The ODE thread

[Lawfer]

I feel that the Rhea is a better product because you can still use the mpeg cart with it and get enhanced visuals on the games that support it.

There weren't exactly a ton of Saturn games that supported the FMV cart were there?

No there weren't alot and most of the games that did support it were japan-only.

[fernan1234]

I can't wait for the Satiator. The Rhea/Phoebe is impossible to get. CD loading times are getting old for me on the Saturn. Just make sure to play the Lunar game with the MPEG support before getting the Satiator. I got that card just for that. None of the other games that support it matter.

[evil_ash_xero]

I can't wait for the Satiator. The Rhea/Phoebe is impossible to get. CD loading times are getting old for me on the Saturn. Just make sure to play the Lunar game with the MPEG support before getting the Satiator. I got that card just for that. None of the other games that support it matter.

I was able to get a Rhea and a Phoebe. But it may be because I just happened to stay awake constantly when he was hinting at putting the orders up. My obsessiveness comes in handy, at times.

I get the vibe he's not going to finish that PCE Duo ODE. I mean, he's fiddling around with the Marty now. I mean....how many people care about that? He must have some issues figuring out the PCE Duo. He mentioned it once, and just kept selling what he's selling, and fiddling around with the Marty ODE.

Whenever someone comes up with a Duo ODE, PLEASE post it here. It seems like it should have been made already.

[FriendofSonic]

Sorry for the bump... but does anyone have the fix files for the Phoebe ODE from the buggy August 2018 batch he had? The files are no longer hosted and Deunan seems to not want to provide the files anymore. He asked me to ship it to him, but I'd much rather apply the fix myself.

[Wolf_]

Sorry for the bump... but does anyone have the fix files for the Phoebe ODE from the buggy August 2018 batch he had? The files are no longer hosted and Deunan seems to not want to provide the files anymore. He asked me to ship it to him, but I'd much rather apply the fix myself.

I'm pretty sure the FW for all that stuff got changed over to be unique to each device and then he removed them from his site to "reduce his headaches". Also it may or may not have a built in timebomb that will make it stop working after a certain date in your system clock. Strongly suggest you pick up that other Saturn ODE that came out by someone that isn't a maniac or waiting 10 more years for the Prof Abrasive version to finish beta testing.

[nmalinoski]

Sorry for the bump... but does anyone have the fix files for the Phoebe ODE from the buggy August 2018 batch he had? The files are no longer hosted and Deunan seems to not want to provide the files anymore. He asked me to ship it to him, but I'd much rather apply the fix myself.

I'm pretty sure the FW for all that stuff got changed over to be unique to each device and then he removed them from his site to "reduce his headaches". Also it may or may not have a built in timebomb that will make it stop working after a certain date in your system clock. Strongly suggest you pick up that other Saturn ODE that came out by someone that isn't a maniac or waiting 10 more years for the Prof Abrasive version to finish beta testing.

I really don't understand how forcing people to mail their devices to him for firmware updates is going to reduce his headaches; that would certainly stem the number of people complaining about failed firmware updates, but I think that's just going to result in people now emailing him for the update files. Plus, having people do all firmware updates through him sounds like it's going to be a waste of customers' money and both his and his customers' time.

If it's really the update process at fault, maybe he would have had fewer headaches to begin with if he had just simplified the update process.

[Link83]

Sorry for the bump... but does anyone have the fix files for the Phoebe ODE from the buggy August 2018 batch he had? The files are no longer hosted and Deunan seems to not want to provide the files anymore. He asked me to ship it to him, but I'd much rather apply the fix myself.

I too am hoping that somebody has an archive of all the Rhea/Phoebe firmwares. I found an archive for most of the the GDEMU firmwares titled "GDEMU_FW_COLLECTION_2017.05.01.zip" but haven't found anything similar for Rhea/Phoebe

This is just my opinion, but it seems likely to me that Phoebe firmware 4.0.0 was conceived more as an anti-clone measure, and not just for 'faster firmware updating' as described in the blog post (Hence why you can't downgrade if your Phoebe came with 4.0.0):-
https://gdemu.wordpress.com/2018/08/29/a-hot-mess/
It seems that the bootloader for firmware version 4.0.0 was buggy, which resulted in the need for the special FIX_FW file, which then allows you to update to firmware 4.0.1.

