Using the Serial port reader as ram cache DOOMDC 640x480proof off concept

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Ian Micheal
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Using the Serial port reader as ram cache DOOMDC 640x480proof off concept

Post#1 » Fri May 28, 2021 5:36 am


Read write direct support it does not use the cdi other then to boot the sd card no dreamshell needed.. write support is using it as a ram cache read support direct outside the cdi to load doom mods music etc

RAM CACHE SD parallelism DOOM FULL STEREO SOUND CDDA LOADING 2 PLACES AT ONCE TECH DEMO DREAMCAST


640x480 HI res allowing it to be faster you can even see when the ram cache speeds it up slightly.. Since not using RAM as the cache like the normal port we have more room for larger mods :)

I will be doing this for quake hexen and other ports of mine.. Sd card reader is needed and plugged in to use these versions.. saving for quake and hexen will be direct write to the sd card no vmu needed..

It's an Idea i have had for long time i will be doing more testing but this is reading all the files direct on the sd card not the sd iso and writing to the sd card for caching sound and grafix files..

Just so I'm clear this not just sd iso it writes and read to the card allow for pc like support taking a screen shot for example .. recording a demo for example..

Anything that needed to use ram to unpak you can use write space on the sd card something you cant do on gdemu etc.. but you can use gdemu and sd card reader at the same time :) This is built into each port there is no need of dreamshell boot cd... free's up any space that was being use to unzip or unpack .. Example save state on amiga emulator is to large to fit on vmu this will solve this..

uses are pretty wide please dont tell me the port is too slow pretty sick of hearing that old turkey it's the same speed as a playstation 1 cdrom drive .. Too slow for a gdrom dc game that needs 12x drive yes this really not the point of this POC

: other use loading 2 sets of files at once 1 from cdi other at the same time from the sd card
: get's by the cant stream 2 things at once due to being an optical disk.. i can stream music from the sd card while still loading or streaming a video etc
Last edited by Ian Micheal on Sat May 29, 2021 8:03 am, edited 1 time in total.

moi
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Re: Using the Serial port reader as ram cache DOOMDC 640x480proof off concept

Post#2 » Fri May 28, 2021 6:44 am

Nice to finally see the SD-Adapter getting some love.
Aside from Shou's QuakeWorld port which allows running and even downloading mods and maps from and to the SD card I know of no other homebrew which would use the full potential of that device.

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Ian Micheal
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Re: Using the Serial port reader as ram cache DOOMDC 640x480proof off concept

Post#3 » Fri May 28, 2021 7:00 am

moi wrote:Nice to finally see the SD-Adapter getting some love.
Aside from Shou's QuakeWorld port which allows running and even downloading mods and maps from and to the SD card I know of no other homebrew which would use the full potential of that device.


Indeed i dont see why not gives you that space for loading pak files and then using the gdrom cdr for streaming music .. Love to see his port one day I have some sh4 asm optimizing for it bring 5 fps just about sometimes more..

There math Optimizing for d_part and d_scan

output.png

I was able to use kazade dcprof and find what was taking time almost of it is wasted is d_sprite etc simple not using divide here and using a multi or dreamhal fast sh4 asm divide speeds quake 1 up quite a bit..

Thanks to kazade for showing me and example of how to use fmac and fast divide
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moi
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Re: Using the Serial port reader as ram cache DOOMDC 640x480proof off concept

Post#4 » Fri May 28, 2021 7:20 am

Sounds good. Do you have a higher res version of that pic?

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Ian Micheal
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Re: Using the Serial port reader as ram cache DOOMDC 640x480proof off concept

Post#5 » Fri May 28, 2021 7:25 am

Just open this in windows paint or some other program like that ..
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moi
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Re: Using the Serial port reader as ram cache DOOMDC 640x480proof off concept

Post#6 » Fri May 28, 2021 7:43 am

Thanks, I did but the function names are still unreadable.

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Ian Micheal
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Re: Using the Serial port reader as ram cache DOOMDC 640x480proof off concept

Post#7 » Fri May 28, 2021 7:49 am

moi wrote:Thanks, I did but the function names are still unreadable.

sorry wrong one

output (1).png


this one is correct should let you click then again to zoom in..

to many files with the same name :oops:

moi
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Re: Using the Serial port reader as ram cache DOOMDC 640x480proof off concept

Post#8 » Fri May 28, 2021 7:56 am

Thanks! Very interesting!

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Nico0020
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Re: Using the Serial port reader as ram cache DOOMDC 640x480proof off concept

Post#9 » Fri May 28, 2021 10:49 am

Cool! I always wanted to see more homebrew find wags to use the serial port. Iirc Sturmwind used it to save replays and potential dlc.

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Cass
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Re: Using the Serial port reader as ram cache DOOMDC 640x480proof off concept

Post#10 » Fri May 28, 2021 12:18 pm

Brilliant work Ian. Amazing to see new solutions and ways of working with the DC more than twenty years after it got cancelled. Interesting that this can in theory be used with the GDEMU. I don't understand this at s technical level but so forgive me but would this approach have a potential practical application in helping get round some of the DC limitations streaming music and generating sfx on the Mario 64 port.

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