Dream Explorer: How should I physically connect to PC?

[Elliander]

I am able to backup/restore my VMU's with the DreamConn+ Utility, but for whatever reason my PC's Bluetooth connection to it is finicky so I can't always get it to work. As such, I got "Dream Explorer" working, but I am more than a little confused regarding the "Copy to PC" option. The process is described here in their help pages under "backup a VMU to your PC" :

https://bswirl.kitsunet.org/vmutool/rel ... en&menu=on

But they totally gloss over the PC side of things. Do I just make an ethernet connection between the PC and the Dreamcast's broadband adapter? Can it be connected through a LAN? and in either case, what needs to run on the PC so that the Dreamcast can actually access the contents of the PC?

EDIT: I was able to get DreamConn+ to pair to a newer computer using the PIN: 1234 and the connection seems stronger, but I'm still curious about how the Dreamcast is supposed to physically connect to the PC.

[SEGA RPG FAN]

The basics: You load dc-load on the dreamcast then you upload the dream explorer binary using dctool to the dreamcast and optionally set the directory that the program has access to on the PC. This exposes the PC to Dream Explorer. I've only ever done it with the BBA but I believe coder's cable works too. With BBA your DC needs to be in the same network as the PC.

[Elliander]

that the program has access to on the PC

What gives the program access to the PC?

With BBA your DC needs to be in the same network as the PC.

OK, but there can be many different devices on a network, and my PC can't normally access other PC file structures just by being on the same network unless it's setup as a Network drive, so would the Dreamcast be able to see all Network drives on the network? Without anything running on the PC? To explain my confusion: Other consoles would need an FTP connection from the PC to exchange files and I'd identify it by the IP address on the network.

Since I have a wired ethernet network in my home, and since I have the BBA I'd probably take that route. Once I figure out how it's supposed to work.

[SEGA RPG FAN]

Here's how I do it:

I boot a cd of dc-load IP which gives my Dreamcast an IP address of 192.168.0.4 (there are other versions that use DHCP or ARP but I've not been able to make them work for me).

The Dreamcast then listens for a program to be uploaded over the network.

I load up dc-tool gui on my PC, configure the dreamcast IP address as the upload address, specify the root directory on my PC that the program can access, then upload the dreamexplorer binary to the dreamcast.

When loaded this way, the dreamexplorer program can access your PC.

As far as I know there is no way for the dreamcast to talk to your pc if dreamexplorer is loaded from a disc. The instructions on that page do not make that clear at all.

[SEGA RPG FAN]

Here's a better explanation I found: https://dreamcast-talk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6826