Dreamcast versions Mil-CD/Selfboot Compatibility

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Dreamcast

· 3 Mar 2018

Dreamcast versions

Version 0 = Mil-CD compatable
Version 1 = Mil CD compatable
Version 2 = Mil CD compatable & not Mil CD compatable (see dates)

Dreamcast verified versions

(1) [PAL|E] (blue swirl logo) Mil CD compatable
(0) [NTSC|U] (orange swirl logo) Mil CD compatable
(1) [NTSC|U] (orange swirl logo) Mil CD compatable
(2) [NTSC|U] (orange swirl logo) Mil CD see Dreamcast model (2) [NTSC|U] dates for more information
[NTSC|J] (orange swirl logo) Mil CD compatable

Dreamcast model (2) [NTSC|U] dates

October 2000 and earlier Mil CD compatable
November 2000 Half = Mil CD Compatable Half = Mil CD uncompatable
December 2000 and later Mil CD uncompatable

Finding the information

This information in on the under side of your Dreamcast on the lower part of the sticker. Highlighted on the left is the Manufacture date [NTSC|U] only, highlighted on the right is the version and region [PAL|E] & [NTSC|U], [NTSC|J] has no version indicated from samples given, but does state the region. The following images show you the location of the information on a [PAL|E], [NTSC|U] & [NTSC|J] console

Dreamcast NTSC-J

Dreamcast NTSC-U

Dreamcast PAL-E

Dreamcast CD Types

Standard CD 1 session DATA+CDDA [Game data plus CDDA tracks (sound tracks)]
Mil-CD 2 sessions DATA+CDDA/DATA [2 Sessions, 1^st session is a dummy track, 2^nd session is a DATA game session+CDDA tracks]
Mil-CD 2 sessions CDDA+CDDA/DATA [2 Sessions, 1^st session is a dummy CDDA track or the games CDDA tracks, the 2^nd Session has the game data in it]

Note: Standard CD's can be booted through Utopia, Utopia is a Mil-CD image that can be downloaded and burned to a standard CD-R

Mil-CD information Extended

The Dreamcast's copy protection was a new type of media called GD-ROM, consisting of a 1.5gig inner layer of game data and a outer layer of regular CD data/cdda.

The Mil-CD is a compact disc format created by the video game company Sega in 1999, the main purpose of Mil-CD was to add multimedia functions to music CDs, for use in Sega's Dreamcast games console. For example, Mil-CD music releases were to feature enhanced navigational menus, internet capabilities, and full-screen video.

The Mil-CD format allowed hackers to by-pass the Dreamcast security, allowing the creation of such utilities such as Bleem!cast the Playstation emulator, the creation of homebrew titles for the machine, and ability to boot copied games and games from other regions via the Utopia bootdisk.

Mil-CD support was removed from the final Dreamcast revision, Dreamcast version 2.

Label Examples

These are close ups of different versions of the Dreamcast from different regions, Asides from highlighting the information I also added a Mil-CD label on the top right