Using a dc as a wordprocessor

Spam · Post by **Spam** » Thu Jan 31, 2002 5:43 am

Is there any viable way to use the Dreamcast for use like a word processor. save to the Vmu in .txt or .rtf formats. And possible modifing of a serial cable to work with a printer.

Spam

fatheadpi · Post by **fatheadpi** » Thu Jan 31, 2002 10:11 am

I suppose you could set up a text processor pretty easy, maybe just put it in a linux release, i guess. We've talked about this before, but nobody really thought it'd be useful, so there was never a lot of interest.

miah · Post by **miah** » Thu Jan 31, 2002 11:04 am

Boot linux, load VI, EMACS, pico/nano whatever and you're set. =) Of course, maybe somebody could port somthing like busybox over to KOS and then there would be a VI.. Not to mention a bunch of other stuff..

-miah

Spam · Post by **Spam** » Thu Jan 31, 2002 11:07 am

For most people thats correct. I remember way back and asking for a Virtual Boy emu for the PC . and many people said why with only a handful of games. I had a VB and I liked it. It was cheap to buy and so were the games. With this It would make the DC an uber cheap Word Processor with surfing ablites as well as playing games.

Spam

discostu55555 · Post by **discostu55555** » Thu Jan 31, 2002 11:08 am

you could just get an email account that supports spellchecking and use that with your dc...

Spam · Post by **Spam** » Thu Jan 31, 2002 11:11 am

Hey Miah,

Question.. But does Linux support vmu saving? thats the thing being able to type and save... also what about the printer. I don't want to use a BBA in linux create a stack and etc for the printer could a mod of a serial cable be done for the printer?

Spam

Spam · Post by **Spam** » Thu Jan 31, 2002 11:13 am

Disco Stu,

Problem with that is I don't what it to have to have to use the net for typing. and getting kicked off.. while typing would be a ... not good.

Spam

IUG-13 · Post by **IUG-13** » Thu Jan 31, 2002 12:01 pm

Hmm, I saw the name spam and thought I would have to close this...

miah · Post by **miah** » Thu Jan 31, 2002 12:50 pm

Uhm.. does the VMU support a printer? If you're saving to a VMU you're most likely hooking your VMU up to a *COMPUTER*. GASP. If you're hooking your VMU up to a computer to PRINT you might as well have just typed it there in the first place.

-miah

miah · Post by **miah** » Thu Jan 31, 2002 12:55 pm

And uhm, actually yea some printers do use a serial port for printing. But then again your WP would have to have a driver for every one of those printers which would be a huge PITA. Unless those printers generally support Postscript in which case you *should* be ok with just one driver. But then again, nobody ever follows standards properly and while 3 printers may work 100% that other printer might not print it properly. Printer drivers are the hardest part about getting printers to work with *NON* windows systems. So if somebody were to develop a free WP for DC, who would develop the printer drivers?

-miah

ColGraff · Post by **ColGraff** » Fri Feb 01, 2002 6:35 am

If you have the capability to burn a word processor program onto a CD-R for use in your dreamcast, the odds are you have a computer you can use for word processing.

Also, bear in mind that reading text on a TV screen is NOT fun - not in any non-sick-and-twisted way, at any rate.

42stimpy42 · Post by **42stimpy42** » Thu Feb 07, 2002 10:07 pm

i just wrote a huge, long message, only to be disconnected in the middle of it, and lose the whole thing. rather than try and get all of it again.....

sometimes, we [the people who want a DC word processor with vmu save capability] simply have no choice.

maybe we have to go to an internet cafe and shell out $4 for 15 minutes on one of the computers so we can download all this stuff and burn it, to take it home and use on our dreamcasts. maybe we have a serial port on the computer, but no printer. maybe we picked up a printer at goodwill, and can't afford a PC. there's any number of reasons why it's not as simple as some of you would think.

miah · Post by **miah** » Fri Feb 08, 2002 11:16 am

Thats a pretty lame excuse, if you stopped going to the internet cafe and paying $4 for 15minutes and saved your $4 you'd beable to buy your own computer in a matter of time. You'd have better luck with a WP on a PS/2 as it supports USB atleast. You can get a decent computer put together for less than $300..

