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Modchip / ODE

Hardware modchips, optical-drive emulators (GDEMU/ODE) and flash/IPL mods (PicoBoot).

9 repair logs

Dreamcast VA0 motherboard with removed capacitors displayed on left, showing refurbishment work in progress on circuit board.
+39 photos

Sega — Dreamcast

Sega Dreamcast VA0 Recap, GDEMU & Mods (For a Friend)

Friend asked me to pick up a Sega Dreamcast VA0 from Japan and make it new again. Full recap, fan and optical drive lubrication, GDEMU install with the required VA0 resistor array mod (5V to 3.3V for GDEMU) and a dummy load resistor for the 12V PSU rail. Also fitted a resettable fuse and a fresh ML2032 clock battery.

Rust/corrosion
Sep 29, 20257 threads
Macro of the Panasonic FZ-1 mainboard's power-supply section, the area worst hit by capacitor leakage: an L4960 regulator, the silver inductor L31 (marked 101), surrounding SMD diodes and resistors, a red status LED and the Panasonic "MDFUP064" silkscreen, with the through-holes darkened and corroded from electrolyte damage.
+21 photos✓Successful repair

3DO Company — Panasonic FZ-1

Panasonic FZ-1 3DO: Recap & ODE (2nd, Laser Donor)

This is the Panasonic FZ-1 3DO whose laser went to save its sibling. With the drive dead anyway, a full recap and an ODE installation was the logical conclusion.

Dead laserLeaking capacitors
Dec 4, 20234 threads
Panasonic FZ-1 motherboard with multimeter probes, solder wick, and desoldering tools during PSU trace repair and recapping restoration work.
+42 photos✓Successful repair

3DO Company — Panasonic FZ-1

Panasonic FZ-1 3DO: PSU, Laser Swap & ODE (1st)

PSU repairs on this Panasonic FZ-1 3DO required bridging badly damaged traces, and a missed ceramic cap connection sent the console into a reboot loop. Sourcing a replacement laser meant buying a whole other console, but it runs now, and has since gained an ODE with SD card access through the AV expansion bay.

Dead laserPSU failureMagic smoke
Nov 16, 20226 threads
Three translucent bins wrapped in blue-glowing UV LED strips, set up for vapour-method retrobriting: they hold a Famicom shell and this Dreamcast's shell halves along with hydrogen peroxide, a red-capped peroxide bottle resting on top.
+21 photos✓Successful repair

Sega — Dreamcast

Sega Dreamcast VA0 NTSC-J: GDEMU, Recap & Dummy Load Mod

Full refurbishment of my NTSC-J Sega Dreamcast VA0: GDEMU install with the required dummy load resistor and VA0 resistor array mods, full recap, fan lube, shell clean and Aerospace 303 protectant.

Oct 27, 20224 threads
Disassembled GameCube optical drive with recapped PCB, showing green circuit board with red LED indicator and soldering iron nearby on workbench.
+18 photos✓Successful repair

Nintendo — GameCube

Nintendo GameCube DOL-101 PAL: PicoBoot + WiiKey

PAL Nintendo GameCube DOL-101 in black, with a PicoBoot install using a WiiKey as the storage interface. The mainboard turned out to have almost entirely polymer caps, making the recap a very quick affair.

Disc read error
Jul 1, 20223 threads
Open GameCube optical drive on a wooden floor showing the exposed blue disc and orange housing, with a hand pressing the lid switches that tell the console the lid is closed, testing the drive after recapping its PCB. A Sony BVM-D9H5J monitor behind shows The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
+27 photos✓Successful repair

Nintendo — GameCube

Nintendo GameCube Spice Orange: PicoBoot to FlippyDrive

My personal Nintendo GameCube (DOL-001) spice orange. Started life with a PicoBoot and later upgraded to a FlippyDrive. The optical drive also got fresh caps as part of a GameCube maintenance day.

Disc read error
Jun 30, 20225 threads
Disassembled Panasonic Q optical drive rails laid out for comparison; one 3D printed replacement rail next to original shattered rail pieces.
+26 photos⏳Work in progress

Nintendo — Panasonic Q (SL-GC10)

Panasonic Q (SL-GC10) GameCube: Drive Rails & FlippyDrive

The optical drive rails on this Panasonic Q (SL-GC10) GameCube/DVD hybrid were in pieces, so 3D-printed replacements were the first order of business. A FlippyDrive followed. Just be aware the flex cable orientation is the opposite of a regular GameCube.

Broken drive rail/gear
Jun 25, 20227 threads
Nintendo GameCube motherboard with Xeno chip installed, showing soldered connections and internal circuitry during refurbishment.
+7 photos

Nintendo — GameCube

Nintendo GameCube Recap & XenoGC Mod for Two Friends

Two Nintendo GameCubes (black and spice orange) restored for friends: Console 5 mainboard cap kit, optical drive and PSU recap, XenoGC chip and new coin cell battery holders. Wind Waker was played immediately.

Disc read error
Jun 21, 20222 threads
SNK Neo Geo CD mainboard sitting inside its shell on a blue work mat, green PCB with many integrated circuits, a white ribbon cable across the centre, and the white wire work for the Furrtek Neo Geo CD SD Loader mod running across the board, with a coin-cell save battery still fitted near the bottom edge.
+5 photos✓Successful repair

SNK — Neo Geo CD

SNK Neo Geo CD: SD Loader & F-RAM Save Mod

Two upgrades that make the SNK Neo Geo CD much more liveable: an SD loader for the games and an F-RAM upgrade to kill off the battery dependency for saves.

Battery-backed save loss
Nov 1, 20212 threads