What is this box? (Dreamcast Dev Unit? Pace Proto?)

Folks,

I came across an odd box in a thrift the other day. I have NO idea what it is. When I turn it on, it boots as if it is a Dreamcast. It will not, however, recognize any DC game disk (it looks at it and then says "Not recognized."), but it WILL play a music CD.

Some of the boards inside are silkscreened SEGA 1997. There is a custom board for controller input. Part of it hooks to a 1/8" mini plug (headphone jack) and the other part connects to a board with dipswitches and little microswitches for input (i.e., if you did not have a controller you could use this).
I have made a simple webpage with some pics (some are too low quality, ignore those). I would like to know three things (if you can):
1. What is it?
2. What are the dipswitches for and what are the settings?
3. How to get it to work?

Thanks

http://web.mac.com/mbates4/iWeb/Site/Library 3.html

 

does it sport a HKT number on the label? i can't quite read it, it is too blurry.

http://assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22804

 

Thats is one really interesting box! h:

It does bear quite a few similarities to the PACE/Sega prototype shown here:-
http://uk.gamespot.com/images/2681885/sega-and-pace-unveil-dreamcast-enabled-set-top-box/1/

As you pointed out it has built in VGA, S-Video and Composite, so it seems very likely that at least some of the dip switches must select the video modes.

Its also possible that some of the dip switches control the region setting much like the HKT-0120 dev box, which could mean that its simply set to the wrong region for your game disk. Do you have any homebrew programs on CD-R you could test? or any other region games?

Also looks like it has a practically 'built in' controller PCB with the microphone unit PCB connected by the standard VMU connector.

Theres also an RS232 port connected to the Dreamcasts serial connection by a small Sega PCB? Would be interesting to study that PCB to see 'how Sega did it' compared to the homebrew Dreamcast coders cable.

Would be great to see even more/clearer pictures :nod: (and it would be fantastic if you can dump the bios & flash if at all possible ;-))

If I had to hazard a (very rough) guess, it would be that its a karaoke system of some kind, perhaps a mix between a Drikara and a Dreamcast?

I wish thrift shops round me had such items! Do you mind if I ask how much you paid for it and which country it was found in?

 

There is no HKT number. If you look at the pic in the bottom row (center), the label is much clearer. It simply says SFL-2000P1, Serial Number 00997714
I am pretty sure the Katakana above the SFL # says "Control Unit"

 

The Japanese on the label says that it's a Control Unit. Not much use I know since that could mean anything. It is a very interesting find. How about asking the store that you bought it from if they can remember who sold it. maybe that could help you find out what it is.

Yakumo

 

I think Assembler could have hit the nail on the head right there. Seems a very good answer.

yakumo

 

Looking at the boards in more detail, you can see the one with the headphone jack says "SIP". (For those not familiar with the Dreamcast, the SIP (sound input peripheral) was used with Seaman and for voice chat in games like Alien Front Online and later Propeller Arena. As ASSEMbler pointed out, another feature it was used with it is the Dreamcall application which was accessed through a web browser.). It looks like it may be a retail unit out of its case.

The controller board is smaller and a different shape from the retail HKT-7700 board, but it's definitely a VMU connector linking the two boards together. The interesting thing is I don't see the Maple interface board (the board that traditionally has the four controller ports). It's possible the board the bundle of wires from the controller board connects to (board behind the power supply) contains that interface, but if you look closely you can see a purple cable connected to it that goes under the VGA board. MacRorie, would it be possible to let us know where that leads to?

If the Maple interface is built into the board by the power supply, the dip switches might toggle things like which controller port the controller is using, etc.

The main board is just a retail board and you should find a GD-ROM interface board attached to it if you remove it and look at the other side.

The board you see with the two ribbon cables is almost the same type used in the Katana (board on top of the GD-ROM unit). It's just missing a few connectors the Katana version has, but you can see the areas where they can be soldered on.

Finally, the two boards connected to the main board via the black cables are just as you'd expect: a video interface (VGA / s-video in this case) and the other is a RS-232 serial interface. The odd thing is that there doesn't appear to be anything connected to the G2 bus, so if it was used for internet connections, they would have had to use the serial interface to connect an external modem and would mean any software used would unfortunately be custom made for the unit. It's odd that it won't boot retail games. Maybe it was built that way to discourage visitors from removing the disc to use in their machines?

Thanks for sharing MacRorie, a very interesting find!


Edit: Here is a picture I put together of my SIP. Both were made in 1999, however mine is a revision J and yours is a revision G.

 

I think the Internet Kiosk idea is correct. I found the controller port board underneath. Here are some more picturtes.
http://web.mac.com/mbates4/iWeb/Site/Library.html

 

Very cool. Thanks for the additional pictures to answer some of the questions. Given the complexity of the build, I wonder if SEGA had planned on expanding their service. Still odd that they would choose to use the serial port. The LAN adapter must not have been ready at the time and the closest thing they could have to instant access is through the serial port.

 

IT WORKS!! IT WORKS!!!

I am not sure if I just was not trying the disk correctly or what, but the unit DEFINITELY plays JPN DC retail games. It also plays Homebrew (I played a rousing game of 2600 asteroids on it!). Not all homebrews will load. This may be that my burns are kinda old. or because they just are funky to begin with.

So far, it will boot DC-X, but hangs when I insert a US disk. On subsequent boots, it will not even load DC-X.

I am playing with a standard controller in what would normally be port one (the 'standard setup' is still plugged into port four).

I will try the dips switches to see what happens.

 

Man, I'd love one of those things. It would make a very cool Dreamcast for under the TV along wirtht he DVD player and digital box.

Yakumo

 

Awesome find. Congrats.

 

Amazing discovery my friend. :clap:
Is there any possible way to get a BIOS dump from this system. Any help is appreciated. :thumbsup:

 

Very cool. So the thrift you found this at, was it in the U.S., Europe, Japan? It's sad really there internet cafes didn't really take off.

I remember reading some article on ign where they went to one and it was so dead the staff there was actually excited someone showed up and showed the journalist exactly how to use everything.

Then again it seemed like a strange idea when dc wasn't really that well suited for the internet. Also any chance that we will see a video of this running?

 

i am like wow would be nice to see a video of this unit running

 

WOW! I agree w/ the rest, what a great find! Enjoy your treasure, and thanks for sharing all those internal pictures

 

It was in the United States (Calif). NO telling how it came here. I will see if I can get some video of it booting etc.

I have no idea how to dump the bios, but am willing to try if someone can give me an idea how to do so.

 

To dump the BIOS, you'll need a null serial cable (be sure to note the types of ends you'll need. It looks like the connector on the unit is a female d-sub connector, so you'll need a cable with a male connector on one end and a female connector on the other. If the connector has pins instead of holes, it's a male connector and you'll need a cable with female connectors on both ends.) and a serial port on your computer. I can post a link to a batch file for dumping both the BIOS and flash if you want to try it.

 

very interesting