pouët.net

Hello there.

I'd like to code some demostuff on a Dreamcast someone gave me but I was not able to find a "DC Coders Cable" ready to buy on the net.
So if someone has a good address or just want me to lend/sell/give me one...I'll be interested.

Thanks in advance !

The serial cable is fairly simple to build. I unfortunately cannot give you one but all you need as a max3222 voltage converter and four capacitors. If you can't buy this chip I suggest you start taking about things that you have that have a serial ports as you're likely to find one in something.

taking about = taking apart, btw

You have no idea of how dumb I could be with a soldering iron in my hands :)

So if I can first find one ready-to-plug, that's would be my first choice... else... yes... I'll start to gather the fish and chips for a future butcher party :)

is it this chip ?
http://www.cen-fr.biz/product_info.php?cPath=1_246_307&products_id=14865

Yep, that's it. There are instructions here: http://mc.pp.se/dc/serifc.html. He used a plug to connect into the dreamcast. I didn't have that plug myself so what I ended up doing was soldering to the dreamcast board.

Hmm, eager to code on uncommon/older platform, but without the soldering skills to do your own hardware/soldering stuff, yeah, I've been there! :)

Anyway, good luck with the DC-coding!

I think I have a DC coderes cable around that I never used, gotta look for it tomorrow. Remind me about it when I'm sober. Good night.

Lord Graga I'd be interested in the DC coders cable if you still have it

Sorry norm, I gave it to Shazz. Haven't heard from him since he got it. You can maybe mail him at "shazz trsi de" and ask him if he has got it.

I mean, ask if he is done using it...

oh yes I'm using it !!!! :)
I hope to release "something" on the DC soon....

sorry Norm, but DC coding is quite fun :)

Yes, concretely, the serial port on dreamcast is in keeping with RS-232 protocol but his voltage range (+3.3V/+0V) is too low to be recognized by your computer. That's why you need a MAXIM's chip which is compatible with +3.3V/+0V and not TTL (+5V/+0V). There isn't only the max3222, MAXIM offers a lot of chips which are able to do that, like the max3237e with a baudrate up to 1Mbps or the max13235e with 3Mbps.
However, I don't know if dcload-serial (or the dreamcast) can communicate at this speed, so it would be preferable to use a MAXIM's chip with baudrate up to 250Kbps.
Take a look here: http://para.maxim-ic.com/en/results.mvp?fam=rs232&793=3.3

Meanwhile, we are always wating your prod Shazz^TRSi^MJJ :D

If someone is interested, serial cable can be easily done using "Dreamcast SD card adapter" which you can buy on eBay or Chinese taobao.com. There's also many tutorials on forum.dcswat.ru how to made it oneself.

There might be a simpler solution.
Just use a standard USB<->TTL converter, I usually use FTDI devices.
You can use TTL-232R-3V3 or a low cost CP2102 Module and directly connect it to CON1 in the following color order:

You can actually use any other USB<->TTL device, just make sure you have a connectable RTS/CTS signals.