Dreamcast Sega Dreamcast SET4 F3 Development Kit

[Jackhead]

Hi!

so my first thread here. I like to share information about my SET4 F3 Kit.
Im still in progress about finding and fixing some issues.
Next step will be replacing all the caps from the MB and the Cross Emulator.
For that i disassembled the Kit and create some pictures. Hope you enjoy!
I think 1000 Kits was ever made for the rev F3. If someone have another rev pleace show us some pictures here!

You can connect the Controller Box HKT-0200 (still looking for) you can see here: .
Pretty cool using Saturn controller on dreamcast.
Im not sure what the Serial I/O was for, maybe some debugging options.

Here a picture of the Set4 Mainboard

And the other side:

Here is also something interesting, a vcc board connection to the Socket 2 and 4 .

Here some Shots from the Cross GD Emu Board connecting to Socket 1 to the MB. Its a two Layer board, both needs a Molex power connection.

Here the other side from the top layer board.

So my next step is replacing all the Caps. I hope to show than more of the running Kit.

 

[Wombat]

Awesome kit! Fingers crossed you can get this one fully up and running.

 

[Jackhead]

Thanks! Yes i found someone has a running set4 (same rev as mine), and we are in contact getting mine working again.
Still not sure where the problems are, but step by step we hopefully find it.

 

[Voodooween]

Beautiful piece of hardware ! And do you know why the back has a Spanish sticker, did this unit was usued in a Spanish dev studio?

 

[iiAlexLiveii]

Most probably, I wonder why the spanish sticker would say "Never disconnect the monitor while the computer is turned on, or it will break."

 

[Wombat]

@iiAlexLiveii I think this has to do with the fact that if a VGA cable is disconnected from one side there is still a signal/current present, so wordt case scenario it's possible to short circuit stuff. And seeing this is fragile pre-release hardware it makes sense to be extra careful.

 

[iiAlexLiveii]

Makes sense, thank you!

 

[Nemesis]

I think it's more likely that sticker isn't from Sega at all. Notice how, to keep prototyping costs down, they built the system to an ATX form factor, and used a standard ATX power supply? That case is actually a bog-standard PC case, with a custom back plate. It's a good idea, as it allowed them to just run off a few boards, while having the case and power supply already taken care of for them, at a cheap price.

One thing I'm more interested in is a possible connection between the Set 4 hardware, and this card:

I have this card sitting in my garage, but what it does is a bit of a mystery. I don't have any drivers for it, and I haven't been able to link it back to anything Sega has released before. This card is from 1997. I thought that was too early to be related to Dreamcast development, but I can see from your pictures that not only was the Set 4 built in 1997, this card is almost certainly related to it. Sega stamp every single PCB they produce, both small and large, across all their hardware from dev and prototype units to final console and arcade systems, with an ID number of the form "171-XXXX", possibly with a revision letter at the end (IE, A, B, C, etc). The numbers are sequentially allocated, so boards that are designed together will usually have adjacent IDs. Sega designed a lot of PCBs across all their divisions, so those numbers increase constantly and quite quickly. This card has an ID of 171-7595A, while the pictures show that the Set 4 main board has an ID of 171-7598B. I doubt that's a coincidence. Any ideas how this mystery card might link in?

 

[HI_RICKY]

wow, you one is upgrade ver.
because the Cross EMU is set 5 ver, that mean you can build GD-ROM for that !!!!

 

[T_chan]

One thing I'm more interested in is a possible connection between the Set 4 hardware, and this card:
...
This card has an ID of 171-7595A

In case you missed it, and before it disappears:

Unknown Sega PCI card

Hello, A few months ago, there was an auction on Yahoo Japan for an unknown Sega PCI board with SCSI connector & VGA output: P1000010 by T_chan...

assemblergames.com

 

[Jackhead]

wow, you one is upgrade ver.
because the Cross EMU is set 5 ver, that mean you can build GD-ROM for that !!!!

The question in my mind, what are the internal connectors CN3, 4 and 5 for? The CN3 looks like an IDE. I dont think its a emulator because the cross board have this ability. Or maybe some arcade based stuff like kevin say in the asg thread.

 

[HI_RICKY]

the PCI card should be for SKC-1000 or some think use
check it out SKC-1000 back connector ..

 

[Jackhead]

Karaoke ?

 

[T_chan]

wow, you one is upgrade ver.
because the Cross EMU is set 5 ver, that mean you can build GD-ROM for that !!!!

By that I assume you have seen other SET4 with an older revision of the boards ?

 

[Jackhead]

Done a complete recapp of the cross and sega board. Was a tough solder job because sega use always shitty solder, but im happy with the result. Unit boots up fine, next step is replacing the bios chip. Than hopefully anything working correctly again! Stay tuned..

 

[FamilyGuy]

Done a complete recapp of the cross and sega board. Was a tough solder job because sega use always shitty solder, but im happy with the result. Unit boots up fine, next step is replacing the bios chip. Than hopefully anything working correctly again! Stay tuned..

Nice job!

Out of curiosity, how do you determine the original value of the caps when recapping?

 

[Jackhead]

the uF stands always on the capp and for SMD the voltage you can use a list from the company to get the volatge of the code. I use Panasonic for SMD and normal capps. You can also use higher voltage capps when the uF is correctly, but you have to be sure the size of the capp fits on the board. So for example i use SMD 100uf 25V for original 100uF 16V.

 

[FamilyGuy]

the uF stands always on the capp and for SMD the voltage you can use a list from the company to get it. I use Panasonic for SMD and normal capps. You can also use higher voltage capps when the uF is correctly, but you have to be sure the size of the capp fits on the board. So for example i use SMD 100uf 25V for original 100uF 16V.

I was under the impression that SMD caps were often unlabeled. And since you're replacing faulty ones, you can't really measure them neither.

 

[Jackhead]

The problem is that any company use another code for the voltage class on SMD. And they change the code from time to time. So you have to do some research on web. But the first value of the capp is 99% always the uF follow by the voltage code. Someone correct me if im wrong. Thats how i do it.

 

[HI_RICKY]

at list cap mark 10,100, 220 , so we still get it a 10uF,100uF,220uF , internal pcb normal it should 6v 10v 16v 25v 50v , even put in big V , it not have problems , because use high V cap it not up power( V for how V can cross there) ,
btw ~ but it put low V , it will suck/pop from too high V