Unable to get any text in Dreampi Unix mode

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tripletopper
blackout!
Posts: 133

Unable to get any text in Dreampi Unix mode

Post#1 » Mon May 20, 2019 2:27 am

I've been trying to usse etcher, Apple Pi and, OI tried "baking" the .img file which was Zipeg extracted from .7z file, I tried baking the .7z file directly. I've tried pressing the Noobs button for partition, and tried not.

I've tried every combination I can think of, but the Pi video output registers as an input on my HDMI switcher, which means the proper light lights up, but it's a totally black screen. I even tried staring the pi with no SD card inside, seeing if anything happens with nothing. Every time I get a pure black screen with nothing to type. Basically it's sending a video signal of pure zeroes. i even tried the Composite Port and THAT is totally blank too.

I got the Unix command line prompt once when I first got it shipped to me with Dreampi built-in on the SD card. Then I was trying the dremacast modem with Planet Web web browser, and before I updated it worked. Every time since I tried updating it, it failed.

I know this is not a frequent question, because most people use PCs, but the only PC I've ever used was a neighbors in the 90s, mainly working on GW-BASIC and the basic MS-DOS prompt to start GWBASIC. Before then all i ever used was an Apple IIe and an Atari 800 XL. I never got a computer until the Internet became big in 1999 and realized those relics con't get online. Ever since 1999 we exclusively had Macintoshes. Is there something you assume everyone who regularly deals in Pis knows, but an outsider would just hit a wall every time trying to figure out? Do I need a secret handshake or something? Do i say the secret word and win $100? What?

Also Raspberry Pi fits the PC mentality better than the Mac mentality. So it seems there are a lot more preliminary steps i don't understand.

Someone said a Pi 1B is compatible with 1.7, butI don't want to push my luck with a sometimes-working slight improvement. 1.6 is the last guaranteed stable version. it's also more likely to work with a Pi 1B. Also this 1B has a hand soldered wire running from the USB mini port through the inside, with 2 wires coming out of the small space in the HDMI port, and is hard wired to a 2-eded telephone cable. So I know none of this is regular. this was a 1B specifically modded to be a Dreampi.

Fianllly, can 1.6 do ALL DC games, or are the Visual Concepts Games (NFL, NBA, WSB, Ooga Booga) only a 1.7 exclusive? Better some Pi than no Pi, right?

247
Sega RPG
Posts: 609

Re: Unable to get any text in Dreampi Unix mode

Post#2 » Mon May 20, 2019 8:03 am

i do think some games are a 1.7 exclusive, but someone might correct me...

tripletopper
blackout!
Posts: 133

Re: Unable to get any text in Dreampi Unix mode

Post#3 » Mon May 20, 2019 11:07 am

All right, I got another problem with something on my HDMI chain, becase the Xbox One didn’t register video until it was plugged directly in. It's probably my HDMI switcher.

But then again, my analog video output didn’t display the Unix text either, so I don’t think it’s a digital video problem.

tripletopper
blackout!
Posts: 133

Re: Unable to get any text in Dreampi Unix mode

Post#4 » Tue May 21, 2019 8:22 am

Okay> I looked at the disc. there are 2 partitions. One is labeled boot, and according to Macintosh Apbout this Mac, it says it's a Windows boot disc.

Then there is a second partition which is empty. There's no way i can access it on my Mac OS GUI page. But THAT partition says on the "about this Mac/USB" on disk2s2, says linux.

I tried Etcher and I tried Apple Pi Baker, it looks like both want to put it on boot and make the boot Windows instead of Linux.

Also i notice there's no text editing. Is NOOBS the operating system for Pi? Do i need that to do command line prompts with the Pi?

Also there is a website which suggests I can use Unix on the Macintosh to operate on the Pi software while it's dormant and residing in the Macintosh.

If someone would like to type a specific Mac Terminal command, please do it and please use red letters for variables. I have a hard time figuring out what MUST stay the same and what MUST be replaced to get the desired effect.

I understand enough to know I can't continue without help.

The DreamPi video on Youtube only discusses Windows. On the macintosh, it just has a text link, and is not specific to DreamPi.

A little help would be nice.

Also Terminal is asking me for a file path. I have no idea where to find the path my particular DreamPi file is in.

The reason why I game on consoles and compute on Macs is because they are easy. I was told by Apple Technicians "NEVER GO INTO TERMINAL willy-nilly" You must have a specific purpose and knowledge about what you're doing.

Is there an easy Mac-like answer for all this?

