One thing that should be noted is that GD roms, the disc format used by Dreamcast, could hold up to 1GB, but CDs can only hold a maximum of 700MB. This means that if a game is larger than 700MB, it will have to be compressed to be burned, which, 9 times out of 10 isn't THAT big an issue, but it can cause problems like audio bugs or other annoyances. So it's a good idea to check the size of your rom before you burn it, so you know what to expect. If a game is over 700MB and it's one you plan on playing a lot or you want to make sure you're getting the best experience- a Dreamcast classic or an RPG or something you plan to play a lot with friends- consider trying to get a legit copy instead. Obviously this isn't a great option, especially for the more pricey games, but depending on those variables, it might be worth it.
I know right! Partly why I made this video and the others, I was sick of the nonsense and waffling on. “Just tell me what to do!!!!”. Appreciate the comment and thank you.
I had to come back to your video. I was playing dc on redream but it's not the same as the original hardware. So here I am burning disc's again lol. Thankyou so much for your help.
Thanks for the video, having an issue where my dreamcas doesn't recognize the disc. It plays burned CDs and ive followed all the steps here. Tried different brands of cd and tried different CDI files. Any other trouble shooting steps youd recommend?
Does it read a normal Dreamcast disc? If so, the Dreamcast has a single digit number on the bottom of it that is contained inside of a circle. To the best of my knowledge, only consoles with the number 0 or 1 are able to read burned discs.
taiyo yuden is today the highest quality cd-r brand from what i know. verbatim used to make azo based cd-rs but they stopped and the quality completly plumeted in the last 10 years.
Hi, Paul! My imgburn won’t allow me to burn anything below 10x, even if I select 1x or 2x on the settings prior to burning. Do you think it’s my drive or my blank disc? And how useless would my disc be if I wrote it at 10x? Thanks!
50 minutes later: The first disc that I tried to use was a Verbatim CD-R that I recently bought. Tried burning Crazy Taxi and it didn't work. I just found an old, empty Sony CD-R from 2015 (the time I used to burn PS1 games lol) and it burned the same game successfully. The CD-R definitely matters!
Another thing, you mentioned getting the CDI for a game, but I placed my Dreamcast game disc in and opened file explorer and I see 0 CDI files... (???)
Is the game disc a copied game or original disc. I'm not sure if a PC can read original discs as they are a different format called GD-ROM, so this might be the reason. You need to search online for game files to burn onto disc. If you're referring to copied game disc, you won't see a CDI file, but a collection of folders and bin files instead. If you need further help feel free to join my discord and I can try help you further there. The link is the description.
There is no special type of burning. IMGBurn doesnt know what to do with GDI or CDI files, But it knows CUE files. The download just allows it to know that a GDI and CDI file means the same as a CUE file.
Thanks for the tutorial! Super awesome I burned 2 discs so far but my Dreamcast is still saying “please insert disk” I tried a couple times turning it off and on maybe I’ll keep trying that and burn some other disks, was wondering if you had any other advice or should I just keep trying turning it on and off? Thanks for your time!
On the bottom of the Dreamcast, look for a number in a circle near the word PAL or NTSC. If the number is 0 or 1 you can play burned games. If the number is 2 or higher, you cannot play burned games :(
@@paulhannonthedj I know I’m aware, it has a number 1 and made in January of 2000, I was wondering if there was any advice for compatible Dreamcasts not being able to load burned games, it plays original games fine.
@@hanzdonuts1247 sometimes it’s just a case of persistence then. I have games that take up to 10 attempts before they load. I also found that trying to playing games that I just burned never play, but after 30mins they would. So it’s not an exact science unfortunately.
Hi, thank you for this awesome video. How about when i downloaded imgburn and the other thing and i'll tried to move those files to imgburn folder it says it have those files already? So do i replace them still? Thank you already. =)
Hello there - I'm not 100% sure I follow BUT is this the first time you have tried to move the files? I would start from the beginning and go over the process again. If it still asks if you want to replace them...I would replace them. As long as you're doing exactly as I'm doing this should work for you. Remember it can take a few attempts for a DC to work in your DC, so I do recommend you get an emulator so you can test the files before burning them.