If your Phoebe is on 3.6.0 or below you can technically 'update' the same way described in the blog post, but I wouldn't recommend it since there is no benefit to doing so. Deunan himself still lists firmware 3.6.0 as being the latest Phoebe firmware available, and the 4.0.0/4.0.1 firmwares were only ever mentioned in the one blog post linked above and nowhere else (Almost like it was considered a 'bad batch' never to be mentioned again)

I did find a blog comment from somebody who had uploaded Phoebe firmware 4.0.1:-
https://gdemu.wordpress.com/2019/11/18/ ... ment-12917
Unfortunately without the additional FIX_FW file its practically useless.

Slightly off topic but I noticed that there are actually two versions of the GDEMU 5.15.0 firmware release. The first has a last modified date of 27th April 2017, which then appears to have been silently updated on the 25th May 2018. I can only assume that this was to add anti-clone code to the firmware, as that was about the time cloned GDEMU's were first reported.

I'm pretty sure the FW for all that stuff got changed over to be unique to each device and then he removed them from his site to "reduce his headaches". Also it may or may not have a built in timebomb that will make it stop working after a certain date in your system clock. Strongly suggest you pick up that other Saturn ODE that came out by someone that isn't a maniac or waiting 10 more years for the Prof Abrasive version to finish beta testing.

I think you may be mixing up multiple projects and are probably thinking of the USB-GDROM Controller, which is an entirely different project with a different developer.

[Syntax]

Firmware fix
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... _fix_1.zip

Firmware 4.0.1
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... 0101_1.zip

Video how to
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyxSEcrLwCk

[Bassa-Bassa]

Previous versions (all?):

https://gofile.io/?c=nKFy7N


What was the 4.0.0 update for, then?

[Link83]

Thanks Syntax and Bassa-Bassa, looks like we are just missing a few Phoebe firmwares now (Would be great to know if anyone has the Rhea firmwares backed up too)

What was the 4.0.0 update for, then?

To quote the earlier linked "A Hot Mess" blog post:-

The only difference between 3.6 and 4.0 is I’ve updated the bootloader so it’s much faster now. This is a backport of DocBrown code and allows flashing much bigger FW files in reasonable time.

Although I dont think faster firmware updating was its main purpose.
I would not recommend updating to 4.0.1 unless you have a Phoebe from the August 2018 batch that came with firmware 4.0.0.

[matt]

I really don't understand how forcing people to mail their devices to him for firmware updates is going to reduce his headaches; that would certainly stem the number of people complaining about failed firmware updates, but I think that's just going to result in people now emailing him for the update files. Plus, having people do all firmware updates through him sounds like it's going to be a waste of customers' money and both his and his customers' time.

Are you sure that's his new policy? I bought a GDEmu right when he took down the firmware and read the whole thing pretty carefully. IIRC his statement was that he'd still make firmware available via e-mail, just not on his website. It seemed he was trying to avoid people having to mail their units back due to failed installs.

[nmalinoski]

I really don't understand how forcing people to mail their devices to him for firmware updates is going to reduce his headaches; that would certainly stem the number of people complaining about failed firmware updates, but I think that's just going to result in people now emailing him for the update files. Plus, having people do all firmware updates through him sounds like it's going to be a waste of customers' money and both his and his customers' time.

Are you sure that's his new policy? I bought a GDEmu right when he took down the firmware and read the whole thing pretty carefully. IIRC his statement was that he'd still make firmware available via e-mail, just not on his website. It seemed he was trying to avoid people having to mail their units back due to failed installs.

No, I'm not sure. I based what I said solely on what FriendofSonic claimed, which, yes, is an assumption on my part.

Making firmwares available via email was my initial impression, too; but FriendofSonic claims he was instructed by Deunan to mail in his device for a firmware update, and, after a reread of Deunan's post, it was written vaguely enough that it could mean a mail-in-only strategy, with email as the method of initial contact.

[opt2not]

I'm pretty sure the FW for all that stuff got changed over to be unique to each device and then he removed them from his site to "reduce his headaches". Also it may or may not have a built in timebomb that will make it stop working after a certain date in your system clock. Strongly suggest you pick up that other Saturn ODE that came out by someone that isn't a maniac or waiting 10 more years for the Prof Abrasive version to finish beta testing.

I think you may be mixing up multiple projects and are probably thinking of the USB-GDROM Controller, which is an entirely different project with a different developer.

Mnemo did put out a time bomb firmware for the USB-GDROM, but swiftly reversed it after getting backlash from the community.

I appreciate that. He listened to his customer base , rather than thumbing his nose or calling his customers idiots like Deunan did.

