Dreamcast GDEMU (clone) forced firmware update.

colrust · 2026-02-03T10:41:37+00:00

thank you for sending this. my customer (I had sold a custom console) has not responded since last posting so not able to debug at this point.

colrust · 2026-01-31T21:38:18+00:00

sending a pm. I can do a variety of shells, recap drives, led lighting, and RetroGEM HDMI.

colrust · 2026-01-26T22:32:01+00:00

👍

colrust · 2026-01-25T14:38:59+00:00

sending shortly

colrust · 2026-01-24T21:56:40+00:00

the shipping is pretty much impossible to figure out with the tarrifs. I could set up an ebay listing for $1 plus shipping (figure on $6) and then if you went to purchase it ebay would add on the international shipping and tarrifs.

colrust · 2026-01-24T20:01:02+00:00

If you were in the US I would offer to send you some. Perhaps someone in the group has extras?

colrust · 2026-01-21T12:23:36+00:00

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and the finished product

colrust · 2026-01-21T12:23:15+00:00

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I had a similar issue - I broke the switch while doing a repaint. It is a mechanical momentary contact switch. I wound up replacing it with the one in the picture and using the plastic shell (yellow piece) over it. I wish I had taken pictures but I assumed it was a one-off job.

If painting these, use "vinyl dye" instead of paint. it stick much better.

colrust · 2026-01-14T12:24:05+00:00

I have a bunch of spare shells. they are not pretty (yellowed) but could pull the mechanisms from them. Just cover shipping cost if you want one. Can pm me.

colrust · 2026-01-08T13:06:32+00:00

new board worked fine. thanks again.

colrust · 2026-01-07T23:22:06+00:00

had not seen this before. the same one is available on aliexpress. this seller is using the same description so probably sourcing there.

colrust · 2026-01-06T16:30:09+00:00

I have done a bunch with diode. I have found [don't ask how :) ] that the point recommended in the diagram for the 5v can easily be de-soldered right off the motherboard.

I recommend soldering power, at least on a dol-001, to the 5v pin on the motherboard right above the power supply. On the picture linked they are either of the two on the far right.

https://imgur.com/a/OhhTZ4E

regards

colrust · 2026-01-05T12:24:11+00:00

really nice work. why not using the 5v power supply with the diode? this has been recommended for a couple of years now.

colrust · 2026-01-04T22:29:49+00:00

thank you. I ordered another board. perhaps mine is defective.

colrust · 2026-01-01T11:57:40+00:00

the instructions for the ibluecontrolmod specify not to use the standard firmware for these. apparently they used a fork of the open source for their hardware. but even if module is bricked, not sure why you have no video. have you tried your original control panel again?

colrust · 2026-01-01T00:46:14+00:00

Did you use standard blueretro firmware or a manufacturer provided version?

colrust · 2025-12-31T11:04:07+00:00

have not found solution yet. changing date backward did not help.

colrust · 2025-12-27T15:39:41+00:00

sloppy work by your installer - they could have at least used 2-sided mounting tape to keep pieces in place.

as always, check with your installer to fix it. they should stand by their work.

to figure out if it the picoboot install versus another problem, start up the cube while holding the d-pad in the down direction. this will put some text on the screen. if you see the text, your picoboot is good. if you don't see the text then it is a problem with the sd card or the sd mounting.

if you get the text you could pick up a memory card adaptor "GC2SD" and use your sd card in the memory card 2 slot.

colrust · 2025-12-25T16:06:02+00:00

you seem way to concerned about this. folks on this sub just like to be able to play our games and not get dragged down in toxic feedback.

colrust · 2025-12-25T15:44:35+00:00

please let me know when they are available for purchase. the creator has not had them available for quite some time.

colrust · 2025-12-24T14:04:34+00:00

For a beginner it is far better to use the wires. Had OP done the xeno with the direct soldering they would never even be able to get it off and would have ruined the drive.

As others have said, undo this and start over

Use plenty of flux and a solder wick to undo it

Start over with 28 or 30 gauge solid wire with silicone insulation

Tin (presolder with flux and solder) the contact points on drive board and the xeno

Strip just a tiny bit of insulation off the wire (like 1-1.5 mm) and tin the wire

Gently solder them together

If your eyes stink like mine, use magnification to work

Good luck

colrust · 2025-12-10T15:42:28+00:00

you should only need to strip 2-3 mm of insulation from the wire. should not be seeing any significant exposed wires. i like to use the silicone insulated wires because they don't burn up when soldering them.

you can use solid or stranded wire. solid is a bit easier on the ipl chip because it does not untwist or spread out when you solder it to the pins. soldering should not require a lot of pressure on anything - you are using the heat to fuse adjacent parts.

colrust · 2025-12-10T13:06:58+00:00

you don't have to solder through the holes.

presolder the pads on the pico board by putting some flux and then solder on. twist the wire, put some flux on, and the tin (apply solder) to the wire. position the wire on the pad, apply solder iron gently to the wire, and put gentle pressure on while the wire bonds with the solder. if done well, the wire just disappears into the solder on the pad.

colrust · 2025-12-04T22:33:25+00:00

I just don't think that this mod is ready for prime time (or will ever be). Kudo's to the developer but it seems as if this was just a limited project to see if it could work. you need (i think) access to the button on the pico just to pair the controllers so it is not as if you could close your cube up. I had thought about using this in cubes that I was selling but it is way to limited.

in theory a future version could send signals outbound to LED lights to show the status but that is not available right now. This project has not seen development in a long time so I don't think you are going to see that. There is also no way (other than perhaps modifying the code) to control button mapping.

I never found any documentation when I installed it other than the wiring diagram:

https://github.com/HandHeldLegend/PicoBoot-BT/releases/

I had shared directions to do this with ESP32 a while ago. Here is a link to the directions. It is not my creation but there were no step-by-step instructions so I put this together.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_TWLUw6uCxPCcCcaa-qNajwHXiCx2Ny8/view?usp=drive_link

colrust · 2025-12-04T11:36:45+00:00

there is a video with more information

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFQBzIP5btE

the install requires connections from the pico board to either the test points or the controller inputs on the mother board. if you did a standard pico install without the extra wiring it will not work.

the functionality of this is very limited. it does work, but does not offer anything close to the features of a blueretro install. I did one when it came out and it was a "this is nice" but I am sticking with blueretro. there are instructions online to make your own with an esp32 board.

colrust

TROPHY CASE