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Raz1r
rank 4
Posted:
Fri Mar 30, 2007 3:05 pm
quote : #1
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Posts: 24
I was bored the other day, thinking about creating my own distribution for Linux. I know a lot of you guys might have a Quake 3: Arena Linux server and it probably works just fine the way it is. But I thought maybe if I made a distro with all the tools you would need to make a PC-DC server, a Q3 dediacted and anything else Dreamcast networking related (or just DC related in general) that it would be easier to get more users to play their DC's online.

I'm thinking of something that would be easy on hardware, so you could run it on an older computer. You all know, the kind of PC that would have a 56k modem sitting in one of its PCI slots.

To accomodate this, It would include a lightweight GUI like Xfce or Fluxbox and be quite small. I would say around 300mb at most. The codebase might center around Slackware (think of it, DreamSlack!) and would include all the files needed to set up a PC-DC server, a Q3:A dedicated server, and maybe have it affiliated with the site (e.g. We could have the default homepage in Mozilla be dreamcast.onlineconsoles.com and have a bookmark pack with DC sites in it). Or anything else related to the DC included as I said earlier. I would probably make the prime focus on Documentation, including articles on how to do all this stuff. It would need really good hardware support too I guess...

I know that was really long-winded, sorry. I get that way when I get a weird Idea. If anybody wants to help or anything I guess PM me. I'm not really sure if this will get off the ground, but I hope it does.
  _________________
"If you ever fear that machines will surpass humans in intelligence, just
ask Microsoft to write the OS." — pieceoftheuniverse in rec.humor.oracle.d
lordnikon
rank 87
Posted:
Fri Mar 30, 2007 3:13 pm
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I think making a distro specifically for a Linux PC-DC server would be the best idea. If you know how to set this up in Linux, and have a sure fire way of doing it. Freel free to work on a guide if you can get it working. We don't have a linux PC-DC server guide here at the site yet. The only one that exists on the net is a very old one, and doesn't get into specifics. Due author credit is given as always.

As far as placing extra stuff on the disc, such as existing guides from OC on the disc, I would recommend not doing this for now. I have plans down the road for a more inclusive toolkit for onlineconsoles, which are these media discs that are going to be included with these books I am planning to write. They will feature tons of new goodies as well. This stuff is off on the horizon though. Since things are still developing each day with relation to the network functionality of these consoles.
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I'm already numero uno on Dark Helmet's hit list...
Segata Sanshiro
rank 9
Posted:
Fri Mar 30, 2007 3:30 pm
quote : #3
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Posts: 108
Type: PAL
Raz1r wrote:
But I thought maybe if I made a distro with all the tools you would need to make a PC-DC server, a Q3 dediacted and anything else Dreamcast networking related (or just DC related in general) that it would be easier to get more users to play their DC's online.


That's just a great idea, especially for the PC-DC part. It's one of the hardest things for DC online players to achieve, and your idea would make it SO much easier...
 
lordnikon
rank 87
Posted:
Fri Mar 30, 2007 3:45 pm
quote : #4
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Basically any additional development in relation to PC-DC compatibility is a good thing.
  _________________
I'm already numero uno on Dark Helmet's hit list...
Raz1r
rank 4
Posted:
Fri Mar 30, 2007 10:02 pm
quote : #5
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Posts: 24
Ok, I'm gonna read through all of the guides and I'll try to 'translate' from one of these guides. I'm going to talk to a few people who have some programming experience and see if they can write me something useful. (I'm not a programmer, just more of a tinkerer)

But from what I can tell, Linux dial-up support is a bit varied by distro, so a guide might take a while to write if it needs to cover all the main flavors.

