| Step 1 |
Remove the four
outer screws that hold the Dreamcast shell together. |
| Step 2 |
Locate the DC
controller port on the lower portion of the Dreamcast. |
| Step 3 |
Remove the four
screws that hold the controller port down. Detach the white colored ribbon cable (CN3)
from the Dreamcast pcboard. |
| Step 4 |
Locate the
battery on the controller port. This battery is ringed with a purple polymer and is
labeled with the manufacturer's name (Panasonic). It is directly behind the second
controller input. |
| Step 5 |
The battery is
attached to the controller port with three solder points. Your objective is to desolder
the solder point labeled with the BT1 designation on the pcboard. This point is by itself
while the other two points are in parallel. The other points are labeled "+" and
"-". A simple way to desolder this point is by flipping the controller port over
and applying your soldering iron to the solder side point and pushing the battery away
from the board as the heat melts the joint. |
| Step 6 |
Once the BT1
connection is lifted from it's recess, bend the leg of the battery upwards. NCS has
adapted a simple switch to toggle between battery and no battery but this may be not
worthwhile for most who use this swap procedure. |
| Step 7 |
Locate the GD-Rom
drive assembly. This unit should be fairly obvious to find as it looks like a CD-Rom unit.
Remove the three screws that hold the assembly to the Dreamcast pcboard. |
| Step 8 |
Locate the drive
door sensor on the upper right hand portion of the GD-Rom assembly. |
| Step 9 |
Loop a size 16
rubber band from the sensor to the little nub on the underside of the DC GD-Rom assembly.
Looping the rubber band once should provide the proper amount of tension. |
| Step 10 |
Replace the
GD-Rom assembly and screw it back in. Do the same for the controller port. Replace the
shell on top of the DC. |
| Step 11 |
Pop the lid to
the DC. Insert a game CD that matches the territory of your Dreamcast. If you have an
American DC, insert an American game or demo. |
| Step 12 |
Power up. The DC
screen will default to the time settings menu because you have removed the battery
connection. |
| Step 13 |
The game that you
have inserted will spin, and spin...and spin for about 3 minutes. Allow it to spin. After
the 3 minutes, the disc will stop. |
| Step 14 |
Remove the GD and
insert an import game into the GD-Rom drive. |
| Step 15 |
Use your joypad
to choose "Select" from the onscreen menu and press the "A" button. |
| Step 16 |
Import gaming
madness enabled... |
| Notes |
Those who
are unwilling to wait the full 3 minute spin cycle may opt to stop the GD in mid-spin and
insert the target game. This will however almost certainly destroy your delicate GD-Rom
drive eventually. This new swap method method has given us an idea for a secondary
function on the plug in mod that will stop the GD-Rom motor sooner by triggering the drive
but please await further details. The boot disc that you use will affect the performance
of this method. On an American DC, Ready 2 Rumble is a good master disc while any demo GD
is a good boot disc for a Japanese DC to play American discs. |
