I’ve removed all download links to the FW files. I’m probably going to take down the whole Updating section of the site down eventually. The concept of allowing users to update the ODE on their own kind of backfired – I’ve had to help more people bring their devices back to life after a failed FW update process than there were ever any serious bugs in the software to begin with. And I mean, WAY more.
- I wanted to make sure I have the lastest version.
- Something didn’t work right after installation.
- I had problems with my SD card that works OK in other device(s).
- Games kept crashing and my console reboots on its own.
These are NOT valid reasons to update the FW. Especially not if you have power supply issues, SD card issues, or have made installation errors.
Plus, too many people just can’t follow simple instructions. If step 1 says to rename the file first, and then step 2 to copy it, then you are supposed to do exactly this, in that exact order. And it’s not a language barrier either, but I’ll leave it at that.
With that rant out of the way – GDEMU orders will open next Saturday, around noon CET.
It was supposed to happen much sooner but… reasons. The actual problem now is I will, again, not be shipping anything in December if I can help it. Trust me, that’s a bad idea, even if you’d want a nice XMAS gift. Shipping will resume early January, this worked pretty well this year so let’s try it again.
More Rheas are on their way as well, in fact I’m hoping to ship most of those out also in January. Haven’t decided yet when to open orders, I’ll let you know once I have some idea how many GDEMUs will need to be shipped.
PS: Pretty please keep the comments civil. I know some people have rather strong opinions about these devices, and me in general. Let it go. These are merely toys you can do without (especially if you find the price too high) and I pity the fools who think otherwise.
PPS: It would seem what is obvious to me isn’t always obvious to everyone else. To answer the question of “What if there is a bug or a new feature that needs FW update?” – well, you bought from me, you have my email. Why not ask for the update that way. In fact I’m flabbergasted people would rather complain about their installation problems in the comments than email me.
UPDATE: GDEMU orders are now open closed. As usual, I need a few days for processing and after that I’ll send out confirmation emails.
GDEMU 
Damn it, missed out
20-25 min window.. not bad
I am laughing at myself after submitting twice without fully reading the instructions and thought, “this is why I can’t be trusted to upgrade my firmware, LOL”. To be fair it was my first time ordering. I have been aware of GDEMU for quite a while, but was either working when it went on sale or did not feel I could afford to spend the money on a toy. Now that I finally can, all I could think about was all the posts about not being able to place an order in time. Now that I have done it, it really wasn’t so hard. I was worried about nothing. The sale page came up at precisely the time it was scheduled and I really had plenty of time to fill out the form.
Yep super easy.. everyone exaggerates how much his system is hard to order with.
Super easy, barely an inconvenience.
I filled in the pre order form 😎 just after 11:05am GMT went back to order for a friend and pre order had closed
Great to see that people want the real deal and not the evilbay knock offs
Oo really was it that fast ?
TBH, my only reason to get it from here is the following and I was close to getting something else.
The first piece that I was planning on getting was the USB-GDE but then I remember that there was a past incident where something happened with that device that had a time clock set to not function again. Retro RGB Rob had documented that on his website also mentioning Stoneage Gamers major distributors of Everdrive have decided to stop selling the USB-GDE. Granted Rob has posted an update to what happened, but for me, I don’t like that kind of thing if someone was to do that to me when I pay a lot of money for it.
My other reason for getting it here is because of Kaico very recent issue with creator of Retro Tink Mike Chi. Kaico literally copies Mike Chi Retro Tink when his stuff is closed source and they are labeling it as their own. IMO that is just wrong, imagine if say GDEMU makes something and out of the blue it’s been revered engineered and that group calls it their own thing. It’s not cool and it doesn’t sit right with me.
Finally, my other reason to get it here has to do long term when I plan to get the DCHDMI mod from the original maker because the creator of that says that a lot of the complaints he gets are mainly from the GDEMU knockoffs. He did say that there is a way to fix the issue by changing some resistor or something. But that also doesn’t sit well with me because the last thing I needed is a weird ass bug. So I decided to stick with this one from the original source mainly because of the popular reputation and like I said If I plan on getting the DCHDMI mod, I know fully well it would work with it.
The fact that you live by the word of BOB is amazing and sad. One guy spits his own opinion and the sheep follow. BOB says “developer bad… don’t buy” and people listen without having the facts.
Not for nothing, but the incident was overblown and Fake news. (somewhat).
The GDEMU developer got cloned so the USB GDROM developer got scared. He decided that if the chinese were coming after his device he would do what he could to minimize the damage. Since you can’t LOCK DOWN your device (even huge endeavors like the Xbox , playstation and Switch get hacked and those are billion dollar companies). He decided to read into the situation that happened to this developer and he did something very smart in my opinion. He realized that they cloned an older version of the GDEMU hardware (at first) and then they only could rip and read an older firmware, which was 5.12 at the time (and to this day no clone has the newest 5.15 on it). He also realized that the clones could not be firmware flashed and he did release updated firmwares just like this developer does from time to time. So he decided to to screw over the chinese if they ever cloned his device by not only killing the clones but making them think they won at the same time. There has been COPY PROTECTION in games and devices that companies used to thwart hackers and crackers for decades. One of the most ingenious was DUNGEON MASTER on Amiga. Go watch Modern Vintage Gamers video on this. But I will get to the point. DUNGEON MASTER had DRM that made the hackers think they beat the copy protection only to have the Game fail later on. They created a bootsector check that even though the copy protection was cracked by hackers, the bootsector check saw that the game was edited and instead of not working it just stopped working properly. You got stuck and couldn’t play anymore or the game got so hard that you died and had to start over as your game save was corrupted. If you had an original disc this would never happen. Hence it is one of the best copy protections ever implemented in a game.
