GDEmu Trays

General Dreamcast discussion applies here. Before posting here please check the other forums in the Dreamcast section to see if your topic would fit better in those categories.
Forum rules
Please check the other forums in the Dreamcast section before posting here to see if your topic would fit better in those categories. Example: A new game/homebrew release would go in the New Releases/Homebrew/Emulation section: http://dreamcast-talk.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=5 or if you're having an issue with getting your Dreamcast to work or a game to boot it would go in the Support section: http://dreamcast-talk.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=42
User avatar
Xiden
Developer
Posts: 2351
Dreamcast Games you play Online: All the DC games!!

Re: GDEmu Trays

Post by Xiden »

Roareye wrote:I've ordered the resistors, the 3D printed tray and the GDEmu.
The PicoPSU seems a lot of effort, if the above will work fine. Mainly due to soldering and a spaghetti of wires. It's also another £50 of cost.
You can just jam them in the pins, no soldering needed. The heating problem seems fixed from my testing using the resistors and I've used my dreamcast for years now....

I personally wouldn't bother with a picopsu, voultar from retrorgb says it doesn't supply proper voltage to the dreamcast

User avatar
Roareye
Rank 9
Posts: 929
Dreamcast Games you play Online: Chu Chu Rocket, Quake 3, Monaco GP 2, PSO, Planet Ring, Toy Racer, Worms World Party
Location: England
Contact:

Re: GDEmu Trays

Post by Roareye »

Thanks Xiden. I do trust RetroRGB, they're very thorough.

I've ordered 5 of the 330ohm 1W resistors (they were a bulk sale for only a couple of quid). How many would I need to jam into the power pins? Your example shows 2 in the pins, would that be your recommendation?

NightBreeze
fire
Posts: 80

Re: GDEmu Trays

Post by NightBreeze »

Roareye wrote:The PicoPSU seems a lot of effort, if the above will work fine. Mainly due to soldering and a spaghetti of wires. It's also another £50 of cost.
The PicoPSU (80w variant) costs about 25 € on Amazon (~£23), and the Pico Dreamcast adapter can be bought on laserbear.net for $10 (kit) or $18 (assembled), so £50 seems a bit much.
Xiden wrote:I personally wouldn't bother with a picopsu, voultar from retrorgb says it doesn't supply proper voltage to the dreamcast
I have only seen Voultar dismissing the DreamPSU, not the PicoPSU. In fact he claims they can be pretty good when paired with a good 12V supply.

PicoPSU Source: https://twitter.com/Voultar/status/1248293048724922371
DreamPSU Source: https://twitter.com/Voultar/status/1248271361778253824

User avatar
Roareye
Rank 9
Posts: 929
Dreamcast Games you play Online: Chu Chu Rocket, Quake 3, Monaco GP 2, PSO, Planet Ring, Toy Racer, Worms World Party
Location: England
Contact:

Re: GDEmu Trays

Post by Roareye »

I couldn't find a PicoPSU assembled under £45. And as I'll need the adapter assembled for your stated $18 - about £12 - that's £63 already. But that doesn't include International postage plus potential customs charges.

Even if a PicoPSU could be got assembled for £23, add £12 (£35 already), postage from Europe to UK, postage from USA to UK plus US to UK customs charges... It's going over £50.

If the DC seems too hot after applying Xiden's method then I'll swap the PSU (once I can afford to buy a completed set - again I refuse to solder myself because I've literally never successfully soldered anything - and I've tried multiple times). Otherwise I'd literally be wasting money, and where I was made redundant due to the pandemic that's not really an option at this time.

User avatar
Xiden
Developer
Posts: 2351
Dreamcast Games you play Online: All the DC games!!

Re: GDEmu Trays

Post by Xiden »

NightBreeze wrote:
Roareye wrote:The PicoPSU seems a lot of effort, if the above will work fine. Mainly due to soldering and a spaghetti of wires. It's also another £50 of cost.
The PicoPSU (80w variant) costs about 25 € on Amazon (~£23), and the Pico Dreamcast adapter can be bought on laserbear.net for $10 (kit) or $18 (assembled), so £50 seems a bit much.
Xiden wrote:I personally wouldn't bother with a picopsu, voultar from retrorgb says it doesn't supply proper voltage to the dreamcast
I have only seen Voultar dismissing the DreamPSU, not the PicoPSU. In fact he claims they can be pretty good when paired with a good 12V supply.