Yes. I downloaded imgburn and the padus .cdi file. After installed the imgburn i extract the padus .cdi file mounter and copied them on the imgburn file but it says it already have them and it asks do i wanna replace the files that i already got so i clicked yes. Funny thing it shows the editing day with those files was 2002, i mean those (pfctoc files) but i dont think thats important. I havent tried to burn games yet but lets see what happens. :)
@@HSUstudios Ok, maybe they added the files themselves to save people time. But do get an emulator too, it will help verify if the game will work before burning a disc.
What emulator you recommend? I tried redream and the games worked. I still havent get any burned games work on my dc. But i got utopia cd loader to work so i'll try again.
@@HSUstudios I use nullDC. It's a little bit finicky to use, but an emulator is fine as long as it plays the file you need to burn. Remember that it can sometimes take a lot of attempts to make a burned CD work on a DC. So don't feel bad if it doesn't play first time.
Where do you go to get your CDI files? I went to CD romance and it downloaded the game as a 7z file Did I do something wrong? Because it wont let the game pop up when I go to select file
@@paulhannonthedj yeah!! Although when I burned my copy of soul calibur successfully it wouldn't read not Sure if that has to do with the CDI file on CDRomance or my computer being jank I appreciate the helpfulness it means a lot
@@IcefireC67 it can often take a few attempts to get the DC to load the disc. As long as the burn was deemed successful, it should eventually play. You can also try the Rom out an emulator first to make sure the rom is ok, it the emulator loads it then so will the DC.
On the bottom of the Dreamcast, look for a number in a circle near the word PAL or NTSC. If the number is 0 or 1 you can play burned games. If the number is 2 or higher, you cannot play burned games. The Japanese models are a little more complex and they do not have the circled numbers on the bottom.
My 4 games stopped working Sonic Adventure 2,Sega Gaga,GuiltyGearXX,JetGrindRadio,RainbowCotton,and they used too work just fine I wrote them on 4 speed and I know they work because my other games all work just fine
Sometimes discs degrade, but I doubt that’s what has happened. Occasionally it will take many attempts to load a game from a burnt disc. I can only suggest you keep trying, make sure you turn the system off between attempts too. It’s frustrating, but unfortunately it’s not an exact science. Even when making this video I was surprised the disc loaded first time, I think I even mention that.
@@KyleYoung2012 you’re lucky to have a drive that can do that speed, most only slowdown to about 10x. Glad to hear you’ve solved your issue though and thanks for checking the video.
@@paulhannonthedj Ah okay, I'm just concerned that if a website claiming to have the game's CDI shows a greater download size than the disc can handle that it may not be a large enough disc to install on.
@@MajorPublic that’s a great question, I don’t think you can as that might mean “audio only”, but I can check for you and let you know asap. I’ll reply here or you can join the discord and I can try help you there too. Link to my discord should be in the description. Either way I shall get back to you with an answer soon.
It can take a few attempts for the DC to read a burnt disc. Only today I played a burnt game that took 7 attempts to finally work. The offer of help in the Discord is still there.
@@spicyluckster9125 in my experience yes. Not EVERY game will work, but the ones that did work never initially worked straight away after burning, it was almost like they needed time to cool down or something :) However, the games that have worked for me will often take a few attempts to load. There's a lot of variables at play, so its not an exact science unfortunately and I feel your frustration. I too learned this by watching TH-cam videos and was very annoyed after following all the instructions for the game to then not load. Keep trying, but understand it takes a bit of perseverance.
One thing that should be noted is that GD roms, the disc format used by Dreamcast, could hold up to 1GB, but CDs can only hold a maximum of 700MB. This means that if a game is larger than 700MB, it will have to be compressed to be burned, which, 9 times out of 10 isn't THAT big an issue, but it can cause problems like audio bugs or other annoyances. So it's a good idea to check the size of your rom before you burn it, so you know what to expect.
If a game is over 700MB and it's one you plan on playing a lot or you want to make sure you're getting the best experience- a Dreamcast classic or an RPG or something you plan to play a lot with friends- consider trying to get a legit copy instead. Obviously this isn't a great option, especially for the more pricey games, but depending on those variables, it might be worth it.
That is 100% correct, thank you.
What program would you recommend to compress files?