SO…. Well he did the same thing. He updated his firmware and started shipping his devices with the newest firmware. This firmware contained a TIME OUT / REACTIVATION Feature. So like the Dungeon Master copy protection, the Chinese would clone his card and crack his firmware and flash it to their cloned cards. Hence the Chinese would think they beat the copy protection on the device. (there was another protection feature as well on his cards but we will not get into that, but basicly he uses official GDROM donar roms to make the emulation of the ODE more accurate – so the chinese would still have to schuck and get those rom chips from original dreamcast rom drives if they wanted a perfect clone, anyways…..) But with that timeout code sitting in there on the firmware, that would be the downfall for the CLONES, but not the official cards. WHY? Because like the GDEMU, the clones can not be firmware updated. This is a feature that the Chinese never have on any cloned devices. Just like GDEMU, the USB GDROM would be stuck on whatever firmware the clone shipped on, never could be updated. This would allow the Chinese to spend LOTS OF MONEY, this would also allow the Customers who could clearly go to MNEMOS WEBSITE and ORDER WHENEVER THEY WANTED to support clones and pay less for the knock off. Unlike GDEMU and other devices here, MNEMOs devices are on sale 24/7/365 You can order today. You get an invoice when it is ready, you pay and it ships. In fact I just ordered a 3D0 ODE and another USB GDROM from him the other day. Took 5 days to get the invoice after order and 8 days to ship after I paid. so a total of 13 days. That is not bad. The same excuses that lame people use with Deunan’s devices, such as, “he never has his devices on sale,” “I hope they get cloned.” “He deserves to be cloned because of how hard they are to get.” Ect… ect… ect…. do not stand the same test with MNEMO. He sells his devices all the time. The only reason to buy a clone is to save money and put your metaphorical middle finger up in the developers face . So as I said, the Chinese spend a TON OF CASH cloning his PCB and using his firmware which they think works fine on clones, they put them up for sale in the usual places. Customers who are cheap, buy them and now you have the setup for the greatest revenge a developer ever set. THE CARD EVENTUALLY BRICKS and there is nothing you can do about it. Eventually there comes a point where the clones display a message, FIRMWARE OBSOLETE. At this point you can’t do anything, why?? because you have a clone and they can not be firmware updated. So what now??? First there is a flood of emails and messages to the sellers asking for help. This creates confusion and overwhelms the Chinese. Next they cease production of the card, all that money spent to make clones is now wasted as they can not make more until they fix this issue. Next comes the money issues. If you used a credit card or paypal, and it is within the 6 months to 1 year for protections on purchases you made, you file a claim against the seller (becuase they are not gonna be able to help you) and get your money back. Imagine if every clone seller had to reverse the payments to the buyers. The Buyers are now stuck with a brick and punished by MNEMO by putting them through that. A good punishment in my opinion for people who buy clones over the real deal when they are readily available. But the punishment for the clone makers is truly EPIC. The money they lost with production and reversals, fees paid from credit card reversals and such. This is going to screw over these people royally and be a fantastic revenge plot from MNEMO. The time, effort, product, production wasted is huge and well deserved. This, like the Dungeon master copy protection, is going to be something no one saw coming.
SO HOW DID IT BACKFIRE???
Well, along with the clones (which never happened) the cards sold and the older cards that were firmware upgraded by older buyers now had this FIRMWARE OBSOLETE feature in it. So legitimate buyers were facing this issue of, what do I do now??? The answer was simple. JUST RE-FLASH THE FIRMWARE YOU HAVE. Since the device can be flashed, as it is not a clone, the time out feature would disappear and start over again. But something happened…. . PEOPLE LIKE BOB and others talked badly about this and came up with scenarios that would never happen to call the developer names and claim he was screwing over his customers when he was not. How many times have all of you bought something in your life that has a LOGIN/PASSWORD (like VPN software) or bought a piece of software like windows or something that has a KEY to activate? We all have. We all know that sometimes, we need to re-validate sometimes. We get to a point in the life of the software, or even hardware for that matter (such as Xbox or Playstation needed the latest dashboard or you can not play online) where an update is needed. Just like most of us who need to RE-VALIDATE our software or hardware to keep using it, once or Twice a year. The same was now true of USB GDROM. Official users who had original hardware would have to spend 1 minute of their life (yes 60 seconds). To Put the firmware file on the root of the USB and flash the USB GDROM. (and yes with the big issue they just made here, BOB ESPECIALLY, about Deunan pulling down the firmware this is quite similar and coincidental to talk about).
