New FW for Phoebe ODE owners, this one should hopefully fix the region patching issue. Make sure you’ve named the INI file correctly – some devices tried to open and parse Rhea.ini, this was a silly regression on my part and is not an intended behaviour.
USPS shipment tracking stopped working some time ago – I don’t know why but there’s nothing I can do about it. Same thing happened in 2014 for a month or two but then fixed itself. Might be a bug in their system, might be permanent. You’ll have to be patient I guess, it usually takes 2-3 weeks for the package to arrive.
Regarding future preorders: I will reopen at the end of this month but do note that I most likely won’t be able to deliver anything before January 2016. December is a bad time for shipping anyway. I will use that time to get some rest, finally finish the next proto PCB for PCE, and play Fallout 4.
If there are no more FW issues I will consider Phoebe mature enough for open sale, though unlike Rhea I only have a few more PCBs left and need to order more first. That means longer waiting time. And speaking of that, I almost got all Rheas done on time but GDEMU list still suffered, there’s always something that derails my schedule and once it happens it quickly escalates. With possibly 3 different ODEs it might get even worse. Because of that I’m trying to find a balance between how frequently I can accept orders and how much at once. I know this causes some of you to miss the window but it’s either that or the list waiting time counted in months. There’s only so much I can do, apparently my devices are quite popular. Maybe the price is too low 😛
GDEMU 
I’m going to test the new Phoebe firmware and report feedback.Thanks, Deunan!
Just tested new Phoebe firmware and all is sorted out, region patching is working fine.Thanks again.
How did you get it to work? I still get errors.
I got it working. Originally, the Phoebe was filling the INI file with garbage characters and didn’t patch anything. When I’d put the SD card back in my PC it would say the drive needed scanned and fixed. I remade the INI file and put it back in the Phoebe but locked the SD card. It didn’t work obviously, but then I turned off the console and switched off the lock and reinserted the SD card and now everything works!!
Keep up with your exellent work and have a nice rest!! I’ll try to get a PCE ode on the first order for sure! I love your odes!
Hopefully, I can get the GDEMU in this order window whenever it comes up.
PCE ODE! Awesome 🙂
PCE !!!!!
Take it easy man, you deserve it!
Just got my GEDMU and it is amazing! Definitely worth the wait.
These are popular because you’re filling a market void.
One question on Rhea/Phoebe… is a GDEMU style menu still a possibility, or is that off the cards entirely? I’m sure there were concerns that it would run too slowly, but how slow is too slow??
Probably ungodly slow.
Let the software guys work on that …
Honestly I would prefer a waitlist, even if the time was in months. I’ve been checking the site as frequently as possible (unfortunately I can’t check multiple times everyday) waiting for a preorder window to open on either GDEMU or Rhea (for I believe over 6 months now) and have been unsuccessful every time. I also watched the development of GDEMU for what felt like a couple years before copies were being sold. Anyway, just stating my opinion that I would LOVE a waitlist if I ONLY had to wait a couple months to be at the head of the line 🙂
Perhaps RSS for this blog would work for you?
Personally, I’ve done that; I still missed it because the GDEMU window was so short last time.
I would prefer a waitlist too, i want GDEMU and RHEA 🙂
I would also like a wait list. It would also help you out as you could plan for the proper volume. Are you making these one at a time by hand including the boards? Or are you able to offload most of this onto a manufacturer? In any case, I would like to be on some sort of wait list if that ever becomes an option for GDEMU and possibly the other ones if alternatives don’t already exist.
I’m now a proud owner of a RHEA even though i can’t install it because my friend still has my Saturn! I’m (im)patiently waiting for GDEMU preorders. Been watching almost a year and i always miss. I will try to RSS
I’d like to hear more about this proto PCB for the PCE
I’m curious what model of the PCE the new board is planned to be for. Just trying to plan ahead.
PCE+interface+cdrom²
Thank you for resolving the region patching! This Phoebe firmware has now resolved all non-JP games from booting on my Japanese VA10-15 Saturn.
However, I do get intermittent freezing issues while game is loading data.
When this happens the Phoebe will totally freeze itself, button presses does not register and I need to power cycle the console.
I have only tested it somewhat hastily on 7 different game images, in this test I have been most successful on reproducing this freeze on game “Magic Knight Rayearth” US/NTSC.
I hope this info is to some help.
