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Hi I'm totally new to this but thought ok installing a gdemu should be easy so I'll give it a blast. Haven't ordered it yet cos I wanted to make sure I had a compatible model and that's when it got confusing. The Dreamcast i bought on eBay works fine with discs but the components all seem to be from Versions 0, 1 and 2 so I'm unsure.

I guess it might be a working Dreamcast that someone has cobbled together from different versions but I'm concerned that I i buy a GDEMU it will break it or not work.

Sticker on bottom says PAL 1
Circuit board next to controller input says 2
GDROM says Japanese made (implying 0?)
Fan is metal implying 0 but no heatsink implying 1 or 2?
Large circuit board on left says V01 (so one?)

Please see pics.

Obviously I wish I knew the technical terms and i get I'm a bit of a noob with this but I assumed this would be simple when I bought the thing given that the sticker says pal1. Glad I checked before buying GDEMU

Any help would be much appreciated. See pics and thanks

I can make out 3.3V on the drive so should be ok with gdemu from what I researched prior to buying. Problem with V0 was drive worked on higher voltage so could damage gdemu. Be aware if buying a clone as opposed to a real unit the real ones just got a firmware update for first time in while very recently. Clones may be difficult (or impossible) to update.

Other folks on here will be much more knowledgeable than me so speak up if I'm talking nonsense...

Thanks so much. I'm basically gonna order a clone just to test this out (putting the resistors in too) if all goes well I'll likely get the original to show support and get the firmware updates in future.

RetroAMS wrote:I can make out 3.3V on the drive so should be ok with gdemu

this inscription says nothing, the drive could be changed
SAMSUNG GD-ROM (3.3 V) works great on VA0

Yeah I suppose you could be right. To be absolutely sure on mine I lifted the mainboard out of the bottom case and was able to read VA1 on the bottom edge of the motherboard I only did this as my drive did not have the voltage stamped on it (japanese VA1).

It was not necessary to remove the metal shilelding from the top of the motherboard to see this as the small gap between the motherboard and the shielding was enough to read the inscription on the motherboard itself.

Spergis wrote:Thanks so much. I'm basically gonna order a clone just to test this out (putting the resistors in too) if all goes well I'll likely get the original to show support and get the firmware updates in future.

Sorry to revive this old topic, but I was wondering if you got the GDEmu clone working on your Dreamcast?

I seem to have the identical machine to you (Except my fan is all black plastic, not metal), PAL (1) on back, (2) on controller board, 3.3V on a Samsung Disc Drive etc. If it worked on your unit, it's pretty much guaranteed to work on mine.

Thanks man.