This is a long shot but there's no harm in asking. I'm trying to back up the files on my VMUs - CvS2 Replay Mode saves, mostly - before i delete them to make room for more. My old way of doing it was to get online using the Dreamcast Web Browser CD, then attach the files to an email and send it to myself. There's a (detachable) dail-up modem on the back of the console.
Well, that doesn't work anymore because Earthlink usernames now include the "@earthlink.net" bit. Most ISPs and web hosts started doing it too. For whatever reason, the DC We Browser has a limit on the number of characters allowed in usernames. Of course the "@earthlink.net" bit doesn't fit. Yahoo and Hotmail don't support POP3 access unless you give them money. I could probably create a short enough email address using my own domain name, but i'm wondering if there's another way.
Apparently this guy kefka_8dragons programmed a custom Personal Data Uploader in CGI-Perl. Unfortunately it didn't make it out of 2001 alive, and both links are now dead. I found the help file on the Internet Archive but the script files themselves are long gone.
Does anyone here have them?
Transferring Sega Dreamcast VMU Files onto PC
Re: Sega Dreamcast Help
Still nothing on the PDU front. I e-mailed the dude but no response so far.
At least i figured out why e-mail stopped working on the Dreamcast. Basically the entire ISP world decided to switch over to secure SMTP. Everyone started blocking port 25 in an attempt to prevent spam abuse and email address spoofing. Nowadays you have to change your outgoing server port number to 587. As part of the conversion to secure SMTP, all usernames must now consist of the entire email address, including the part after the @ sign.
Well, the Dreamcast Web Browser uses port 25 for e-mail transmission. At least that's my guess, because the option to change server port numbers simply does not exist in the software. There are free POP3 access providers out there such as HotPOP, but unfortunately most ISP's make it impossible to reach them. Earthlink tech support pretty much advised me to switch to another ISP, except they did it by dancing around the issue for twenty goddamn minutes while i kept reminding myself not to call some poor fuckhead a fuckhead on Christmas Eve.
At least i figured out why e-mail stopped working on the Dreamcast. Basically the entire ISP world decided to switch over to secure SMTP. Everyone started blocking port 25 in an attempt to prevent spam abuse and email address spoofing. Nowadays you have to change your outgoing server port number to 587. As part of the conversion to secure SMTP, all usernames must now consist of the entire email address, including the part after the @ sign.
Well, the Dreamcast Web Browser uses port 25 for e-mail transmission. At least that's my guess, because the option to change server port numbers simply does not exist in the software. There are free POP3 access providers out there such as HotPOP, but unfortunately most ISP's make it impossible to reach them. Earthlink tech support pretty much advised me to switch to another ISP, except they did it by dancing around the issue for twenty goddamn minutes while i kept reminding myself not to call some poor fuckhead a fuckhead on Christmas Eve.
Re: Sega Dreamcast Help
The first thing that came to my mind was the broadband adapter. I did a little searching on ebay and found out that it's ridiculously expensive. That's most likely out of the question.
I have a Nexus memory card with the cable and the software. However, I have not figured out how to use the software as it seems like hate Windows XP.
Find somebody with a dial-up service from a university. I know my mom used to get that service for free from her school (this was 2000-2004) and I used to download gamesaves from gamefaqs on my DC web browser by signing onto the school dial up (no need to tack on @ssss.edu for username). She also got free POP3 service from the school, now that I think about it. This would depend on the school obviously.
Maybe you have access to a Win98/ME PC.
http://dreamcast.onlineconsoles.com/php ... cwin98.php
Ebay gave me these links
http://cgi.ebay.com/Dreamcast-VMU-Memor ... p1638.m118
http://cgi.ebay.com/Sega-Dreamcast-Code ... p1638.m122
If you somehow manage to get online. Here's a website dedicated to Dreamcast saves. They've setup a page for Dreamcast web browsers to upload saves, which will then be saved onto their website. Surprisingly, this website isn't dead either. The last update was 3 days ago.
http://bswirl.kitsunet.org/vmu/save/pub ... en&menu=on
On the same website (Blue Swirl), there's a link to a Hotmail frontend that lets you attach Dreamcast saves to your hotmail emails.
http://bswirl.kitsunet.org/hail/?lg=en&menu=on
I also wonder if a different browser software for the DC would solve the limit on username length. There're a couple of browsers out there for the DC.
I have a Nexus memory card with the cable and the software. However, I have not figured out how to use the software as it seems like hate Windows XP.
Find somebody with a dial-up service from a university. I know my mom used to get that service for free from her school (this was 2000-2004) and I used to download gamesaves from gamefaqs on my DC web browser by signing onto the school dial up (no need to tack on @ssss.edu for username). She also got free POP3 service from the school, now that I think about it. This would depend on the school obviously.
