BIG HELLO :D

[wetdreamcast]

Hi guys,

I’m new to this forum and I want to share a little a bit of information about myself and then also delve into some questions I’m sure a number of you will be able to help me with, as you guys probably have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to dreamcast.

My name’s Karlo, I’m 23 year old and I’m from Melbourne, Australia. I grew up with two older brothers who were massively into video games and I still remember the excitement and anticipation we had for the dreamcast in the lead up to its release. I will never forget the day the dreamcast came out. Me and my parents purchased the dreamcast as soon as the store opened, hurried home and then surprised my two older brothers who were sleeping in on the day (typical teenagers), it was totally unexpected that we were going to get it on that day!

Once we set up the dreamcast we literally spent 12 hours straight playing it, I remember it heating up and making weird buzzing sounds but it was just magnificent.

Now today I’m really missing the dreamcast and all the fun memories I had on it with my brothers and friends. I’ve been seeing a lot of indie support for it lately, it’s becoming an icon, a collectible and I just want to experience it again and share the magic of it with the people of today.

So now that I have my feelings out the way I have a few questions for everyone 

• Anyone on here from Australia? If so, any Melbournians?

• Outside of ebay, are there any good sites to specifically purchase dreamcast games from?

• Can someone recommend to me the best site for downloading dreamcast games?

• Back in the day, we use to use a ‘utopia boot up disc’ and then swap that out with a copy of the game. Is this still standard practice or is there a more ideal and favourable way these days for playing copied games? If there is, can someone please elaborate? Also can someone point out where can I download the utopia boot up disc software?

• Is there a computer software I should be using for burning dreamcast games or should I just use the standard burning software?

• Can someone point out the best settings for burning dreamcast games?

• If I were to buy an ntsc dreamcast console, could I simply use PAL cables on it to make it work on Australian voltage?

Sorry for all the questions fellow dreamcasters.

I look forward to building my collection and contributing to what seems a wonderful community.

[scaryred24]

Welcome aboard! I do like your username though.

[krssn]

Welcome aboard! I do like your username though.

My first thought too...

For your ROMs: http://www.theisozone.com/downloads/dreamcast/

Burning guide: http://www.theisozone.com/tutorials/dre ... 012-style/

NTSC console in 220V territory: Use a stepdown converter, or you'll fry the PSU...

[Wombat]

Back in the day, we use to use a ‘utopia boot up disc’ and then swap that out with a copy of the game. Is this still standard practice or is there a more ideal and favourable way these days for playing copied games? If there is, can someone please elaborate? Also can someone point out where can I download the utopia boot up disc software?

The Utopia boot disc is obsolete, if you want to boot legitimate import games your better of using an DC Xploder (demo), Gameshark of Import Enabler-disc. When you want to boot downloaded copies of games, you'll only need the game itself seeing that they incorporated "self boot" into CD-R's.

Outside of ebay, are there any good sites to specifically purchase dreamcast games from?

Forums like these are a great place to get games and other Dreamcast hardware from.

If I were to buy an ntsc dreamcast console, could I simply use PAL cables on it to make it work on Australian voltage?

Please don't , NTSC Dreamcast's are 110V so when you connect them straight to your 220/240 mains the fuses will blow. You either need to use a "step-down" convertor alongside the NTSC Dreamcast, or swap the PSU with an EU/AU- one.

[wetdreamcast]

Welcome aboard! I do like your username though.

Thanks Mate

[wetdreamcast]

Welcome aboard! I do like your username though.

My first thought too...

For your ROMs: http://www.theisozone.com/downloads/dreamcast/

Burning guide: http://www.theisozone.com/tutorials/dre ... 012-style/

NTSC console in 220V territory: Use a stepdown converter, or you'll fry the PSU...

Thanks krssn. I just checked the burning guide and it says there will be a rar file. When i download i only get the set up file for img burn. I cannot find anywhere the following file; "cdi files for imgburn"
This will give you 3 files. These are the files you need to burn your DC games with ImgBurn.
1. pfctoc.dll
2. pfctoc.h
3. pfctoc.lib

so i don't think my imgburn is properly set up?

