Success! My line voltage inducer works! My Saturn is currently surfing the internet using one of my other computers as a dial-up server.
Onto the next step!
Saturn and Netlink Info - Help Needed
Warp, I'm thinking a next step here, that would be a reasonable goal, and a mid-point in your project, would be to simulate a dial from one NetLink to the other. If you were able to get two NetLinks to communicate with each other directly, using a local phone cord, it would be a serious win. It would mean being able to play NetLinks together in the same house, LAN style, over a phone cord. The knowledge would most likely be beneficial to your quest.
Willing to play Bomberman, Duke Nukem 3d, Virtual On, Sega Rally. Send me a PM.
That's a really good idea. I'd had a similar idea already for a step further down the line, but yours is a lot less complex than what I'd already had planned. I have an idea on how to convince the second Netlink to pick up, and this will allow me to test it earlier in the process than I would have been able to originally. I won't be able to "listen in" on the Saturn communications via that method, though. I have another idea for that problem.
Besides, it might be cool for some people to have LAN-style play ability. I don't think it would be that hard to pull off.
Unfortunately, I have a significant problem: I don't have a second Saturn to test with. I have a friend locally who owns a couple, and I'll see if she'll let me borrow one, but if I can't get in contact with her or she won't let me, I'm out of luck. I don't have the cash flow right now to afford a second Saturn.
Besides, it might be cool for some people to have LAN-style play ability. I don't think it would be that hard to pull off.
Unfortunately, I have a significant problem: I don't have a second Saturn to test with. I have a friend locally who owns a couple, and I'll see if she'll let me borrow one, but if I can't get in contact with her or she won't let me, I'm out of luck. I don't have the cash flow right now to afford a second Saturn.
I have my Saturns, I have some of my games, I have a RasPi. Gotta put all this stuff together!
My home's in Rochester. I'm actually in a 2+2 computer science program with RIT right now. I need to complete the first two years before I can actually attend the campus, though. 
As for the system... I own two Netlinks and two copies of Sega Rally... I just don't have a second console.
As for the system... I own two Netlinks and two copies of Sega Rally... I just don't have a second console.
I have my Saturns, I have some of my games, I have a RasPi. Gotta put all this stuff together!
Wow! Amazing!
You made it work?
Can you tell us the exact configuration you got for the Saturn?
A mini-guide would be nice
I'll sure try to help you make it work totaly, that would be awesome.
You made it work on XP or 98?
You made it work?
Can you tell us the exact configuration you got for the Saturn?
A mini-guide would be nice
I'll sure try to help you make it work totaly, that would be awesome.
You made it work on XP or 98?
Games owned :
Duke Nukem 3D
Sega Rally Championship : NetLink Edition
Saturn Bomberman
Virtual On : NetLink Edition
Duke Nukem 3D
Sega Rally Championship : NetLink Edition
Saturn Bomberman
Virtual On : NetLink Edition
I used Window 98. To make my Saturn browse the internet, I used this guide:
http://dreamcast.onlineconsoles.com/php ... cwin98.php
I used the exact same settings on the Saturn that it says to use for the Dreamcast. The only difference is that some of the options are on different screens on the Dreamcast.
PlanetWeb Options Screens:
-----
Network Preferences:
Your Area Code: *blank*
ISP Phone: (I put in 123-4567, but as long as you put some phone number there, it should work)
ISP Phone 2: *blank*
Modem Init: (I changed it to AT&F0 (that's a zero, not an "o"), but it also worked with the default AT&D2&K3&C1&Q5 as well)
DNS 1: (As per the guide, 192.168.55.1)
DNS 2: (192.168.55.1)
Long Distance: *blank*
Call Waiting: *blank*
Outside Line: *blank*
Tone Dial: *checked*
Call Area Code: *not checked*
Blind Dial: *checked*
-----
General Preferences:
User Login: (I put in "DC", but it doesn't really matter as long as there's something there)
Password: (I made up a password. It's important that whatever one you choose match what you put into your computer.)
-----
How to use it: follow the instructions in the Dreamcast dial-up server guide. Prepare the dial-up server as it says to. Make sure your line voltage inducer is powered on. Tell your Saturn to connect to the internet by either giving it a URL to go to, or hitting the Connect button in the web browser's toolbar. I usually click the SEGA logo. A "Modem Messages" box will appear on the screen. As soon as it says "ATDT123-4567"* in the box, press "Allow caller access" and "Apply" on the Dial-Up Server. Make sure to hit those buttons on the server before the Saturn finishes dialing. There's a little bit of leeway afterwards, but not much.