-miah

42stimpy42 · Post by **42stimpy42** » Sat Feb 09, 2002 12:14 am

first off, i just want to make it known that those aren't all my excuses. they're merely excuses. or rather, reasons why. (in other words, just because i said it doesn't mean it's my situation. it's just a possible situation someone might have run into, as for why they're asking for a word processor.)

another perfectly good reason is this -- maybe i'm too lazy (or too sick) to leave my bed, and come upstairs, where the computer is, yet, i still want to type.

as far as the saving $4 by not going to the internet cafe -- that actually [b]does [/b] apply to me, and at the end of a paycheck, after i've bought groceries and paid bills, i've got about $4 left (some weeks, i'm lucky, and it's closer to $10). so, to get a half-way decent computer, figuring i have about $4 at the end of each paycheck, it'll take me, by my figures, at least, 4 years to get that computer together "in a matter of time".

lame excuse or no, when it comes to stuff like this, where you're actually getting into people's personal lives (and not just personal entertainment), keep in mind that your situation isn't exactly the same as someone else's.

*stepping off of my soapbox*

Arbok9782 · Post by **Arbok9782** » Sat Feb 09, 2002 12:44 pm

[quote="42stimpy42"]
first off, i just want to make it known that those aren't all my excuses. they're merely excuses. or rather, reasons why. (in other words, just because i said it doesn't mean it's my situation. it's just a possible situation someone might have run into, as for why they're asking for a word processor.)

another perfectly good reason is this -- maybe i'm too lazy (or too sick) to leave my bed, and come upstairs, where the computer is, yet, i still want to type.

as far as the saving $4 by not going to the internet cafe -- that actually [b]does [/b] apply to me, and at the end of a paycheck, after i've bought groceries and paid bills, i've got about $4 left (some weeks, i'm lucky, and it's closer to $10). so, to get a half-way decent computer, figuring i have about $4 at the end of each paycheck, it'll take me, by my figures, at least, 4 years to get that computer together "in a matter of time".

lame excuse or no, when it comes to stuff like this, where you're actually getting into people's personal lives (and not just personal entertainment), keep in mind that your situation isn't exactly the same as someone else's.

*stepping off of my soapbox*
[/quote]

I still don't see this as a priority, maybe after a bunch of systems have excellent emulation on the Dreamcast, and maybe after all those cool homebrew games and maybe after.... well I just don't see it as a priority. I see that some people might need it, but a lot of people who burn off CD-R's to use in the Dreamcast would probably not be in need of a word proccesor.

42stimpy42 · Post by **42stimpy42** » Sun Feb 10, 2002 4:43 pm

well, let's face it -- nobody really [i]needs[/i] a genesis emulator for dreamcast. crap -- nobody really needs a dreamcast, do they? i mean, is there anyone here who can honestly say that their heart and lungs would cease all measurable function if they did not own a dreamcast? as cool as it may be, and as many uses as have been found for it, that of a heart/lung machine hasn't been documented, to my knowledge.

but just because you don't [i]need[/i] it doesn't change the fact that you want it, does it? [/i]

Cowpie · Post by **Cowpie** » Sun Feb 10, 2002 8:13 pm

Why would you want a DC word processor, you cant print anything, you cant save anything, I just dont see the point in it...

Sanchez · Post by **Sanchez** » Sun Feb 10, 2002 8:52 pm

To put this whole stupid debate to a halt, there is not currently a word processor for the dreamcast, a text editor for the DC, or anything else outside of the utilities that come with DC Linux or NetBSD.

As such, unless there is someone secretly working on said word processor/etc, there isn't likely to be one.

So, your options are:

1) Learn to do it yourself
2) Drop this discussion and patiently wait....

Post by **I.M. Weasel** » Wed Apr 24, 2002 12:35 am

Could you use the modem itself to connect straight to the printer? I dont know about the software issues that might bring up,and i dread to think about them. But hey, this whole forum thing is about ideas..

Somebody mentioned something earlier about a postscript printer...

And uhm, actually yea some printers do use a serial port for printing. But then again your WP would have to have a driver for every one of those printers which would be a huge PITA. Unless those printers generally support Postscript in which case you *should* be ok with just one driver.
-miah

Many MAC printers are POSTSCRIPT enabled and have been for awhile. The old MAC serial cable networking -localtalk- used a RJ-45 to connect devices over a network.

Polymira · Post by **Polymira** » Wed Apr 24, 2002 1:47 am

Ok, look. The best (and only way i see fit) way to do this would be:

Alright. 1st, this would require a serical cable/bba/lan adapter! Basicly, you would want a simple word processor that would be easy to use with the keyboard. So something like pico would be great (comes with pine). And basicly, when you wanted to print, it would just print over a network. It is done in mostly all os'. And wouldn't in my mind be 2 hard to implement on the dc.

Using a dc as a wordprocessor

Using a dc as a wordprocessor

well..

hey

...

No point, really

word processing

lame excuse...?

lame excuse...?

wants vs. needs

Why?

My 2 pesos...