The first thing I wanted to do when I went to hunt for a Dreamcast, was to get it online to mess around with an original version of Phantasy Star Online or Virtua Fighter 3. Ever since getting the console though, I've met a number of roadblocks. This entry will be about listing those roadblocks out. In the future, I will have update entries detailing the progress I make on these issues.
The Dreamcast was a very forward-thinking console, but it also had to exist in the time that it did. As such, it uses a 56k Dial-up connection. My incredibly modern internet modem has no way of communicating with it. There are a few methods to remedy this, and one I plan to use.
The first method is the "official" way. Sega released a Broadband connector during the Dreamcast's lifetime. I'm not touching this one because it's mad expensive, because obviously they aren't made anymore, so there's a strictly limited supply.
the second method (and the funniest in my opinion) is to simply sign up for an ISP that offers Dial-up service. I don't think this one is actually available to me due to how my apartment has set up some sort of deal with a local ISP. It is less expensive than getting the broadband adapter, but it is also a contracted bill every month, and I have enough of those as-is.
The third one, that I actually plan to use, is to use a FAX modem that supports 56k, connect it to a raspberry Pi (or as I recently discovered, by using a virtual machine of some sort to un the same code) with Wi-Fi on it, effectively tricking the Dreamcast into dialing into my modern Wi-fi. This also isn't cheap, which is part of the issue I've run into.
All of the tutorials on DreamcastLive suggested Modems from are no longer in production. I have been told that the requirements, though, are as follows:
Now, I have my eyes on something that fits the requirements (verified by an actual product review on Amazon, no less), but it's going to be a little pricey, at around $50, but still much cheaper than getting a broadband adapter.
The thing to get then is a line-voltage inducer. The DreamcastLive shop has one for $17, so I'll probably go with that, it'll just be easier than attempting soldering for the first time since my freshmen year of high school.
The last thing to get for this project, and this is technically the least "necessary" part, is to get a raspberry pi. I can run DreamPi through my Laptop, but the little Raspberry is a much more elegant and space-efficient solution. I might also need to get a Dreamcast Web Browser disc to get some of this stuff working, as well, but that's yet to be seen.
To my Knowledge, these are the primary issues I face at this time to get the Dreamcast operating online. Since learning that I could run the DreamPi software through a Laptop, I think I may be able to get this working sooner rather than later. See you next time!