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Java On Dreamcast Forges On
Anonymous Coward writes: "Yup, much to my disbelief, it looks like Planetweb are still determined to try and profit off of the dc with their new DC browser version 3.0. According to the site, 'Users will now be able to access the multimedia features on Web sites using Java and play games written in that language..." I'v given up all hope on the DC, but maby a few of you out there...." Since these are officially EOL (even if not completely out of stores), you might be able to pick up your next web-browsing toy at a yard sale.
What ever happened to the day when people would actually play games on the console gaming machine? Now your console browses the web, runs linux, makes your coffee, and does laundry!
The Dreamcast has a GD-ROM drive. Newer units have had the BIOS tweaked so as not to accept CD* media for booting, but older units read CD-R with no problem (and with a little luck and a screwdriver, can be adjusted to read CD-RW, as well).
And there's already a Linux project going on. Google is your friend.
I have both systems sitting in my house and the DC seems to be a MUCH better system. Yea the PS2 has prettier graphics but the games for it suck. I'm sorry to see the DC die like this considering it has Broadband connection for web browsing and internet games. Where is that net connection for PS2? I'm glad the development continues for this system ... it has/had so much potential!!
NetZero has announced that they will be "The first Internet solution for Atari 7800 users." Utilizing a 110 baud modem which connects to your 7800's joystick port, you will finally be able to live out your dream of surfing the net on your Atari. There will, however, be an advertising banner which takes up the top 3/4 of the screen.
It still, through numerous incarnations, has not come out with the ability to play streaming MP3's. I rarely, if ever, use my Dreamcast any more. Can't manage to burn a CD with Linux on it that'll actually boot, so I can't play with it for Linux. Got tired of the few games I had for it. I've burned a couple MP3 CDs using some of the free MP3 player software out there, which is handy, but the #1 thing I wish I could do on the DC is boot the damn thing off a CD, and play streaming music, whether off Digitally Imported or streaming off my own internal server. Then I wouldn't need to waste a Virgin WebPlayer just to play music in my living room.
/. hacker get us a DreamCast streaming OGG player. I'll gladly pay for it.
Of course most of my collection is OGG now, anyway. How about some clever
Here's a real great idea for the "net appliance" that was supposingly going to replace home PC's years back. The thing can run Linux, browse the web, run on an ethernet network, play MP3's, oh and by the way, it's a pretty decent gaming machine.
Throw that together with the fact that it's about 80 bucks brand new and tell me what you really have to complain about...?
--The space between my ears was intentionally left blank--
ok, maybe not Java related, but is about the dreamcast not being so dead as lots of you might think.
There already is linux running on the DC, with MAME, running Doom even (imagine that! an emulated game on a physical machine!) checkout this site for lots of information and useful stuff.
Long live the dreamcast!!!
Why yes, all my base are belong to you.
How did you guess?
Unfortunately, broadband never really took off on the DC. The "broadband adapter" (a modified version of a Realtek ethernet card) is supported by a grand total of six games. Not to mention that SEGA only sold them for about three months, and now they go on eBay for $120+.
Yeah, it's cool to play with Linux on them, but don't you already have 5 computers in various states of disrepair running Linux/BSD? I know I do...
Despite all this, the DC is/was a great console. Its library of titles whips the PS2 and probably will until at least the middle of next year...and it has a thriving homebrew community.
(-1, Raw and Uncut is the only way to read)
Users have not been able to download other browsers such as Netscape Communication's Navigator or Microsoft's Internet Explorer because users can only download game files and the size of the Dreamcast hard drive is limited.
Wow. I must of missed that feature when I bought my Dreamcast.
I wasn't aware the Dreamcast's HITACHI PROCESSOR wasn't a factor in running Netscape or Internet Explorer. Gee, the AMOUNT OF RAM doesn't seem to be an issue either. Or OPERATING SYSTEM support for that matter! The only issue blocking the use of these other browsers seems to be the lack of a sufficiently-large hard drive!
Well shit, if that's the case, I'm going to upgrade mine!
*pops open Dreamcast*
Err...Where's the old one?
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon? :P)
(If you can't figure out how to E-Mail me, Don't.
i plan to setup nfs so i can mount up user space, no more reburning cd after cd, i did manage to make my cd read cd-rw's, email me if you would like to know
i plan on giving licq and xchat a shot on cross compiling, but this could be nasty... unless licq has a gtk plugin? which i think it does now... i dont want to spend umpteen hours cross compiling qt...
i will send binaries with all dependencies included to the respective sites if i get any of it to work... so far the cd has worked like a dream for me...
oh also, i plan on eventualy making a dc-quake-howto... basicaly howto pop in a cd with enough standalone linux to run quake... this has many possibilities for other linux games that you can now pass onto your windows friends who own a dc
-- botsex is {grep;touch;strip;unzip;head;mount}
Some people have been asking, why Java? What's the point? The Dreamcast is dead!. In answer: lots of people still use their DC, so the more support, the better. More generally though, the DC is still a nice piece of kit.
