Dreamcast IP.BIN Patcher

A utility to apply both region flag and region text patches to a Dreamcast IP.BIN file.

This utility will patch both the single-byte region flag(s) starting at offset 0x30 (decimal 48), and the 28-byte region text string(s) starting at offset 0x3704 (decimal 14084), inside of IP.BIN.

When rebuilding a GDI with a modified IP.BIN (e.g., shipping a translation patch), certain emulators will refuse to boot the disc image unless both of these areas are patched consistently. While using an emulator's HLE BIOS option can avoid this issue, this BIOS can sometimes lead to compatibility issues not present in the stock Dreamcast BIOS.

Note that an ODE can circumvent these region-flag consistency requirements by enabling its region-free option. However, for perfectionist's sake, and given that many are playing Dreamcast games via emulators, this utility can be helpful for those who do want to supply a region-modified IP.BIN with their patch.

Current Version

Dreamcast IP.BIN Patcher is currently at version 1.0.

Region Flags

J Japan/Taiwan/Philipines

U United States/Canda

E Europe

Example Usage

Generic usage:

ip_patch <REGION> <FILE>

Patch Japan/Taiwan/Philipines region flag and text:

ip_patch J C:\some\path\IP.BIN

Patch Japan/Taiwan/Philipines and United States/Canada region flag and text:

ip_patch JU C:\some\path\IP.BIN

Patch Japan/Taiwan/Philipines and Europe region flag and text:

ip_patch JE C:\some\path\IP.BIN

Patch Japan/Taiwan/Philipines, United States/Canada, and Europe region flag and text:

ip_patch JUE C:\some\path\IP.BIN

Patch United States/Canada region flag and text:

ip_patch U C:\some\path\IP.BIN

Patch United States and Europe region flag and text:

ip_patch UE C:\some\path\IP.BIN

Patch Europe region flag and text:

ip_patch E C:\some\path\IP.BIN