*It says ATDT123-4567 in my case because that's the number I told my Saturn to dial for ISP Phone. Whatever number you told it to dial is what will appear in the box. A longer phone number gives you a little more time to set up the Dial-Up server on your computer.
Note: All this guide will do is let you use the internet on your Saturn. Make sure you follow the Dreamcast guide's setup exactly for all the other steps. There are other hurdles I have to get past to make the games work.
If people really want, I can write up a whole guide for the Saturn Dial-Up Server process, but there's really no difference from the Dreamcast guide that already exists.
http://dreamcast.onlineconsoles.com/php ... cwin98.php
I used the exact same settings on the Saturn that it says to use for the Dreamcast. The only difference is that some of the options are on different screens on the Dreamcast.
PlanetWeb Options Screens:
-----
Network Preferences:
Your Area Code: *blank*
ISP Phone: (I put in 123-4567, but as long as you put some phone number there, it should work)
ISP Phone 2: *blank*
Modem Init: (I changed it to AT&F0 (that's a zero, not an "o"), but it also worked with the default AT&D2&K3&C1&Q5 as well)
DNS 1: (As per the guide, 192.168.55.1)
DNS 2: (192.168.55.1)
Long Distance: *blank*
Call Waiting: *blank*
Outside Line: *blank*
Tone Dial: *checked*
Call Area Code: *not checked*
Blind Dial: *checked*
-----
General Preferences:
User Login: (I put in "DC", but it doesn't really matter as long as there's something there)
Password: (I made up a password. It's important that whatever one you choose match what you put into your computer.)
-----
How to use it: follow the instructions in the Dreamcast dial-up server guide. Prepare the dial-up server as it says to. Make sure your line voltage inducer is powered on. Tell your Saturn to connect to the internet by either giving it a URL to go to, or hitting the Connect button in the web browser's toolbar. I usually click the SEGA logo. A "Modem Messages" box will appear on the screen. As soon as it says "ATDT123-4567"* in the box, press "Allow caller access" and "Apply" on the Dial-Up Server. Make sure to hit those buttons on the server before the Saturn finishes dialing. There's a little bit of leeway afterwards, but not much.
*It says ATDT123-4567 in my case because that's the number I told my Saturn to dial for ISP Phone. Whatever number you told it to dial is what will appear in the box. A longer phone number gives you a little more time to set up the Dial-Up server on your computer.
Note: All this guide will do is let you use the internet on your Saturn. Make sure you follow the Dreamcast guide's setup exactly for all the other steps. There are other hurdles I have to get past to make the games work.
If people really want, I can write up a whole guide for the Saturn Dial-Up Server process, but there's really no difference from the Dreamcast guide that already exists.
I have my Saturns, I have some of my games, I have a RasPi. Gotta put all this stuff together!
I've done some testing, and come to some conclusions. The Saturn on the dialing end must hear a dial tone before dialing, and the Saturn on the receiving end must hear a ring tone. I don't know how many ring tones, as I've never been on the "wait" end of a Netlink game, but I'd assume it picks up after the first one. (Hint: Someone who knows please tell me; I'd like to know) The problem is, while the line voltage inducer provides enough power for the modems to communicate, it does not simulate either a dial tone or a ring tone, so the calling Saturn will never dial and the receiving Saturn will never pick up.
Unless both a dial tone and ring tone can be simulated, OR you can swap lines quickly enough (a very VERY difficult and complicated task for our purposes), I don't see any other way to do this. I'm currently working on a way to simulate these sounds for our purposes, but I'm not done yet.
If you REALLY wanted to try swapping the lines, here's my guess at how you'd proceed (note, it's only a guess... while in theory I think it should work, I can't account for what some of the equipment might do while you try this):
----------
You would need:
-A land line (having two lines would make this much easier, they can even be VOIP as long as they produce normal dial and ring tones)
-Either a buddy or a cell phone to call your land line
-A line voltage inducer *****
I'm writing this under the assumption that you have only one land line. If you had two non-VOIP lines, you could just dial your other line. =P
1) With the same game in each system, bring one of them to the "Quick Link" "Dial" screen, and one to the Quick Link "Wait" screen. We'll call these Saturns "Caller" and "Receiver" respectively.
2) Connect Caller to your land line and type in 111-1111 in the window, but do not hit Dial yet. (A nice phone number that shouldn't actually get anyone's house, I think)
3) Either have your cell phone or buddy standing by with your land line's number entered in their phone, but don't let them hit "talk" yet.
