PC-DC on Raspberry Pi and Web Software

[TheReverendGreg]

Hey internet. My name is Gregory and I’m really excited to share something I’ve been working on for over a year now. I’ve written software that will automatically connect a dreamcast to the internet via dialup through a PC-DC connection running on a raspberry pi. After you disconnect it automatically sets itself back up for another connection without any input by you. Not only this, but the really exciting part is I’ve also created a website component so that connecting through a web browser you’ll be able to upload save files to your computer, browse, and download them back. The website is pretty advanced and also allows you to extract screenshots from Phantasy Star Online and graffiti from Jet Grind Radio. I’ve also documented how I did both of these things and the information is packed into the website. There’s a bunch of information and other nice little things that I think you’ll enjoy so please give it a look and any feedback would be most welcome.

I’ve created two videos. One is introducing the project in more depth as well as the hardware I’ve used,
https://youtu.be/kjkouiBNFQU

and the other provides instructions on how to install the software on your raspberry pi as well as a quick look at the website.
https://youtu.be/iREa1kGs54k

Enjoy! And I hope everyone has an awesome day.

[pcwzrd13]

Hmmm, errm, well this is a bit awkward but this has already been done. A lot of use here have been using DreamPi for a while now. The creator, Luke Benstead, has a DNS set up for redirecting games and there's already a website called DreamPipe set up by a fellow forum member, dan1234, which hosts revived game websites and allows for VMU save uploads and downloads.

http://blog.kazade.co.uk/p/dreampi.html

[TheReverendGreg]

Awkward? That's awesome! There was so few people who had dove into this when I started, so I'm really excited to look into how they're solving some of the problems I faced. Thanks for the info.

[pcwzrd13]

Awkward? That's awesome! There was so few people who had dove into this when I started, so I'm really excited to look into how they're solving some of the problems I faced. Thanks for the info.

Well I'm glad you're not upset. I felt like telling a guy who thinks he invented an electric light source about Edison. DreamPi is very well polished at this point. It even has a service called Dreamcast Now which shows when other players are online and what game they're playing.

[TheReverendGreg]

The communal features look sweet. How are they doing uploads though? All I could find on DreamPipe was a link to BlueSwirl? Is it just a front end to BlueSwirl?

[pcwzrd13]

The communal features look sweet. How are they doing uploads though? All I could find on DreamPipe was a link to BlueSwirl? Is it just a front end to BlueSwirl?

I'm not really sure to be honest. It might not be implemented yet but I know Dan was working on it. I'm sure he'll respond if he sees this. Maybe you and Dan can work together on the website. The stuff you figured out with VMU save files is very cool.

[-drez01-]

You have some cool features here that the DreamPi software does not. It being open source is a big one of them.
The magic Jack is a great alternative to a line voltage inducer and I was going to try that myself. I like the usb to RJ11 method also. I wonder if an RJ11 to Ethernet adapter would work?
I use a usb modem that requires a 12 volt power supply cord and it works without adding any other voltage. I suspect that a PAL dreamcast would need a modem with a power supply closer to 24 volts though.
Thanks for the great ideas and for contributing to the community!

[mstar]

Nice work Have my upvotes

[kazade]

@-drez01- the Dreampi software is open source? It always has been! https://github.com/kazade/dreampi

@TheReverendGreg, I'm the author of the DreamPi software, it's a shame we didn't know about each other or we could have collaborated!

As far as I can tell we've basically accomplished the same thing. The only big difference is the DreamPi generates the dial-tone itself rather than relying on hardware which makes it cheaper to build a set up, and doesn't suffer the problem you mentioned in your video about ending the dial tone. The webpage forwarding is built-in to the DreamPi using a custom DNS server, I'm working with @dan1234 to redirect all the game sites to the replacements hosted on DreamPipe. And, yeah I invented the Dreamcast Now! service so you can see who's online and what they are playing: https://dreamcast.online/now/

The magic jack thing is quite cool, and definitely a nice option if people don't want to build a line voltage inducer themselves. Nice work!

[DR TEAMCAST]

Thanks everyone for the kind words and mentions

Since this is being discussed, a few months ago I was looking at wireless phone jacks. They plug into your electrical outlets. That may also be an alternative to line voltage induction, but it has never been tested. It would be cool if someone bought a pair to test for science

You'd plug the base unit into your wall, then the dreampi into the phone input that is supposed to go to your home's phone jack. Plug the receiving unit into another room with your Dreamcast

If you have multiple receiving units, and this worked, you could use it on multiple Dreamcasts throughout your home (though not simultaneously)