It was just an idea, but If I can a good understanding of how everything works, it might actually work. I'll keep you guys posted.
  _________________
"If you ever fear that machines will surpass humans in intelligence, just
ask Microsoft to write the OS." — pieceoftheuniverse in rec.humor.oracle.d
Darksecond
rank 3
Posted:
Sat Mar 31, 2007 6:16 am
quote : #6
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Posts: 19
if you make such a distro, make sure you also build in a console-only mode, for old computers that functions as DC-PC server. and maybe a live-cd?
if you need help with building such a distro, i've worked for quite a while with linux (altough i'v never set up an DC-PC connection under linux).
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SNK 47
unknown
Posted:
Sat Mar 31, 2007 8:09 am
quote : #7
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Posts: 334
Please make it as idiot-proof as possible Very Happy
 
Darksecond
rank 3
Posted:
Sun Apr 01, 2007 4:51 am
quote : #8
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Posts: 19
i find this a great idea, maybe we could create a live-cd like slax (it's also installable to HD). so you could just pop it into your PC-DC computer and it would work. i say we base it around the console-only version, because most PC-DC computers are old pc's that won't run x very fast. or make 2 versions, one console-only and one with graphical and everything.
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Segata Sanshiro
rank 9
Posted:
Sun Apr 01, 2007 5:44 am
quote : #9
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Posts: 108
Type: PAL
One of the problems is the variety of hardware. In this case we need to get two devices working: the 56k modem and whatever we use to connect to the internet from our PC - this could be cable modems, ADSL USB modems, routers, etc...

What do you guys think can be done about this?
 
Darksecond
rank 3
Posted:
Sun Apr 01, 2007 5:48 am
quote : #10
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Posts: 19
shouldn't be too hard, slax supports most hardware, and everything that's not supported can be added by modules. so drivers shouldn't be a problem.
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Grunts are people too!
Raz1r
rank 4
Posted:
Mon Apr 02, 2007 3:53 pm
quote : #11
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Posts: 24
SNK 47 wrote:
Please make it as idiot-proof as possible Very Happy


To do that, a lightweight GUI would be important. Blackbox, or FVWM95 (If we wanted the desktop to look more like Windoze 95) would fulfill this as they are both lightweight and though they aren't much to look at, they get the job done of making the user feel comfortable.

I agree with making two versions. We can do a "Hardcore" console-only, and a noob version. I'd really like to get at least a shell script or a light python/C++ program that could auto-detect modems, then configure PPP by asking questions or something.

Through all of this, documentation is the most important thing, and though I'd love to write it, I still have to gather more info on how the DC does things, and the best way to do dial-up in Linux.
  _________________
"If you ever fear that machines will surpass humans in intelligence, just
ask Microsoft to write the OS." — pieceoftheuniverse in rec.humor.oracle.d
Kbuzz
rank 23
Posted:
Mon Apr 02, 2007 5:49 pm
quote : #12
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Posts: 473
Type: NTSC-U/C
hey, glad I found this thread. Darkmoon and I are working on something similar. A totally noob friendly guide to the dc-pc server via linux. He already has a very good netbsd version, but I for one would rather see a good linux version since it'd be much easier for noobs.

I'm in the process of fixing my pc today, but check out our thread for info of our long and tedious journey.

http://www.dreamcast-scene.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=1080

In our experience, the best option is to buy a serial since it will work with all distros.

i'm using OpenSUSE 10.2 since I think it's pretty noob friendly, but maybe not the best if people are looking to build a simple dedicated box. Custom distro would be awesome.
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Raz1r
rank 4
Posted:
Mon Apr 02, 2007 7:13 pm
quote : #13
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Posts: 24
I use OpenSuse 10.2 as well, I gotta say it's a very nice OS. And you're right KDE 3.5 would totally chug on older hardware.

You guys have a nice guide going there, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one thinking about Linux as a viable solution for a DC-PC server. If anybody here has any experience with Linux From Scratch, or creating custom distributions, speak up.

(And good luck fixing your PC!)
  _________________
"If you ever fear that machines will surpass humans in intelligence, just
ask Microsoft to write the OS." — pieceoftheuniverse in rec.humor.oracle.d
Darksecond
rank 3
Posted:
Tue Apr 03, 2007 3:28 am
quote : #14
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Posts: 19
i think i can make some sort of console-only live-cd, based on slax. you can also install it to HD. it would have a couple of shell scripts to configure everything.
  _________________
Grunts are people too!
Kbuzz
rank 23
Posted:
Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:08 am
quote : #15
profile : pm
Posts: 473
Type: NTSC-U/C
ok, I'm all fixed up here, and will start a fresh attempt at the pc-dc server in a couple days
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Pso: Kingbuzzo lvl 80
QUake 3: [OC] Kingbuzzo
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