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Sega1Dream
Donated
Posts: 179

Re: Unable to get any text in Dreampi Unix mode

Post#5 » Tue May 21, 2019 9:42 am

:lol:

MAC and PC.jpg

tripletopper
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Posts: 133

Re: Unable to get any text in Dreampi Unix mode

Post#6 » Sat Jun 01, 2019 4:41 pm

I'm trying to figure out how to install DreamPi 1.7 on a Pi 1B. All this trouble started when I TRIED updating. But appenently, no one is giving complete macintosh insturctions on how to install DreamPi. Every time I try the dreamcast says no modem conneciotn. i even bought a new modem and THAT doesn't work. I try running the Pi into the HDMI, but it's a totally back screen.

It's like a lot of people understand implied secrets that have to be spelled out to me.

But no one I know wants to help me touch Unix, so i'm kind of stuck. All these Etchers and Apple Pis are not foolproof. I never got the modem to work since I tried updating it. I would love to Give the DreamCast Network a 56OK rating, acceptable on my 1.6 Mb/s in 400 kb/s out internet.

Most advice videos only give half-pieces of information. And many skip steps that are assumed known, like how to properly handle the ZIP file on Apple Zipeg.

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Xiden
Developer
Posts: 2219

Re: Unable to get any text in Dreampi Unix mode

Post#7 » Sat Jun 01, 2019 5:03 pm

tripletopper wrote:I'm trying to figure out how to install DreamPi 1.7 on a Pi 1B. All this trouble started when I TRIED updating. But appenently, no one is giving complete macintosh insturctions on how to install DreamPi. Every time I try the dreamcast says no modem conneciotn. i even bought a new modem and THAT doesn't work. I try running the Pi into the HDMI, but it's a totally back screen.

It's like a lot of people understand implied secrets that have to be spelled out to me.

But no one I know wants to help me touch Unix, so i'm kind of stuck. All these Etchers and Apple Pis are not foolproof. I never got the modem to work since I tried updating it. I would love to Give the DreamCast Network a 56OK rating, acceptable on my 1.6 Mb/s in 400 kb/s out internet.

Most advice videos only give half-pieces of information. And many skip steps that are assumed known, like how to properly handle the ZIP file on Apple Zipeg.


At this point I'd recommend seeing if you can send your Dreampi kit to PCWzrd13, I'm sure he'd be willing to reflash your dreampi and set it all up for you and make sure it works. Unless you have faulty dreamcast modem itself, im not sure what else is we can do man.

tripletopper
blackout!
Posts: 133

Re: Unable to get any text in Dreampi Unix mode

Post#8 » Mon Jun 10, 2019 12:49 pm

I think I fixed the HDMI problem, and it stiil only comes up with the black screen.

I think it’s a problem in Flashing my DreamPi ROM. There is no text coming form my DreamPi when plugged in the HDMI. And My Xbox One does work with HDMI so the HDMI routing is correct.

There are no instructions that are both Macintosh-specific AND DreamPi-specific. I downloaded both Ecther for Macintosh, and Apple-Pi Baker. Instructions for getting it to work with either would be nice

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BlueCrab
Developer
Posts: 843

Re: Unable to get any text in Dreampi Unix mode

Post#9 » Mon Jun 10, 2019 6:59 pm

If Disk Utility is showing a Windows partition you can see and a Linux partition you can't do anything with, you probably have written the image correctly to the SD card... That said, if you want to try to write it a different way, then, read on...

Have you tried just doing it the old-fashioned way (i.e, pulling up a terminal and using dd to write the image to the SD card)?

Basically, you just need to extract the .7z file using the normal method of doing so (if you have a proper program that can unarchive .7z files, you should just be able to click it). You'll probably get a .img file out of it (or something like that). From there, plug in your SD card and hit ignore on any prompts you might get to initialize it. Then, open up /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.app and find out the UNIX name of your SD card (it'll be something like disk2) -- pick the SD card from the list of disks and note what it says for the UNIX or BSD name in the main part of the window.

Once you've done that, open up the directory you extracted the .7z file to (i.e, where the .img file is at) in Finder. Then open up /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app. In there, type "cd " (the space is important), then drag the folder icon from the top of the Finder window from where the .img file is and hit enter. Now in the terminal type the following (be VERY careful to not mess this up at all -- it is case sensitive also, you will need to change the "disk7" in the command below to match the BSD/UNIX name of the SD card you found earlier -- make sure you get that right or you might end up breaking something badly on your machine):

Code: Select all

sudo dd if=DreamPi-1.7.img of=/dev/disk7 bs=1048576
It will then ask you for your password (it's asking for the password of your user account on your Mac here) -- type it and hit enter (it won't show anything while you're typing). Wait for the command to finish and then you should be good to go.

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