Worth getting a Dreamcast for Linux?

M

Matrox462

Gawd
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Feb 25, 2004
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I'm thinking about getting a dreamcast to specifically use for Linux, and emulation/homebrew. Has anyone tried running Linux on their Dreamcast? Is it worthwhile even though there is no HD?

I don't know... something about turning a console into a computer is really cool. (not to mention I could port my pc games like Quake I & II, Doom, ect to dreamcast for free)

Also, is it true that the latest models before they were discontinued cannot read CD-R's?
 
www.dcemulation.com its got all the homebrew info you need. Its fun stuff, keeps me playing my Dreamcast, more than any other of the newer systems. It's worth it considering the price and the fact you can do so much with it. I think the no CD-R thing is false.

-Matt
 
Well, I don't see a point in getting an Xbox (even though it obviously will be a much better experience) when I have a PS2 that I'm quite happy with, and I really only want another console to fiddle with. Plus I like the price of $20-$30 :) plus I know if I get an Xbox, I'll be tempted to buy a ton of Xbox games!

Thanks for the dcemulation link ScreamingBroccoli!

...does Broccoli really scream? :eek: :confused:
 
Superfly3176 said:
I think it may be worth it I saw one today preowned at ebgames for 20 bucks.
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I'm kicking myself for not getting it at my ebgames when it was like $15. I doubt they have anymore since they stopped carrying DC stuff. (same thing with gamestop)
 
No problem, yes, it can scream ;). I'm just sick of people saying get an Xbox or some crap like that. You don't have to mod the dreamcast at all, its easy fun and cool. I still think the dreamcast was the best of the 128-bit consoles...
 
ScreamingBroccoli said:
No problem, yes, it can scream ;). I'm just sick of people saying get an Xbox or some crap like that. You don't have to mod the dreamcast at all, its easy fun and cool. I still think the dreamcast was the best of the 128-bit consoles...
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heh, yea, I know. There's a HUGE difference between an Xbox and a Dreamcast. I think it's awesome that the DC can play any homebrew disc without any mods. I wish the PS2 was like that! :(

I remember playing the DC when I rented the system from Blockbuster when it first came out, and that was a lot of fun! I agree that it's an excellent system, I remember wanting one so bad. :p I was playing Tokyo Extreme Racer and some other games. I ended up getting Tokyo Extreme Racer just recently for PS2, since I liked it so much.

It'll be a lot of fun to get some of the older games real cheap. It's a damn shame the broadband adapter is so rare!
 
I know, I remember when they were like $2 in a walmart clearnce bin, I should of bought em all, but instead just ignored it lol. Oh well....
 
I bought the DreamCast the day it was released and I was damn happy to (9/9/99...anyone else remember that?). Then my sister came home from being out west for awhile, and I had the mouse/keyboard combo (official from Sega...another thing missing from Sony/Microsoft) to play Quake 3 Arena. She brought back "Typing of the Dead" burnt and bootlegged...it was the first gen console so any bootleggs that worked would work on my console. I thought that game would be gay, but it was fun as hell! I remember the more stuff you killed, the harder the words were that came at you....In particular, one was "Ukrainian Sausage" :p I was laughing for like a half hour.

I actually gave it to my sister because she had a bad breakup/moved home and I wasn't using it and she played some MMO on there, so I gave her mine as a Christmas present...well now she plays MMO's on her PC so I stole back the DC awhile ago and play Worms and other fun games on there. I need to break out linux for it, but I don't have the ethernet adapter for it....did that ever come out btw? (Dreamcast was my first gateway to the internet actually with it's dialup modem already installed)
 
I was going to buy it but with prom and stuff being tomorrow I couldn't. It was just the console no accessories but still if it work great deal. I remember getting my ass kicked in soul caliber.
 
anyone have any guide or faq on writeing your own homebrew on DC? i bought a used one from a preplayed store for like $12 months ago and jus throw in jet grind radio,crazy traxi and SC every now and then
 
Get a Dreamcast just for Soul Calibur and...