So official users now need to re-validate their cards maybe once a year. No one know how long the firmware obsolete message takes to appear and or how it works, but based on the word of hardcore dreamcast players who had the device a long time, many have said about 6-8 months. So everyone started to cry wolf all over the internet. “DEVELOPER PUNISHES BUYERS WITH BRICK” (was the headline and talking point). They (online personalities) started to make claims that simply were not true. First claim was, when you got the message you need to get a NEW FIRMWARE, you needed to flash the NEXT firmware after the one you had that had the timeout and if there was no new firmware you were stuck waiting for a new one to come out. SIMPLY NOT TRUE. All you needed was the firmware you were on. Flashing the Same firmware you had basically reset the device again, just like entering your password on something where you clicked “ALWAYS LOG ME IN” but for some reason the cookie got lost and you had to manually log in again. This process was super simple. You only needed a few megabyte usb stick. Put the firmware file on it, plug it in turn on the Dreamcast and it was done in 20 seconds. Pull it out, pop your USB game stick or Drive back in and your playing again. You could just keep the second usb stick with the firmware file on it in t your dreamcast tray under the cover for easy access should this message ever pop up then it would be like 30 seconds of your time instead of 60.
They (online personalities) turned this protection scheme into something super bad. Every person like BOB, well basically BOB and his friends (Adam Korlic, metal Jesus and others) all bad mouthed MNEMO about this. Of course they brought up the lack of his English speaking skill and they turned it into a tech support nightmare and furthered the narrative that this was a disaster.
I personally as well as many others confirmed with MNEMO that all the lies were not true. A new firmware, newer than what you had was not needed. Mnemo said, if re-flashing your card once a year is such a bad thing then I am not sure what is the best way to protect my invention. (yes his English is so so).
Personally, I and many others understood what he was trying to do here. It was a fair protection. It was smart and kinda devious when it came to how it affected the person who dared clone his hardware and those who dared to use those clones over his readily available official cards. .
Well all the lies spread at record pace. Youtube videos, Tweets, ect… This was screwing over MNEMO – people did not want to buy his devices. They were under the impression that one day would just stop working and they would be out big money. No one understood that the device could be re-authenticated quite easily. Due to how BOB and other talked about it, many were under the impression that when it times out it would never work again at all, this was 100% false and bad info to be spreading, boarding slander. This is how much fake news they spread. Then there were those that did understand somewhere, whom were under the impression that they needed to wait for new firmwares in order to re-flash and get it to work again. So again more fake news. This was also false. Even when it was CONFIRMED that if you had the SAME FIRMWARE FILE on a USB drive that was already flashed to the USB GDROM, that re-flashing it would do nothing. Another false narrative to complete the trifecta of fake information about how the card was just bricked. This was the worst of the 3 pieces of wrong information. BOB tweeted this info and then retracted the tweet. Others re-tweeted or tweeted the same info. One tweet said. IF MNEMO dies and can’t write new firmware, once it times out, might as well throw it away. This was so far from the truth.
So what Mnemo did, as he wanted to sell his cards was just GIVE IN. In 24 hrs from all this chaos on line, he write a new firmware. He confirmed that it was Timeout free. He felt that if the Chinese did not clone his card by now and that with his donar GDROM chips on his ODE, that was all the protection he needed. He felt it was better to remove the timeout feature and risk his card getting cloned, then to have his reputation tarnished and his business destroyed by entitled know-it-alls like Bob and other online personalities.
As for what happened with STONE AGE GAMER – this was between them and MNEMO. It has nothing to do with ANYONE ELSE – ever. SAG and MNEMO tried to work out a bulk deal and it did not work out. It was partly MNEMOS fault and it was also SAG fault. Not gonna say 50/50 but there was issues on both side of the fence. This was over 3 years ago now. Yet people bring this up and push it in the face of people as a cautionary tale about dealing with Mnemo, again nothing can be further from the truth. If you want to buy 5,10,20,50 USB GD Roms I would say – yes it is a cautionary tale. But, I have bought 2 cards from him at once multiple times including just recently. Never an issue with him. There isn’t a single BAD STORY out there from a individual customer about MNEMO. He has NEVER screwed anyone over. Never taken money and sent a Bad card that was not replaced or refunded. He never told a customer to piss off after buying from him. All cards are insured and he sends replacements if they are lost in the mail.
MNEMO is a great guy. Like DEUNAN they both have great optical Drive emulation products. They are very different people and they do things totally differently. Sure they both sell competing Dreamcast products, but so what. They both also have unique offerings and they work fantastic.
Learn to not be a sheep, get all the facts. Use more than one source. Stop making decisions on the word or someone like BOB. He has a informative channel / Site but he is flawed like all of us. He also is stuck in his ways. HE hates Deunan it seems. He can’t stop picking on him. Everything Deunan does is dissected and analyzed and only the negative aspects of the outcome of that research are ever spoken about. It seems like, if bob can communicate and get info and product and be “Chummy” with a developer there is always good things being said about them. You can see he does interviews and Skypes and roundtables and is Friendly and part of this inner circle of retro developers. He never bad mouths them ever. But people like Deunan and Mnemo who are private and do not want to talk to people like Bob, at least no more than they would a regular customer, he seems to give them no leeway. It always is something from him that is negative. You would think that after 5 years of both of these guys selling awesome products, Bob and people like him would change their tune. The benefit of the doubt for them, like they give their “friends”
Support the original developers. If you like USB GD ROM – Great. If you like GDEMU – great. If you like BOTH.. WHY NOT… There both excellent products.
TL: DR.
Abe, you’re the last person I’m reading any replies from. Considering your past post abusive behavior to other folks notably new comers.
