Introduction to Dreamcast Modding (Utopia 1.5 Boot Disc, Self-Bootable Games, No BS Tutorial)

[Willo3G]

Yo Dexter please help me here. Im buying a US Dreamcast but theres few game that i want to buy that either are PAL or NTSC-J. If the US Dreamcast do not play them like normal i need to use the Utopia disc so i can play them? Please let me know man. Thanks for the tutorila.

[gamedexterity]

@Willo3G Yes, or you can go download the self booting game discs.

[erflesmcbride]

Im using a CD-R, but it has a black bottom and not silver, it says the file is burned on it, but I used windows burner to do it, it still appears in the audio file thing, it also says that my dreamcast was manufactured MAY 2000, anything you suggest?



[gamedexterity]

@erflesmcbride Use the boot disc then.

[TheFran19869]

And as I got the original game already, thought there maybe a chance of getting it to work. Btw, I also got the shenmue 1 but that works perfectly because it is NTSC format.

[TheFran19869]

Mi e was 2000

[TheFran19869]

Hi, I got a dreamcast NTSC-U and want to play my original shenmue 2 (PAL) what should I do? Thanks

[gamedexterity]

@TheFran19869 Hmm, what year was your dreamcast manufactured in? Maybe easier to go download NTSC-U version of shenmue 2.

[426gabe]

@gamedexterity Can it work for japan games?

[gamedexterity]

@426gabe It should, as many of them are NTSC and I am NTSC. If you are PAL....then good luck.

[sayastra]

I'm glad you explained the time line- because I was sitting there going why the hell do you even need to mod (friends got me a original- :D)

[fordbroncodave]

where can i get self boot-able downloads? how long does it take to download?

[gamedexterity]

@fordbroncodave Try 128bit.me or snesorama website. Or torrentz.eu. Download time depends on how many people are sharing, or where you getting the files from. - Versatile

[DeSilverware]

That intro music is SICK!

[gibro316]

they are gdi format i need some i can burn

[gamedexterity]

@gibro316 Try disc juggler for those.

[gibro316]

where can i find non self booting games

[gamedexterity]

@gibro316 128bit.me is a starting point. We got a video on it.

[450greetz]

does utopia boot .cdi files?

i have ntsc-u dreamcast and I wanna play Shenmue 2 (PAL)

Do i need a .iso of it or it would work with a shenmue2.cdi file?

please note : my utopia currently hasn't booted any .cdi games that

boot by themself ...

[gamedexterity]

@450greetz Burn the .cdi file with disc juggler, then you can play the game.

[thezenarcadian]

Burned Utopia onto disc with PowerISO. Not working. Please help.

[gamedexterity]

@thezenarcadian Try imgburn to burn it. When was your dreamcast manufactured?

[thezenarcadian]

@gamedexterity Used DiscJuggler, works fine, as do backed up ROMs, DreamSNES gets stuck at 96pc loading, though!

[sonicfanatic4949]

And info in video is bullshit, mine was manufactured in 2001 and I play backup games fine.

[gamedexterity]

@sonicfanatic4949 Really? Then the information I got from is bullshit as well! Thanks for the confirmation. Adding new notes to annotation.

[s0nic777]

Quick question, how do I burn games onto a CDR when 95% of my backed up games are over a gig in size?

CDR is only 700mb I believe, thanks in advanced for any replies back.

[gamedexterity]

@s0nic777 Just burn it and watch it work. I cannot explain why it works, but the dreamcast format is very odd.

[s0nic777]

@gamedexterity

Yeah, I got it working after looking up a guide and using alcohol 120%

Better then paying over $100 for a unopened copy of Sonic Adventure 2 and Skies of Arcadia, which I now have thanks to this.

[sonicfanatic4949]

@s0nic777

A lot of that data is useless filler, and is thrown out during the burning process.

[gamedexterity]

@HangingWithChuck1218 Try imgburn, or go get a different utopia disc. If all else fails, I'll upload my copy.

[gamedexterity]

@HangingWithChuck1218 As long as your dreamcast can boot utopia boot disc, nothing else matters in this world.

[gamedexterity]

@HangingWithChuck1218 Why you working so hard? Just burn that NRG wit Nero!

[Timic83tc]

does australia count as a "euro" dreamcast? and can they play NTSC dreamcast games?

[gamedexterity]

@Timic83tc Is australia ntsc or PAL?

