PSO v1 Dreamcast having trouble to connect

Sylverant is a homebrew open source server for Phantasy Star Online. Dreamcast users still play PSO online with this server even today! This is the official forum for both the online game server as well as the open source project itself. Feel free to post and get a gathering started online! We can also show you how to get connected!

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PSO v1 Dreamcast having trouble to connect

Post by TulioAdriano »

Hi everyone.

I finally got my BBA and first thing I did was to pop in my PSO and the VMU with my beloved character. I used to play PSO online back in 2000, 2001... and there are so many good memories that I can't even count them. Knowing that Sylverant allows me to experience that again is just indescribably amazing.

After swapping the modem with the BBA. I first used the included Broadband Passport disc. Knowing how to read some Japanese it wasn't much of a challenge, however the "Provider Settings" has IP, Gateway, Subnet and "Broadcast Address". I did a quick search to see if it was equivalent to DNS but it obviously isn't. Then I tried searching for it's american counterpart: PlanetWeb 3.0. I did find one download but the binary file included was a .001 file and not a .CDI or anything clearly known. I tried loading the image on DJ but the error message "invalid image" popped up so I didn't burn it. It could have been a raw sector dump but who knows... I don't have that many CD-R available so I left that alone.

Then upon more research I read here and there about using games to setup BBA. I happened to have Quake III arena and I used it to setup the DNS. Saved the settings and confirmed these settings now always appear when loading the online screen. Now back to PSO, online gameplay, etc... it says "connection will be made through Broadband" so clearly PSO recognized it... push A... wait for the loading and...
Connection attempt failed.
Phantasy Star Online does not support Broadband.
I was thinking... that's a lie! How can you lie to me PSO? Well, lie or not it's a software and it will not reason with me. Search the web again, and I found some people who reported that message back in 2003. I think it's something that happens when it can't reach the servers since the person apparently got it working again later without doing anything.

Then went on Sylverant website again and looked around... nothing about error messages, etc... that's when I spotted the twitter feed. Since it was fresh, I decided to tweet Lawrence and he replied right back suggesting that the game could require Modem settings prior to the BBA settings. Unfortunately I already had those in from my online play back then (I even popped back the modem and planetweb to see my old ISP settings were still in place. I added the DNS "just in case" to the ISP settings and saved it, but that didn't help either). Upon my report he suggested using PSO v2 to setup the DNS settings but I don't have it at the moment.

I wonder if it could be because I'm under a router? But I know 90% of broadband users these days use routers so I'd think everyone is in a similar situation that I am. In any case here's my network topology:

Code: Select all

                               192.168.10.x          192.168.1.x
(Internet) -> [Cable Modem] -> {Home Router} -LAN-> {Work Router} -LAN-> Dreamcast
                                     |                              |
                                    WiFi                          Switch
                                     |                              |
                              {Range Externder}                Other Stuff
                                     |
                                    LAN
                                     |
                                 Dreamcast
As you can see I tried two cases. One connecting to the home LAN (which is connected directly to the modem) and another connecting to my office LAN which is internal to my home LAN.

I've tried setting up Sylverant DNS as my computer DNS but it cannot navigate the web (perhaps the DNS isn't setup to forward calls it can't resolve) so that doesn't worried me much.

At this point I'm accepting any suggestions. I have an internal DNS server in my work network that I could try setting up to an internal PSO server for testing purposes, but I have no idea what is the original SEGA domain name that PSO tries to connect to, and that information is very had to find as I couldn't find it searching the web.

Any other thoughts? Ideas? I'm determined to make this work! :D
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Re: PSO v1 Dreamcast having trouble to connect

Post by BlueCrab »

First question on the list... What version of the game are you using (including the region), exactly? That might help debug the situation further. Since you said you don't have a copy of the US version of PSOv2, the only other way to set things up would be to try using the Broadband Passport disc you already said you have. I'm sure that it has all the options you'd need.
TulioAdriano wrote:I've tried setting up Sylverant DNS as my computer DNS but it cannot navigate the web (perhaps the DNS isn't setup to forward calls it can't resolve) so that doesn't worried me much.
That is correct -- the Sylverant DNS no longer forwards on requests it cannot resolve, due to people using this to launch DNS amplification attacks (a way of DDoSing people). In fact, the Sylverant DNS server doesn't even respond to requests it can't resolve at all to further prevent such attacks. :wink:

As for the addresses that PSO tries to resolve... Without knowing exactly what version you are trying, I can't say for sure, but I can say that it should be in this list somewhere (this is all the DC-related configuration entries in the Sylverant DNS file) -- just set them all to resolve to the IP address of sylverant.net, and you'll be fine:

Code: Select all

master.pso.dream-key.com
game01.st-pso.games.sega.net
game04.st-pso.games.sega.net
pso.dream-key.com
pso01.dricas.ne.jp
pso02.dricas.ne.jp
pso03.dricas.ne.jp
pso04.dricas.ne.jp
pso05.dricas.ne.jp
That said, the error you're getting isn't a DNS error, but rather one that is essentially complaining about your ISP configuration not existing in the first place, so I doubt this is an issue.

