Is it possible to build your own Broadband Adapter?

So, I really want a broadband adapter, but they're too damn pricey. Any way for me to build one using the shell from the modem?

 

Yes and no, jj1odm made a lan adapter (hit-300) clone (not BBA which is hit-400), however I highly doubt anybody else ever made one...

http://jj1odm.qp.land.to/g2bus.php#hit0300_clone_2

RIght under there's a work-in-progress bba clone.

FG

 

There was a guy in Japan working on doing this, but there's no easy way to go about it:

http://jj1odm.qp.land.to/g2bus.php

Seems like there's a lot of complex soldering and additional logic required for any other ethernet adapter to communicate with the bus properly, though. All the more to you if you'd like to undergo such a complicated project, but with all of the amount of time and effort required, you might as well work the extra few hours required to buy the BBA that fits comfortably in the Dreamcast.

(EDIT: lol, FamilyGuy beat me to the punch.. sorry to double-post information)

 

Eventually BBAs are going to run out and people will still want one. I say it's a good idea to work at building a good clone. After all, the GD-ROM is rather obscure and eventually they won't work at all or be fixable. Hence the push for the GD bus to HDD or SSD storage adapter. I'd buy a BBA clone and GD bus adapter in a heart beat if someone sold them.

 

Same here actually

 

ive been looking at this project (Japanese guy) is this clone any usefull for games ? or only Linux and homebrew? or can we make games use the clone if we modify games ?

I might search for a RTL8139x already

 

You can not play any games with the lan adapter but you can surf the web, dump disc, and use for development.

 

Isn't there a way that we could band together and get a Chinese replication factory to make them? Surely that's possible....

 

Yeah, and while we're at it, have them make the GD-ROM emulator many have been wanting for god-knows-how-long now...

I doubt if it is gonna happen...

 

It's possible though, right? That GD Rom emulation would make an excellent Kickstarter I reckon.... There has to be loads of Dreamcast owners who have consoles that no longer read discs who don't log into sites like this or Dreamcast-Scene/Talk.

 

Almost anything is possible if you spend enough time to fully understand what is going on and can implement it in a FPGA. The problem is that it'll take many hours to reverse engineer the BBA and implement it on a FPGA and the market for a BBA is a lot smaller than a replacement GD-ROM. As atreyu187 has previously pointed out the modem is a lot more useful for playing games online than a BBA and virtually every Dreamcast came sporting a modem. The line simulator and box to dial into to get LAN access are expensive compared to a vanilla modem though.

A kickstarter would be a good start as someone would get paid up front for not just the time and effort to come up with the VHDL for the FPGA but design the PCB and have it manufactured (which costs a LOT of money). Problem is people with these skills are usually full time employees for someone and don't have the spare time for this or even give a damn about niche markets they don't already have an interest in. I'm just starting work on a EE BS and won't be anywhere near capable of this sort of project for a few years.

 

Well if anyone reading this has the time and know how, know this: We need this stuff for the Dreamcast. If word could get spread all over the net then those in hiding will come out.

 

me think those word better have big dollar sign on 'em.
call me old cynic but that's how it works - people smell/see the money and will do something, not just word...

 

Phantasy Star Online and its version 2 could use the ethernet adaptor. That's why I got mine in the first place: I couldn't play PSO because I didn't have a dial-in Internet service to use nor an extra phone line.

 

LAN adapter and Broadband Adapter are very different items. There is nothing called "Ethernet adapter" at all.

 

"GD-EMU WANTED!!! REWARD 5000$!!!"

when someone can real say like that, i think you got even few different versions of gd-emu )))

 

a docking station for the DC might be a more worthwhile project, to include AV options aswell as line simulator modem > lan setup and GD-ROM emulation + space of a hdd or ssd and a sd card slot


but thats a pipe dream lol complete solution

 

Let's take the idea even further while we're on it.

The device interfaces with Dreamcast through the G2 bus where the modem and LAN adapter interface. The GD emulator communicates through that port for game data. It also uses that port for a combo modem and LAN adapter. Might as well as throw wi-fi in too. There's a 2.5"; 3.5" HDD slots and a SD to IDE or SATA adapter to have multiple choices for storage medium. The firmware and software for everything to work is stored on an SD connected through the serial port like is done nowadays. A cable connects to the AV port to give all possible connections for video. Composite, S video, RGB, VGA, and a converter that takes either the RGB or VGA and converts them into component.

Any takers for a Kickstarter project? I'd buy the docking system I described above in a heartbeat!

 

why not throw in a lcd screen and a battery pack to make it portable? lol

 

IMO the most great, yet realistic, design would be a gd-rom unit replacement with room for a 2.5" hdd in the unit and a usb connector accessible by opening the lid.