Can a Dreamcast flash memory be swapped?

spinksy

spinksy

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Random question, I have a Dreamcast that has been stored away in a loft (attic) for a lot of years and has become damaged. It was my old Dreamcast that I had years and years ago and has my old PSO online character on it that I spent many hours on! I still have the vmu with the saved character but it seems I need the flash data off the Dreamcast as this contains the serial number and access code for the game.

Is there anyway I can somehow remove a chip from the motherboard and fit to a different working board? (I have 4 spare DC motherboards). If someone could also show me which chip on the motherboard this data would be saved on please.

Also if anyone out there still has access to an old cdi image of the schtserv PSO game please let me know
 
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the Dreamcast doesn't have any internal memory. Everything was stored on VMU.
 
Do you still have your original copy of PSO? In that case, wouldn't inputting the same code that came with it on a new DC basically have the same result?
 
It does because that's where online stuff is stored and how PSO characters are locked.

The only copies I had were a US pso v2 disc only(I'm in the UK) and a cdi of the schrtserv modified game. I obviously did all this nearly 12 years ago so my memory is hazy but I just can not remember having to enter serial and access numbers
 
spinksy said:
Is there anyway I can somehow remove a chip from the motherboard and fit to a different working board? (I have 4 spare DC motherboards). If someone could also show me which chip on the motherboard this data would be saved on please.
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It's IC502 if I remember correctly.

However if you have to ask whether or not you can remove and transfer a chip, you probably won't have the skills to do so, as it is a very fine pitch chip.
It might be easier to figure out what's wrong with it and just fix it, or fix it enough to get a dump of its flashROM and just copy the data to another DC.
 
darcagn said:
It's IC502 if I remember correctly.

However if you have to ask whether or not you can remove and transfer a chip, you probably won't have the skills to do so, as it is a very fine pitch chip.
It might be easier to figure out what's wrong with it and just fix it, or fix it enough to get a dump of its flashROM and just copy the data to another DC.
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How can you dump the flashrom.

The DC basically had one of those boards attached that sticks out the back of the motherboard to attach a cf card reader - in storage its been knocked about and the board that had been soldered on has been ripped off pulling most of the solder points off 😪
 
spinksy said:
How can you dump the flashrom.

The DC basically had one of those boards attached that sticks out the back of the motherboard to attach a cf card reader - in storage its been knocked about and the board that had been soldered on has been ripped off pulling most of the solder points off 😪
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That sucks. :(

To dump the flashROM you need some way of running code (from CD-R or SD card or whatever) and you will need one of the following: Dreamcast SD card reader, Dreamcast serial cable, or Dreamcast Broadband Adapter.
 
darcagn said:
That sucks. :(

To dump the flashROM you need some way of running code (from CD-R or SD card or whatever) and you will need one of the following: Dreamcast SD card reader, Dreamcast serial cable, or Dreamcast Broadband Adapter.
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Ah ok, so I basically need to get the dreamcast up and running again, is there anyone on here that could swap the chip over for me i wonder.

The IC502 is quite small, I've soldered a bios chip before but nothing as small as the IC502 one
 
Rather than copying whatever is in the flash memory in the defunct DC, I wonder if there might be some way of modifying your save file so it can be used on a different system with different PSO credentials.
 
spinksy said:
is there anyone on here that could swap the chip over for me i wonder.
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I'm not offering, as I have no free time. But if you're willing to pay shipping back and forth plus time, someone would probably want to do it. It could ramp up to quite high though, it really depends on how much you care about it.

You could make an offer on the marketplace. Be wary of the credentials of potential applicants.

Although, first, I'd investigate the option of dumping and modifying the save file from the vmu instead. Might be cheaper and simpler.
 
FamilyGuy said:
I'm not offering, as I have no free time. But if you're willing to pay shipping back and forth plus time, someone would probably want to do it. It could ramp up to quite high though, it really depends on how much you care about it.

You could make an offer on the marketplace. Be wary of the credentials of potential applicants.

Although, first, I'd investigate the option of dumping and modifying the save file from the vmu instead. Might be cheaper and simpler.
Click to expand...

I didn't think pso save files could be modified but I'll look into it.

I'll do some more research but I think I'll have a go at transferring over the chip. The board is dead (can't see it being fixable with how many pads have been completely ripped off) so not got a whole lot to lose.
 
Just a quick post to say this idea is now dead, well transferring over the IC502 chip is. I removed the chip from the dead board but when doing so one of the legs snapped off completely- all the rest are fine just one broke off so its dead.

Ill look into the vmu file option, of not ill have to let this one go 😅😪
 
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