There's this totally badass shooter, Mars something? Awesome game.

Anyways, I miss the Dreamcast, the controllers were my favorite even over the Sony controllers (that are also great, don't get me wrong.)
 
TheAcorn said:
Get a Dreamcast just for Soul Calibur and...

There's this totally badass shooter, Mars something? Awesome game.

Anyways, I miss the Dreamcast, the controllers were my favorite even over the Sony controllers (that are also great, don't get me wrong.)
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Ok, I'm remember to get that game :)
 
Depends on what kind of experience you want out of it... the dreamcast can't run any sort of fancy windowmanager like gnome or kde, heck i dont think it can even handle xfce... the distro that i ran on my dreamcast only gave me twm... also the thing was very slow hehe... and you'll need a broadband adapter or something along those lines to get the dc online, i'm not sure about the modem support, but i dont have a dialup account to check anything out..

one of the first things i did after setting it up was write a hello word program in c and try to compile it... it took forever and in the end gave me an out of memory error... hehe the dreamcast is not suitable for even a mediocre linux experience in my opinion... doom was included in the distro and it ran crappy... its DOOM for gods sake!

But was it cool to hook my dreamcast up to a monitor and keyboard and mouse and boot up linux on it? hell yeah. would i have gone out of my way to buy a dreamcast to do it? well probably not..

and if you wanted to get the dreamcast to have the real "feel" of a computer you'd have to spring for the dreamcast keyboard and mouse and an adapter for a computer monitor, which are cool in thier own right... its awesome to play Unreal Tournament on...

man i'm typing a lot :)

all that being said, my experience with running linux on my dreamcast was less than stellar... however, dude get a dreamcast, they're cheap and awesome... one of my favorite consoles ever... dcemulation.com has a TON of software, (linux distros aside) that are simply awesome...
 
TheAcorn said:
There's this totally badass shooter, Mars something? Awesome game.
Click to expand...

You speak of Mars Matrix, and yes it was a cool game.


Be sure to make yourself an Utopia Boot CD, damn thing lets you do quite a bit without modifying the hardware (ie no mod chips). A must for any Dreamcast owner.
 
Spleeze said:
Depends on what kind of experience you want out of it... the dreamcast can't run any sort of fancy windowmanager like gnome or kde, heck i dont think it can even handle xfce... the distro that i ran on my dreamcast only gave me twm... also the thing was very slow hehe... and you'll need a broadband adapter or something along those lines to get the dc online, i'm not sure about the modem support, but i dont have a dialup account to check anything out..

one of the first things i did after setting it up was write a hello word program in c and try to compile it... it took forever and in the end gave me an out of memory error... hehe the dreamcast is not suitable for even a mediocre linux experience in my opinion... doom was included in the distro and it ran crappy... its DOOM for gods sake!

But was it cool to hook my dreamcast up to a monitor and keyboard and mouse and boot up linux on it? hell yeah. would i have gone out of my way to buy a dreamcast to do it? well probably not..

and if you wanted to get the dreamcast to have the real "feel" of a computer you'd have to spring for the dreamcast keyboard and mouse and an adapter for a computer monitor, which are cool in thier own right... its awesome to play Unreal Tournament on...

man i'm typing a lot :)

all that being said, my experience with running linux on my dreamcast was less than stellar... however, dude get a dreamcast, they're cheap and awesome... one of my favorite consoles ever... dcemulation.com has a TON of software, (linux distros aside) that are simply awesome...
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks for sharing your linux experience on it, I appreciate it! I kind of figured it wouldn't be amazing or anything, since the DC has what, 16MB of RAM? I've seen pictures of a DC running linux, and I seen what the GUI looks like. It's boxy and teal :p , but another reason I want a DC is because of the various emulators out there! I'm dying to try out the Colecovision and NES emulator.

I wish the DC had more RAM though... or had the ability to use a HD. :( Then I bet Linux would be a lot better on it.
 
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