How do I make my Dreamcast think it's 1997 again

July 21, 2011 5:45 PM

Help me get online with my Dreamcast

My husband has a Dreamcast and Version 2 of Phantasy Star Online. He is computer/internet illiterate, so this problem falls on me.

I need to get him online with this game. It's his favorite game of all time. The problem is, I have no idea how to do it.

We have DSL, and as far as I can tell, DSL is incompatible with the Dreamcast. The servers that Sega used to run for this game no longer exist. I keep finding websites that say they have private servers he can join. My problem is I have no idea how to get him to those servers. It feels like I have all the pieces, just not in the right order.

We have an Excelsus Z-blocker (found here: http://www.amazon.com/Excelsus-Z-Blocker-Z-330P2J-Single-Line-Filter/dp/B001FY3YHG) which I think I can use to turn our DSL back into Dial-up.

Does anyone have any step-by-step instructions they can share with me, or direct me to a website? I googled, but like I said, I am getting more and more confused with the information that IS out there. The instructions I have found almost seem to skip steps or assume you have already been online with your Dreamcast.

Thanks in advance!

posted by TheArpenter to Technology (10 answers total)

The official server is long dead I believe, but some private ones exist. In particular this one here has instructions and a DC support forum.
posted by Winnemac at 6:05 PM on July 21, 2011

you may or may not have more luck with a dreamcast broadband adapter, which will let you use ethernet instead of a plain old phoneline. the problem with using the standard hardware is that you'd need to get an ISP which also allows you to dialin, which is probably difficult to find at this point in any cost-effective manner.
posted by jangie at 6:05 PM on July 21, 2011

The z-blocker you listed is just a filter, that would prevent interference between DSL and voice over the same line, it will not convert your network in any way useful to what you are attempting. It sounds like you only have the modem adapter in your dreamcast. What you really need is the broadband adapter, and it's likely that all the instructions you find online assume you are starting from this point.

Unfortunately, dreamcast ethernet adapters are expensive on the used market.
posted by nomisxid at 6:07 PM on July 21, 2011

This seems like a fairly comprehensive guide.

http://dreamcast.onlineconsoles.com/phpBB2/guides_getonline.php
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 6:07 PM on July 21, 2011

Response by poster: Ok so I have an idea, tell me if I am nuts:

I go out and buy a magic jack, hook up the Dreamcast to the magic jack, hook the magic jack up to my computer, use a free dial-up service, and connect as if I am using dial up. Would that work?
posted by TheArpenter at 6:27 PM on July 21, 2011

I go out and buy a magic jack, hook up the Dreamcast to the magic jack, hook the magic jack up to my computer, use a free dial-up service, and connect as if I am using dial up. Would that work?

No.

The encoding used to send voice over IP (via the magic jack) is going to wreak holy flaming hell on the modem's encoding. Almost certainly a total no-go.

Assuming you have a plain old telephone line (not fios, not comcast voip), I actually think you should be able to find a local ISP that has dialup connections. I mean, hell, there's NetZero.

But, if you get a dialup connection, it's going to give you the regular ol' internet. I'm certain that the hacks to get on to pirate servers require fucking with the routing. You need a programmable device between your DreamCast and The Internet.

So, if you're serious about this. Here's what you fucking do. You build your own tiny dialup ISP.

Here. Do something like this: buy a regular old modem for your desktop and install a copy of Ubuntu, connect it to the dreamcast using a line simulator. That's the hardware.

Now, you need software on the computer. Uhhh... I'm sure it's something like setting up a Point-to-Point device and then doing an iptables and a dash of 1 > ipforward.

But, I'm gonna be completely honest with you here, if you thought your DSL filter was the doohickey that would make this work, you're probably not going to be able to figure this out on your own. And there's no instructions on doing this thing as a whole. You'll have to engineer it out of approximately-fitted bits.

I'd recommend you either drop the cash on the broadband adapter and follow a published guide on a private server... or, let metafilter suggest a zillion current games that your husband might geek on while he mourns the loss of an old lover.
posted by Netzapper at 6:48 PM on July 21, 2011 [2 favorites]

An easier option might be PSO: Blue Burst, which was the Windows port of the XBox version of PSO (phew!)

Obviously you won't have all the hoops to jump through to get your DC online. These guys have PSO Blue Burst up for download.

Good luck - PSO back in the day was such a fun time.
posted by Magnakai at 7:33 PM on July 21, 2011

This is kind of a crazy project. I'd advise against it unless you are really into retro hackery. I'd suggest instead going to wikipedia and seeing if there are more modern versions you can get running.
posted by chairface at 12:23 PM on July 22, 2011

Oh, and the other thing you could look at is the demi-sequel, Phantasy Star Universe.
posted by Magnakai at 4:28 PM on July 22, 2011

First off, I only registered here because I knew the answer to the question. The question now, is all on what the manufacture date on your Dreamcast, whether you have the broadband adapter or Dreamcast modem, and whether or not you are still interested in this. If you are interested, just post back here, as I will be watching this page over the next few days.
posted by bottmint at 9:14 PM on February 23, 2012