[Timic83tc]

@gamedexterity pal

[PIKACHU49386]

3:36 Remove t3h mask!

lol Just messin', Great video! Helped me out bunches! ;)

[chimpygamer]

Thumbs up if you want dreamcast 2

[MrSupergiga]

ok i have my dream cast it has a noise that i am sure that a little greas can take care of it but can i buy the laser and not have a problem with the dreamcast reading my backups

[gamedexterity]

@MrSupergiga I guess so. My dreamcast doesn't make noise like that. -Versatile

[MrSupergiga]

@gamedexterity i put some baby oil in the gears and it dosent make the sound that much but heyy 1999 i just wish it did not make the sound 

[gamedexterity]

@MrSupergiga So its definitely the gears?

[MrSupergiga]

@gamedexterity not sure but im just going to leave it alone

[ConchX]

Hey, can't wait to try this out. Just a Question.. May seem a stupid one.. But, I've recently been thinking of buying a dreamcast from eBay (My laptop doesn't emulate good!) and I was wondering, is it possible to find out when the Dreamcast was manufactured? Maybe serial no.? or? Would it just be easier to ask the seller when it was manufactured?

Thanks! :)

[gamedexterity]

@ConchX Just ask the seller read you the manufacturer date off the dreamcast. When I bought mine from craigslist, that is what I asked every single seller, until I found one made before October 2000. The minute I found a unit made in 1999, I knew I found something special. xD -Versatile

[Yzuma18]

Question, where can I find A good sites to download or Where do you download your iso for the dreamcast?

[gamedexterity]

@Yzuma18 Use google and search for dreamcast isos. The other alternative is go to bitsoup dawt org. - Versatile

[winlover37]

@Yzuma18 I recommend "theisozone(dot)com

[MrSupergiga]

what UPC numbers cuz i whant to bye one but it dosent show the year sow im looking for alternet thx man have a good one

[gamedexterity]

@MrSupergiga Don't know. On the bottom it says year of manufacturer. - Versatile

[MrSupergiga]

@gamedexterity sorry im looking for one online and the ppl selling dont give year of manufacturer in description only upc numberes and other details

[gamedexterity]

@MrSupergiga Tell them to read the bottom of the dreamcast. If they CARE about you purchasing their product, well, they better give you the information you are requesting. Otherwise, go back to them and say "If you are not going to help me, then I'll go to someone else who will!" - Versatile

[MrSupergiga]

@gamedexterity awsome thanx 

[alexfart67]

this works with playing japanese games too?

[gamedexterity]

@alexfart67 Yes, because I live in USA and I got one japanese game I play all the time. - Versatile

[alexfart67]

@gamedexterity ok

[monkeynade126]

My dreamcast says made october 2000.

Will i be able to use burned games since its not post october?

[gamedexterity]

@monkeynade126 A simple test is to get a game and try it! - Versatile

[HelloIamXTD]

Could you help? My Dreamcast was made in June 2000, is a model 1, it just does not want to boot up a thing! Out of 50 Verbatim CD-Rs I used, about 20 are unusable. Tried 4 different files(Jet Grind Radio, Bust a Move 4, Bleemcast, Utopia Boot Disk), tried each MULTIPLE times, my Dreamcast just won't run them. I have followed many different tutorials, two different software, is there anything I can do?

[gamedexterity]

@HelloIamXTD Hold up a second here. What do you mean 20 out of 50 are unusable? - Versatile

[HelloIamXTD]

@gamedexterity

From my understanding you can't re-use a CD-R, like erasing the disc of it's contents and putting a new file on it.

[gamedexterity]

@HelloIamXTD That I do understand. Are you saying you burnt various files, and it was 20 CD-R's later and none of the 20 even booted? You have a good copy of utopia boot disc 1.5 that is not corrupted? Can you verify that the boot disc you got does work ? - Versatile

[HelloIamXTD]

@gamedexterity

I can verify that the boot disk does not work, and I did not try the one located in the description of this video. I will try that and get back to you. I'm new to this whole "backup" thing.

[gamedexterity]

@HelloIamXTD That is a good start. Would have made our lives easier if you did that in the beginning with the first CD-R. Let me know what happens. Burn the CD-R at half the max speed of the disc, so like 24X is a good start. - Versatile

[HelloIamXTD]

@gamedexterity

My first try with DiscJuggler prompted me to insert another disk. >_>

Trying to burn the Utopia Boot disk with Alcohol 120% worked, but would not load up on the Dreamcast, just went to the menu.

Dammit.

[gamedexterity]

@HelloIamXTD We need to connect up online. Something just fishy here. Did you download a known working "self booting game", perhaps one of the Echelon releases? - Versatile

[HelloIamXTD]

@gamedexterity

I got my .cdis from DCiSOZOne, and the ones I downloaded were classified as Self-Booting, but I don't know.

