Category Archives: Burning

Selfbooting games

bin2boot

In the early days of the Dreamcast scene every game was released in bin/cue format.
You had to use Nero or CDRWIN to burn it. Then you needed the Utopia Bootdisc to launch it.

After a while the selfboot releases came out, this was a .cdi file and you needed Discjuggler to burn it (now use ImgBurn).

So you have one of these old releases (most probably by Kalisto) and you want to convert it into a .cdi file? The solution is to find a program called Bin2Boot CDDA, this will ask for the .cue file, and then automatically build a .cdi file for you that is selfbootable.

Bin2boot will only work on 32-bit systems, i’m still looking for a solution for 64-bit systems.

VGA patching

dc-vgacable

When you use a VGA box with your Dreamcast to get the best possible picture, be sure to patch in support for it in your games.

The best way to do this is get a free hex editor.
Install it and open your .cdi image file.
Search for “JUE” and next to it you see some numbers.
These are winCE settings, peripherals/controllers support but also vga support.
So if you got a game that got that string: 0799A00
Change the BOLD byte to 1: 0799A00 -> 0799A10
And vga is working, don’t change anything else!

Burning Dreamcast games

screenshot_torn_1

Alot of guides you find are old. The Dreamcast is an old console of course.

However you can still burn games today using new programs.
The tool to use is ImgBurn it has an addon so it can burn .cdi files.

This is the format that selfboot dreamcast games were released in.
Always burn at 8X speed max.

Don’t forget to check if there are any RGB or VGA patches needed for your game.
Sometimes game creators block the use of certain type of cables.