How to Burn Dreamcast Games

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Last Updated: March 3, 2024

If you have an old Dreamcast, you may be able to play burned backup discs on it. This will help keep your original discs in pristine shape, and you can even load homemade games by burning them. In order to burn games, you'll need a few pieces of software and the right Dreamcast model.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Preparing to Burn

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1
Ensure your Dreamcast can play burned games. In order to play games that have been burned to CD, your Dreamcast must have been made before October 2000. Newer Dreamcasts have changes made to the way discs are read which prevents backed up games from playing.
- On the bottom of the Dreamcast, look for a number in a circle near the word PAL or NTSC. If the number is 0 or 1 you can play burned games. If the number is 2 or higher, you cannot play burned games.
You can find Dreamcast backup files in various locations around the internet. It is illegal to download a backup file for a game that you do not own. To find a game, perform a Google search for "game name dreamcast download".

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3
Download a program that can open RAR files (if necessary). Many Dreamcast games come in RAR archives. You'll need a program like WinRAR or the free 7-Zip to open these files and extract the actual game files.
- You can download WinRAR from rarlab.com/download.htm. The trial version will work fine for opening RAR files. You can download 7-Zip from 7-zip.org.
4
Download and install ImgBurn. ImgBurn is a freeware programs, but you'll need to ensure that you decline the extra software it tries to install. With the right add-on drivers (see the next step), ImgBurn is by far the easiest and most reliable way to burn Dreamcast games.
- You can download ImgBurn from imgburn.com.
5
Install the ImgBurn Dreamcast Drivers. These extra drivers will give ImgBurn the support to burn Dreamcast .CDI and .NRG files.
- When you extract the file, you'll see a setup file for ImgBurn and another compressed file called "cdi files for imgburn". You can ignore the setup file since you installed the newest version of ImgBurn already.
- Extract the "cdi files for imgburn". This will create a new folder with three files: pfctoc.dll, pfctoc.h, and pfctoc.lib.
- Copy the three files to C:\Program Files\ImgBurn or C:\Program Files (x86)\ImgBurn.
Use your newly-installed WinRAR or 7-Zip program to extract the game files from the RAR file. Extracting the files may give you a set of even more RAR files. If this is the case, start with the .part1 file to automatically join and extract the multiple parts.

Part 2

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Burning with ImgBurn

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Dreamcast games are burnt onto CD-R format discs. You cannot use DVDs or CD-RW discs. To ensure the best chances for your burnt games, use a high-quality disc like Memorex or Verbatim.
Alternatively, you can right-click on your file and select "Open With ImgBurn".
If you have a BIN/CUE file, select the CUE file.
This will give you the least chance of encountering an error during the burn.
This will verify the disc after burning to ensure that it was successful, but this will add extra time to the process and there's nothing you can do to fix a corrupted disc anyway.
This is the large button in the lower-left corner. Your disc will begin burning.

Part 3

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Playing the Burned Game

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Some users have reported more success if they start with the power to the system turned off before inserting the game.
If the game had two or more sessions, it is likely a self-booting game, and should start up just like a real game would. If the game shows up as an audio CD on the Dreamcast, you may need to use the Utopia Boot Disc.
You can download the image file for this disc from most Dreamcast emulation and modding sites. Chances are that the site that you downloaded your game backup file from also has the Utopia Boot Disc.
Follow the game burning instructions above to burn the Utopia Boot Disc image to your blank CD-R.^{[1]
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After the Dreamcast and Sega logos appear, you'll see the Utopia Boot Disc screen.
Remove the Utopia disc from the Dreamcast once it stops spinning.
After a moment the Utopia screen will change and your game will be booted. This may take longer than normal.

Community Q&A

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Question

ImgBurn doesn't work for the Utopia boot disk because it has multiple sessions and ImgBurn doesn't support writing with more than one. What can I do?

Community Answer

Actually Utopia boot disk CAN be burnt with Imgburn, I just did it and it booted fine in my DC which has a circled 1 on the bottom. I just followed this tutorial.

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How would this process work with multi-disk files?

Community Answer

Use the same steps, and whenever game asks for second disk just put it in. No need to use utopia while swapping disks.

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Should I use a CDi or a CD-R to burn the game?

Community Answer

CD-R. Always CD-R for Dreamcast games. Brand name CDs are recommended too, but I've never noticed a difference with that.

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