VMU can't hold them all. So I have them as "S - SEGAGT," etc. And those are also listed alphabetically, but at the end of the single letter folders. So all the "S" folders are at the bottom, then all the "T" folders after that, again alphabetical with each other, but not alphabetical to the single letter labeled folders. Another example is I have an entire folder labeled for 'Conflict Zone' labeled as "Conflict," but it isn't after the folder labeled "C," it's at the very end of everything, even the "S" and "T" folders.

I guess using yet another program to reorganized folders is an option, since to properly name then a PC is used anyway, but I guess I was hoping most if not all this stuff could be handled right on the VM2 instead of always taking it to a PC.

I understand the need to get a product out, but there seems to be quite a few things yet to be implemented.

[ateam]

That's not how I have the folders named, though. I have only the first letter (A, then B, then C, etc.), but there are so many games that start with "S" or "T" that of course a single VMU can't hold them all. So I have them as "S - SEGAGT," etc. And those are also listed alphabetically, but at the end of the single letter folders. So all the "S" folders are at the bottom, then all the "T" folders after that, again alphabetical with each other, but not alphabetical to the single letter labeled folders. Another example is I have an entire folder labeled for 'Conflict Zone' labeled as "Conflict," but it isn't after the folder labeled "C," it's at the very end of everything, even the "S" and "T" folders.

I guess using yet another program to reorganized folders is an option, since to properly name then a PC is used anyway, but I guess I was hoping most if not all this stuff could be handled right on the VM2 instead of always taking it to a PC.

I understand the need to get a product out, but there seems to be quite a few things yet to be implemented.

Using a FAT sorting tool will alphanumerically sort all folders, subfolders, and files.

Just for some context, there are numerous flashcarts and ODEs on the market that behave just like the VM2 when it comes to file/folder sorting. Many of Krikzz's EverDrives fall under that category, and even Fixel's 3DO ODEs.

To most, automatic sorting seems obvious. However, you'd be surprised when dealing at the low level of embedded hardware engineering just how resource-consuming such a process is. Like I said, he just wants to be sure other important features can come first.

Lastly, I agree that there is room for improvement with the VM2. I also fully believe we will see a multitude of improvements as time goes by (e.g., direct VMU-to-VMU connection support, which Chris has already stated is high priority). Other QOL updates will certainly come too

[ateam]

Figured I'd post here for any users who've seen the new GUI update and the false-positive virus/malware alert thrown by Windows Defender and other similar tools.

Surely we've all been downloading and using software in our circles long enough to know how many of them are incorrectly flagged in this manner. The software has been thoroughly scanned by REAL malware detection software and is clean.

Unfortunately, many anti-malware tools (Windows Defender included) leverage machine learning for detection and throw warnings when some piece of code maybe sort of kind of looks like it might do something malicious.

In the case of the most recent GUI update, it will likely the embedding of an executable inside another. I think an update has already been pushed to address this.

Long story short, there's nothing to worry about. Hell, even my own patching utility (Universal Dreamcast Patcher) gets flagged like this because I'm using external helper utilities that shitty anti-malware applications don’t like! Mind you, these helper utilities are tools that we in the Dreamcast scene have been using for years and years. It's insanity.