As a gaming platform of course, the Dreamcast's days are numbered - it won't be long before the rate of release of new games declines to a trickle. Not that that should stop anyone from enjoying the many fine games already released of course!
Yet with the very low cost of the DC now, if you can find one, and the very wide distribution of information on the console, it has become a perfect, cheap platform for experimenting with embedded programming, or console game development, or even for trying out non-x86 based Unixes. Remeber that there is a version of BSD and Linux available.
The so-called 'coders cable' can provide connectivity for development, but for high speed access there is the official broadband adapter (hard to find and pricey). If you're feeling brave there has been some talk about the viability of a USB-Controller port adapter. The Maple Bus (used to connect the controllers) has been well documented.
An earlier slashdot story has already talked about a nice step-by-step for Linux on Dreamcast.
Remember the java applet that emulated the PDP-something-or-other so you could play the original Spacewars? How cool would it be 20 years from now to have a Java that emulates a dreamcast machine? Processors at that point in time should just barely be able to run the thing JDK6.5 with decent framerates.
My local Software Etc. and Electronics Boutique both have their back rooms piled high with used, working Dreamcasts. I just picked up one of the cool black ones with its controller for $50 + $10 for a six month warranty against it dying.
It comes with a modem and a browser and you can get a keyboard and mouse for it. Several companies make adapters that allow you to connect it to a monitor. You can still find the broadband (Ethernet) adapter on Ebay for about $120.
I have the base linux system up and running on it, so now I'm working on getting it to dial up an ISP and start a browser on power-up. My grandma has been putting off getting online for a long time, and now I can get her there for $50 + ISP charges. All she has to do is push the power button and she's on the web and able to email her far flung family. I'm making sure the interface is big and readable on her 35" TV.
It's pretty easy for me to get linux running on it now, and then connect to my home computer and run terminal services. Why do I do this? Because $150 for a new computer for my wife is much less than $1000 for a new low-end computer, especially when it is just used for basic productivity suite software and web browsing.
Also, the linux system is just a CD-R, so I just pop it out, and pop in a game and I'm playing Quake, or Crazy Taxi, or Ready to Rumble, or Sega NFL with no patches or incompatabilities with up to three of my friends. (All of these games are readily available used for $15 or new for $45)
obviously no deficiencies vs. no obvious deficiencies
For the simple sake it is nice to use with the broadband adaptor. Now i can play mp3's on my network through the web browser on the two tv's i have with DC's hooked up.
Can also bootup in a minute and read news, check cnn.com, view weather.com and news.com in less time it takes for a laptop to resume from power saving.
The DC is far from dead as long as these games are still playable. for 80 bucks you can't go wrong. From what i've heard expect the DC to be 59.00 by christmas. Worth that price alone for colectors.
Get a VGA adapter for your Dreamcast and then tell me which console looks better. I use the Treamcast VGA box and I would never want to switch to PS2 on a TV.
I know it doesn't answer your gripe directly, since you're looking for a streaming MP3 player, but there are several MP3 players available for the Dreamcast that will happily play a burned CD full of MP3's for you.
There's the Blaze MP3 player, which is commercial, plus some free ones. Head over to DC Copy World (although they seem to be down at the moment?), to find out about the free ones, just google search for the Blaze...
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Write one yourself. That's my plan for the dreamcast, an mp3player that can play inserted mp3 cd's or play them from a file server stuck in a closet somewhere. Of course if you don't want to write it yourself you can wait until I'm finished with mine.
I'm the big fish in the big pond bitch.
If they get Java up and running on the thing, I wonder how well the WeirdX X server would work on it. Still lackin a keyboard, but should be good enough to browse on...
-- Give me ambiguity or give me something else!
I saw it as "Java on Forgecast Dreams On".
:)
--Tom Geller, Executive Director
SpamCon Foundation
Tom Geller
If only every software maker did this...
-
Heh, me too.. I remembered ordering one earlier this year and wondering if I'd actually ever receive it (I ordered it along with a few other things, as I recall, Sega shipped everything but the Broadband adapter, and I eventually called out of concern, only to have the rep on the other end of the line attempt to restore my faith.. thankfully, it did come).
It's REALLY too bad Sega turned what was an otherwise awesome toy into a concrete brick by doing that BIOS tweak in later models (including mine, unfortunately) that disabled CD-R usability.. [sigh] I'd have liked to have seen NetBSD or Linux running on this thing. =(
All I know about Bush is I had a good job when Clinton was president.