[gamedexterity]

@HelloIamXTD Perhaps its time you post your question at a guru dreamcast dedicated forum and see what those guys know. Your console is made before October 2000. It should instantly boot the self boot games, if they truly are self-boot games. You must be burning the games properly. Another way to check your games are good is use PC dreamcast emulator, then you will know for sure. I'm assuming you are burning games correctly. Not much left to troubleshoot here. :(

[HelloIamXTD]

@gamedexterity

Thanks for the help you could give me

Will set up nullDC.

[gamedexterity]

@MarioFanofVT Ok, how about you get a self booting ISO of that game? Echelon is what they call it. - Versatile

[GamerMGO]

epic wallpaper

[leetheknigt1]

PLEASE help:)

i did all the steps and etc but when i put the cd-rw in the dreamcast it sais please insert a disc.

what to do?

[gamedexterity]

@leetheknigt1 Use a CD-r, not CD-RW.

[leetheknigt1]

@gamedexterity Thx:)

[Zillawill]

God the DC brings back good memorys

[MarioMan1864]

Damn, Mine's mfg. December 2000.

[phrixil]

Can you use the Utopia boot disc to play import games?

[gamedexterity]

@phrixil Yes. - Versatile

[gamedexterity]

@phrixil Yes because I did it before. - Versatile

[babydick626]

Hey god forbid I want to play my saturn, but does this work the same way for the Sega Saturn with non-self boot game if I had a utopia boot disc ?

[gamedexterity]

@babydick626 I am not familiar with Sega Saturn and its hack methods. Consult the forums at afterdawn dat com. - Versatile

[zac1256]

how can you tell if it what year it was made in

[gamedexterity]

@zac1256 Simple. Take a look at the bottom of the dreamcast and it will say manufactured in what year and what month. - Versatile

[94darklord]

@zac1256 look on the back and there a circle with a number. If it is a 1 or 0 it good. 2 mean it from october 2000

[marocwwe]

you are awesome you bring us the on expected of gaming

[mcmimi09]

@darkgoji376 me tooo

[shockwave952]

Help, my utopia disk doesn't work. Instead of the disk picture, i just get a strange pic of a guy screaming with UTOPIA written on it.

[gamedexterity]

@shockwave952 My utopia is definitely not that. Get the latest version. - Versatile

[MCTemPErENce]

Cool mine was made on Dec 1999

[marocwwe]

@MCTemPErENce lol

[marocwwe]

@MCTemPErENce its before october 2000

[O7DOYLE7O]

thank you so much! this helped A LOT.

[cjv84us]

I'm just curious... If I have an action replay disc, along with the Utopia Boot Disc and a backup dreamcast game, will the cheat codes still work? And, if so, what should I load up first? The action replay or the Utopia Boot Disc?

[gamedexterity]

@cjv84us I really don't know asI don't really use cheat codes. If you have self-boot games (echelon), then I can see using action replay first and then the self-boot game. If you have Utopia Boot disc, then I think that throws off the cheat code process.

[Hypetic]

@darkgoji376 Use utopia. Didnt you listen to the video?

[bulletproof2353]

too bad you didnt include a way of telling whenyour dc was made like is there a way to check the serial# and if its higher than a certain # it dont play backups ,or is there a sticked on it that says when its made i dont feel like digging it out right now to check

and i dl a torrent witha bunch of games but not sure if they r selfboot ,is there a way to tell by lookin at the files ,can you edit them to make them selfboot if they dont?do i burn as data cd?

[gamedexterity]

@bulletproof2353 I do not have serial number breaks. All I know just as stated in the more info section is to use dreamcast units made on or before October 2000. What else more do you need to know?

If you are in that time frame, you can use the utopia boot disc if game is not self bootable. Usually most games if you get them online are selfbootable. You know if it has the word ECHELON added to it. - Versatile

[TheReducks]

I'm confused about some things. Some of the games for the DC are over 700mb. How do you burn those to one disk?

[gamedexterity]

@TheReducks I haven't burnt a game over 700MB disc yet. Possible those are multiple CD-R games. - Versatile

[acoyou1]

if u use burned games to much it will kill your dreamcast gd-rom drive, but very easy to fix.

[1191SPEED]

then I must not make any modifications?

[gamedexterity]

@1191SPEED No modifications. As long as you are October 2000 or earlier, you are good to go. - Versatile

[TheEvilGrmlin]

utopia disk = my childhood

[1191SPEED]

but there are still these optical media? I wanted to buy the Sega Dreamcast as the change is made?

