Dreamcast PSA!!! USB-GDROM firmware contains code that will brick the device after some time forcing fw update

[Anthony817]

Hey guys, just thought I would let my friends here who do own a USB-GDROM ODE that there has been some new developments made about how shady Mnemo really is. This is pretty screwed up for the owners of that device, and I felt it was my duty as a fellow DC community member to let my brothers and sisters here know.

So it seems he intentionally put in some code that will brick the device after some certain time has passed. If you haven't constantly updated the firmware since you got it, he has admitted it will eventually go kaput.

You can read the full thing here.

USB-GDROM Self-Brick Timer!?!? (not a joke)

Here's some extremely startling news that affects all users of mnemo's USB-GDROM (Dreamcast *ODE) and USB Host (3DO *ODE) products: The firmware will eventually "expire" and the device will be bricked. Seriously. This was first posted by Dreamcast fan @pcwzrd13 last August while watching a li

www.retrorgb.com

 

[BetaGuy64]

Wow, that's shady as hell.

 

[Sara]

The lowest of the low.

 

[Plavix]

WTF?

This is like the time bomb that's in the R4's for Nintendo DS.

I love my USB-GDRom , but this is very underhanded

I hope he keeps to his word and releases new FW without the time bomb?

 

[neo]

Good to know both mnemo and denuan are both heavily anti-consumer!

 

[dj898]

the maker confirmed that he will remove the offending code.
still this does not excuse him from doing so.

 

[Awbacon]

Damn. That’s like a suicide battery for an ODE

 

[keropi]

He wanted to avoid cloning apparently, what happened to gdemu
But realistically cloners don't want to start harvesting old drives to get the sega chip so this was ultimately a deterrent and gdemu got cloned.
I think he also realized that so there is no point for time bombs. Gdemu is cloned, out there, noone will bother with usb gdrom now.

 

[kabojnk]

For shame! Glad I went with GDEMU over USB-GDROM...

 

[dj898]

Damn. That’s like a suicide battery for an ODE

it's nothing new really. Remember the Capcom CPS2 suicide battery issue?

 

[Plavix]

He updated the USB-GDRom firmware. Now whether it has the time bomb out of it is unknown?

USB-GDROM_fw_19-06-06.bin

View and download from Yandex.Disk

yadi.sk

 

[Nemesis]

I wish more people would do things as open-source hardware rather than short term grabs for profit. You'll still have plenty of buyers if you want to assemble and sell them yourself, but there won't be stupidly limited stock and long wait lists, the device will last longer than one random person keeps interest in making them, and prices will be reasonable. There'd also be no need to worry about this kind of badly thought out anti-clone garbage. The gdemu being cloned is the best thing that could have happened for the community.

 

[Plavix]

I wish more people would do things as open-source hardware rather than short term grabs for profit. You'll still have plenty of buyers if you want to assemble and sell them yourself, but there won't be stupidly limited stock and long wait lists, the device will last longer than one random person keeps interest in making them, and prices will be reasonable. There'd also be no need to worry about this kind of badly thought out anti-clone garbage. The gdemu being cloned is the best thing that could have happened for the community.

It’s all about money. These kinds of practices will continue unfortunately.

 

[Taiji_mods]

Unfortunately hardware developers don't always make the best business men/ women. Sometimes it's good to work in partnership with someone who understands the business side and the target market. I'm glad he's binned the time bomb firmware idea, hopefully he can regain some confidence from end users as he is the only producer of 3DO USB hosts.

 

[Tongara]

I wish more people would do things as open-source hardware rather than short term grabs for profit. You'll still have plenty of buyers if you want to assemble and sell them yourself, but there won't be stupidly limited stock and long wait lists, the device will last longer than one random person keeps interest in making them, and prices will be reasonable. There'd also be no need to worry about this kind of badly thought out anti-clone garbage. The gdemu being cloned is the best thing that could have happened for the community.

Yeah, honestly, I don't have the time/patience to build such a device for myself, and others like myself would happily pay the author to build us one, even if it was open source.

 

[Nemesis]

Yeah, honestly, I don't have the time/patience to build such a device for myself, and others like myself would happily pay the author to build us one, even if it was open source.

And people like me will probably never pay full price to have one made up, but I'd happily drop a reasonable sum for a bare board and a couple of the harder to source components in a kit and build it on my own time. That's making money to grab some parts you're already buying at volume, and sticking them in a satchel.

 

[Tongara]

And people like me will probably never pay full price to have one made up, but I'd happily drop a reasonable sum for a bare board and a couple of the harder to source components in a kit and build it on my own time. That's making money to grab some parts you're already buying at volume, and sticking them in a satchel.

Yep, it's a win-win with both sides. It is a shame some hardware devs can't see it. Oh well~

 

[Plavix]

Well I upgraded. At least the screen color is better in black and white letters then the black and puke green.

I hope someone can check if the time bomb is still there in this new fw?

 

[cta]

I get where he's coming from wrt device clones, but still, dick move. Do those who have simply been too lazy to upgrade at least have a chance to do so after the device locks down?

 

[rey_1178]

I get where he's coming from wrt device clones, but still, dick move. Do those who have simply been too lazy to upgrade at least have a chance to do so after the device locks down?

I wonder this as well. Because of personal issues I've had all my stuff put away in a closet over 3 years. When I read about this last night it did wire me a bit. What if I now have brick sitting in my dreamcast?