Linux on Sega Dreamcast

ozpass · 19-07-2002 1:43pm #1

Any Dreamcast owners out there looking to blow the dust off and do some tweaking? I've been running Linux on my Dreamcast for a while now- it's basic stuff but X works and you can use your dc controller to play old stuff in x-mame. Some hardcore kids have built their own IDE interfaces and hooked up hard disks. Should anyone be interested I can forward all my links and stuff I used to get it working.

yellum · 19-07-2002 6:50pm

Post the links, and pics too if you have them.

_sheep · 19-07-2002 7:00pm

ya this sounds interesting, post the links if you get a minute

daveirl · 19-07-2002 7:01pm

This post has been deleted.

ozpass · 22-07-2002 2:57pm

Sorry for the delay folks- I only have access to the internet at work, and I'm soooooo busy working whenever I'm there (yeah, right!)

Anyway, for those of you interested in running linux on your dreamcast:

I bought a second hand keyboard an mouse, 7EURO and 9EURO respectively secondhand from GAME. You can boot linux without 'em but you'll need at least a keyboard to actually do anything afterwards ;-D

There's a working ISO you can burn to CDR (don't use CDRW- dreamcast wont read it) at this link
http://www.fivemouse.com/dclinux.html

I got this method to work first time. If you want to get a little bit 'fruitier' and maybe include some different sources to compile, extra MAME roms etc. get your instructions from any of these links:

http://www.m17n.org/linux-sh/dreamcast/
http://linuxdc.sourceforge.net/
http://cs-people.bu.edu/artdodge/linux/dreamcast/

and MAME roms from http://www.mame.dk

If this piques your interest, some insane b**tards have built IDE interfaces to hook up hard-drives using the connector for the modem/broadband adapter. Check it out here:

http://dcdev.allusion.net/
http://dcdev.allusion.net/hdwrprj/navi/

If you want to do anything interesting (Dreamcast fileserver/ROM ripper), you should really get hold of a coder's cable from Lik Sang at this address:

http://www.lik-sang.com/catalog/product_info.php?category=4&products_id=48&

Oh yeah- I almost forgot. A dreamcast VGA connector and a PC monitor will prove invaluable as the display on a TV is crap!

If anyone has any questions, post a reply to this and I'll try and get back to you.

Happy tweaking!

yellum · 22-07-2002 5:01pm

Originally posted by ozpass
and I'm soooooo busy working whenever I'm there (yeah, right!)

You don't look busy from where I sit.

ozpass · 22-07-2002 5:20pm

It's an optical illusion: I do the work of 5 men!

deco · 23-07-2002 12:02pm

Bloody cool....I'm out to hunt down me a dreamcast....

daveirl · 23-07-2002 4:29pm

This post has been deleted.

yellum · 23-07-2002 5:59pm

I thought Game had cheap ones for sale ?

daveirl · 23-07-2002 6:26pm

This post has been deleted.

ozpass · 24-07-2002 8:22am

I've seen 'em for around 50 EURO in Buy&Sell. You could also try www.ebay.co.uk ..... Some vendors are selling them for as little as £40 (GBP). I reckon you could get everything you need to get started for Euro 100-120 including VGA cable and Blank CDR's. If you live in Cork (like me), I fairly sure that the Video Games place upstairs in the Merchant's Quay Shopping Mall sells second hand consoles. Cash Convertors is another gold mine for cheap console bits, and you can haggle the price there too.

yellum · 01-08-2002 6:40pm

Another use for dreamcasts:

http://online.securityfocus.com/news/558

po0k · 01-08-2002 9:55pm

ehehehehh

Since when has there been a ethernet adapter for the DC?
CAn you hook it up to a hub/switch and play Q3 directly with other DCs and/or PCs?

What about version conflicts?

ozpass · 02-08-2002 8:51am

There was an ethernet adapter for the Dreamcast, called the Broadband Adapter (BBA). It was launched in numbers in Japan, saw limited release in the US and was scrapped for launch in Europe due to the [yep, you guessed it] lack of widespread quality broadband for the masses.

It's based on the Realtek 8139C. I'm in the process of trying to buy one from US ebay.com, but keep getting outbid at the last minute. As soon as I do get one, I'll be ripping it apart and putting the design on the internet. As RTL 8139 (A/B/C) is largely an all-on-one-chip solution I can't see it being terribly complicated.

po0k · 04-08-2002 5:19pm

It interfaced using USB didn't it?

What about one of those USB ethernet adapters?

ozpass · 06-08-2002 8:44am

As far as I'm aware (but could be wrong) the dreamcast doesn't use any USB hardware (the internal peripherals bus is labelled 'G-Bus) but the proprietary stuff could be a derivative (?)

ozpass · 09-08-2002 12:49pm

I'm not sure if anyone is interested in this thread anymore, but for what it's worth some guys have written a DivX/mp3 player for the Dreamcast. You can check it out at

http://www.dcdivx.com

I haven't tried it myself yet, but I'll give it a go over the weekend and get back to y'all. :cool:

PPC · 11-08-2002 7:21pm

Originally posted by ozpass
I'm not sure if anyone is interested in this thread anymore, but for what it's worth some guys have written a DivX/mp3 player for the Dreamcast. You can check it out at

http://www.dcdivx.com

I haven't tried it myself yet, but I'll give it a go over the weekend and get back to y'all. :cool:

I'm interested in getting one now after seeing that tho i could get an old PIII pc for sub 200

ozpass · 13-08-2002 2:17pm

I can't disagree with you there PPC.

This is one of those 'just because I can' projects. Like the loonies who ported MAME to Kodak digital cameras. I've got links for that too........;)

ozpass · 13-08-2002 2:20pm

P.S. I trod on my Dreamcast and broke it so a review of the DC MP3/DivX player will have to wait. D'oh!

sceptre · 13-08-2002 10:47pm

Originally posted by ozpass
P.S. I trod on my Dreamcast and broke it so a review of the DC MP3/DivX player will have to wait. D'oh!

More like threw it at the wall after the Chorus people called:D

mame on a Kodak? Crazy mothers. What next?

Linux on Sega Dreamcast

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