Like I said on twitter, you might want to just verify that your modem ISP information is still in the flashrom to start with, then set the BBA configuration up again with Broadband Passport.
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Re: PSO v1 Dreamcast having trouble to connect

Post by TulioAdriano »

Hi Lawrence, thank you for coming here to my aid.

I'm running PSO v1 USA.

As I explained on my post above, I actually popped in PlanetWeb 2.0 and inspected that my ISP settings are there and set. I even added your DNS to the ISP settings and saved it again, so it has a fresh save of those settings.
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Re: PSO v1 Dreamcast having trouble to connect

Post by BlueCrab »

Ah... I must have missed that part of the original post, sorry about that. That said, try setting the ISP information in Broadband Passport again (after having set it up in PW2.0), and see if that helps any. You may need to have the BBA configuration set as the active ISP information, which is why that might make any difference at all. :wink:
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Re: PSO v1 Dreamcast having trouble to connect

Post by TulioAdriano »

Well time to make some more experments, so I added your DNS and pinged one of those names from my computer, and it worked gracefully (points back to the same IP as the DNS). So I'm certain that I can reach your DNS from all spots within my network.

And again I entered PlanetWeb 2.0. Saved my ISP settings, entered Quake III Arena, saved the BBA settings... PSO still acts the same.

Looking at BroadBand provider settings gain I see:

IP Address
Default Gateway
Subnet Mask
Broadcast Address

This time, instead of cancelling, confirmed it, and now I got another page with the other settings (dns, email, start page, etc.)

Saved those settings and back to PSO. Chose online mode and... it's taking longer... it's taking longer... :D :D... the loby loads... :D :D :D :D and... new message:
You could not be connected to the server.
Please check that your provider settings are correct before connecting.
The line was disconnected.
PRESS START BUTTON.
Again, I think the "line disconnected" is just a standard message, not really related to whether i'm using a BBA or a modem.

The plot thickens... but now we have some progress. :D

New ideas? Is this common?

EDIT:
Btw I ended up buying a brand new PSOv2 so hopefully that will take care of the configuration if nothing else resolves it. It only arrives next week though, so I'm still listening for suggestions! :)
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Re: PSO v1 Dreamcast having trouble to connect

Post by Aleron Ives »

The "PSO does not support the BBA" error means that PSO didn't find any valid BBA settings to use. If your modem settings were incorrect, you'd get the "You must configure an ISP to play online" error, instead. BBA support is spotty at best, so there isn't a universal way to set it up. It's true that Q3A lets you configure the BBA for Q3A, but PSO won't use that configuration, AFAIK. The only reliable to way to configure the BBA is to use the setup screen in USv2. I've heard reports that PW3.0 works as well, but I've never done it that way, and some people report problems similar to yours when they try to use PW or XDP to configure the BBA.

Note that you're going to want to get USv2 anyway, as you won't find anybody to play with if you only have Ver.1. The fact that we've all been playing for so long means that it's rare to find anybody playing with a new character; we all spend our time in Ultimate or Challenge modes, neither of which Ver.1 can play.
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Re: PSO v1 Dreamcast having trouble to connect

Post by TulioAdriano »

Guess I'll just have to wait for that PSOv2 to arrive then.

One day I may poke around the DC memory and find exactly what is the configuration that PSO reads and write a "PSO BBA Configurator" app, as I get more familiar with the Dreamcast internals. I've made a RPG for Dreamcast which will ship soon, Pier Solar and the Great Architects, but I didn't actually write the DC code... Chui did. But I'm studying it now so that I can help with the programming of our next games. ;)

But since you said PSOv1 players are not around it may not be worth it. In any case my character is level 51 (FOmarl) so there's a long way to go for me anyway... ^^

Does the character from v1 migrate to v2? I hope so.

Thanks for pitching in!
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Re: PSO v1 Dreamcast having trouble to connect

Post by Aleron Ives »

You can transfer a Ver.1 character to Ver.2 at any time, with the following restrictions:
  • Any experience you acquire after level 100 is deleted.
  • Any items you own that are hacked beyond their normal limits will be deleted.
  • The character will no longer load on Ver.1 after the conversion.
A lot of people get confused by the last one. You can play both Ver.1 and Ver.2 on the same Dreamcast, as long as you have separate characters for each game. Once you convert a character you cannot go back, but you can always create a new Ver.1 character. We do have one guy who is playing Ver.1 right now, so it's certainly possible for you and a friend to chill on Ver.1 now and then, but if you want to participate in the community as a whole, you need to have Ver.2 on hand.

If you really want to get into DC internals, figure out the formula that Sega used to protect the serial numbers. Ver.2 serials are somehow keyed by region, so a USv2 serial will get rejected by JPv2 and EUv2 discs if you try to enter your serials to go online for the first time with a particular character. Nobody knows how Sega did it, so we can't generate new serials, nor can we force a specific disc to accept a legit serial if it's from a different region. It's quite annoying. :x
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Re: PSO v1 Dreamcast having trouble to connect

Post by TulioAdriano »

The algorithm of the serial/access must be the same, however they probably use a different key "encrypt" them for each region and each game for those regions "decrypt" using those keys.