[wetdreamcast]

Back in the day, we use to use a ‘utopia boot up disc’ and then swap that out with a copy of the game. Is this still standard practice or is there a more ideal and favourable way these days for playing copied games? If there is, can someone please elaborate? Also can someone point out where can I download the utopia boot up disc software?

The Utopia boot disc is obsolete, if you want to boot legitimate import games your better of using an DC Xploder (demo), Gameshark of Import Enabler-disc. When you want to boot downloaded copies of games, you'll only need the game itself seeing that they incorporated "self boot" into CD-R's.

Outside of ebay, are there any good sites to specifically purchase dreamcast games from?

Forums like these are a great place to get games and other Dreamcast hardware from.

If I were to buy an ntsc dreamcast console, could I simply use PAL cables on it to make it work on Australian voltage?

Please don't , NTSC Dreamcast's are 110V so when you connect them straight to your 220/240 mains the fuses will blow. You either need to use a "step-down" convertor alongside the NTSC Dreamcast, or swap the PSU with an EU/AU- one.

G'day wombat, thank you for the extensive help.

Gee i've been out of the game for so long, I didn't realise that the burnt games are self booting these days

That's good to know that the marketplace on here is a good way to look at buying games or hardware.

Would I be able to use Australian Dreamcast cables on a UK dreamcast console and play the UK dreamcast console in Australia?

[Wombat]

The power cable used on a Dreamcast is just a regular cable, so if you happen to buy a UK/EU model you can just replace the cable:

[krssn]

I just checked the burning guide and it says there will be a rar file. When i download i only get the set up file for img burn. I cannot find anywhere the following file; "cdi files for imgburn"
This will give you 3 files. These are the files you need to burn your DC games with ImgBurn.
1. pfctoc.dll
2. pfctoc.h
3. pfctoc.lib

so i don't think my imgburn is properly set up?

That's strange. I just downloaded the file to check and got both a zip and an exe file.

The original download: UPDATE_IMGBurn_2.5.7.0._w_Dreamcast_Support.7z

After clicking on it you get two files:

- cdi files for imgburn.zip
- SetupImgBurn_2.5.7.0.exe

Clicking SetupImgBurn_2.5.7.0.exe shows those 3 files you mentioned...

I reinstalled Windows 7 just a week or two ago. So I have no burning software on my PC whatsoever.

Not that it should make any difference...

You do have an unzip program on your PC right?...

File shows up just fine with WinRAR 4.01 (64-bit)...

Downloaded with Chrome browser. Shouldn't make a difference either, but hey, can't be too thorough... lol

[scaryred24]

I just checked the burning guide and it says there will be a rar file. When i download i only get the set up file for img burn. I cannot find anywhere the following file; "cdi files for imgburn"
This will give you 3 files. These are the files you need to burn your DC games with ImgBurn.
1. pfctoc.dll
2. pfctoc.h
3. pfctoc.lib

so i don't think my imgburn is properly set up?

That's strange. I just downloaded the file to check and got both a zip and an exe file.

The original download: UPDATE_IMGBurn_2.5.7.0._w_Dreamcast_Support.7z

After clicking on it you get two files:

- cdi files for imgburn.zip
- SetupImgBurn_2.5.7.0.exe

Clicking SetupImgBurn_2.5.7.0.exe shows those 3 files you mentioned...

I reinstalled Windows 7 just a week or two ago. So I have no burning software on my PC whatsoever.

Not that it should make any difference...

You do have an unzip program on your PC right?...

File shows up just fine with WinRAR 4.01 (64-bit)...

Downloaded with Chrome browser. Shouldn't make a difference either, but hey, can't be too thorough... lol

All I did to achieve this is I downloaded the latest version from the official website which is at the time I'm typing this out is 2.5.8.0 and then downloaded the Padus disc juggler .cdi .dll files from the same site. I went to install it and then placed the 3 .dll files for .cdi suppport into the root of the Imgburn install directory and everything works just fine. I would also recommend 7z for extracting compressed folders since it works wonders for me.