4) Hit "Dial" on the Caller system. Listen for the quiet "click" sound that your Netlink makes right before it starts dialing. Count to 3, then disconnect the phone line from Caller and plug it into Receiver's modem port. (Note: Being connected to the land line gives Caller the dial tone it needs)
5) Quickly hit "Talk" on your/your buddy's cell phone. Hopefully you won't get a busy signal. When/if Receiver acts like it's picking up, disconnect the land line from it, and immediately plug the line voltage inducer into both Caller and Receiver's Netlinks. (Note: Being connected to the land line when your line receives the phone call gives Receiver the ring tone it needs)
In theory, if everything was done quickly enough and neither modem complained that it lost signal partway through whatever it was doing and gave up, you'll probably have a working connection between your two Saturns.
----------
Anyway, that's my best guess. It probably wouldn't work very well, but I figure if you could convince Caller that it had heard a dial tone so that it started dialing, and Receiver that it heard the phone ring so that it would pick up, they'd do their little synchronization dance and act just as they would if you'd used a normal phone line. It's exactly the same theory as with the dial-up server for the PlanetWeb browser, except the PlanetWeb browser can be told to dial even if it doesn't hear a dial tone (Blind Dial), and the computer can be told to pick up without hearing a ring tone (Allow Caller Access, Apply). Since the Netlink games don't give you those options, we have to find a way to simulate the sounds for the modems, one way or another.
***** IMPORTANT! -- I have no idea what would happen to your phone line if you connected a powered line voltage inducer to it. My advice: Don't. Unless you're willing to deal with the possible risk of fire or overloading something (either your inducer or your land line, or maybe your internet connection if it's connected to your phone line in any way), I don't recommend trying it. I'm not an electronics expert, but I figure that adding power to an already powered line isn't a good idea. Your phone company would probably be upset, too. Be careful not to accidentally connect it to your land line while swapping cables.
Unless both a dial tone and ring tone can be simulated, OR you can swap lines quickly enough (a very VERY difficult and complicated task for our purposes), I don't see any other way to do this. I'm currently working on a way to simulate these sounds for our purposes, but I'm not done yet.
If you REALLY wanted to try swapping the lines, here's my guess at how you'd proceed (note, it's only a guess... while in theory I think it should work, I can't account for what some of the equipment might do while you try this):
----------
You would need:
-A land line (having two lines would make this much easier, they can even be VOIP as long as they produce normal dial and ring tones)
-Either a buddy or a cell phone to call your land line
-A line voltage inducer *****
I'm writing this under the assumption that you have only one land line. If you had two non-VOIP lines, you could just dial your other line. =P
1) With the same game in each system, bring one of them to the "Quick Link" "Dial" screen, and one to the Quick Link "Wait" screen. We'll call these Saturns "Caller" and "Receiver" respectively.
2) Connect Caller to your land line and type in 111-1111 in the window, but do not hit Dial yet. (A nice phone number that shouldn't actually get anyone's house, I think)
3) Either have your cell phone or buddy standing by with your land line's number entered in their phone, but don't let them hit "talk" yet.
4) Hit "Dial" on the Caller system. Listen for the quiet "click" sound that your Netlink makes right before it starts dialing. Count to 3, then disconnect the phone line from Caller and plug it into Receiver's modem port. (Note: Being connected to the land line gives Caller the dial tone it needs)
5) Quickly hit "Talk" on your/your buddy's cell phone. Hopefully you won't get a busy signal. When/if Receiver acts like it's picking up, disconnect the land line from it, and immediately plug the line voltage inducer into both Caller and Receiver's Netlinks. (Note: Being connected to the land line when your line receives the phone call gives Receiver the ring tone it needs)
In theory, if everything was done quickly enough and neither modem complained that it lost signal partway through whatever it was doing and gave up, you'll probably have a working connection between your two Saturns.
----------
Anyway, that's my best guess. It probably wouldn't work very well, but I figure if you could convince Caller that it had heard a dial tone so that it started dialing, and Receiver that it heard the phone ring so that it would pick up, they'd do their little synchronization dance and act just as they would if you'd used a normal phone line. It's exactly the same theory as with the dial-up server for the PlanetWeb browser, except the PlanetWeb browser can be told to dial even if it doesn't hear a dial tone (Blind Dial), and the computer can be told to pick up without hearing a ring tone (Allow Caller Access, Apply). Since the Netlink games don't give you those options, we have to find a way to simulate the sounds for the modems, one way or another.
***** IMPORTANT! -- I have no idea what would happen to your phone line if you connected a powered line voltage inducer to it. My advice: Don't. Unless you're willing to deal with the possible risk of fire or overloading something (either your inducer or your land line, or maybe your internet connection if it's connected to your phone line in any way), I don't recommend trying it. I'm not an electronics expert, but I figure that adding power to an already powered line isn't a good idea. Your phone company would probably be upset, too. Be careful not to accidentally connect it to your land line while swapping cables.