Well if I do find out where it's stored, it would be easier to disassemble the game and see when that memory area is read and what happens afterwards. Who knows... this is not going to happen in less than 1 year, I think but hey, it's good to have a goal. On a last case an application could be written to wipe the serials from the DC memory, thus making it possible to enter a new one for different region discs, provided that you do have a valid one.

I was thinking of creating a new character for v2, since I don't want to spoil my v1 character and it seems that backing it up is impossible (copied to a different VMU they don't work). But when I see that I have 100 hours logged for my current Level 51 character, and thinking people now play with characters over level 100, is a bit intimidating...
Last edited by TulioAdriano on Wed Aug 19, 2015 11:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: PSO v1 Dreamcast having trouble to connect

Post by Aleron Ives »

It doesn't take very long to get to 100 when you can play Ultimate from 80 onwards. Trying to reach 100 on Ver.1 using Very Hard experience is quite a chore, though.
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Re: PSO v1 Dreamcast having trouble to connect

Post by TulioAdriano »

PSO v2 arrived!

I used it configure the BBA. Was a bit cryptic having to go to "website" to configure the BBA, and also the fact that the "Website" only does that... unlike PSO v1. :P

In any case, I went there and for my surprise the Sylverant DNS was already there. Well... I sort of expected it since I wasn't getting the message that PSO does not support BBA. Anyway... selected "Save to flash" and switched back to PSO and when trying to connect the result was the same as before... the connection was dropped message.

Went back to PSO v2 and this time I added my own DNS to it (which points to sylverant anyway) saved, tried to connect with PSO... the same.

A bit irritated, I went and this time manually configured all the IP configuration... Address, Subnet, DNS1, DNS2 and Gateway. Saved and then back to PSO. Started the Online mode and... At last, success! I'm in the loby and got the ship select dialog. Amazing.

So my guess would be that the BroadBand Passport could have worked as well, if I had taken the time to fill all the IP information rather than just the DNS and leave the rest to 0.0.0.0.

Okay, so I went to Sylverant website stats and it was showing 3 hunters online and 1 team online on Altmira, so I selected that ship. Went to block1 and looked around... nobody in the loby... went to the reception and no games were active... hmm... went loby by loby on both block 1 and 2 and I could not find hunters or games active.

My guess is that PSO doesn't get report of the v2 games. I do clearly remember back in 200, 2002 that I always saw the PSO v2 players walking around with their gigantic levels... I think their name tags were with a different color... orange? Either way, I didn't see anyone hanging around the lobbies. EDIT: I was playing around and saw one v2 Player in the lobby while testing PSOv2. Logged out and switch to PSO v1 and back to same ship/block and the player was still there, with the orange tag. Awesome! I also saw on PSO v2 that you can create games PSO or PSOv2 style so that clearly explains why I didn't see the game while testing with v1.

Now comes the million dollar question: Based on Sylverant connection guide, PSO v2 won't work right out of the bat. I need to do the patcher thing... can anyone explain to me the process? Do I have to produce an image of my PSO v2 to patch or does it work as a boot disk? -> EDIT: Nevermind. Reading the readme file answered all my questions. I'll give it a try! EDIT2: All working fine! :D

I'm only sad I couldn't copy my character to other VMU so that I could keep my v1 Character and use the backup to upgrade to PSO v2 format.

Thanks to everyone for your help getting me this far! :)
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Re: PSO v1 Dreamcast having trouble to connect

Post by Aleron Ives »

You could clone your character, but that would be cheating to have the same character on Ver.1 and Ver.2. :P You can either start a new character on Ver.2 and keep playing your Ver.1 character, or you can convert it and start a new character on Ver.1.
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Re: PSO v1 Dreamcast having trouble to connect

Post by TulioAdriano »

I used /save to save my character... then created a new one and used /restore. It worked well.

If that's ok with you guys then I'll go ahead and convert that restored character to v2 and start playing. I lost all my progress so I'll have to grind over normal, hard, etc all over again, but there is some merit to that, as I needed to refresh my knowledge of PSO anyway... memorize the maps, etc. It will be a good exercise. My PSO1 char will be remain on my original vmu as my legacy for the future generations, and I don't plan to use it for playing online.

By the way how do I associate that character I saved with my Sylverant account?

Thank you all for making this possible and for helping me so much! I was online for a while today and I had a very cool chat with a group that plays every saturday. So nostalgic to chat on the lobby! :D
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Re: PSO v1 Dreamcast having trouble to connect

Post by BlueCrab »

I'm not sure what you mean by associate the character you saved with your account?
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Re: PSO v1 Dreamcast having trouble to connect

Post by TulioAdriano »

I mean making a character that I backed up using the /save command to show up on "Manage Character Data" page on my Sylverant account. Or is that limited to PC characters?
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Re: PSO v1 Dreamcast having trouble to connect

Post by BlueCrab »

Any characters that are saved on a guildcard registered on your account on the site will show up on the Manage Character Data page. In other words, as long as the serial number and access key is registered on the site, they should show up.
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