That is fine, your ignorance and lack of respect show what kind of person you are. If you can post and expect people to read your post, you should do the same. It’s fine though, many others will read it. See that you are uninformed and as I said. just another sheep. Can’t think for yourself. If criticism and other opinion are “ABUSE” then perhaps turn off the internet and find a safe space to live in the rest of your life.
Excuse me, earth to asinine Abe, kindly please don’t mash opinions with abuse as piss poor excuse to cover your crap. You know very well what you did. Now stop it.
Now who is being an abusive person.
You posted a comment that was FLAWED and WRONG.
I corrected you because you are a sheep and do not know how to make your own mind up.
Learn to understand issues before you contribute more false information to them.
Ok Boomer
BTW what did I do??
I contribute to a community. Nothing more.
If you find the Truth harsh or abusive, please kindly find your way to a safe space and stay there.
If words are abusive on a blog comments section for a toy to a grown up, that person should not be here.
OH no… you called me a Boomer.. I am hurt. (not)
Typical .. shows your childish mentality.
Stop slandering people and holding internet personalities up as gods.
Learn to think on your own.
Be a better person, no a dismissive twat.. (yes I can use names too, but generalized not direct)
Derpy not for nothing, but I read the post, the loooooooong post and it actually is pretty informative and really was not a dig at you, per se.
What do you mean his is abusive? I don’t see that and I have been here for at least a year on and off.
@mike, Understandable.
I’ll give you a good solid example which would give you a good idea on how this does his crap. Take a look at the previous post “Dark Matter”, do CTRL + F, find Abe and look at how he replies to both new and old comers. He repeatedly does that same shit over and over again in other past posts that you or others haven’t been much on the blog on and off.
Derpy… Sorry I am gonna be like Abe and Post a long post too… Because,well you sent me down a rabbit hole.
I have done as you said. Went to that blog post you said to go to. He clearly is very active here. That is for sure. I have seen his posts before before but I never paid attention to language of them in a context of being abrasive as well as how many he makes. He clearly likes talking.
First post I see he responded to seemed a bit of unfiltered but was all truthful. He defended the developer from people talking about clones. Called out people for it. I can agree with it.
Second post was a reply and was just helpful in my opinion.
Third post the person who posted was the user TM and he was being, as you say abusive about people who can’t figure out time zones. Abe did agree with him. A bit harsh but truthful and really didn’t attack anyone like TM did. The only line I can see as abusive is “If you can’t figure out how to google your a moron” I kind of agree but it didn’t need to be said to end the post.
Fourth post – Nothing but helpful in his reply.
Fifth post, HARSH language.. called the user a Cancer on Society. Because he advocated for buying a clone. OK I will agree, HARSH, but again he is right. Anyone posting here to screw the developer over is Wrong, they deserve any reply they get imo.
Sixth, seventh,Eighth, 9th and 10th post. Wow. Harsh language, but the dude was provoked and like 3 people attacked him. He didn’t deserve what he got there, but he went a bit off the rails.
11th post – wasn’t necessary but was bait in my opinion yet nothing abusive there.
12th/13th post – he came after you. You both were wrong. Sorry, but you saw how he defends things and you took the bate and addressed him, you got back what you gave. SO a wash there imo.
14-16th posts. Nothing abusive but depends on your point of view. Just a lot of information and him pointing out people complaining without having all the info. I get it. Clearly he likes to see himself talk.
17-23rd posts – That guy Sanic Chu started it again. Nothing but a back and forth. Toxic and abusive, sure, but can;t blame the guy for defending his position and with some good points mind you.
24-26th post – nothing to talk about there.
27th-29th post – helpful
30th post – Reply to “Are you going to streamline the ordering process? If not, will one of you guys clone the Rhea and Phoebe already. This is the most unprofessional thing ever, even if it’s a hobby. ”
He Responded to with reassuring the developer and then going off on the poster.
Clearly the poster was wrong, you don;t come here and ask the the world on his blog to clone his products.
31st post – nothing but helpful to a user.
32-33rd post- post helpful to a user.
34th post – super helpful to a new user it looks like, super descriptive in his help.
Derpy.. I get it. I can see what you are getting at, but not once did he start with anyone, any abrasive, abusive, toxic language used was all in defense of himself or the developer.
In fact there are like 10 post there that he reply’s to clearly new people and does not give one of them any crap.
So I guess it’s all a matter of perspective.
I’m bored at work. Never spoke to my phone so much to type a reply.
This was fun. I’ll never do it again…LOL
MIKE – I do not like to hear myself talk. I do like to have rational conversations. I also prefer to keep information factual and as precise as possible. Too many people attack people for no reason. Everyone attacks Deunan every time he does something. The Community makes suggestions and he shoots them down, he is the bad guy. He will not bend to the wants of the customer base in how he takes orders, he is a bag guy. He listens to his customers and takes a suggestion from them and implements it, the usual talking heads spin it and make him a bad guy. He can’t catch a break.