PicoPSU Source: https://twitter.com/Voultar/status/1248293048724922371
DreamPSU Source: https://twitter.com/Voultar/status/1248271361778253824
Ah maybe I mixed them up

User avatar
Xiden
Developer
Posts: 2351
Dreamcast Games you play Online: All the DC games!!

Re: GDEmu Trays

Post by Xiden »

Roareye wrote:I couldn't find a PicoPSU assembled under £45. And as I'll need the adapter assembled for your stated $18 - about £12 - that's £63 already. But that doesn't include International postage plus potential customs charges.

Even if a PicoPSU could be got assembled for £23, add £12 (£35 already), postage from Europe to UK, postage from USA to UK plus US to UK customs charges... It's going over £50.

If the DC seems too hot after applying Xiden's method then I'll swap the PSU (once I can afford to buy a completed set - again I refuse to solder myself because I've literally never successfully soldered anything - and I've tried multiple times). Otherwise I'd literally be wasting money, and where I was made redundant due to the pandemic that's not really an option at this time.
If you're following this guide https://retrogamesultra.com/2019/02/17/ ... setup/amp/
Make sure you are using 3 not 2, The 3rd one in that picture is kinda hard to see :lol:
Just twist them together and then I'd bend up the ends to make them a little easier to insert

Alex_DC
dark night
Posts: 56

Re: GDEmu Trays

Post by Alex_DC »

Roareye wrote:I was made redundant due to the pandemic that's not really an option at this time.
That sucks man, sorry to hear it. Fk this COVID b@stard.

I know you are going a different way with the power supply, but there is no soldering required with the pico setup. Just get a premade Chriz2600 adapter from eBay, the 90w mini-box pico from Amazon, a 3D-printed adapter for the barrel jack, and a suitable 12v DC power brick. It all goes together without soldering. But you’re right in that it’s about £50 all-in.

The resistor mod is a totally valid solution, even better just disconnect the 12v rail on the Dreamcast PSU (that does require (un)soldering though).

User avatar
Roareye
Rank 9
Posts: 929
Dreamcast Games you play Online: Chu Chu Rocket, Quake 3, Monaco GP 2, PSO, Planet Ring, Toy Racer, Worms World Party
Location: England
Contact:

Re: GDEmu Trays

Post by Roareye »

Sorry, one more question. Will the GDEmu take 256/512gb cards or does it max out at 128gb?
The full library is about 620gb in size, so splitting it across a few cards would be easier on 2x512GB or 3x256GB cards rather than 5/6x 128GB cards.

Alex_DC
dark night
Posts: 56

Re: GDEmu Trays

Post by Alex_DC »

I’ve been using a Kingston Go! Plus 256gb the last few months, no issues. Fast and a lot cheaper than the equivalent Sandisk offering. I’m sure people have used 512gb too. I found that for a curated library of games I’d actually want to play 256gb was more than enough, and this is with full-sized GDI files.

If you must have 600+ gb, 3x 256gb cards are going to be cheaper than 2x 512gb.

User avatar
deluxux
Super Sonic
Posts: 1551

Re: GDEmu Trays

Post by deluxux »

Is the PSU heating even an issue? I think if its overheating and resetting its got nothing to do with the Gdemu....

  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post
  • GDemu 5.15B Question/HELP about = gdemu.ini file
    by PrismDC » » in Support
    4 Replies
    1584 Views
    Last post by ateam
  • GDEMU FW 5.20.5
    by leadbeter142 » » in New Releases/Homebrew/Emulation
    30 Replies
    30163 Views
    Last post by MoeFoh
  • How hot does your GDEMU get
    by Cass » » in Lounge
    4 Replies
    3926 Views
    Last post by shilenoconese
  • GDEMU - CDI/GDI of mp3's possible
    by Cass » » in Lounge
    8 Replies
    7483 Views
    Last post by bjwoodruff
  • Gdemu v5.20.03
    by Umbrella$$Dreamcast » » in Support
    2 Replies
    5712 Views
    Last post by Umbrella$$Dreamcast