DreamPi Software (DC <> Pi)

Would be cool if you are wired directly in if you could tweak/overclock the modem to increase the dl/ul speed

Also still need to see how to fit the usb fax modem

 

I have a quick question for all DreamPi users.

I added the DNS server to the DreamPi so it makes things work seamlessly. The problem is that updating the configuration on everyone's DreamPi installation means them installing a new image.

I've recently paid for a VPS with a static IP. Would anyone object to me removing the DNS server from the DreamPi image and instead pointing to a version on my VPS? It means a central location where we can update the DNS records if necessary. I'll keep the running configuration in the DreamPi GitHub and people can send me configuration changes that may be beneficial.

Any objections? I can't think of any drawbacks, just don't know if anyone else can?

 

I think its great that you were willing to do this -- but I do have a concern with SPOF (single point of failure).
At work, we always worry about the star developer getting "hit by a bus." With the approach you've proposed, if you were to...
- Get hit by the aforementioned bus
- Lose interest and stop paying for the VPS
- Retain interest but not be able to pay for the VPS
then all the DreamPi's everywhere would stop working forever. Even if someone else picked up the baton (I would!) that static IP would likely not be available again, and all DreamPi's would need a new image.

I do like the approach -- since its most Internet-like. But if we go that way, it has to be community supported and managed so that you're not the only one paying, and so that you're not a SPOF. Maybe we could talk to the guys at Dreamcast-talk, who have kept a pretty stable service, or Silverant, about including DNS as part of their services, so that management is more distributed?

Alternatively, what about including DNSMasq.conf in the Github repo. You could cron schedule a gitpull, then run a start-up script that copies dnsmasq.conf from the distro folder to /etc/
That way every time DreamPi is rebooted, it'll have the latest configuration.
You could add more users to the GitHub repo, so that it can be managed in a more distributed fashion.

 

Yeah, however, the more auto-configuration I do in the software increases the chances of something going wrong. The best code is no code.

It doesn't quite make me a single point of failure, because the DNS IP address will be contained in the DreamPi code. On this line: https://github.com/Kazade/dreampi/blob/master/dreampi.py#L52

So basically if something did happen to me, someone could clone the code, change the number and create a new image. If I get the auto-updating of the software to work then changing the DNS location will happen automatically provided I give someone access to the updating mechanism (which I will!)

P.S. As for paying. This VPS is running already, and it's replacing my WebFaction hosting which I've had for years. The VPS is going to be there regardless of the DreamPi stuff!

P.P.S. I also forgot, there is one other advantage. Anyone can use the DNS whether they use the DreamPi software or not!

 

Sounds awesome.... now we just need a dreampi 2.0 that is built into dc modem case lol

 

@kazade, alright, I'm sold! We could do even more if there's a static VPS we can count on...game scheduling, community, etc...

@LordFenixNC, I bought an extra modem to hack at, but it turns out that $5 Pi Zero is really hard to find for less than $50...this may have to wait.

 

Well, I been checking out all the awesome Pi Zero projects people have been doing on the net and an embedded Pi Zero into the Dreamcast modem sounds so awesome! Imagine built in Wifi TOO! I know we still would have to account for the fax modem, and that might be way too hard to get all of it to fit in there but man, this project is just showing more and more potential as the hardware and software get more and more streamlined!

 

Unless you can impliment a modem in software over the GPIO pins, you are unlikely to fit a Pi zero and a USB modem into the original casing.

A pi zero should go, but without the modem as well, whats the point

 

I ripped a modem apart. As designed, there's not a lot of room. I think if I dremel out one of the screw stalks, there would be room for the Pi Zero (still can't get my hands on one), but there will still be a fair bit that has to hang external:

- A USB modem is unlikely to also fit, as mentioned, and there's only microusb on the Zero, so we'd have to hang a OTG adapter out the DC modem as well.
- Then you'd end up feeding the phone line back into the Dreamcast modem; at least you could do it with a short phone line.
- Then you'd still need USB power to the Dreamcast AND 9v power to the phone line inducer.
- Finally the WiFi hack for Pi Zero looks pretty ugly. Maybe they'll make a $10 version with Wifi already on it...

I'll check the pin outs again on the Dreamcast modem port: maybe one of them supplies enough voltage (I think it's only 5v though). If so, we could solder wire to the external connector on the modem (hard, but easier than tapping the circuit board) to get line voltage...but I wouldn't hold my breath. Someone with more skill than me could maybe refine this a little, but it's still going to end up looking like a very delicate Frankenstein...