This is one of the reasons I chose the USB-GDROM over the GDEmu (aside from USB being better for my situation). Both creators are kinda nutso, but Deunan is just an overall dickhead, and I’ve boycotted his products for his lack of customer service and his ridiculous way he handles “pre-orders”.
I’ve heard that he has requested people to mail-in because he’s said something along the lines of “too many idiots can’t follow the update instructions and brick their units”.

Glad there are other options for both Dreamcast and Saturn ODE’s.

[evil_ash_xero]

Can anyone share the latest firmware, to the Rhea? I updated my Phoebe to 4.1, thanks to some links, but I can only find 3.9, for the Rhea.
I don't know the seller's e-mail, anymore. It's been too long.

[Bassa-Bassa]

I'm asking this here as it's not worthy of a new thread - has anyone purchased/tried a Chinese GDEMU clone with the latest firmware update already installed (or one that fixes Code: Veronica and Power Stone) and could provide a link to a reliable seller? Seems not everything out there is what it promises to be.

[Gunstar]

I'm asking this here as it's not worthy of a new thread - has anyone purchased/tried a Chinese GDEMU clone with the latest firmware update already installed (or one that fixes Code: Veronica and Power Stone) and could provide a link to a reliable seller? Seems not everything out there is what it promises to be.

I've seen people on reddit buy and confirm the new gdemu clone sold by bitfunx is working with Skies of Arcadia

What's the issue with Power Stone? I've not heard complaints about that before.

[Bassa-Bassa]

Thanks for the input. I'm particularly interested in Code: Veronica. I read somebody having issues (as in freeze and stutter) with Power Stone NTSC-J, though the USA version was OK. That was with the original GD-Emu, if I recall.

[SuperDeadite]

So, I feel the time has come for me to start selling off originals and go ODE.

Oddly enough the first one I have signed up for is the 3DO. It's a system I have zero nostalgia for, but a few if the games are quite good. Plus I have a recapped Japanese FZ-1 with factory original 240p switch and the CD-ROM's gear snapped apart, so it's the perfect machine and I put my name on the list for the new upcoming open source ODE.

And naturally I'm thinking about other systems. Fenrir looks wonderful, and Saturn is another system I never owned until I was an adult, so I think it's another no brainer.

Is there any site that sells Fenrir and one of those nice looking mount kits? Being in Japan it'd be nice to ship everything in one box from the same place.

[Gunstar]

Thanks for the input. I'm particularly interested in Code: Veronica. I read somebody having issues (as in freeze and stutter) with Power Stone NTSC-J, though the USA version was OK. That was with the original GD-Emu, if I recall.

Looks like you need to add a button on these new 5.20 clones. Modzville confirmed that Code Veronica works fine on these. Thanks for the info on NTSCJ Power Stone.

[Ed Oscuro]

I mean, he's fiddling around with the Marty now. I mean....how many people care about that?

I do! And oh, it looks like this allows more performance when swapping out a 386 for a 486. I might take advantage of that someday!
https://www.retrorgb.com/the-grey-tower ... s-pcs.html

No idea if the Car Marty is supported, because it's a neat little beast.

Next up: Philips CD-i ODE?

Oddly enough the first one I have signed up for is the 3DO. It's a system I have zero nostalgia for, but a few if the games are quite good. Plus I have a recapped Japanese FZ-1 with factory original 240p switch and the CD-ROM's gear snapped apart, so it's the perfect machine and I put my name on the list for the new upcoming open source ODE.

Don't trash that drive just yet - people are now 3D printing replacement gears for some kinds of drives. For example, Macintosh 512 (and similar) floppy drives often have a particular gear break, and here's the replacement: https://www.ebay.com/itm/264836820749

Question: How does the 3DO ODE work with Immercenary? This title reportedly uses streaming for its open world, which is neat, but also probably a drive killer. It's still easy to come by new these days, which is interesting.

[Bassa-Bassa]

Thanks for the input. I'm particularly interested in Code: Veronica. I read somebody having issues (as in freeze and stutter) with Power Stone NTSC-J, though the USA version was OK. That was with the original GD-Emu, if I recall.

Looks like you need to add a button on these new 5.20 clones. Modzville confirmed that Code Veronica works fine on these.

Seems it's a bodge wire needed for the swap disc button not always working (and you even may be lucky and get one already fixed by the seller):

https://twitter.com/modzvilleusa/status ... 2784378884

Thanks for the update. Maybe it's safer to wait a bit and see. Surprised at how much these clones have increased price in the last year.