How do I compress them
@@loserxylophone3986 You don’t need to worry about that, just download the correct file.
@@Nobby19891989 You don’t need to worry about that, just download the correct file.
Your nonchalant way of presenting was quite refreshing. Cheers. I’m getting sick of the common TH-cam presentation style 😅
I know right! Partly why I made this video and the others, I was sick of the nonsense and waffling on. “Just tell me what to do!!!!”.
Appreciate the comment and thank you.
QE22EQ
I had to come back to your video. I was playing dc on redream but it's not the same as the original hardware. So here I am burning disc's again lol. Thankyou so much for your help.
@@lasoga2125 thank you very much, happy to help.
FWEQVFEQQEFV
Absolute legend.
Glad I could help.
Thanks for the tutorial 👍 saves me spending loads on games 😉
Awesome tutorial, just bought the discs and a dreamcast and helped alot, thanks!!!!
You’re very welcome and thanks for the comment. If you need help let me know.
Thanks for the video, having an issue where my dreamcas doesn't recognize the disc. It plays burned CDs and ive followed all the steps here. Tried different brands of cd and tried different CDI files.
Any other trouble shooting steps youd recommend?
Does it read a normal Dreamcast disc? If so, the Dreamcast has a single digit number on the bottom of it that is contained inside of a circle. To the best of my knowledge, only consoles with the number 0 or 1 are able to read burned discs.
taiyo yuden is today the highest quality cd-r brand from what i know. verbatim used to make azo based cd-rs but they stopped and the quality completly plumeted in the last 10 years.
Can you use a cd-r burner via USB to burn it? I don't have a CD drive in my computer.
@@ryleysingh6222 you can, yes. That how I burn my discs and used it when making the video.
@@paulhannonthedj oh okay thank you, I'm looking to buy one, but I don't know anything about burning games, this video helped a lot.👍🏻
Nice. Thanks! I’m subbin’... 🍻
Hi, Paul! My imgburn won’t allow me to burn anything below 10x, even if I select 1x or 2x on the settings prior to burning. Do you think it’s my drive or my blank disc? And how useless would my disc be if I wrote it at 10x? Thanks!
50 minutes later: The first disc that I tried to use was a Verbatim CD-R that I recently bought. Tried burning Crazy Taxi and it didn't work. I just found an old, empty Sony CD-R from 2015 (the time I used to burn PS1 games lol) and it burned the same game successfully. The CD-R definitely matters!
idk, but burning at 10x (max for my drive) worked fine for me
Lovely , Works like a charm
You’re welcome, thanks for watching.
Another thing, you mentioned getting the CDI for a game, but I placed my Dreamcast game disc in and opened file explorer and I see 0 CDI files... (???)
Is the game disc a copied game or original disc. I'm not sure if a PC can read original discs as they are a different format called GD-ROM, so this might be the reason. You need to search online for game files to burn onto disc.
If you're referring to copied game disc, you won't see a CDI file, but a collection of folders and bin files instead.
If you need further help feel free to join my discord and I can try help you further there. The link is the description.
There is no special type of burning. IMGBurn doesnt know what to do with GDI or CDI files, But it knows CUE files. The download just allows it to know that a GDI and CDI file means the same as a CUE file.
Is there any way I can take the files from the game disk itself instead of downloading one online
Yes, you can use ImgBurn to do that.
So I've done the steps, when I got to the point where I went to add the cdi file but it says the file isn't supported? Any clue?
Did you install the CDI patch? And make sure you're using a CDI file, not a GDI file!
make sure you got the patch
4:10 As of 2024 there are no "highest quality cd-r", they are all the same.
Is there a site I can use to download games and then just put it on the disc?
It that I know off. This process is remarkably easy though.
Thanks for the tutorial! Super awesome I burned 2 discs so far but my Dreamcast is still saying “please insert disk” I tried a couple times turning it off and on maybe I’ll keep trying that and burn some other disks, was wondering if you had any other advice or should I just keep trying turning it on and off? Thanks for your time!
If your Dreamcast was manufactured after October of 2000 it won't read burned games
On the bottom of the Dreamcast, look for a number in a circle near the word PAL or NTSC. If the number is 0 or 1 you can play burned games. If the number is 2 or higher, you cannot play burned games :(
@@paulhannonthedj I know I’m aware, it has a number 1 and made in January of 2000, I was wondering if there was any advice for compatible Dreamcasts not being able to load burned games, it plays original games fine.
