Modem doesn't even attempt connection when trying online in certain games [EDIT: Only in winCE games]

[edenist]

Hi there, I've got a bit of a weird issue I'm continuing to investigate.

I have a PAL console setup to connect through dreampi [with 18V LVI cable]. Almost everything works as it should, I can connect perfectly with planetweb and in-game browsers, other games with online features also work [sonic, JSR/JGR, SF rush etc], even PSOv2 [PAL] also connects fine.

However when I try to go online with 4x4 Evo and Starlancer, it fails.

I am watching the logs coming out of my dreampi [tail -f /var/log/syslog] so I can see all of the debug info and AT commands when any modem activity takes place in working games. However when I try online with 4x4 + starlancer, there is nothing produced in the logs, which suggests these games aren't even attempting a connection at all.

I've read the notes on how certain games are particular about all fields being completed in the online setup. I have added a full phone number w/ area code [ie: 111 111-1111], as well as completing the email configuration fields, all to no luck at all.

The two considerations which I am still wondering about which may be relevant:
1 - These are NTSC games [my console is PAL]
2 - These are .cdi games.

4x4 evo only ever saw NTSC-U release, and starlancer doesn't have a PAL .cdi available as far as I can tell [believe me, I have searched far and wide..., even the EU labelled released all end up being US].

Could it be that these NTSC-U games somehow don't support a PAL modem?
Or, as part of the .cdi creation process, did any games have their online modes completely removed? [On that note, episode 1 racer, while I know there isn't a server running, when selecting online it simply crashes the game back to the DC main menu on the .cdi version].

I realise that's a dump of info, but I've reached the limits of what my own research can yield and now put it out there to others who might have some more details

Thanks!

[edenist]

Another sample to add to this one, and perhaps a common link.

The Next Tetris: Online Edition

Exact same behaviour as 4x4 + Starlancer, not even an attempt to dial out to the modem, then a timeout after a couple of minutes.

The thing these games all have in common is they are winCE games. Could this have something to do with it? Do the winCE modem libraries perhaps only work with NTSC modems?

[OlivusPrime]

I use a PAL modem and didn't have any issues connecting via a 4X4 Evolution CDI the other week, so it shouldn't be down to the modem's region.

Maybe share your full connection settings so we can see if anything's wrong?

[edenist]

Thanks for your help, much appreciated!
Here are my ISP + email settings as per Planetweb 2.6X.













Any advice appreciated on the issue! Could the issue be using Planetweb? Though changing these settings within 4x4 itself doesn't seem to make any difference.

[OniKuno]

I get issues dialling up too, but u have to keep on trying, either power off and on the console may resolve the issue. sometimes, brute force is the best way.

[SEGA RPG FAN]

You could try also configuring your ISP information with XDP. That usually works universally. The WinCE games may be trying to read an unpopulated ISP info slot. Whenever things get screwy, XDP usually fixes it for me.

[edenist]

You could try also configuring your ISP information with XDP. That usually works universally. The WinCE games may be trying to read an unpopulated ISP info slot. Whenever things get screwy, XDP usually fixes it for me.

It's been a while but I've been revisiting this again to try to solve it. The whole "slot" thing is so frustrating I must admit, mainly because different software and games treat these slots differently, and most of them only ever look at one. So far only PSO allows selection.

From what I can gather, slot 1 was supposed to be the official seganet details. Perhaps anticipated to be widely adopted and thus the default for most users? The default Planetweb browser has the two ISP slots and labels them as such, with slot 2 as "user". It seems that if slot 1 is empty then Daytona USA will have "Net Battle" greyed out, and will say you need to setup internet access. See below:



Going back to the XDP raw ISP editor, this seems to only apply to Slot 2, as per below:



Setting slot 1 settings as well in Planetweb [base or 2.6x] gets the Net Battle option back in Daytona. However the issues with connection not working in WinCE games still persists. See below screenshots from 4x4 Evo which show that 1) The ISP settings are detected, and 2) can be edited fine as well. However the zero modem activity still persists and thus connections still timeout with an error.





Despite this extra info, I'm still really confused as to what is causing this now. I have also noticed the same problem in Driving Strikers as well, so perhaps I'll reach out to the devs to see if they have any info?

Is there some common part of .cdi rips which is perhaps removed on wince games? I'm going to try get an original GD-ROM version to see if that works, because otherwise nothing else makes sense at this stage.

[deluxux]

Here is a known working CDI of The Next Tetris from NeoDC.
Burn this and try.

Code: Select all

https://archive.org/download/DC_ONLINE_CDI/The_Next_Tetris.cdi

[Scrivani]

I recommend this.

https://dreamcast.wiki/Flash_Memory_Eraser

It will bring all factory settings.

Then you do a traditional configuration via Planet Web.

[edenist]

Now that Next Tetris is up again I'll give it a go with the known working CDI.
I actually suspect this is due to components being removed from CDI rips, in which case this thread MAY have been a bit of a wild goose chase. Alas, I have still learned a lot from the experience.

I'll try grab either GD-ROM versions of the games or resort to a MODE/GDEMU and use the GDI versions to confirm.