Optical drive replacements

An optical drive replacement is a device that replaces the Dreamcast's GD-ROM drive with an alternative storage method, typically SD cards or USB storage. These devices typically use an FPGA to simulate the GD-ROM drive hardware.

GD-ROM Optical Drive Features Comparison
Device:	GDEMU	USB-GDROM	MODE	iceGDROM
price and availability	€130 euros, periodic sales done on creator's website, price includes shipping from Poland $40-$80 USD unofficial China-based clones widely available worldwide	$180 to purchase as a Paypal gift $220 to purchase with Paypal protection additional $15 for shipping from Russia to worldwide sales through creator's website	Unreleased, preorder here, ETA	DIY project
console revisions supported (none support va2 models)	va1 only (works in va0, but incorrect signal voltages may cause damage)	va0 and va1	va0 and va1	va1 only
media type	SD cards	USB 2.0 storage compatible with SATA to USB 2.0 bridges	SD, USB 2.0 SATA through built-in USB 2.0 bridge	SD cards
media capacity	officially, up to 32GB large cards like 400GB and 512GB tested and widely used	up to 2TB	???	???
menu type	officially, no menu, controlled by hardware GDMenu graphical menu is current de facto default menu	text-based menu	List view and advanced covert art views	no menu, controlled by hardware
media format	FAT32 with images specifically named and in numbered folders community tools such as GDEmu SD card creator exist to assist in creating cards	FAT32, drag and drop	???	FAT32, requires conversion to custom image format, files must be specifically numbered
image format	TOSEC GDI+BIN, GDI+ISO, CDI, CCD+IMG+SUB, MDS+MDF, ISO for homebrew disc-swapping (e.g. for emulator ROM discs)	TOSEC GDI+BIN, GDI+ISO, CDI	TOSEC GDI+BIN, GDI+ISO, CDI, CCD+IMG+SUB, MDS+MDF, Redump CUE+BIN/ISO
disc swapping	Yes, swap to next disc by pressing physical button Combined with DCDigital mod, allows swap to next disc in DCDigital menu	Yes, swap to any disc support in menu Combined with DCDigital mod, allows swap to next disc in DCDigital menu	Yes	Yes, swap to next disc by ejecting and re-inserting SD card
custom loader/bleemshell support	allows custom coded menus with direct control of console, can control of disc-swapping done through hidden API Community menus exist including GDMenu, bleemshell, OpenMenu, etc.	none	none	none
bleemcast! GT2/TK3/MGS version support	no (support requires either firmware update to enhance CCD image support, or community effort to further crack protection)	no (support requires either firmware update to enhance CCD image support, or community effort to further crack protection)	???	no (support requires either firmware improvement for image support, or community effort to further crack protection)
known bugs	Item duplication bug on Resident Evil Code Veronica (critical) Freezing during Skies of Arcadia intro menu (non-critical) D2 disc swapping bug	???	???	???