Maybe you have access to a Win98/ME PC.
http://dreamcast.onlineconsoles.com/php ... cwin98.php
Ebay gave me these links
http://cgi.ebay.com/Dreamcast-VMU-Memor ... p1638.m118
http://cgi.ebay.com/Sega-Dreamcast-Code ... p1638.m122
If you somehow manage to get online. Here's a website dedicated to Dreamcast saves. They've setup a page for Dreamcast web browsers to upload saves, which will then be saved onto their website. Surprisingly, this website isn't dead either. The last update was 3 days ago.
http://bswirl.kitsunet.org/vmu/save/pub ... en&menu=on
On the same website (Blue Swirl), there's a link to a Hotmail frontend that lets you attach Dreamcast saves to your hotmail emails.
http://bswirl.kitsunet.org/hail/?lg=en&menu=on
I also wonder if a different browser software for the DC would solve the limit on username length. There're a couple of browsers out there for the DC.
CC that shit
Re: Sega Dreamcast Help
Couldn't you just set up a freeware mail server on your computer using the correct protocol, connect to that and email the files to yourself?
Mike Z
Mike Z
Re: Sega Dreamcast Help
It's not the mail server that causes the problem, it's the ISP blocking port 25. It's an outdated standard so it would be a temporary solution even if i were to find an ISP that allowed it. If HotPOP didn't work, then setting one up myself (which i don't know how to do) wouldn't change anything. You can attempt to talk your ISP into unblocking port 25 for you, but that's a longshot and it's incredibly frustrating cuz most of the tech support people aren't even aware that port 25 is being blocked.
A couple of members in the Dreamcast Browsers Group emailed me uploader scripts but nothing seemed to work quite the way i wanted it to. Plus i don't know anything about CGI/Perl so i don't feel entirely comfortable installing homebrew programs on my webspace.
I'm just gonna buy one of those Nexus memory cards with the PC cable and use that for all my backup needs. Apparently the 16x card is known to become unstable, but i haven't read about any problems with the 4x Nexus card. They're designed and manufactured by EMS Production Ltd. in Hong Kong. Here's the direct link to the Nexus 4M Memory Card (w/ cable) product description page.
Even though stores don't carry them anymore, it seems that EMS sells them directly. This seems to be the most practical solution available. There are even homebrew programs out there that convert between .DCI and .VMS formats.
A couple of members in the Dreamcast Browsers Group emailed me uploader scripts but nothing seemed to work quite the way i wanted it to. Plus i don't know anything about CGI/Perl so i don't feel entirely comfortable installing homebrew programs on my webspace.
I'm just gonna buy one of those Nexus memory cards with the PC cable and use that for all my backup needs. Apparently the 16x card is known to become unstable, but i haven't read about any problems with the 4x Nexus card. They're designed and manufactured by EMS Production Ltd. in Hong Kong. Here's the direct link to the Nexus 4M Memory Card (w/ cable) product description page.
Even though stores don't carry them anymore, it seems that EMS sells them directly. This seems to be the most practical solution available. There are even homebrew programs out there that convert between .DCI and .VMS formats.
Re: Sega Dreamcast Help
Somehow i have kind of a lot of Dreamcasts, but only one works properly. I've got one that doesn't work at all, but sometimes it does turn on for a few seconds. What should i do with it? I'm sure there are at least a few working parts in there, but can anyone use them?
Re: Sega Dreamcast Help
Le sigh, I haven't even checked this DC in ages to see if it's vintage or not.
God, vintage video game, why does that make me feel old.
God, vintage video game, why does that make me feel old.
Looks like Jolly Ranchers & Baskin's Sherbet.
Re: Sega Dreamcast Help
Btw if anyone goes the Nexus route, keep in mind that you'll need a USB to Serial adapter cable.
... and apparently there's no such thing as a USB to DB25 Female Serial adapter.
I hate technology.
Let's see if the HKEMS message board can help.
... and apparently there's no such thing as a USB to DB25 Female Serial adapter.
I hate technology.
Let's see if the HKEMS message board can help.
Re: Sega Dreamcast Help
Awesome.hkems wrote:DC cable supports serial DB25 port only. There is no way to use the DC cable without the serial DB25 port. No adaptor could support this.
Thanks
Damn useless piece of junk.
Re: Sega Dreamcast Help
With a little help from the good people of SRK, we cut through the misinformation and came to the conclusion that it must be a DB25 Parallel cable, not a Serial cable. So i ventured forth and purchased a Parallel PCI card, installed it, formatted my Nexus 4M Memory Card, transfered my VMU files to the Nexus, turned everything off, connected all the cables, turned on Dreamcast, turned on computer, ran the DC Linker v2.3b program, and my efforts were rewarded with ... an error message. Of course.
