GD-Rom Dumping Guide (Old)

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Please verify that your drive can read GD-ROMs before you begin.


Contents

Introduction

The GD-ROM format is actually a special and customized, multisession CD format developed by Yamaha for Sega. The Dreamcast console contained a modified 12x CD-ROM reader to read the format, which contained a high-density layer. This high-density zone is very similar to normal CD data, except that it is more squeezed (like a CD-R burned with the GigaRec technology by certain real Plextor writers). The high-density zone of GD-ROM contains subcodes and raw data sectors (2352 bytes per sector), and can even can contain CDDA audio tracks.

A GD-ROM consists of two zones:

  • A low density area (the first 2 tracks)
  • A high density area (the rest of the disc).

The low denisty area can be accessed by just about any drive, while the high density portion is only accessible by COMPATIBLE drives using a technique called "hotswapping." Hotswapping basically involves pressing the escape/eject button on the drive while in use to eject-and-switch-discs ("hot swap") so that the high density portion can be reached by the ripping software.

Since the low density area is visible by just about any drive, it can be dumped in the normal way (without hotswapping). See the Main CD Dumping Guide for instructions on how to dump the low density tracks.

Because only a handful of drives are capable of reading the high-density area of a GD-ROM disc there is an on-going list of SUPPORTED or UNSUPPORTED drives are provided below. The list is a work-in-progress, so please let us know if a drive can be added to either section! :)

Lastly, there are presently two methods used to dump redump.org GD-ROMs. This guide will attempt to walk you through each method. You are free to choose whichever seems the simplest!

Method A

Software needed

Instructions

The high density area (sector 45000-549150) can be dumped as follows:

  1. Insert the audio trap disc (a disc with a hacked TOC of 99 mins audio, burn it with CloneCD or Alcohol).
  2. Use 'startstop.exe driveletter 1' to stop the drive motor.
  3. Use a pin to press the escape eject button, so the tray will eject (or remove the drive cover).. insert the gdrom and gently push the tray back (or put the drive cover back on).
  4. Now extract sector 44990 (to be sure that the offset doesn't cut off any data) - 549150 using CDRWin 'Select Sectors' with the following settings: CD Audio (2352), File Format INTEL, Error Recovery Abort, Audio Speed 1x, Read Retry Count 1.
  5. When it's done extracting, use 'ice.exe dumpfile.bin 45000' to descramble and split the dump data..

If everything went well, the dump is ready to be submitted.


Method B

COMING SOON!


Best Practices

  • Burn the Audio Trap Disc image to a CD-RW vs. a regular CD-R. CD-RWs are more durable, and are less prone to damage than a CD-R.


Troubleshooting

  • If you have a drive on the SUPPORTED list, and it doesn't work after some retries: (1) read ahead a bit (sector 60,000-x), (2) try/retry the normal range again, and (3) try removing the cover.
  • If you keep getting errors during the extraction OR if your drive fails to read the GD-ROM disc after swapping, then this most likely means that your drive isn't suitable for dumping GD-ROM discs. See the SUPPORTED/UNSUPPORTED lists below for more information.


Supported Drives

Drives that have been tested and verified as COMPATIBLE.

  • Lite-On LH-18A1H (themabus)
  • Lite-On SOHD-167T (iR0b0t, Jackal)
  • Plextor PX-W4824TA (pablogm123)
  • Samsung TSSTCorp SH-D162C (tossEAC)
  • Samsung TSSTCorp SH-D162D (iR0b0t, Jackal, tossEAC, r09, Rocknroms, nrl_quaker)


Reported Drives

Drives that have been reported as COMPATIBLE (unverified):

  • LG GCR-8522B
  • Lite-On LTD-165H
  • Lite-On SOHD-16P9S
  • NEC CDR-1901A
  • Plextor PX-708A
  • Plextor PX-755SA
  • Plextor PX-W4824TU
  • Samsung TSSTCorp TS-H192C
  • Samsung TSSTCorp TS-H352C
  • Samsung TSSTCorp TS-H353A
  • Samsung TSSTCorp TS-H353B


Unsupported Drives

Drives that have been verified as being INCOMPATIBLE:

  • ASUS CRW-5224A (axisleon)
  • ASUS DRW-24B1ST a (Enker)
  • LG BD-RE GGW-H20L (Teancum)
  • LG CED-8120B (iR0b0t)
  • LG GCC4482B (Enker)
  • LG GDR-8164B (iR0b0t, Rocknroms)
  • LG GSA-H10N (Enker)
  • LG GSA-H42L (iR0b0t)
  • Lite-On iHAS324-32 B (axisleon)
  • Lite-On iHBS112 2 (Enker)
  • Lite-On iHDP118 4 (Enker)
  • Pioneer DVR-103 (iR0b0t)
  • Pioneer DVD-129P (axisleon)
  • Pioneer DVR-111 (axisleon)
  • Pioneer DVR-216 (axisleon)
  • Plextor PX-116A (axisleon)
  • Plextor PX-760A (iR0b0t, Rocknroms, Jackal)
  • Toshiba SD-M1502 (iR0b0t)
  • SONY CRX140S (axisleon)
  • SONY CRX230E (nrl_quaker)
  • NEC ND-4550A (nrl_quaker)
  • TEAC CD-532S (axisleon)
  • Toshiba SD-M1502 (iR0b0t)
  • TSSTcorp SH-S202J (nrl_quaker)
  • HL-DT-ST BD-RE GGW-H20L (Teancum)


Forum

For any questions, suggestions or problems please visit the Dreamcast GD-ROM dumping topic in the forum. If you have anything to add to the dumping method or supported drives please share with us your findings.

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