The thing might be that "we nerds" who know java, might think that it sucks and its dead but ordinary people that wants a quick fun doesnt give a shit if its down with shockwave/flash or java or what ever plugin .. They just want to play or do what ever the applet does for them ...
yush
First let me say: I'm very active in the DC scene(s).
Broadband adapters need to be made again!
For god sakes SEGA is still making games for the DC, as they only pulled out of the hardware business. It's flat out impossible to play new games online (WSB2K2, Mars Matrix, etc) when you canceled your dial-up account 2 years ago.
As for another suggestion posted above; yes streaming mp3 support needs to be covered. The DC outputs some of the best sound I've heard on a console. *If* I could get a BBA then I would be able to stream them right of the PC. But, I've also archived all my mp3's to CD so I can already play them in the DVD player, DC and PC. BUT! Playing a shout,er,icecast stream would be great for ambient music.
The DC can be anything people want it to be. It's your all in one box. It's even got a C64 emulator.
But what can we do to resurrect this machine to above it's full glory?
[ps. i noticed on mtv the other day that they gave a few DC's away on a show - so people, of course, still love them.]
Get your Unix fortune now!
There are several possibilities:
1) Shinobi - the official Sega "OS". It's really
just a mixed low/high level API. Not an OS.
2) Dragon - WinCE for DC. This is crap. Few
people ever used it, though it was the first
winCE with direct-x.
3) Linux - it runs all right.
4) KallistiOS, it's turning back into a library now.
I've got the DC dev kit, and by FAR the Sega API is the best and easiest to use.
The copper bosses killed you, Joe. 'I never died', said he.
This is incorrect. I have a dreamcast that is brand new and it reads CDRs just fine. In fact, what the incorrect anonymous poster is referring to is about a year ago they all of a sudden changed something and all the self-booting CDRs needed to be changed to work with the new bios or whatever in the dreamcast. It was long ago resolved so there's no point in mentioning it anymore.
What did you eat today? http://www.atetoday.com/
Since everybody is complaining about the DC BBA being obscenely expensive secondhand on eBay,
here's a link to a project where you use the DC internal modem to network to a linux PC through another modem and piggybacking on that broadband.
Google is your friend.
http://www.kinox.org/articles/linuxdc.html
I find that getting the Dreamcast Broadband Adaptor is becoming increasingly difficult. For certain tasks, running linux on here would be great.
At this point I can only find this device on Ebay for inflated prices.
I believe that when the Broadband Adaptor becomes impossible to get, the Dreamcast's viability for any NOS will die. What a shame.
rhadc
I have yet to see PS2, Nintendo, or even the mighty M$oft Xbox -- in the year 2001 (or even 2002 for that matter) compete feature to feature with the Dreamcast.....Pretty sad when your only way to get online gaming with a console is to go with a machine that is (un)officially "dead". BTW -- are you PS2 fanboys online yet???
(+1 Funny) only if I laugh out loud.
Guys, you should know that dreamcasts are still in stores, and many still being sold. They may not be MAKING any more dreamcasts, Sega says.. But you can still buy NEW ones from prices around 50-90 dollars (So I've heard. I have a DC at mty place, so I don't really need to buy a new one) And many MANY stores are selling used dreamcasts for 40-60 dollars. They will still be making games for it, also. Look at Phantasy Star Online V.2. Just a couple things to look at here.
If you could figure out how to get Linux (actually, NetBSD might be a better choice here) working for it, you could easily impliment this (for the local situation at least) with NFS and a handful of shell/perl scripting.
my sig's at the bottom of the page.
Yes, there are some hacks, like the modem-to-modem hack to connect your DC through your computer, but that doesn't work if you don't have a modem in the same room as your TV (my computer is at least 100-150 feet from my TV and DC).
But a decent hack to ethernet enable my DC would make me a happy man. Supposedly bITmASTER's site had an ISA bridge for the expansion port, which you could connect an ethernet card to (though it wouldn't be compatible with games, you could at least use it with NetBSD/Linux for DC). If it was actually compatible with the BBA it would be even better. But bITmASTER's site is now missing in action and I can't find schematics or any info anywhere.
I'd spend 100 bucks on parts because this would be a great hack. Too bad I'm not enough of a hardware hacker/EE guru to do this - I'm just a CS grad who can use a soldering iron and maybe a logic probe. But if anyone out there has any bright ideas, I'm more than glad to help in any way possible.
Depends on where his boot is failing, you don't need linux to write a mp3 player for DC.
I'm the big fish in the big pond bitch.