So not fun.
So not fun.
Re: Sega Dreamcast Help
Upon closer inspection, i noticed that no PCI Parallel Ports were showing up in Windows Device Manager nor my system BIOS. The USB ports were working, but for whatever reason the Parallel port was not. Couldn't find a workaround, so i went to a local PC store and bought another Parallel PCI card, and installed it successfully without the Serial dual-port add-on.
It showed up in Device Manager as LPT3, so i tried changing it to LPT1 and LPT2 in order to be able to access it from DC Linker v2.3b. Didn't work.
Tried to download as many older versions of DC Linker as i could find, but none of them can even run on Windows XP without instant error messages.
Set the PCI Parallel Port back to LPT3 (which required a reboot), then fooled around with a bunch of settings under the Properties window. Finally something started clicking. Right now the Filter Resource Method is set to Use any interrupt assigned the port. Under the DC Linker's Setup... menu (aka the Option menu), the Parallel Port Select is set to Custom. Everything else is on the default settings, cuz changing that stuff didn't help.
I was able to find the custom address of the Parallel port from its Properties window in Device manager. It's under the Resources tab - the first Setting number for the Resource type: I/O Range. Mine is DCD8, which i entered into the DC Linker's Custom field in the Option menu.
Tons of error messages followed, but i kept clicking through them until it finally gave me a list of files on Page 0 of the Nexus 4M Memory Card. It took nearly a minute to read the card too, so if anyone else tries this, be sure to give it time.
I have no clue if i'm ever going to be able to do this consistently or if i'm gonna have to hope to get lucky every time. But for now at least i'm content knowing that there's a chance it might possibly work. Alright i'm gonna try to transfer over all my save files now. Just wanted to write all this down before i forget it all.
It showed up in Device Manager as LPT3, so i tried changing it to LPT1 and LPT2 in order to be able to access it from DC Linker v2.3b. Didn't work.
Tried to download as many older versions of DC Linker as i could find, but none of them can even run on Windows XP without instant error messages.
Set the PCI Parallel Port back to LPT3 (which required a reboot), then fooled around with a bunch of settings under the Properties window. Finally something started clicking. Right now the Filter Resource Method is set to Use any interrupt assigned the port. Under the DC Linker's Setup... menu (aka the Option menu), the Parallel Port Select is set to Custom. Everything else is on the default settings, cuz changing that stuff didn't help.
I was able to find the custom address of the Parallel port from its Properties window in Device manager. It's under the Resources tab - the first Setting number for the Resource type: I/O Range. Mine is DCD8, which i entered into the DC Linker's Custom field in the Option menu.
Tons of error messages followed, but i kept clicking through them until it finally gave me a list of files on Page 0 of the Nexus 4M Memory Card. It took nearly a minute to read the card too, so if anyone else tries this, be sure to give it time.
I have no clue if i'm ever going to be able to do this consistently or if i'm gonna have to hope to get lucky every time. But for now at least i'm content knowing that there's a chance it might possibly work. Alright i'm gonna try to transfer over all my save files now. Just wanted to write all this down before i forget it all.
Re: Sega Dreamcast Help
It didn't work. In fact that was the closest i ever got. The very first transfer attempt failed, and i never saw another file listing like that.
Fuck it, i give up on this outdated defective relic.
Luckily i stumbled onto a handy script Hail - The web based Hotmail client. It actually works! All you gotta do is access that URL from your DC Web Browser, log in using a hotmail account, compose an email to yourself, and attach your desired VMU contents. It's almost exactly like the old e-mail feature used to function.
Of course i'm not 100% sure that the VMU files aren't somehow corrupted but at this point i don't even think i'm gonna bother testing it cuz i have no alternative method of salvaging them anyway. The file sizes are correct and the e-mails went through so that's good enough for me in my current exhausted can't-wait-to-be-done-with-this mindset. If i ever need to restore these backups, i'll cross that bridge when i reach it.
Fuck it, i give up on this outdated defective relic.
Luckily i stumbled onto a handy script Hail - The web based Hotmail client. It actually works! All you gotta do is access that URL from your DC Web Browser, log in using a hotmail account, compose an email to yourself, and attach your desired VMU contents. It's almost exactly like the old e-mail feature used to function.
Of course i'm not 100% sure that the VMU files aren't somehow corrupted but at this point i don't even think i'm gonna bother testing it cuz i have no alternative method of salvaging them anyway. The file sizes are correct and the e-mails went through so that's good enough for me in my current exhausted can't-wait-to-be-done-with-this mindset. If i ever need to restore these backups, i'll cross that bridge when i reach it.