18 pin DC modchip?

[thumpin_termis]

The chip is listed for sale here, and I tried emailing them, but I get no replies.
http://www.massystems.com/DC-Mod.html

Anyone know where I can get this 18-pin DC modchip?  I currently have a different 4-wire modchip in my DC, but this chip does not allow warm-booting, whereas the above 18-pin version supposedly supports it.

A small detail, but I figure I'd like to grab this one while (and if) I still can.  If anyone knows where I can get one - please share!

[Moosmann]

You can get a 26 Pin Modchip from Wolfsoft for 10,-Euro
http://www.wolfsoft.de/shop/product_info.p...diy)-dreamcast-

Bye Markus

[thumpin_termis]

Thanks for the link.

I can't read German, but I'm assuming this is the first revision of the Dreamcast chip with the 26 soldering points?

A:  NCS began selling the 26-wire mod chip kits for self installation during the week of January 17, 2000. A revised 5-wire mod chip kit was released on February 7, 2000 through the NCS on-line store located at http://hh141.hiphip.com. The 5-wire mod chip replaced the 26-wire mod chip and the preliminary 6-wire version. The most recent mod-chip revision requires only 4-wire connections from chip to DC. Customers who wish to request NCS' professional chip installation may send an e-mail to ncsx@msn.com with the header "DC Mod Install" to schedule your Dreamcast
for modification.

Anyone know if this one allows warm-booting of import games?  I also emailed the guys, so if I get anything from them, I'll update this post.

[Moosmann]

Yes, it is the first 26 Pin Version. As far as i remember you can solder the 26 Pin Modchip with reduced 5 Pins, however warm-booting works only when you solder all 26 Pins.

I bought 4 Wire Modchips 6-7 years ago (without lift a Pin from the bioschip) and it works great. This is the version to solder 4 wires on the chip to 4 wires on the dc pcb.

Other 4 Wire modchips need to make a bridge on the modchip.

Bye Markus

[radorn]

I don't have a Dreamcast yet, but I got the chip because I was told they were getting hard to get (maybe this is bogus, but now I have the chip), so I haven't tried it.

Now I read all this talk, I'm wondering what kind of chip is the one I have, and what features does it offer. I was not aware there were so many different models.

I have this chip

http://www.hardcore-gamer.net/tienda/image...ipdreamcast.jpg (It's a shop from Spain, the chip is actually out of stock, in case you are wondering)

XILINX
XC9536XL
PC44AEN9945
F1105444A

10C

It has 44 pins

EDIT: I forgot to say that I'm most likely to be getting a PAL console, so I get a PAL video/s-video signal, since I live in Spain. Just in case it makes any difference.

[ken_cinder]

Why bother with a chip at all? Put those imports away in a safe place and download (Or make, if you have the right hardware and know-how) a backup and play it.

There is no copy protection on the Dreamcast (Besides the discs themselves) and backup imports work fine.

It's what I do, I have a Japanese 20th Anniversary Edition SA2, and you can bet I'm not opening it.

[NFG]

Xilinx makes programmable chips, so the label on it has no reference to the code it's been programmed with.

I wish I had a DC chip.  I currently have two DCs and I swap cables every time I want to play a US or JP game, and I can't play the PAL ones at all.  Bit of a PITA.

[radorn]

Why bother with a chip at all? Put those imports away in a safe place and download (Or make, if you have the right hardware and know-how) a backup and play it.

There is no copy protection on the Dreamcast (Besides the discs themselves) and backup imports work fine.

It's what I do, I have a Japanese 20th Anniversary Edition SA2, and you can bet I'm not opening it.

not to be harsh, but you are not helping much, and I'm not here to discuss worthiness of installing a chip versus not installing it.

Anyway, AFAIK imports (backups and originals) won't boot by themselves on the Dreamcast. You need some kind of loader, and while newer versions can be put in the same disc as the backup itself so you don't have to swap discs, I already have the chip, and it seems to me that hardware mods are always more compatible if done correctly than anykind of softmod. Or maybe I'm wrong in the case of the Dreamcast.

However it may be, this is a technical forum, and when someone asks about technical matters, looks for technical information and such, do you think it's apropriate to tell that person not to bother at all?

[ken_cinder]

Why bother with a chip at all? Put those imports away in a safe place and download (Or make, if you have the right hardware and know-how) a backup and play it.

There is no copy protection on the Dreamcast (Besides the discs themselves) and backup imports work fine.

It's what I do, I have a Japanese 20th Anniversary Edition SA2, and you can bet I'm not opening it.

not to be harsh, but you are not helping much, and I'm not here to discuss worthiness of installing a chip versus not installing it.