It’s cool Abe. Did you read my whole post? I think Derpy has a point, but I see yours as well. Not attacking you man. I do not have the energy to reply the way you do. Have a good day man…
Wow, ABE thanks! I haven’t had any idea how pretentious the news about the USB GD-ROM firmware expiration really were! The fact that you can simply reflash the firmware of the USB GD-ROM with the current one you have, whithout the need of having a newer one, makes this news completely overblown. This is actually a crucial info, should be posted on dreamcast-talk, under BOB’s news/tweets in comments section etc. as everyone went on with it. It really looks like there was no investigation done around the issue, BOB certainly haven’t done that (it might have been easily checked on an actual hardware beforehand!). I’ve been personally digging the forums for quite a while to have some kind of confirmation that the expiration is gone and haven’t found any info like in your comment. I’m in the retro gaming for a while now. For me it has proven to be somethig a lot more interesting than what’s going on in mainstream gaming and it something I realte to more as it bring back memories of my childhood gaming times. And to see that one-sided division in the retro-gaming scene makes me sad. I’ve already have a Phoebe and just know have ordered GDEMU with no problem, the ordering window was wide as hell (way easier to make an order that a vita game on LGR, and the process is similair but with less textboxes to fill in). If GDEMU wants to sell his products the way he does it should be respected, for me it has proven to be totally fine.
People are finding problems where there aren’t any and overblowing them out of proportions…
Abe…
How does agreeing with Bob make someone a sheep? He echoes the feelings of hundreds in the retro community. Gdemu continues to sell out of products so doesn’t really seem to be affecting his hobby… Bob isn’t necessarily wrong in his statements on gdemus practices. I mean didn’t a few posts ago gdemu complain about people emailing him? Btw I’m not bashing gdemu, and love his work. But Bob’s opinions are what a lot of people already say anyways…
Don’t bother with him Sam. Watch out and expect a long wall text message coming from him. If you or anyone was to give him specifically a suggestion on how to go about things let alone have an opinion he will counter it by saying in similar lines of “Oh you have an opinion?! How dare you have one! I’m the only one with an opinion here! You’re being abusive!” followed by an endless bla bla bla bla blah. In other words he’s useless and a hopeless case.
Everyone happy now?
No complaining of how hard it is to order?
Very happy. This was my first time ordering and I had read posts from complainers about how it was so hard to order. I was poised at my computer like a runner on a starting line, fearing I might not type fast enough to submit, but it was super easy. I don’t really understand what all the fuss was about?
I’ll never understand the outrage over this very, very easy and fair ordering process. The form always opens up right on schedule (1 or 2 minutes early this time) and there is ample time to complete 4-5 brief fields.
What I’ve noticed is that the opening window for Dreamcast ODE window tends to open up much longer than Reha or Phoebe. I know fully well that Phoebe was 4 -5 min window in comparison to this window.
The other usually deals with site getting a lot of traffic and not being able to get in and have the page loaded up of that order form. I know this because I did tried back then and it took me two years to finally get a Phoebe. I had to learn that I needed to do a clear cache of cookies and everything just to make sure things ‘work’. In some cases other folks got in easy but you can see that problems do occur. So it’s up previous users and owners of any GDEMU who have experience to show new comers slowly how to be get prepared next time. Typically frustration happens. Very normal, but in no way it is in courage to talk and put them down that there’s no hope for them. I hope now you can see where the outrage comes in.
How is this any different than Wal-mart dot come or best buy dot com getting slammed when something like the NES or SNES classic goes on sale? Sites get slammed. Some people get screwed due to technical errors, Not having a fast enough connection, ect… That is life. Place your frustration where it belongs, not with the developer. It is not his fault that he has a popular product that people want and slam his blog page to get.
September 2019 was my very first time ever ordering an ODE from this site, though I’ve watched this site for several years (when my Saturn’s laser died, I decided to buy a Phoebe). I submitted my preorder without issue by refreshing every 5 seconds as soon as noon CEST approached. Maybe it was just beginner’s luck, a freshly cleared browser cache, or a really fast cable internet connection, but I encountered no issues at all. I understand that technical issues can be frustrating, especially since missing a window means waiting another few months, but none of this is the developer’s fault; it’s just life. Though I was happy to have made it onto the list in September, I would never have expressed outrage over not making the cut. I would simply have told myself tough luck and prepared for the next window. Securing specialty items that are produced in small quantities can be a very competitive process, and frustration is understandable, but when the desire for instant gratification becomes so toxic that people are inveighing against the developer, something is very, very wrong.
Any idea when we will find out if we were successful in ordering this time around? Am new to this so unsure on time scale etc. Thanks for your help
You should’ve received your confirmation email, check the spam box.
Hi,
I have a gdemu that must have been in one of the earliest batches – the unit says 2014-09-09 v5.4 on it. So I am one of those people that a few of the posts above describe – i.e. I have purchased pre 2017 and am not on 5.15 Firmware. I used my GDemu when I first got it, but then moved house, had 2 kids etc, and all my gaming items went into storage. I have just got them back and am slowly getting back into things
I am not sure how I might tell what firmware I am on, but I can see I am using GDmenu v0.3 (there may be another number after the 3 but it is obscured by the edge of my screen if there is so I cannot see it)
I have found a folder on my PC called GDEMU_05100000 that contains a GDEMU.fw file, so I assume I am on this firmware version – although I am not sure, is this 5.10?
I fully understand the reasons for changing the process for accessing firmware and I am totally on board with the don’t fix what isn’t broken approach, but I do have some questions I would like to email direct, but I don’t know the correct email. Sorry. Can you email me? I see I have to add my email address in order to comment.
