I cant boot homebrew

[Triv1um]

So, i got told that homebrew would just boot right up from a PAL console.

I have been trying to get a SMS emu playing for ages.

I got the CDI put my backups on there, and burnt it with bootdreams.

Tis not booting, help me.

[Sonicboy 101]

Maybe you need a boot disk, or is it self-boot?

[Triv1um]

I thought all homebrew was selfboot.

I have aquired a boot disk, its called u*ahem*

That doesnt work.

[OneThirty8]

So, i got told that homebrew would just boot right up from a PAL console.

I have been trying to get a SMS emu playing for ages.

I got the CDI put my backups on there, and burnt it with bootdreams.

Tis not booting, help me.

It sounds like you're doing it wrong. By 'backups,' you mean your ROMS, right? If you have a pre-made CDI, you need to burn that to its own disc with BootDreams or DiscJuggler or Alcohol 120%. That disc will selfboot, and then just put your ROMS on another CD with whatever burning program you use, no special format required or anything. That works with most emulators.

Or, if you want the ROMS and emulator on the same disc, you will need to create the disc image yourself with BootDreams, Selfboot Inducer, or something similar. There are good tutorials around on most of the DC sites, so pick an app and then find the tutorial for that app. (I'd just give the rundown here, but I have to leave for work).

[Triv1um]

Just tried this (emu + roms disc)

And its made me a fresh coaster again. Great.

[OneThirty8]

Just tried this (emu + roms disc)

And its made me a fresh coaster again. Great.

I really don't know what to tell you to do differently, because I don't know exactly what you did. Pre-made CDI images burned with Boot Dreams should just plain work. If you're following a tutorial, you have to follow each instruction to the letter, and if you need more help than that, it's impossible to help you without knowing which tutorial you're following and the exact steps that you took to create the disc. Burning homebrew for the Dreamcast is really a piece of cake once you learn how the disc is made, but it's not like burning your mp3s to a music CD--you have to do the right things in the right order and with the right programs or it doesn't work.

[Eviltaco64]

Look at the bottom sticker of your Dreamcast. At the bottom of the sticker, there should be a number 0, 1, or 2. If it's 0 or 1, then youre good to go, but if it's a Revision 2 motherboard, you're screwed when it comes to homebrew :eek:

[OneThirty8]

Look at the bottom sticker of your Dreamcast. At the bottom of the sticker, there should be a number 0, 1, or 2. If it's 0 or 1, then youre good to go, but if it's a Revision 2 motherboard, you're screwed when it comes to homebrew :eek:

He said it's a PAL console. All PAL models work with homebrew. Also, I believe that some revision 2 units are reported to work. It was only the very last bunch that were produced that don't support CD-R media.

[Eviltaco64]

He said it's a PAL console. All PAL models work with homebrew. Also, I believe that some revision 2 units are reported to work. It was only the very last bunch that were produced that don't support CD-R media.

Really? I never knew that. Did they stop manufacturing Dreamcast's in PAL territories before they did in NTSC territories?

[Triv1um]

Its a v1 motherboard anyway.

---

I first followed this -


2 Burning a .CDI file with BootDreams:

To burn a *.CDI file, it's recommend to use BootDreams' CDI-burner. BootDreams is VERY easy to use and it's for free:

Download it from here: http://dchelp.dcemulation.com


1. Download BootDreams and install it to e.g. C:/BootDreams/

2. Download the image you'd like to burn and unzip/unrar it somewhere, e.g. to C:/

3. Start BootDreams and choose "CDI Burner". Now click on "Browse" and point BootDreams to the CDI you would like to burn.

4. Click on "Burn CDI Image". That's it.



Other:
Nero Burning ROM isn't recommend for Dreamcast software but Alcohol120% (in TAO mode) works good too. Download the free trial version here:
http://trial.alcohol-soft.com/en/download_120.php

That didnt work so I tried to make my own -


3 How to create and burn your own DC image with BootDreams:

1. Download BootDreams and install it to e.g. C:/BootDreams/

2. Download the emulator/game/app you would like to burn and put it in a dedicated folder, e.g. C:/BootDreams/SNES4ALL/

3. Now unzip/unrar your emulator/game/app into that same folder. The 1ST_READ.BIN contains the actual DC programme.

4. Start BootDreams and point it to C:/BootDreams/SNES4ALL/. It will then guide you trough the process. I recommend the 'CDRecord' method.

[VampDude]

If you cannot get your homebrew running, I would suggest you do what I do and look for stuff that's been pre-setup.

I've never made a DC disc myself, but everything I've downloaded and put onto CD's has worked.

[Eviltaco64]

Try DiscJuggler. In my opinion, it's easier to use. Also, if you want to play a lot of emulators, you should make a SBI disc.

PM me and I'll try to help you out.

[Triv1um]

I have got a SMS emu to work.

I set it to Mode 2 in bootdreams. Still i cant get anything else to work.

[OneThirty8]

I have got a SMS emu to work.

I set it to Mode 2 in bootdreams. Still i cant get anything else to work.

If you got the SMS emulator to work, the same method should work for any homebrew you want to burn. The only exception would be the few things floating around that were built with WinCE or Katana dev kits because they had slightly different requirements, but that's only a few programs.

[Eviltaco64]

I just tried making a Genesis Plus image in Boot Dreams. This is the outcome:

I made a folder called GenesisPlus in C:\Bootdreams, then I extracted the emulator files (Non-SBI version).

Then I put SOR.bin (Streets of Rage) in C:\Bootdreams\GenesisPlus\GPWT\Roms.

