Dreamcast BBA Clone , running games in the future....a dream

[s8n]

howdy Dreamcast Scene , with the release of the Dreamcast Serial to SD Adapter being just released im thinking this concept may inspire some with what i am about to mention.

OK......

there is a genius named ' jj1odm ' he has many circuits on his website but this has caught my eye.


Its a Dreamcast BBA Clone

http://f17.aaa.livedoor.jp/~takotako/g2usb/g2bus_extender.jpg

http://f17.aaa.livedoor.jp/~takotako/g2usb/g2usb_pic.jpg

http://f17.aaa.livedoor.jp/~takotako/lan8019/lan8019_1.jpg

http://f17.aaa.livedoor.jp/~takotako/hit0300/hit0300_clone.jpg

http://f17.aaa.livedoor.jp/~takotako/bbaclone/bbaclone.jpg



i did some research and there are 2 types of Dreamcast BB Adapters........

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamcast_ ... nd_Adapter


* HIT-0400: "Broadband Adapter", the more common model, this used a Realtek 8139 chip and supported 10 and 100 Mbit speeds.

* HIT-0300: "LAN Adapter", this version used a Fujitsu MB86967 chip and supported only 10 Mbit speed. This adapter is not compatible with any Dreamcast games and worked only with the included Japanese browser disk.


I did some checking on how fast a Dreamcast GD-Rom Drive runs at......The system reads media of up to 12x maximum speed which is about 1.2 megabytes per second.


Now if you compare the BBA HIT-0300 and GD-Rom speeds.........

BBA HIT-0300 - 1.0 megabytes per second
GD-Rom Drive - 1.2 megabytes per second


This is pretty much perfect for running Dreamcast games , i think there will be no or so very very little lag in reading data.

Compared with the Serial to SD Adapter this is what we should be wishing for , the Dreamcast Serial Adapter runs at about 250 KBytes per second.



Im thinking of an app similar to the PS2 concept of Open PS2 Loader , as in using the Network feature to communicate with the BBA Clone to run isos maybe even USB 1.1 or 2.0 could be a possibility. The USB 1.1 bus speed is 12 Mbits/sec, which is about 1.5 megabytes per second.







talk it up and dream with me...........


s8n

[NJC]

I have been following the Dreamcast SD Adaptor 'scene' for quite a while now and my hopes for *fully*-playable ISO backups from an SD card have been dashed by demo videos showing that, although many can be played, the minimum cost is that you can't have music with some of the favourite fighters.. And many games simply won't load from SD card at all. There is a list and up-to-date discussion on the forums (in Russian) at http://www.dc-swat.net.ru

I'm worried that my Dreamcast collection won't be playable in the not-too-distant future with GD Rom drives dying and ageing and with no new supply of them. And I want to play my games as they have always played, not with glitches or compromises.

Your picture links appear to be broken but I will pursue researching this new thread of hope.

I wonder how much these clones would cost? I had understood previously that the Dreamcast BBA was made using proprietary parts and extremely difficult (to impossible) to replicate. I'm not sure that the cost and scarcity of the BBA was their only barrier to this sort of development in the past, though..

[Nullface]

I don't get it. It looks like a 404 page, but I can't read japanese.

Code: Select all

アクセス権がありません。

残念ながら、ファイル、掲示板、またはディレクトリにアクセスが拒否されました。
お手数ですが、ファイルやディレクトリの設定をお確かめの上、もう一度接続し直してみてください。
また、ファイルのアップロードに失敗してる場合がありますので、
お手数ですが、もう一度、アップロードしなおしてみてください。

[NJC]

Found the original page: http://f17.aaa.livedoor.jp/~takotako/g2bus.php#g2usb
Realized I'd been there before! It was in my bookmarks Scroll down to the bottom of that page to see the BBA Clone, with a very basic schematic and a picture of the thing.

What is that huge chip? I was hoping it might be done with an Arduino or something. Looks complex and expensive, and the programming is probably tough to understand... probably an expert-level project.

[gtmtnbiker]

Here are the pictures for those like me who don't want to click on the links:

G2 Bus Extender:


G2 USB:


Hit0300 Clone:


Lan8019_1:


BBA Clone:

[flamepanther]

That's pretty cool.

What really needs to happen, is someone needs to add a way to load from an IDE or SATA DVD-ROM without needing to have the Dreamcast connected to a PC, and then start manufacturing these.

[GeekMan122]

So i finally decided to register here and seeing how building a broadband adapter would be a fun thing for me to spend my free time doing i would like to try. Unfortunately all the the links i can find point to that link you gave and is no longer available. So I am kinda searching now for anything that would help out, like schematics of the original board or of that mod or something. anyways the way that the modder executed that mod is interesting but unfortunately i cant find any way to learn about it this is the only site i found that had pictures of this mod. I know this post is pretty much a year old but i am bumping it anyways

I am surprised that there's not any black market clones out but i don't know the demand for these adapters.

Using an Ide interface along with pci could open some interesting doors for the dreamcast if it becomes adopted.

[SGGG2]

Hey all, OzOnE over at Assember is making some promising headway with a CF/HD replacement for the GD-ROM

http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/sh ... hp?t=27608

Hopefully this will come to fruition.

[Anthony817]

Hey all, OzOnE over at Assember is making some promising headway with a CF/HD replacement for the GD-ROM

http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/sh ... hp?t=27608

Hopefully this will come to fruition.

Yup I was JUST going to post that!

Anyway, Denuan the Makaron Dreamcast emulator creator for PC's is working on a DODE, or Dreamcast Optical Drive Emulator.

Think WODE Jukebox for Wii, and X360Key for 360.



Progress on this is very slow.

http://dknute.livejournal.com/

Now, what the kind Gentleman above posted to on Assembler is shown on this page.



http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/sh ... 608&page=6

He has hit a few walls but has thankfuly climbed right over them. He seems to be making progress every 2-3 days and updates us just as often.