Dreamcast mods are fairly well documented in a variety of YouTube videos (shoutout to Bob from RetroRGB for his
comprehensive video), but I just finished a handful of mods on my Dreamcast and wanted to share them with you nerds here on GH.
Mod List: GDEMUThis is the mod that really prompted everything else shown here as well. The Dreamcast functioned perfectly fine before, but unfortunately Dreamcast games have shot up in price the last few years. We don't live in the glory years of ~2005 when they were 50 cents at EB Games.
If I want to get my Typing of the Dead on I can either spend a little over a hundred bucks on the game or roughly the same price to be able to play any game I want - unhindered by region-locked nonsense. Seems like an easy choice to me.
Installation of the GDEMU itself is basically plug and play. Disassemble the Dreamcast by removing the 4 screws from the bottom (one hidden under the modem (or broadband adapter for you big spenders out there)), then remove the three screws holding the disc drive in place. Pop the disc drive out, and save it just in case you might ever want to swap it back in (hint: you won't). Save those screws though - you'll want those for securing the GDEMU in place.
You
could fly fast and loose and just pop the GDEMU in at this point (it just pops in the socket that the disc drive was connected to), but it will be flopping around and could get damaged during transit or while you're fighting demons with it strapped to your back. Best to lock it in place with a bracket. And if that bracket could also fix any potential issues caused by modified airflow after removing a physical component from the case? Well that would be nice.
12V Regulator RemovalI've read some slightly conflicting information online as to whether this is strictly necessary or not, but it's super easy to do, so I did it. The logic is that since the optical drive is the only 12V device in the Dreamcast, removing it will result in the 12V rail having nothing to draw power from it, and it can heat up. I know little enough about how this stuff works that I don't know if this is a real threat or not - some people have done nothing and their systems are fine.
However, all that needs to be done to "fix" this is removing the voltage regulator from the power supply, and I have a desoldering gun, so this is trivial. The power supply is removed by unscrewing two screws from the top and unplugging the grey cord from the back. Then the whole board pops up and out, while releasing the white tab on the side and pulling more firmly from the front (the white connector near the front of the below pic is connected to from below). The spot in the center with a screw and no transistor is where the regulator used to be. It is no more.
SD Card TrayOkay, so I didn't take a picture with just the GDEMU installed, and didn't want to leave the GDEMU section here photo-less, so... you'll just have to look above for the pic of the
3D printed SD tray. The lower portion (
shown above) provides mounting points for the GDEMU to screw into it, and there are a couple holes to screw the tray into the Dreamcast where the original disc drive was. I have only screwed it to the case with the back-most screw, and it feels plenty secure for my taste.
The tray includes slots for
five SD cards, which is a little overkill for me, but whatever. I'll probably have one additional SD card at most (analysis paralysis is a real thing, especially with entire retro collections at your fingertips).
The other half of the tray is supposed to attached to the top of the Dreamcast case (shown below, with the printed latch). I've seen people installing it and it gives a nice satisfying *snap* onto the case, but mine didn't do that. Not sure if it's the print or my case, but it's pretty loose and would just fall off. Too lazy to fix this, I instead set the upper portion of the shroud onto the GDEMU and then install the top case on top when closing everything up. Once it's all buttoned up it is very secure - again, good enough for me.
Noctua Fan ReplacementI finally own a Noctua fan! They've always been a little outside my budget on PC builds, but now I can pretend to be in the brown and beige club once and for all.
This one is pretty easy too. The hardest part about it in my instance is that my original Dreamcast fan shroud was missing a screw...? No idea.
All that's needed for this one is removing the old fan shroud (black square plastic bit that the fan is screwed into) and installing the much cooler 3D printed fan shroud (I mean, just look at how swoopy and fun it is). The chonky screw holding the fan to the shroud comes with the fan, and the two screws (ahem) holding the shroud to the Dreamcast case are pillaged from the original.
One thing to pay attention to here is that the fan needs an adapter to physically connect into the Dreamcast PCB and also needs a 10k ohm resistor in-line. You can buy kits online that include the 3D printed parts
and the adapter, which is by far the easiest option overall. I chose to
print my own parts, because I just got a 3D printer and it's satisfying, but I still needed the adapter to connect the fan. You can always wire one up yourself as an alternative.
This fan doesn't quite make the system
silent, but it is MUCH quieter than the stock fan.
Noctua Fan Replacement Part 2 - LatchWell, we've gone ahead and installed a bigger fan than the system was designed for... but we can fix it with 3D printing! In fact, the
files for the Noctua fan replacement printed parts include just the part to swap in.
After getting the two latch pieces printed, the small piece slots into the larger one (and it only fits together one way). The latch is another dead-simple drop-in replacement for the original - carefully remove the spring from the old latch (don't lose it), unscrew the two screws holding it in place, and swap the new latch into place. Re-attach the spring and give it a test or two. It should work exactly like the old one, with the added benefit of not getting in the way of our fancy new fan.
We already saw the new latch above!Removable Clock BatteryAs long as I'm doing surgery on the poor thing, best to leave no stone unturned, right? The clock battery had died on this unit long ago, so it needed to be replaced. The battery is soldered to the PCB behind the controller ports, so needed to be desoldered (Hakko FR-300, you saved the day again). Why replace it with another soldered battery that I'll just need to desolder again in a few years? That's not smart.
What is smart is installing a battery
socket (search for "Vertical Button Cell Battery Holder for CR/LIR2032 2025").
Not too much more to say about this one; you solder the thing in where the battery was and pop a
rechargeable (not a standard coin cell) battery in there.
SuccessThat's it! Now we get to play all those late-90s/early-2000s Sega games, unhindered, in crispy-ass 480p!