 

A suggestion I have for that is if you guys want to use dreampipe for the community aspect, it's meant to be used on the actual dreamcast anyway. So potentially one could run their browser and be connected to an xbox live/psn equivalent for dreamcast, which has the potential to be really awesome and make the console almost better than when it was relevant. Especially with the reverse engineering of dreamarena services Kazade mentioned somewhere in this thread. I mentioned to Kazade in a message the merger could be called DreamPiPE (DreamPi Player Enviroment, as well as a spin on Valve's SteamPipe)

All of that was the idea behind DreamPipe to begin with. To have the online community contained on the actual console. But I can't code so I just heavily modified the original planetweb homepage with an html editor (Which worked quite well). I also added a BB and phpmychat which work well on planetweb. All that stuff in combination with dreamarena features like authentication, users online, private messages/invites, scheduling etc could again make for a really cool service on the actual console. Especially if the games with webpages at one time pointed to DreamPiPE, or specific sections rather than restoring the website. Which is violating copyright anyway and why i'm iffy of restoring the PSO site and finishing the SA2 site. I don't want to piss off sega

One step further could be making desktop/phone apps to coincide with the console web services. Really opening the floodgates to more players

tl;dr
Just a suggestion. It would take alot of more work, and I can't aid in any of it. But I already have a platform to do something like that

 

Could we 1 up it and remove the old modem board and emulate it???

Dreamcast thinks it has a 56k modem. But really its on ran on the pi... that would remove the need for the line simulation and could improve data speed

 

Just a quick update from me:

- Next release probably won't be for a couple of weeks. Christmas etc.
- DNS will be moving to my VPS - I'll set that up this week
- I've figured out the occasional hang on boot which stopped dreampi starting correctly, I'll fix that before 0.99
- Auto-updating might not come until 0.991 or 1.0 (I haven't decided yet) - I need to make sure that it's going to work and update my processes to take it into account
- I've written a lot of C++ async networking code over the last couple of days in preparation for the Dream Arena service. Reverse engineering will begin soon!
- I'm also doing other interesting Dreamcast related things which I'll surprise you with if they go anywhere

 

Has the voltage been cleared up yet? Can I use 9v or do I have to do 18v? Is the capacitor still the same for 18v? Just the resistor needs to be upped yeah?

Edit: Also what's the wattage of the resistors supposed to be or recommenced? I was only able to find 390 OHM resistors, at 1/4 watt and 1/2 watt. Will the extra 10 ohm make a difference?

Thanks for assistance

 

18v for PAL, 9v for others I think.
The extra 10ohm shouldn't make a difference (resistors have a 5-10% tolerance either way anyway)

 

Depending on what secrets @kazade is working on, I'd be in favor of directing all games' default websites to a DreamPiPe experience (that also contains the games original content). That should include PlanetWeb, since I'm distributing it with all DreamPi sales.
Then we could use the site for game scheduling, chat and messaging to the community.

I'm only a jr. hacker with hardware and low-level code, but I can code websites in my sleep...

And I seriously doubt Sega would have any grounds for complaint, as long as we did it right -- proper attribution, use of Internet Archive, etc...

 

@Jon dont forget to offer all dlc, special save games, and jet grind radio upload/download section for images

 

Speaking of which, @TerdFerguson, can you creat a section and host the Maximum Pool VMU savefile that enables online play? The current URLs where it can be found are very hard to get to from a Dreamcast.

I'll figure out how to direct my 0.98 users straight to DreamPiPe.net from PlanetWeb -- since the current default homepage just loads a Sega 404 page.

 

Any chance we could see Matching Service/dreamcast direct games working along side dreamarena games?? Street fighter, darkstalkers, and other online game tournaments lol.

I would kill for ut to be back online

 

The save file is already in the 'Online' section towards the bottom

This would be a really interesting subject. The matching service games ran on a service called 'KDDI'/'Dwango'. It was a telephone switching service that was used only in Japan and didn't use TCP/IP networking. According to Petter3k at dcserv it would be really difficult to do this outside of Japan due to the telephone infrastructure

Some quotes from dcserv on the subject

Petter3k

Aoeu204

Petter3k

It may be possible using the Pi to emulate the connection, then translate it to TCP/IP. But that'd probably require some really good engineering and reverse engineering skills, and likely the actual Dwango/KDDI switching board hardware. Or enough knowledge about how it worked. That is probably a whole seperate thread in itself

 

I understand... damn