Anyway, AFAIK imports (backups and originals) won't boot by themselves on the Dreamcast. You need some kind of loader, and while newer versions can be put in the same disc as the backup itself so you don't have to swap discs, I already have the chip, and it seems to me that hardware mods are always more compatible if done correctly than anykind of softmod. Or maybe I'm wrong in the case of the Dreamcast.

However it may be, this is a technical forum, and when someone asks about technical matters, looks for technical information and such, do you think it's apropriate to tell that person not to bother at all?

When it's now obviously a matter of you being misinformed, I think it's relevant for sure now. No boot disc is required, unless you've got an image that isn't self-booting. And there are tools to do that for you (Some games will require some manual workarounds).

Figured I'd save someone the hassle of installing a chip, when it's 100% not necessary in the case of the Dreamcast. If you have a self-booting import, you pop it in like any retail game and away you go. No softmod, no nothing. If you're set on a chip, fine, but don't act like I'm doing you some dis-service by making a suggestion on something I know very well just to save you the time of installing a mod that isn't needed.

[radorn]

Xilinx makes programmable chips, so the label on it has no reference to the code it's been programmed with.

I wish I had a DC chip.  I currently have two DCs and I swap cables every time I want to play a US or JP game, and I can't play the PAL ones at all.  Bit of a PITA.

I know XILINX is tha brand of the chip and that this is a microcontroller, and needs a code to work, wich can be anything...

BUT! Since we are talking about a rather specific topic (region modchips for the Dreamcast), I thought that giving the model of the microcontroller used would at least narrow the scope some more. Don't you think?
I also put a picture of the installation diagram to further reduce the posibilities.
How many different chips/codes are there for the DC? and how many that are implemented on the same microcontrollers?

[radorn]

IJTF_Cinder

Aren't those "self-booting" backups you mention actually disc images with an attatched/injected/whatever loader wich does the same as the versions that go in a separate disc (only that afford you having to swap discs), and are in fact a softmod?
Also, you mention that they don't offer 100% compatibility, so isn't a chip a more compatible option?

I'm not bashing on soft solutions, If they offer all you want that's fine. but, having a chip seems to have the edge if cost and soldering into your console isn't a concern for you. Also, I already have the chip so the cost concern is out of question.

Now, if you could give some advice on the matter at hand, I would be very thankful to you

[NeWmAn]

Pardon the intrusion...
How does the chip work? I mean there are 2 pins for power supply, one more goes to the ROM and pin #4 goes where?
I suppose it changes on-the-fly just one bit of the Bios, but how does it choose the right moment when it has to act? Does it check the system clock?  Or does it start counting some pulses (Reset or Read enable, chip select to the ROM or something like that)?
If someone can shed more light on the subject I think we could come up with an homebrew replacement for this hard to find gizmo.

[ken_cinder]

IJTF_Cinder

Aren't those "self-booting" backups you mention actually disc images with an attatched/injected/whatever loader wich does the same as the versions that go in a separate disc (only that afford you having to swap discs), and are in fact a softmod?
Also, you mention that they don't offer 100% compatibility, so isn't a chip a more compatible option?

I'm not bashing on soft solutions, If they offer all you want that's fine. but, having a chip seems to have the edge if cost and soldering into your console isn't a concern for you. Also, I already have the chip so the cost concern is out of question.

Now, if you could give some advice on the matter at hand, I would be very thankful to you

No, again, no softmod.......no injector, no "loader". Simply an exploited method of booting, do some googling and you'll probably find some reading material on it.
Forget about it, you're more interested in trying to convince me of why it's somehow the better route for you to install a chip.

Do so, I was merely making a suggestion.

Oh and ??-?, the bios in all Dreamcast systems are BIT FOR BIT identical. It's the flash rom that controls region selection. All the chip does is intercept and modify the response before sending it back to the BIOS.

[NeWmAn]

Oh and ??-?, the bios in all Dreamcast systems are BIT FOR BIT identical. It's the flash rom that controls region selection. All the chip does is intercept and modify the response before sending it back to the BIOS.

I know that there's an hack to switch the region by changing the flashrom, but nobody has been able to make a region-free DC yet...

The chip (IMHO) changes the program that the SH-4 reads from the Bios, so the bios code is still the same for all the DC of the world, but the program executed has been patched.

[viletim]

The chip (IMHO) changes the program that the SH-4 reads from the Bios, so the bios code is still the same for all the DC of the world, but the program executed has been patched.

Yeah, looks like a crude on-the-fly software patch. It should be possible to find out exactly which bit it's modifying with a logic analyser watching it's movements.