need help with dreamcast HDD IDE

[OzOnE]

Just got it working as well last night - very nice.

I'm using an 80GB IDE HDD and sd_loader_with.bios (ISO Loader in IP.BIN mode).

Quite a few games are working already (Sonic 1 + 2, Crazy Taxi 1 + 2, DOA 2, Ferrari F355, Alone In The Dark).

Runs SO much better from IDE, even in PIO mode.

I would also recommend converting all your GDI .BIN files to ISO - I don't think many games at all need the extra header info in the .BIN files?

@SWAT - does your BIN to ISO util modify the .GDI file too? It would save me a lot of time.

Is there a compatibility list on the forum for the best settings to use for each game? (for RC2.2 + sd_loader_with.bios etc.)

@alimadhi - I'm not sure what's causing the CD door problem? That doesn't seem to happen on mine?

I did notice though that Windows 7 upwards forces you to format a large HDD with exFAT instead of FAT32.
DS doesn't want to read exFAT, so I had to download a simple FAT32 format util to make it work.

After I did that, it's all working great.

I'm still not quite ready yet to send off for the new batch of IDE adapters, but I will very soon.

I probably should update that connection / test pad diagram again to simplify it a bit.
Credit to "werd" (IIRC?) for the original diagram btw. I just added the IDE signal names.

I'm tempted to make my own "Dream Tablet" too, especially when we can get the custom BIOS fully working for DS...
http://modsbywerd.blogspot.co.uk/

The custom BIOS will allow the GD drive to be removed completely, which would be great.

OzOnE.

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btw, it's probably not a good idea to run a big HDD on the poor DC power supply.

It struggles slightly to spin up (fan slows down for a second), and will probably kill the PSU eventually.

I'm running the 80GB from the DC PSU atm, but it's worth mentioning that it could damage something in the long run.

OzOnE.