Dreamcast-Talk.com

colgate wrote:I wonder if this capability was added only in the last dev kits, it might explain why almost no games seem to use it .

Nice find about the Easter egg!

This is correct it was added in the last dev kits i can confirm this for you

I'm thinking on real using the external resource as is planned, with a external modem

If i'm not wrong and based on TapamN tests, should work, isn't?

Scrivani wrote:I'm thinking on real using the external resource as is planned, with a external modem

If i'm not wrong and based on TapamN tests, should work, isn't?

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The only thing known to readily work with an external modem connected to the serial port is DreamKey 3, so I don't see much point in doing that.

Also, the DC's serial port is part of the CPU and uses 0/3.3v logic. A normal serial port generally uses +10/-10v, or up to +15/-15v, so directly connecting the DC's serial port to a regular serial device would at best kill only the serial port, or at worst the entire CPU. You'd need something (like a coder's cable) to convert the voltage.

If you really want to use 10KB/s DreamKey over the serial port, a better way would be to try connecting it directly to the Raspberry Pi's UART pins, which are 0/3.3v like the DC. I don't know if the Pi's UART is reliable enough, since it apparently has this bizarre design where the UART clock is based on the GPU clock, so the baud rate isn't stable depending on GPU load, or something. It also doesn't support CTS/RTS. I was working on something that was using a Pi Zero to control a device over serial, and I had to use a USB-to-serial adapter to get it to work reliably.

If you do want to try that, there's a guide for setting up a serial ISP on a Raspberry Pi here.

TapamN,
The USB Coder Cable you have through FTDI PL2303 also uses 0/3.3v?

I see, is dangerous using serial port directly, maybe with some eletronic components to reduce the voltage or 1 dc coders cable and a usb to serial cable? One coming from dreamcast and another receving the usb plug of first one and being a db9 serial plug in other side to attach external modem.

Not about the useful point, but most proof of work.

Also demands BBA connected, right?

Would Dreamcast dial through this hardware modem? Looks like an interesting attempt.

Alien Front Online actually include drivers for both the BBA, modem and the serial port, as do some early versions of Outtrigger. I do believe F355 may also have support for the serial.

Also VOOT has a sample program that showcase that Voot also is serial (or rather Link cable) compatible and thus maybe not impossible.

Sleepsome wrote:Alien Front Online actually include drivers for both the BBA, modem and the serial port, as do some early versions of Outtrigger.

I remember there was talk of a "BBA" compatible build of Alien Front Online being released before the game came back online. This never happened and never heard anyone bring it up until this thread. There was a site (I forget the name now) which was about documenting and bringing games back online over 5+ years ago was where these rumors started I think. Is there any truth to this at all / did anyone ever see this build?

I came across this thread again a few days ago and decided to try some games out for myself with a modified dreampi script. AFO connects just fine. Dreamkey 3.0 worked too. Quake 3 was a no-go. I'll probably try out some more as time permits. It's pretty neat that even one game has serial support TBH.

It would be awesome if all the games supported this, a nice alternative to the internal modem.