After that, I opened ROMS.txt in C:\Bootdreams\GenesisPlus\GPWT and typed in SOR.bin Streets of Rage.

I then opened Boot Dreams, set the destination to C:\Bootdreams\GenesisPlus and created an image in the Alcohol 120% tab of Bootdreams.

I opened the .MDS file in NullDC. It went the the rom list and started to load Streets of Rage (It froze in NullDC, but it was definitely loading and would work fine in a Dreamcast).

[Triv1um]

Everything loads in nullDC for me, but not on my Dreamcast.

[OneThirty8]

Everything loads in nullDC for me, but not on my Dreamcast.

This makes no sense to me--if things work in NullDC and you got one emulator to work, it seems to me that you should be able to get anything to work. The only other thing I can think of is that you might be using CD-RW for everything but the SMS emulator?? CD-RW won't work.

[Eviltaco64]

Try burning your images in Alcohol 120% or Discjuggler, and make sure that you're using CD-R's.

[OneThirty8]

Try burning your images in Alcohol 120% or Discjuggler, and make sure that you're using CD-R's.

I'd actually suggest using whatever method worked to create the SMS emulator disc. I have no recent experience with DiscJuggler, but when I first got into this stuff about 5 years ago, people had all sorts of bad things to say about DiscJuggler. It wouldn't work right with certain burners and stuff like that. And if you found a method that works for you and you're having trouble with the other methods, just stick to what works.

[Triv1um]

I only buy CD-Rs... Cheaper. :)

Im just gonna' have to keep using Bootdreams and hope for a fluke again.

Thanks for all your help. Also, im really not as stupid as I seem. It just stumped me.

[Eviltaco64]

I only buy CD-Rs... Cheaper. :)

Im just gonna' have to keep using Bootdreams and hope for a fluke again.

Thanks for all your help. Also, im really not as stupid as I seem. It just stumped me.

Are you using Bootdreams to burn the CD as well?

[OneThirty8]

I only buy CD-Rs... Cheaper. :)

Im just gonna' have to keep using Bootdreams and hope for a fluke again.

Thanks for all your help. Also, im really not as stupid as I seem. It just stumped me.

An idea that might help... write down the steps as you do them including every last boring detail. When you have a working disc, keep the list of steps that produced that disc and refer to it when you burn something else.

When you burned the SMS emulator, did you use a pre-made disc image or did you create the disc yourself from the plain files (1ST_READ.BIN and all that)? If you created the disc yourself, I would try to burn the SMS emulator again. Since that's the program you got to work, I figure chances are best that you'll be able to do it again. If you write down everything that you do, you should have the list of steps you need to follow in order to burn everything else.

I know how easy it is to burn a pile of coasters--it took me 20 tries to burn my first DreamSNES disc. Until you're familiar with how it all works, you really need to pay careful attention to the tiniest details. After you've done it successfully a few times, it's really easy.

[Eviltaco64]

What exactly are you trying to burn to a CD? DreamSNES? SNES4ALL? NEO4ALL? etc. Tell me, and I'll take a crack at it and see if I can help you out.

[mattsaysfooey]

cdrs are not cheaper for transfering data or using homebrew because you have to use more of them especially if in the process or trail and error 1 cdrw compared to 6 coasters O_o

[Eviltaco64]

cdrs are not cheaper for transfering data or using homebrew because you have to use more of them especially if in the process or trail and error 1 cdrw compared to 6 coasters O_o

Yeah, but he's trying to get homebrew to work on a DREAMCAST which doesnt support CD-RW media.

[Triv1um]

Taco - Yes I was using Bootdreams to burn, because i thought that was what makes it selfboot? Or does Homebrew already selfboot?

Onethirty - I was making the .cdi from plain files in bootdreams, then burning through bootdreams.

Taco - dreamSNES, i heard it was best. If not point me in the right direction. =)

Cheers guys.

[Christuserloeser]

So, i got told that homebrew would just boot right up from a PAL console.

I have been trying to get a SMS emu playing for ages.

I got the CDI put my backups on there, and burnt it with bootdreams.

Tis not booting, help me.


1. Download: http://dcevolution.netfirms.com/downloads/emulation/S8DEPv1b.zip

2. UnRAR/UnZIP

3. Burn with Alcohol120%

[Eviltaco64]

Taco - Yes I was using Bootdreams to burn, because i thought that was what makes it selfboot? Or does Homebrew already selfboot?

Onethirty - I was making the .cdi from plain files in bootdreams, then burning through bootdreams.

Taco - dreamSNES, i heard it was best. If not point me in the right direction. =)

Cheers guys.

Ok, DreamSNES is a little harder to get to work, so try this tutorial I just made:

Extract dreamsnes-0.9.8.zip to a directory in your Hard Drive.

Open the DreamSNES folder and put the "IP.BIN" file in the "DreamSNES\cd" directory.

Put your Super Nintendo Roms (European Roms recommended because of the slower frame rate) in Dreamsnes\cd\roms.

Download ROMLST.ZIP (http://dcemulation.com/files/needed/romlst.zip) and save it to DreamSNES\cd\roms.

Open Romlst.exe and navigate through your hard drive to the roms folder. Once it finishes making the rom list for DreamSNES, there should be a file called "ROMS.LST" in your roms folder.

Once it's done making the list, open Boot Dreams. When you browse for the DreamSNES files, MAKE SURE to select the DreamSNES\cd folder (where you put IP.BIN earlier). Make the image with the program youre going to end up burning it with ((Alcohol 120% recommended)) or just burn it to a CD with Boot Dreams itself.

It should work in your Dreamcast after that :).