I have looked on paypal to see if I can access the email address from there, but my history only goes back as far as 2016. I have also changed ISP, so no longer have access to the same email address I used on my original order.
Thanks for any help that can be offered.
Update the ode to 5.15 fw and update GDMENU to 0.6. Use the SD card maker 1.10 by madsheep (google it) as that will update the menu software for you.
If you need to message Deunan and do not have his email, ask in the comments section to contact you. as you would like the newest 5.1. Everything you just wrote is more than fair and I am sure he will reach out to you when he can as your post has your email address and he can contact you with the file you need. Also you could GOOGLE and find the 5.15 on your own. Someone in the comments section here also posted his own links to the firmware (kind of a metaphorical middle finger to Deunan) but still it is an option.
I was extremely happy to at least get my name and information submitted. I will wait patiently for that PayPal invoice. It was easier than I thought!
…random question of curiosity: why did the internal codename Phoebe stay, and the planned name Theia went away?
I read the crap out of your earlier blogposts from years ago, when you were starting off with Rhea prototypes + the development lifecycle for this project.
Great work, F the haters + the Chinese cloners, and can’t wait to see what you come up with next.
Also… why was FM Marty of interest to you in particular to create an ODE for? Care to shed any light on your general love for Sega / history with the systems (outside of the fact you created Rhea/Phoebe and GDEMU as an obvious labor of love)
Well, the main factor was pretty simple, Theia sounds a bit too close to Rhea and I was worried people would start mixing up the two. So, Phoebe was chosen instead.
As for Marty, well I like FM Towns actually now that I got to know it. What a pity it didn’t take off any better. And since Marty is a console and I sort-of do consoles here, I picked that first. That being said I have a prototype ODE for gray tower as well but it’s unstable and needs another PCB spin with some changes. Soon (TM).
Grey Towns Standing by! Is it TOWER only? (Hence CX??) or will it work on Grey Desktop as well such as the HR?
No chance it will work on the fresh will it? I have a Fresh 33Mhz model I would love to get an ODE in.
I have been waiting with baited breath on this ODE for over a year now. Please consider me for beta testing like you did with many others for the Doc Brown (but I wasn’t picked).
The desktop ODE will come as well, but since I don’t have a desktop FMT (nor a space for even one more machine at this point) it’ll only happen after I’m happy with the classic towers device progress.
Thanks a bunch! And as for your love of Sega? Any fun stories behind that one?
Also, one last question – this one being more technical and specific – I’ve been meaning to ask is that I heard a game like UMK3 with lots of Redbook audio tracks, and a game that was fixed with firmware update, Space Jam, I’ve heard UMK3 ccd rips hangs between loads more than stock (reading off the cd), whereas with a CDI conversion the user claimed to not have the performance “hanging” issues.
https://assemblergames.com/threads/official-rhea-discussion.57377/page-35
post #695
I know Space Jam was fixed with firmware update, but is it better performance wise to have a CDI for that one too?
https://assemblergames.com/threads/official-rhea-discussion.57377/page-31
I guess what I’m generally getting at is: is CDI a preferred format over CCD performance wise on Rhea/Phoebe or should be the exact same end result (assuming its a “good” rip not sourced from a bad bin/cue)?
CCD is the preferred format these days, it’s only Dreamcast and the specific requirements for multi-session images (and pregap data being stored properly in the image) that made CDIs a de-facto standard for game rips on that platform.
A correct image should work no matter what format it’s in, but CCD has the subcode data in separate file. If the particular SD card used is high latency (slow at random sector reading) then, with very limited buffering due to low RAM, it could be that single-file image gives better results. In general though that’s a not a reason to prefer CDIs but rather to use better cards 🙂
@gdemu .. I am loving all these positive posts and active responses from gdemu. Great stuff and thanks responding to our questions. Cheers !!!
No desktop Fm towns? DO want to borrow my HR (20mhz grey model???) I will gladly Mail it to you.. Just mail it back when your done. Let me know..
GDEMU – If using a Region Free bios on a Saturn and then adding a Phoebe or a Rhea do you pop a Region into the INI file, if so what one is prefered? if not, leave it blank? Curious…
Thanks
With region free bios there is no need to add a line for region, it will use the game image region.
Makes Sense I will try that..
Thanks
Simply do not put that setting into the INI file at all, altohugh for a true region-free BIOS it shouldn’t matter – but some games might do a self-check and refuse to work.
hi 03-2019 batch Phoebe type3, 4.0.1 firmware, 64k cluster size.
while setting up new sd card and sliding it in and out a couple times, I see the status light flash yellow. I got it off eBay as a premod but from a 100% reseller who hadnt used it, It was laying around bc he had a rhea Saturn, and put it in a va8 before selling to me.
is this cause of concern? rmenu and games seem to work fine, I just recall recently seeing it flash green I think at one point..
thanks
I should also mention, it does this on two separate sd card brands and sizes that both work with rmenu + launching games, the brief yellow flashing
sliding it in and out, with system powered off of course, and seeing the brief flash yellow when I power on the man. damn I cant get it all out in one post, tired. haha thank you
this is last description comment I appreciate your feedback
Brief status LED flash on power-on is normal. In fact it’s two very short flashes in rapid succession but so fast it’s not obvious.
How big of an SD card do I need to fit the entire US collection of Sega Saturn?
