Dreamcast GDEMU Mount w/SD Extender by kirillre4

Last crawled date: 3 years, 3 months ago

This is modular Dreamcast GDEMU (optical drive emulator) mounting system. It's designed to fit several criteria:
Rigidity and sturdiness;
Restoration of original airflow;
Simple to print (minimal support and overhang);
Compatibility with other mods;
Expandability
and a couple of my personal aesthetic choices - SD card loading by sliding it into the slot horizontally (imgur video) and an option to get rid of external power brick for PicoPSU/DreamPSU by installing AC/DC power supply board internally.
Here's what complete build with dual buttons and internal 12V PSU looks like:
(and also album with much more photos and commentary on this build, as a supplementary material to instructions provided below)
This build requires several extra items:

SD Card extender (20 or 40 cm ribbon reccommended). You can buy them from AliExpress/eBay, there are two main options available (see picture above) - sold without shell (right one) and with shell (left one, shell removed). Ones without shell usually have two "ears" with mounting holes. Ultimately it doesn't matter which one you pick, as this design is compatible with either option, but version without shell might require to twist the ribbon, not just fold it;
M3 threaded brass inserts (16+) (I've used 5mm ones, but you can use 3 and 4 mm ones too);
M3x6 (8+), M3x10(8+) screws (DIN7985 or similar), optionally some M3x8. Just get 20 of each, honestly.
Optional parts:
For internal AC-DC PSU build:
12V3A Power Supply (linked is the one I've used);
IEC 320 C8 PCB mounted plug (just look at the one on stock PSU, you need exactly the same one).
For dual button build:
12x12mm tactile switches with a square peg (like this one);
about 1m of electric wire;
2.54 pitch pin header male (3 pins) and either DuPont connector with 2.54 pitch (3 pins)(if you have proper tools for crimping them), or female pin header for soldering.
For single button build:
spring (30 mm uncompressed length, 5 mm outer diameter). Springs like this are very common in cheap ballpoint pens (that's exactly where I got mine, from 10-pack of ballpoint pens from dollar store). Button will work just fine without the spring, spring only adds more travel to the press.
Regarding dual button setup
I'm providing the files, because I already spent time making those, but I don't recpmmend doing this build - for all extra effort it takes, that setup is pretty much useless. If you're using GD Menu (like 99.9% GDEMU users, including me), both buttons will force console to boot back into GD Menu. Switching between disc images on SD card only works when you don't have GD Menu.
Compatibilty:
This mod should be compatible with most PicoPSU mods, stock PSU (only with [NO REAR EXT] Support), GDEMU (obviously), Noctua mod - I've tested it with this bracket. I haven't tested it with DreamPSU and DCHDMI, but I don't think there would be issues with those.
Which files to print:

All files with [ALL] - those files are universal for all builds


All files with [1B] OR [2B] for single button or dual button builds respectively.

If you plan to have an internal AC-DC PSU, print BOTH [REAR EXT] (Support and 12V3A PSU mount) files. Otherwise print only [NO REAR EXT] Support.
Here's build instructions (I've also uploaded them as "Assembly instructions.zip", in case something happens to imgur versions):

Here are extra/different steps for other options:

And finally some last minute addition that is not in the photos
These 4 holes are intended for mounting extra modifications. I've provided three files with [EXT] in titles as examples - those are mounts for 20x80 protoboard.
Though in the end I've ended up with a bit more refined holder (and shortened the board to 60 mm)
I'm using the board to break out 5V and 12V lines from PicoPSU (mostly for planned extra fans and this mod ).