@@GMHS_Nerd I know, mine has a 1 and made in January of 2000 just trying to find some advice for compatible DC’s not loading burned games
@@hanzdonuts1247 sometimes it’s just a case of persistence then. I have games that take up to 10 attempts before they load. I also found that trying to playing games that I just burned never play, but after 30mins they would. So it’s not an exact science unfortunately.
Wonderful thanks for the tip! 🤗
Awesome stuff!
my disk drive didn't open automatically after I finished why would it not open up?
@@chrisoseland4643 sorry I wouldn’t know. You can just open it manually if needs be.
Man when I get a file to burn I get the internet explorer icon next to the file to burn. Would that work to burn?
❤
I DO BURN WHEN IT START IT FAILS TO BURN WHY
i have the dreamcast and lost a few of my Discs any one know where i can buy the already burned discs from
Hi, thank you for this awesome video. How about when i downloaded imgburn and the other thing and i'll tried to move those files to imgburn folder it says it have those files already? So do i replace them still? Thank you already. =)
Hello there - I'm not 100% sure I follow BUT is this the first time you have tried to move the files? I would start from the beginning and go over the process again. If it still asks if you want to replace them...I would replace them.
As long as you're doing exactly as I'm doing this should work for you. Remember it can take a few attempts for a DC to work in your DC, so I do recommend you get an emulator so you can test the files before burning them.
Yes. I downloaded imgburn and the padus .cdi file. After installed the imgburn i extract the padus .cdi file mounter and copied them on the imgburn file but it says it already have them and it asks do i wanna replace the files that i already got so i clicked yes. Funny thing it shows the editing day with those files was 2002, i mean those (pfctoc files) but i dont think thats important. I havent tried to burn games yet but lets see what happens. :)
@@HSUstudios Ok, maybe they added the files themselves to save people time. But do get an emulator too, it will help verify if the game will work before burning a disc.
What emulator you recommend? I tried redream and the games worked. I still havent get any burned games work on my dc. But i got utopia cd loader to work so i'll try again.
@@HSUstudios I use nullDC. It's a little bit finicky to use, but an emulator is fine as long as it plays the file you need to burn. Remember that it can sometimes take a lot of attempts to make a burned CD work on a DC. So don't feel bad if it doesn't play first time.
Where do you go to get your CDI files?
I went to CD romance and it downloaded the game as a 7z file
Did I do something wrong? Because it wont let the game pop up when I go to select file
Do you have the 7z app to open the file? CD Romance is fine, though.
@@paulhannonthedj i didnt
But I was able to extract files with winRAR. Thank you for replying tho!! I really appreciate the help 😊
@@IcefireC67 and have you solved the problem now?
@@paulhannonthedj yeah!!
Although when I burned my copy of soul calibur successfully it wouldn't read
not Sure if that has to do with the CDI file on CDRomance or my computer being jank
I appreciate the helpfulness it means a lot
@@IcefireC67 it can often take a few attempts to get the DC to load the disc. As long as the burn was deemed successful, it should eventually play. You can also try the Rom out an emulator first to make sure the rom is ok, it the emulator loads it then so will the DC.
Hello Powder.
How can I burn a gdi file? I would like to play the sonic adventure autodemo
You cannot, only CDI files burn to disc. GDI files will work on an emulator though. Is there's not a CDI file of that game?
Does the black Sega Dreamcast play burned games
On the bottom of the Dreamcast, look for a number in a circle near the word PAL or NTSC. If the number is 0 or 1 you can play burned games. If the number is 2 or higher, you cannot play burned games. The Japanese models are a little more complex and they do not have the circled numbers on the bottom.
Does the program work on MacOS?
@@Aidan_B_Young I don’t think so.
thank you magic man
Thank you.
can u make a macbook tutorial
Darn sorry, I do not have a way to burn discs on a MacBook to be able to.