1TB is you want all US/JP/PAL
256gb Will do all USA/PAL (without doubles)
200gb will do all USA OR PAL
512gb for JP
I’m assuming 512gb would Cover US/Pal(No Doubles)+JP(No Doubles) since it would essentially be the same size as JP correct?
Thanks
Same question, how about the Dreamcast?
Nope.. . Even JPN with no doubles would take up nearly 460gb
Thanks Abr.
Where would you recommend getting a dump from ? Which works better the .cdi or .gdi with the track.bin ?
Thanks as always
Hi. What are the best brand and size SD cards to use ? Thanks
Samsung, Sandisk, Lexar, Kingston (Micron for 1Tb)
Wouldn’t use PNY or any other offname brands.
Is there a way to do an in-game reset back to the RMENU screen? Thus far I must power cycle the Saturn to return to the RMENU screen, and I’m guessing there is a command that must be added to the ini file.
its a function of rmenu *not* the ini or the ODE itself
rmenu 0.2b with in game reset back to rmenu is no longer on media fire, and 0.2 (non beta) is pretty much the same except in game reset is back to saturn dash , to avoid re-loading into action replay cart menu every time with 0.2b. Non issue for me though since I don’t use an AR and if I get one it will only be used for cheats… assuming my official 4mb ram cart ever arrives from ebay, and prefer this one
Here’s that 0.2b, just put in folder 01:
http://easyupload.io/rgw4ab
Right around here and the next page is where you can see what I’m talking about:
https://assemblergames.com/threads/official-rhea-discussion.57377/page-25
Good luck! hope this helps you and some others
Thank you, Evan, This is incredibly useful and just what I needed.
I dnt know if there is any in game menu or not but you can always go back by holding 4 face buttons and then pressing start.
use “Fastboot” for IGR (START+ A+B+C)
Just got myself a Type 4 Saturn after selling mine 10 years ago.
Hope you can start producing and selling Phoebe’s soon. Thanks!
I’m preparing to purchase some Sandisk Ultra SD Cards for the GDEMU that I’ll be getting in January and am wondering whether GDEMU accepts 64 GB cards or if the maximum capacity is 32 GB.
Never mind, gang. I found the technical details page, and it looks like 32 GB SDHC cards are the largest supported storage capacity.
larger than 32gb is not officially supported… but for many does work >32gb as long as formatted to fat32 (try MiniTool Partition Wizard) and 32k or 64k cluster size.
The reason Deunan does not state it supports over 32gb, is because its hit-or-miss with brands and class speeds and such and is probably a real headache to support something like that that has too many variables
Thanks, Evan.
Question for anyone using rmenu v0.2. Has anyone encountered multi-disc games to show out of order? I have the following anamoly:
POLICENAUTS ENGLISH VERSION 2016 (3/3)
POLICENAUTS ENGLISH VERSION 2016 (1/3)
POLICENAUTS ENGLISH VERSION 2016 (2/3)
Link to image: https://ibb.co/xmxwxCH
Interesting thing is that all of my other multi-disc games are correctly ordered. Does anyone know why this is happening with Policenauts and/or how to fix this?
When you have the option to modify the name if you add a 1,2,3 etc to the end of the title yourself should put them in correct order. Besides that not sure sorry
Figured out this problem occurs when a multi disc game occupies the last folders in numerical sequence on a SD card. Guess that breaks sorting in rmenu. Fixed by not having the last folder occupied by a multi disc title.
GDEMU any genuine Thoughts on FENRIR?
Will this guy hand the ODE market to China with such a simple device?
We he even get the change to make and sell enough to enjoy some of the fruits of his labor?
With the esp8266 being super simple to copy. Is this gonna be how the market get’s flooded with crappy ODEs for saturn?
Also 80 euros. Clearly the esp8266 is much cheaper than the FPGA you use on your ODEs – I can understand the price difference. My Guess is he is pumping these out for 30-40 euro each.
I wonder what formats it will handle? What its compatibility will be? (rhea/phoebe has yet to not play a single game I throw at it, I have beat like 30 games all the way through already)
Hi, my name is Rob- i’m a new guy! I jussssst found out about these things on you tube from people talking about their modded saturns. I love Sega. I haven’t purchased a game system since sega stopped making consoles and games and i’m probably never going to buy a different brand for the rest of my life.
I find myself checking this website every day for a chance to buy the GDEMU/Pheobe for my Segas so i can kick back with some pizza and friends to shoot some zombies on my gigantic tube tv. i know this has been going on for a while based on the long history recorded on the site, but i’m super stoked for a sega update and i feel like i’m waiting for the new iphone to come out. lol
Is there a newsletter i can subscribe to?
I love you, I love what you’re doing, to hell with the haters. if this is a limited release product, i seriously want to be one of the people in the world who get to own one of these.
Welcome. You can opt to receive notifications of new posts on this webpage. Basically, one Saturday of every month GDEMU opens up orders at 12 PM Central European Time for up to 25 minutes. During this time, you can submit your name and email address. If you make it onto the list, GDEMU will generally email you (usually the following Monday). For the following four weeks you then need to watch your inbox for a Paypal payment request (it generally comes anytime during this period). After you send your payment, GDEMU will ship your ODE to you. There are four boards that are rotated monthly and one of the four is offered that month: Phoebe and Rhea for Saturns. GDEMU for the Dreamcast, and DocBrown for the FM towns Marty. Phoebe was last offered in September, GDEMU was offered in November, so Rhea and then DocBrown are probably up next.
