Dreamcast SD Card Reader: Can it boot .bin?

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OmenFelix
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Dreamcast SD Card Reader: Can it boot .bin?

Post by OmenFelix »

Can the Dreamcast SD Card Reader boot .bin? I plan to purchase one.

Thanks in advance. ;)
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Re: Dreamcast SD Card Reader: Can it boot .bin?

Post by mankrip »

I don't know if it can boot unscrambled binaries, but it should certainly be able to boot scrambled binaries, as it can also play commercial games.

If it doesn't play unscrambled binaries, you can just scramble them first.
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Re: Dreamcast SD Card Reader: Can it boot .bin?

Post by OmenFelix »

mankrip wrote:I don't know if it can boot unscrambled binaries, but it should certainly be able to boot scrambled binaries, as it can also play commercial games.

If it doesn't play unscrambled binaries, you can just scramble them first.
How does one scramble a .bin? I would google it, but seeing as you brought it up. :)
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Re: Dreamcast SD Card Reader: Can it boot .bin?

Post by mankrip »

You need scramble.exe (aka sh-elf-scramble.exe) from Elf2bin or one of the selfboot toolkits from this page.
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Re: Dreamcast SD Card Reader: Can it boot .bin?

Post by OmenFelix »

mankrip wrote:You need scramble.exe (aka sh-elf-scramble.exe) from Elf2bin or one of the selfboot toolkits from this page.
Thanks but, I'd already compiled my own of it, by the time I saw your response. :D
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Re: Dreamcast SD Card Reader: Can it boot .bin?

Post by OzOnE »

Hi,

I just saw this old thread and thought I'd add something (my first post!)...

I was also looking for a quick way to run .bin files from Dreamshell but I couldn't find a quick answer on how to set up the xml files.

Basically, to add a simple icon to DS which will run a .bin file, just extract the zip below and copy the "gd" folder into your "/DS/apps" folder on your SD card...

http://www.filedropper.com/showdownload ... fordsozone

(btw, I would strongly recommend using a Flash BIOS mod with the DS "Bootloader with BIOS" image. It's so much faster.)

If you edit the .xml file in the gd folder, you can see where it defines the standard icon and the filename of the .bin.

Regards,
OzOnE.
EDIT: I forgot to mention - I'm 99% sure this runs unscrambled .bins!
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Re: Dreamcast SD Card Reader: Can it boot .bin?

Post by dj vectorman »

Hello OzOne.

I just bought a sd card reader and sd card. The "Russian site" has info and videos but is confusing.

Why must I change bin files, and to what, title different ?

If I download beat of rage type homebrew "dciso" or "iso" how do I get that to work on my dc ? Put sd card in my pc, download game, put on sd, put sd card in sd card reader in dc and play or ? Can you make a video tutorial ? I don't believe one exists in English and would help a lot of people out.

Can you give me a step by step ?

Do I install DS4 in my dc or just use it as a cd app ?
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Re: Dreamcast SD Card Reader: Can it boot .bin?

Post by cube_b3 »

Why everything has to be complicated.

Just get an SD-Card with DreamShell off ebay and boom you can do anything you want.
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Re: Dreamcast SD Card Reader: Can it boot .bin?

Post by FaithY »

cube_b3 wrote:Why everything has to be complicated.

Just get an SD-Card with DreamShell off ebay and boom you can do anything you want.
Precisely
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Re: Dreamcast SD Card Reader: Can it boot .bin?

Post by OzOnE »

Put sd card in my pc, download game, put on sd, put sd card in sd card reader in dc and play?
Well, yes basically. lol

Obviously you still need to boot the Dreamshell bootloader CD-R if you don't have a Flash BIOS mod. After that, it should be straightforward (for most homebrew and sdisos)...

The file I attached was for launching a .bin file quicker by adding an icon to the DS desktop.
But, you don't really need to do that, you can launch most binaries simply by using the DS File Manager.

Many of the newest homebrew (like snes4all etc.) has support for the SD card, so you can just put the main binary into a folder together with all the game roms and it should work.

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Re: Dreamcast SD Card Reader: Can it boot .bin?

Post by cube_b3 »

How do I boot an actual game using DreamShell.

Can I use DreamShell as a substitute for CDx/Utopia?
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