Parallax Scroll Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1244953 Allows loading games from USB via the expansion card port, plans on making boards available for sale. Will open up doors to homebrew communities and preservation of the console's functionality for years beyond the CD drive croaking [video=youtube;jOyfZex7B3E] 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clint Thompson Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Saw this on cTrix's Facebook yesterday and it's one of those videos that really him home and in awe with the amount of work put into a hobby like this. Really cool hardware hacking and reverse engineering! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+grips03 Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 I hope it supports multi disc games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Very awesome. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Gull Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 That's some pretty awesome news for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.Cade Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 It was "cracked" long ago, but this is still a very nice setup he has developed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltronik Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Gull Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Looks like on price factor and ability this would be much more cost effective than the Other method of drive replacement with added sd reader and all. I know there were home brews before this but I wonder if this might allow more access to other processor groups in the machine to really get some excellent development for new home brews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punisher5.0 Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Very cool! I was wondering if it was possible to load games through that port. I always thought that that was one of the coolest things about the Saturn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StopDrop&Retro Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 I'm really happy for this! I love the progress we're making on this front. Some people used to say that collecting disc based systems is worthless because the disc drives will all wear out eventually. But as the guy says in the video, he hopes to figure out how to replace the disc drive with a hard drive. Dreamcast is already doing this. Or I say his solution right now even works as an adequate replacement for the disc drive. What a time to be alive. I'm glad I picked up a Saturn while they were still cheap. .... now if only we can get that little port on the back of the PS1 to load games.... (yes, I know there's already someone doing that with PSIO but you have to solder and wire up a separate board inside the console so I don't count that as a solution any better than a mod chip) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoRacer Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Amazing. I really hope this becomes available soon. Does he have a website or is he just communicating via neogaf at the moment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppe Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Wow! I hope the card will be available soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 I'm really happy for this! I love the progress we're making on this front. Some people used to say that collecting disc based systems is worthless because the disc drives will all wear out eventually. But as the guy says in the video, he hopes to figure out how to replace the disc drive with a hard drive. Dreamcast is already doing this. Or I say his solution right now even works as an adequate replacement for the disc drive. What a time to be alive. I'm glad I picked up a Saturn while they were still cheap. .... now if only we can get that little port on the back of the PS1 to load games.... (yes, I know there's already someone doing that with PSIO but you have to solder and wire up a separate board inside the console so I don't count that as a solution any better than a mod chip) Now if only they come up with a CD replacement for the Turbo-CD. A plugin module to the back of a Turbografx or PC Engine that runs CD images off an SDXC card would be the bees knees! Sorry for going OT but working PCe/Turbo CDs and Duos have gotten collectard expensive. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+chicgamer Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Now if only they come up with a CD replacement for the Turbo-CD. A plugin module to the back of a Turbografx or PC Engine that runs CD images off an SDXC card would be the bees knees! Sorry for going OT but working PCe/Turbo CDs and Duos have gotten collectard expensive. I believe the creator of the GDEMU is working on this. https://gdemu.wordpress.com/2016/03/15/two-years/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenixdownita Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 There was quite the info here as well: http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/saturn-optical-drive-emulator.62274/ Older threads: http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/saturn-cd-block-rom-dumped.52419/ http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/saturn-copy-protection-and-cdrs-the-conclusive-end.50295/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 Great news. There are already alternatives for this, but I feel like this has the potential to be the most cost-effective for the average gamer out there. I'm really looking forward to seeing what comes of this! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 Just checked out that interview video with the guy. Truly impressive stuff! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parallax Scroll Posted July 12, 2016 Author Share Posted July 12, 2016 (edited) After 20 Years, Someone Cracked The Sega Saturn's DRM Sega Saturn disc drives are beginning to die off. Until now, it meant your machine might be useless. Thanks to engineer James Laird-Wah, Sega’s 32-bit hardware has been cracked, allowing games to be loaded via USB. Laird-Wah is known online as Dr Abrasive, and is responsible for a USB-powered ROM-reading cartridge for the Game Boy called the Drag ‘n Derp. The news was revealed on the YouTube channel debuglive, which features an exhaustive interview with Laird-Wah, showcasing his multi-year process. Laird-Wah started poking around the Saturn in 2013, attracted to the machine’s notoriously ambitious multi-channel sound chip. “Gee, it’d be nice to have one of those around,” he said. To take advantage of that chip, he wanted to write software for the Saturn. What he found was that Saturn homebrew required a mod chip—which largely aren’t produced anymore—and burning CDs for the Saturn to read. “We can probably do better,” he said. Thus, he went down a rabbit hole requiring years of reverse engineering. The reason it’s so notoriously hard to crack the Saturn is because of its hardware-based DRM, which required discs to have a physical mark—called a wobble—that was etched into the CD. Laird-Wah had to figure out a way for the Saturn to tell him out the disc drive worked, then come up with software that would allow him to emulate the disc drive over USB. This isn’t something you can buy yet; Laird-Wah is working out the kinks. Still, it’s a promising move towards revitalizing the Saturn community and ensuring the native hardware can be used to play games for years to come. http://kotaku.com/after-20-years-someone-cracked-the-sega-saturns-drm-1783480023 Edited July 12, 2016 by Parallax Scroll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayik Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 This will be the 2nd solution. Already released is the Saturn Rhea \ Phoebe. It uses SD cards. You can queue multiple discs. It makes all games region free. Orders for each open up every 3 months or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Gull Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 This will be the 2nd solution. Already released is the Saturn Rhea \ Phoebe. It uses SD cards. You can queue multiple discs. It makes all games region free. Orders for each open up every 3 months or so. I just wonder if it might be a cheaper solution. 130 quid for a Rhea is a bit high but a good idea nonetheless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidGameR186496 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 (edited) I hope we see more hombrew games for the saturn thanks to this,mad props for the guy. Question: has any other cd-based console been cracked? Edited July 12, 2016 by KidGameR186496 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 This will be the 2nd solution. Already released is the Saturn Rhea \ Phoebe. It uses SD cards. You can queue multiple discs. It makes all games region free. Orders for each open up every 3 months or so. Rhea has its disadvantages. First, it only works on specific Sega Saturn models. Second, it's an advanced mod meaning it's an expensive endeavor for most users (the kit is expensive, then paying someone else to mod the console is expensive too). Third, it requires the user to remove their disc drive. Not everyone wants to gut their console like this. Fourth, it's only available once every few months. This new solution will be plug and play and should work on all models. It requires no hardware modding of any kind and theoretically should be cheaper. Hopefully being cheaper with a smaller footprint will also mean it will be more readily available (similar to Krikzz's Everdrives). Rhea was a solution that was a step in the right direction, but I think this new mod will make it obsolete. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parallax Scroll Posted July 13, 2016 Author Share Posted July 13, 2016 (edited) Two more tech sites put out articles: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/07/after-20-years-a-new-hack-gets-around-the-sega-saturns-copy-protection/ http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/231612-sega-saturn-copy-protection-cracked-to-preserve-console-from-functional-extinction Edited July 13, 2016 by Parallax Scroll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoRacer Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 Without the disc drive being necessary, I'd be very interested in making a "mini" Saturn by reinstalling the chips in a new casing. Hmm... I need to get to work on things... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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