I personally have not experienced any issues ordering from this site. As soon as orders opened up on September 21, I submitted my info. On September 23, I was notified that I made it onto the list. On October 4th, I received a payment request. On October 7, I was informed that my Phoebe had shipped. Around October 23rd or so, I received my Phoebe board (I’m in the U.S.).
My advice to you for ordering is to refresh your browser every 5-10 seconds 2 minutes before noon CET (check in advance what time this is in your time zone). This has worked for me twice so far.
Thanks for the heads up about the rotational sale pattern, i’ll be sure to stay tuned!
Serious question: How do I order a Rhea? I´ve been keeping an eye on this page for months but it always says perorders are closed. What gives?
OK, just read post from GEX. So on saturdays at 12 PM.
Could it be any saturday or is it always the same week in month?
GDEMU will announce the date on this website several days in advance (opt to receive updates). Just watch for his post. Again 12 PM refers to the Central European Time Zone, which is GMT/UTC +1. Right at 12 PM on that date (or sometimes at 11:59 or 12:01) the order form will open up. September 2019 was my first time ordering a Phoebe and it worked out fine because I stayed vigilant. Clear your browser’s cache and reset your modem in advance to make sure you have no issues refreshing the page around the time the order form opens up.
My NTSC-U Saturn rejects the following games: Bulk Slash, Herc’s Adventures, Steamgear Mash, Street Fighter Collection, Three Dirty Dwarves. With the exception of Herc’s Adventures (which is PAL), they’re all cdi rips from NTSC-U and NTSC-J retail discs, and my Saturn has had no issues playing other NTSC-J and NTSC-U games through Phoebe. Has anyone else encountered any issues with these games?
All those game work perfect for me .cdi or img/mfd/sub formats.
Your Rips are bad.. RE-rip and try again
Thanks. I figured as much. Is Discjuggler the best bet or is there a better ripping program? Also are there any problems associated with using the PAL game Herc’s Adventures on the NTSC Saturn?
Herc’s works fine on NTSC system.
Are you ever going to restock the Saturn ODE’s?
He said they are coming… Either later this month or right after the GDEMU ships in Jan. Be patient they will come again.
Interested in ordering a Phoebe for my Saturn . Is the ordering process just waiting for the website to announce that they are available to order ? Or do i need to be added to some list ?
many thanks
Luke
GDEMU will make an announcement and open up the order form on a given Saturday around noon Central European Time (GMT/UTC +1) unless he says otherwise. Enter your info as early as possible before the form closes. If you make it onto the list, he’ll usually email you the following Monday. I’ll done this twice for Phoebe and the GDEMU unit and have encountered no issues whatsoever. Phoebe was last offered in September, so it may be a few more months before it is available.
Thanks , Is it announced on here ?
Yes. He posts a message on this site like the one he just posted on 11/18. Follow this blog to receive email updates so you don’t miss out.
Thanks , I have now set it to notify me of new posts 😉
Much apreciated
Hey, GDEMU. What are your thoughts on the DreamPSU and SaturnPSU power supply mods? Are they useful devices that can extend the life of a console or just a waste of money?
If you don’t have PSU problems then don’t replace it, but if you do then these devices are usually a better idea than a 2nd hand PSU swapped from another console. Also, if memory serves these are 12V devices and are safer if you open your console often (especially around kids or house animals) and run cooler as well.
2019 was a good year. I picked up a Phoebe, GDEMU, GC Loader, and USBGDROM. Good chance I’ll try for a Rhea next year for my Japanese model 1.
Hi gdemu.
I have one question regarding the Rhea’s (and Phoebe’s) automatic vertical refresh frequency selection in the Saturn.
From what I read, when switching PAL Saturns to 60Hz the resulting clock is not exactly the same value as in NTSC Saturns.
To counter this issue, some created a circuit that replaces the clock circuit in the Saturn PCB, and generates the correct frequency as needed (https://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=5744.0).
Do know about this project and from your experience if it is really needed (and compatible with Rhea and Phoebe)?
I don’t know how much of an issue this is in practice because my Saturn isn’t modified yet.
Frankly I’m not that well versed in Saturn video HW but AFAIK the clock circuit is the same for both PAL and NTSC, the actual frequency is PLL-derived based on region jumper settings. And sure, the 60Hz color subcarrier is not NTSC, it’s still PAL – just at 60Hz. But all PAL TVs since early ’90 can process PAL60 properly. Framemeister might have its own issues though, somebody reported that Panzer Dragoon doesn’t work with it – I no longer have the X-RGB Mini so can’t test. I use CRT TV for these old consoles and back when I had the X-RGB I wasn’t exactly blown away by it’s capabilites. Sure, it might have the best de-interlacing on the market but it has it’s own quirks and limitations.
Hi, I would like to ask help for a small issue I have with both my gdemu and Reha . If I insert SD carts when the console is off and then turn it on , the SD is not recognized. If I insert It while the console in on then it works. Till now I tought this was normal but I saw on YouTube it’s just me. How could I solve ? Moreover is there a way to come back to menu without turning off the console and then turn on again ?
Could be SD card/adapter issue. Some of them just are like that. Make sure you have not moved the lock tab to locked position!