What does the status LED on Phoebe do when this happens? What SD card are you using?
Phoebe status LED does nothing during this. Memory card is a Sandisk microSDHC 4GB with adapter.
When tested on Rhea with my PAL Saturn (with MPEG card also), I cannot reproduce this (tested with same memory card).
I will try another memory card on Phoebe later and let you know how it turns out.
Does removing and reinserting SD card change anything? Can you reset (rather than power-cycle) Saturn and see if it works then? Pay attention to the opening animation (or lack of it), is the sound working properly then and in the console menu?
I have now tested with another class6 8GB SDHC card and is still experiencing loading/detection issues, seems less frequent though. Other 4GB card was class 2 but for some reason works fine on Rhea.
When resetting console when Phoebe did not load the image selected and timed out, boot animation/gfx is delayed 20-30 seconds with black screen before showing the usual sound/gfx animation, and might boot into image but might not.
I want to make a note here also that I am using a 5V 3 Amp (single 5V rail) PSU for my 230V grid. If this might be an issue, you can disregard this issue.
Problems with power would cause ODE to reset itself, this will at least blink the LED so I think it’s not the issue here. Seems like a card problem but it’s weird that it works fine on Rhea…
I’ve been stuck to my dreamcast ever since getting my gdemu a few days ago! What an awesome product! Can’t wait until I have enough for a rhea for my VA0 Sega Saturn!
Was gdemu wait list ever open? Been checking almost every day since the summer to be sure lol. I would really like to order one 😛
It hasn’t been for awhile. Just keep checking.
Been waiting on the chance to get on a list for a while and was hoping anyone here might be willing to confirm that I have a VA1 model saturn with these pictures?
http://imgur.com/a/BU0HR
Just want to make sure I don’t blow my chance. Much appreciated
Yes, it’s a VA1 Saturn.
Thank you!
Not sure why that auto embedded the image, I didn’t use any html, just simply linked the url.
+1 for a waitlist! I’m sure there are many interested people you haven’t heard from yet (like me), who are waiting to strike when preorders open. It might go more smoothly for both parties that way.
Im also up for a waiting list but i can understand why there isnt one, it would be overwhelming to process so many orders so Instead maybe an email list that will let us know when the pre-orders will open up? I think that would be the most helpful solution.
Cant wait to order mine!
@gdemu
A guy on the assembler forums mentioned that you sent him a trial firmware to test for the GDEMU, as he reported issues with some games i.e Rez and Virtual On Oratorio Tangram.
Just curious, if you could confirm this? I’m still having those issues with D2 not correctly swapping that I reported some time ago on here. Tried about 7 different SD cards and Ini settings and still randomly does not swap when prompted.
The thread in question is this one:
http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/unofficial-deunans-gdemu-thread.57247/page-5
There will be new FW for GDEMU that fixes some bugs but I doubt it’ll help with this particular issue.
Create a waitlist and raise the prices. The demand is obviously there to justify a higher cost.
Meh. Actually, you’ll see demand drop off once the price gets too high. This is a cool mod, but I think it’s priced about as high as possible to be reasonable for most people. If it were to go higher, I’d just look for other alternatives (which I might do anyway if this proves to be too difficult to get).
This maybe a dumb question but are VA0 Saturns the only ones with the power supply up top? Or are there other models that do?
@scottyboy0321
No, the VA0’s PSU can be top case or next to the MB/Drive. I have two VA0 consoles that are are top and bottom. However, it’s mostly the oval shaped consoles that are, yet you should always check inside.
I was asking if VA0 were the only ones with it on top, or if another model has it up top as well. Thanks for the info though.
@gdemu
Is there any chance that cheat code usage could be integrated into GDemu firmware?
I have never been particularly interested in them, but now widescreen hacks are becoming popular, it would be fantastic to have true 16:9 in more than the few games that officially support it.
There’s a thread on assemblergames – http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/widescreen-hacks.58620/ with a few dedicated guys pumping out codes.
(Quiet but very satisfied GDemu user as of a while now)
No, and also these are in-memory codes. You could bug Neuro about it though, he had already done extensive work with on-the-fly patching during boot.
Are this in memory codes set like with game shark or codebreaker to the vmu?
Okay, thanks for the quick reply and advice.
thx deunan for the new gdemu firmware.
still nba hoopz is not working,if you have the time in the future to look after that.
for the rest its testing now.
keep up the good work.