Electric Mantra

gdemu 59 Comments

I will open Phoebe orders this weekend, probably on Saturday. I expect to start shipping those next week and finish, hopefully, around the first week of March.

GDEMUs are still being made – I will most likely open orders near the end of February, though if you want one please think about the peg issue I mentioned earlier. Your options will be (once those run out) not to have it at all and make your own 3D printed tray instead, or get a 1mm too long peg and cut it down to size yourself. Or wait for the next batch.

Also, there haven’t been any new photos around here lately so I’m going to start with some teasers. No, this is not the ODE just yet, rather what it takes to get there.

PCE testbed

59 thoughts on “Electric Mantra”

  1. Can’t wait to put my hands on the pce ode!
    Thank you for the news!

  5. Damn, hope I don’t miss that knowing the time difference and all.

  7. I guess the PCB it only to bring signals from the CD-ROM to interface unit and made them avaialble for your logic analyzing.Just like a passthrough.

  9. Very nice thanks for sharing the PCE ODE prototype very much looking forward to that one.

    I been waiting on a GDEMU since I got a RHEA last year and been very impressed with how it works. I think having to either cut or order your own 3D printed tray should be fine for most people.

    Thanks again for making a great device!

  10. Great news, thanks for keeping up in touch !

    I can’t wait to get one of these for (one of) my PC Engine. ^^

    • Wish I had at least 1. They’re hard to come by and expensive.

  11. Can you only pay with paypal? Is there an option for master/visa cards?

    Thanks

      • Will it still require the IFU, or will it be a stand-alone unit that you just plug directly into the PC-Engine/CoreGrafx? (and if it stand-alone, will it require a System Card, or will it be more like the Super CD-ROM2 with the functionality built-in?)

        I think that’s something that’d be very interesting to know for prospective customers, to be able to obtain the necessary setup before this thing goes on sale.

        Very cool project in any case.

  15. I take it from the photo that the Super System Card will still be necessary.

    • Yeah, at least initially I don’t plan to do anything about it. But if it turns out to be a huge problem then maybe I could come up with a clone or something…

      • Thanks for the information. I forgot to ask: Do you know which format(s) will be supported?

      • CCD, CDI, MDS. But only images with subchannel data, and perhaps other restrictions. Later I’ll introduce my own format that can store PCE rips as-is, with all their imperfections that show up during typical dumping as overlapping audio/data sectors. This one will be preferred.

  16. PayPal loaded and ready for Phoebe. What time will you be opening orders?

  17. I would like to order the GDEMU when you do, I don’t need the plastic pins if that helps!

  19. Will it be necessary to have the CD add on for the PC-Engine? Can I just get the PC Engine and plug in the ODE? Those CD add ons are hard to come by.

  21. After finishing Phoebe, GDEMU and PCE. Did you make a new round Rheas next year? Or should i order a Phoebe and looking for 21 Pin Saturn?

  22. Do you plan in future (next year?) another batch of Rheas. After you’ve finished Phoebe, PCE and GDEMU projects?

  23. Planning on the new ode to work on duo systems too? šŸ™‚

  24. Hello.

    I apologise for likely using the wrong form to ask this: my Saturn has a 21-pin cable so it needs a Phoebe but it has a Type 4 CD drive (Sanyo 610-6473-30) but no white border around the PCB, so I’m confused if it’s type 4 or possibly type 3. I’m concerned about the proper configuration when installing.

    Thanks. Hope to get an order in tomorrow.

  25. Excited to hopefully finally successfully order a Phoebe tomorrow. Your projects are awesome.

    Two (unrelated) questions:

    1 – Is there any benefit to keeping a modchip installed in my Saturn after Phoebe modification? It seems leaving it in might be nice as isos wouldn’t need to be region patched right? But if it complicates the functioning of the Phoebe I’m happy to remove the chip and patch the isos.

    2 – Will there be a variant of the upcoming PCE ODE project that supports turbo duo units?

    • 1. Chips usually interfere with ODEs, it’s recommended to bypass or remove them.
      2. Maybe in future. It would still require soldering ~30 wires.

    • I bought a second saturn to install a phoebe. Don’t want to touch my saturn with the modchip. Just my recommendation, as they are affordable enough.

  26. I’ve done small things like Mega Drive power input repair if all of need to do is the small bits at the end.

    Again, thanks for looking into this!

    • Order a Type-4 then and if it turns out the sound clock is wrong all you need is add one solder jumper to Phoebe to make it work with a Type-3 Saturn.

  28. Will the pce ode work with the turboduo? I’m not sure if it is interchangeable with the other versions or not.

    Also did the phoebe ever get updated to support cd+g disks?

    • Phoebe CD+G support interfered with normal operation so it’s disabled until I can find a better way to do it. It’s a very low priority feature.

      • Do you happen to have a list of which games are CD+G off the top of your head?

        And in the event it ever gets supported in the future do you think it would simply be a firmware update or require new hardware?

  29. Hi,

    I have ordered a Type-4 just now but I had a question regarding my drive. I have a Sanyo 610-6475-30 and your site only states 6473-30. Is it definitely a Type-4 I require? I am in a similar position to the fella above who posted a picture of his where it doesn’t have the white border. Will the Type-4 suffice please?

  31. SO ive ordered a type 4 – i havent even bought a saturn yet šŸ˜¦

    GOing to be a bit of luck to get the right model.

    is the difference between types hardware based, or just fixings?

    Thanks

  32. I don’t know if this had already been answered, but do you know what models PC Engine will be supported? I currently have a Duo and a Duo-R, but if it’ll only be supported by CDROM2 units, I want to get my hands on one in preparation!

  33. I don’t understand this peg issue.
    What if I do purchase GDemu when preorder window is open? Will I be able to use it with my Dreamcast? If not, what tools should I have to make it usable?

  34. Count me in for the PC Engine emu board when you finish! That will be an extremely popular board! Love my Rhea and gray model 1 Jap Saturn šŸ™‚ Thank you for sharing your talent and hard work with us.

  35. Please can you let me know if the PCE ODE will work on a duo-r. Alternatively, can you let me know if it requires the CDROM 2/interface unit or does it plug directly into PC Engine?
    Thanks very much

  36. What would be amazing would be if the PCE ODE plugged into the back of the PCE without the interface unit and also had RGB and HDMI outputs added on to it. That would be a dream come true for me.

    My PCEngine CD rom just died last week so this is a definite buy for me.

    Please consider doing a Sega CD one next šŸ™‚

    • Keep in mind if u do make it so that it doesn’t need the interface that ppl with white pcengines (like me) will be stuck with RF only (unless the machine is modded) so some sort of a composite or RGB video out addition to your device would be greatly appreciated šŸ™‚

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