Know where to get info on using the BBA

gaara of the desert · Tue May 18, 2004 12:39 pm

I am currently working on a project to create a device that will emulate the functions of the BBA. It will plug into the parallel port like the offical BBA and will make games think that there is an offical BBA attached.

I have most of the hardware designed and ready to make, but I still need to have a look at how the DC talks to the BBA and the drivers that the games use.

Does anybody know where I can get the info from?

Thanks

Rich.

toastman · Post by **toastman** » Tue May 18, 2004 9:20 pm

I'm kinda confused. Is this a sort of replacement for the BBA?

gaara of the desert · Post by **gaara of the desert** » Wed May 19, 2004 1:56 am

You could say that yeah. It will act in the same way as the BBA and will do everything that t he BBA does.

Thanks

Rich

q_006 · Post by **q_006** » Wed May 19, 2004 10:40 am

could he be the savior of the DC universe??
are you gonna share with the rest of us this amazing invention?

doragasu · Post by **doragasu** » Wed May 19, 2004 4:18 pm

Doesn't look easy... IMHO, it would be a lot easier to design an entire Ethernet adaptor for the DC than trying to connect the DC expansion port to a PC's parallel port and emulate a BBA.

You must be very talented to design something like this... ?can you please post the schematics of the hardware you want to use? I'm really interested...

Maybe you can find how the BBA works watching the sources of KOS, as it supports the BBA, but I'm not sure about if what you'll find there will be useful for you.

BlackAura · Post by **BlackAura** » Wed May 19, 2004 10:24 pm

As far as I know, the BBA is an RTL-8139 network adapter (like the one on my PC's motherboard, and on four other network cards I have around here - it's one of the more common PCI network chipsets), and a PCI bridge chip which connects the 8139 to the DC's expansion port.

The main bit we don't understand is how the BBA maps itself into the DC's address space. According to everything we've worked out so far, it shouldn't be able to do it.

Rand Linden · Post by **Rand Linden** » Thu May 20, 2004 3:39 am

The custom glue chip used to handle the interface is non-trivial.

Which is why there haven't been any other peripherals beyond those that were developed at/by Sega.

Rand.

edit: and it's also the reason that the devices we were planning to build were all based around the maple bus or serial port. The only exception was the cart. interface.

doragasu · Post by **doragasu** » Thu May 20, 2004 1:24 pm

Rand Linden wrote:The custom glue chip used to handle the interface is non-trivial.

Which is why there haven't been any other peripherals beyond those that were developed at/by Sega.

Rand.

I know near nothing about that bus, but there are homemade peripherals for DC, like the ones the Infamous Dan Potter made, and DDH done by Hitmen.

Rand Linden wrote:edit: and it's also the reason that the devices we were planning to build were all based around the maple bus or serial port. The only exception was the cart. interface.

?Cart interface for DC? ?And what was that for?

q_006 · Post by **q_006** » Thu May 20, 2004 2:17 pm

"?Cart interface for DC? ?And what was that for?"

maybe you could play other Genesis or Game Gear games with the Smash Pack or other emu?

Rand Linden · Post by **Rand Linden** » Thu May 20, 2004 7:35 pm

N64.

Rand.

ETR · Post by **ETR** » Thu May 20, 2004 9:55 pm

on Dreamcast? You were gonna.....?

Holy crap.... everyone! To the Shrine!

ETR.

q_006 · Post by **q_006** » Fri May 21, 2004 9:03 am

I'm confused....
Was he going to use the cart interface as a RAM extension like the N64 or was he going to be able to play N64 games on the DC?

Warmtoe · Post by **Warmtoe** » Fri May 21, 2004 5:11 pm

Rand Linden wrote:N64

A letter and two numbers that say it all...

Nintendo didn't come after you too did they?!

Alexvrb · Post by **Alexvrb** » Sat May 22, 2004 12:56 am

Rand Linden wrote:N64.

Rand.

That's pretty damn cool.

Rand Linden · Post by **Rand Linden** » Sat May 22, 2004 6:57 am

Further details are elsewhere on the board, and I can't be bothered to reenter it -- SEARCH is your friend.

Rand.

q_006 · Post by **q_006** » Sat May 22, 2004 7:57 pm

i did the search for: Rand Linden and N64
and
for: Rand Linden and cart. interface
and
for: Rand Linden and cartridge interface

i got nothing....
anybody else find anything?

Storminator16 · Post by **Storminator16** » Sat May 22, 2004 9:41 pm

I thought everyone knew of this. I think Rand mentioned this at least a couple of years ago....maybe more.

Sanchez · Post by **Sanchez** » Sat May 22, 2004 9:54 pm

Storminator16 wrote:I thought everyone knew of this. I think Rand mentioned this at least a couple of years ago....maybe more.

You gotta remember, there really aren't that many of us who've been around since before Bleemcast released...

q_006 · Post by **q_006** » Sat May 22, 2004 11:02 pm

so does anyone want to fill the rest of us in?

Post by **Quzar** » Sat May 22, 2004 11:39 pm

i remember reading something about this once in a post he made in one of the longer lasting and more serious n64 emu discussions (one that wasnt called N64!!!!1111 and so didnt attract as many... newbies).