My 4 games stopped working Sonic Adventure 2,Sega Gaga,GuiltyGearXX,JetGrindRadio,RainbowCotton,and they used too work just fine I wrote them on 4 speed and I know they work because my other games all work just fine
Sometimes discs degrade, but I doubt that’s what has happened. Occasionally it will take many attempts to load a game from a burnt disc. I can only suggest you keep trying, make sure you turn the system off between attempts too. It’s frustrating, but unfortunately it’s not an exact science.
Even when making this video I was surprised the disc loaded first time, I think I even mention that.
Yeah I switched too 1 loading speed and that's what fixed it for me
@@KyleYoung2012 you’re lucky to have a drive that can do that speed, most only slowdown to about 10x. Glad to hear you’ve solved your issue though and thanks for checking the video.
Try getting cd stickers an apply on top of the disk I think sometimes the laser shines right through the disk I feel that works better for me
Where do u people buy blank cds from in 2024?
Amazon
There's no need. Just put it on an SD or something. I don't even have a cd burner anymore.
can it work on my dreamcast mdl hkt3030
That's model I have, so I would say yes.
What's the recommended MB size for blank CD discs I'll need?
Hi - I use 700MB discs, and they seem to be doing the job just fine.
@@paulhannonthedj Ah okay, I'm just concerned that if a website claiming to have the game's CDI shows a greater download size than the disc can handle that it may not be a large enough disc to install on.
@@spicyluckster9125 Don't worry about that too much, the CDI files are usually reduced in size on purpose to accommodate for this potential issue.
@@paulhannonthedj Will any anti piracy measures kick in? It’s a cdi file but I don’t know.
@@breeseburger No, nothing like that will happen.
Спасибо!!!
Пожалуйста
can you use cd-rw or does it have to be dvd?
Hi - you can only use regular CD-R's, not DVD or CD-RW. The brand I use are Verbatim.
@@paulhannonthedj The only Verbatim I can get within pick up range are CD-R but it has the word Music on the case. Would this be an issue at all?
@@MajorPublic that’s a great question, I don’t think you can as that might mean “audio only”, but I can check for you and let you know asap. I’ll reply here or you can join the discord and I can try help you there too. Link to my discord should be in the description. Either way I shall get back to you with an answer soon.
@@MajorPublic Can you link me to them? If they say 700MB or list a data size, then you can use them. But send me a link to be sure.
8x speed is fine.✍🏻
Remember to burn your copies, if you sell your original...
what disk did you use thanks
Verbatim
@@paulhannonthedj thanks dose the spped matter
@@tyrantkuwaga Choose the lowest speed you can, your computer will try to match that - it won't actually achieve it, but it will try and that helps.
@@paulhannonthedj so the disk dose not matter my computuer speed dose thanks
@@tyrantkuwaga Buy the best discs you can.
6:31 Cool down? That's not a thing.
Hahahahahaha do you feel better now??
You wouldn't download a new car if the one you bought was old and broken.
lol
That’s awesome! I’d forgotten some person/company actually used that irrational appeal, but I forget who it was... Either way... 🍻!
@@mechamania If you're broke, just say so.
@@mechamaniakak
Doesn't work 😐 followed all instructions...
It can take a few attempts for the DC to read a burnt disc. Only today I played a burnt game that took 7 attempts to finally work. The offer of help in the Discord is still there.
@@paulhannonthedj oh OK, so if it fails to initially detect the disc, it will work after several attempts?
@@spicyluckster9125 in my experience yes. Not EVERY game will work, but the ones that did work never initially worked straight away after burning, it was almost like they needed time to cool down or something :)
However, the games that have worked for me will often take a few attempts to load.
There's a lot of variables at play, so its not an exact science unfortunately and I feel your frustration. I too learned this by watching TH-cam videos and was very annoyed after following all the instructions for the game to then not load.
Keep trying, but understand it takes a bit of perseverance.
@@paulhannonthedj OK thank you
@@paulhannonthedj yeah I've tried running 20 times and its doing nothing
THIS SOUND HIGHLY ILEGAL!!!
not if you rip it yourself
It's not though
@@paulhannonthedj im sry u fel that way
@@SoyAntonioGaming but it's not, a simple google will show you. Or you can just carry on and be wrong.
@@paulhannonthedj im not lawyer but it sound fishy to legaly copy a game to CD. many ppl have been force to pay millions in court for copying stuff
Big thanks!