[gamedexterity]

@1191SPEED I used regular cd-r and it works fine. - Versatile

[BFKAnthony817]

Dude, utopia boot disc is so 2002. Most games nowadays are selfbooting. You just download the games, burn to a cdr, pop it in your system and you are good to go!

I would go crazy if I had to do disc swap every time for every game lol. I am spoiled on SB games lol.

Also, there is a new Chinese Sandisk adapter for Dreamcast that lets you boot games from an SD card! I uploaded a video on my page showing the SD card and where you can purchase one. They are totaly bad ass dude.

[gamedexterity]

@BFKAnthony817 I totally agree. Some of the games I just happened to get were not selbooting,but the majority of the games are now. I only have maybe 2 or 3 games that use the utopia boot disc. The fact that my dreamcast is an older model to play backed up games is good enough for me!

The Sandisk adapter is new to me. I will definitely check you out. - Versatile

[marknayler]

not true i have a dream cast made in october 2000 and i just burned a game and it works no modd no utopia what ever that is lol but yeah it works

[gamedexterity]

@marknayler Really? Thanks for confirming. All the sites I read said July 2000, but maybe there is still a grey area.

[Corad4]

You mean... the raindeer was not just an appearance of my ngihtmares and it was the actual boot disk....?

Man i'm dumb! >o<

Helpful video, great job :D

[hjhdet]

Is it vga compatible

[gamedexterity]

@hjhdet There is google for a vga mod I believe. - Versatile

[gamedexterity]

@SNIPZ86 : LOL! Thanks, I never knew that! - Versatile

[drewdudy]

hey got my Dreamcast and im playing backups now

ps if the model is made in oct 2000, it will work too,but not after that date. Was scared at first it wouldnt work

,but its fine!!!!!

[wardrich]

Is the Utopia on Dreamcast-Talk version 1.5? I've never seen a cdi of 1.5 so if it is, I'm gonna be all over that like a fat kid on cake.

[gamedexterity]

@wardrich : That is exactly what you want. -Versatile

[drewdudy]

is there a way to tell if it was manufactured before October of 2000 on a dreamcast system. Thinking of buying 1 and dont want 2 get 1 after tat date ???

[gamedexterity]

@drewdudy : You are smart. Ask the person who has it or take a look yourself at the bottom of the unit, there is a nameplate. It will say the year of manufacturer. -Versatile

[Aluseph]

Super video! I learned much and you guys can learn some stuff ase well from my videos

[theclassicgamer20]

Hey whats sites to go to to get dreamcast backs up ?

[gamedexterity]

@theclassicgamer20 : Try torrentz (dot) com or katz (dot) cd. - Versatile

[7991rellik]

thanks my dreamcast loaded utopia it was a sega sports version i thought i wouldnt work thanks i thumbs up

[nawaz5khanbm]

plzzzzzzzz see my vedios and commnet :)

[videogamerevie81]

Great video you have my sub. And thumbs up.

[gamedexterity]

@xXxLAMBOFGOD12xXx : The only reason someone would want to use the VMU tool is if they want to run homebrew apps. The minute you start getting into hex editing is for the hardcore gamer in my eyes.

The VMU tool after brief watching looks cool, similar to freemcboot or ulaunchelf for PS2. How does a user transfer dreamcast save files from PC to VMU and vice versa? -Versatile

[xXxLAMBOFGOD12xXx]

@gamedexterity Theres a thing called a Dreamcast Coders Cable, I'll send you a message with a link of a home made one.

[xXxLAMBOFGOD12xXx]

Wow, this is so old. wud you just learn how to do this or what? btw you should've also talked about VMU tool cause thats the best thing I've ever used for Dreamcast modding. You can make custom VMU images, it has a built in hex editor, game saves, etc.

[gamedexterity]

@xXxLAMBOFGOD12xXx: It is pretty old school. I just got a Dreamcast off of Craigslist recently just for this purpose. You be surprised how many people don't know the potential of their old consoles. There is a reason why I still get PS2 questions, even though the PS2 has been around for 10 years now, just like the dreamcast. - Versatile

[xXxLAMBOFGOD12xXx]

@xXxLAMBOFGOD12xXx oh, sorry I feel like a dick now :\

[gamedexterity]

@xXxLAMBOFGOD12xXx Don't worry about it. The VMU hack seems interesting, but its a novelty factor in my eyes, something to distinguish the hardcore geeks from the casual ones. -Versatile

[gamedexterity]

Sometimes you have to rely on your own instincts and bring out the videos that no one has asked for. Enjoy! - Versatile