I have my Saturns, I have some of my games, I have a RasPi. Gotta put all this stuff together!
Thanks for the guide
I don't know why it didn't work for me as I did almost exactly the same thing. Maybe I pressed allow caller access a bit too late or too soon? Plus I use a USB modem instead of a line voltage simulator.
About the swapping technique, I thought about the exact same thing as you.
Sadly, I won't be home for 2 weeks, so I can't test.
Maybe I could borry my brother's netlink to try it.
Well, good luck for the testing! Having some kind of Lan Saturn games with the netlink would be awesome.
PS : The Netlink pick-up the line after one tone only for me, it picks up really fast
I don't know why it didn't work for me as I did almost exactly the same thing. Maybe I pressed allow caller access a bit too late or too soon? Plus I use a USB modem instead of a line voltage simulator.
About the swapping technique, I thought about the exact same thing as you.
Sadly, I won't be home for 2 weeks, so I can't test.
Maybe I could borry my brother's netlink to try it.
Well, good luck for the testing! Having some kind of Lan Saturn games with the netlink would be awesome.
PS : The Netlink pick-up the line after one tone only for me, it picks up really fast
Games owned :
Duke Nukem 3D
Sega Rally Championship : NetLink Edition
Saturn Bomberman
Virtual On : NetLink Edition
Duke Nukem 3D
Sega Rally Championship : NetLink Edition
Saturn Bomberman
Virtual On : NetLink Edition
I am trying to make a small program which would work that way : you press a button then it sends a line tone sound in your computer's modem (which would send it to your calling Saturn) and with another button you send a ring tone to your modem. That way it would simulate the sound so that your Saturn dials, and the other one would hear a dial tone so it would pick up the phone. Then they could communicate together and you would be able to enjoy lan-like gameplay. The only problems are : How to make your modem send sound data? and will the sound be sent on the line with an external modem without a line voltage inducer? (so since you Warp already have a line voltage inducer it's not a problem for you). We should make the program in a language that could work with Windows 98 and over, so I'm thinking about Visual Basic 6. But now I have to learn how to make the modem send sounds I want. The good news is that you don't need 2 Saturns for that since you can see if the Saturn still calls/answers with the program.
Games owned :
Duke Nukem 3D
Sega Rally Championship : NetLink Edition
Saturn Bomberman
Virtual On : NetLink Edition
Duke Nukem 3D
Sega Rally Championship : NetLink Edition
Saturn Bomberman
Virtual On : NetLink Edition
I'm already on it. I've been exploring different language options over the last couple of weeks, trying to find one that will work for me. I've ruled out one, but I'm looking at 3 others. Hopefully I'll have a program running in the next couple of days.
I'd have already tried to write a program in the language I know best, Java, except for the fact that the parts of Java that deal with modem communications are so out of date and so buggy that they're not even included or supported anymore.
I'd have already tried to write a program in the language I know best, Java, except for the fact that the parts of Java that deal with modem communications are so out of date and so buggy that they're not even included or supported anymore.
I have my Saturns, I have some of my games, I have a RasPi. Gotta put all this stuff together!
I've searched a bit, and it seems Visual Basic 6 is the best option for me since it can run in Windows 98 and I went to Cégep (we have a different school system here, but it's like not quite university, but it's after high school) in computer science and learned Visual Basic .NET there for 3 years. There is one class called TAPI (Telephony API) that can allow you to create programs such as answering machines or using your computer's modem as a phone for your house. The only problem is that I'm not quite sure how a modem picks up the line. Is it by the sound? Or it's related to some kind of electric waves? Sadly I don't have much time right now, I work in another city and I don't have access to a computer for more than 30 minutes per days. I'll try to find more informations next week when I'll return home. I think generating a phone tone should be our first goal, since it could also be used on the Dreamcast for non blind-dial games like Quake 3 Arena so that people without a local phone line could still play it using the DC-PC server.
Games owned :
Duke Nukem 3D
Sega Rally Championship : NetLink Edition
Saturn Bomberman
Virtual On : NetLink Edition
Duke Nukem 3D
Sega Rally Championship : NetLink Edition
Saturn Bomberman
Virtual On : NetLink Edition
I personally think I'm going to skip Visual Basic. Over the last day or two I played around with it, and even successfully got it to access my modem and dial up my cell phone, but I'm not particularly fond of what it's become since the days I used QBasic and GWBasic in middle school. I feel more at home with C-like languages now, having spent several years studying Java. A day or two ago I realized that TAPI is ultimately the direction I need to go in, but I think I'll be using C# to do it.
I have my Saturns, I have some of my games, I have a RasPi. Gotta put all this stuff together!