Using dcload-ip with Windows Subsystem for Linux

WSL v2: using dcload-ip with the BBA from WSL and Windows

This tutorial has been tested on Windows 10 and Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) v2. My Dreamcast is connected directly to a router that is also connected to my computer, the router is not plugged into anything else, and does not having greater network access, and using dcload-ip with a hardcoded static IP address.

Dreamcast side

Get a selfbooting version of dcload-ip. I've burned this with imgburn without any problem.

Next, boot dc-load-ip in your Dreamcast and make sure your BBA is connected in order to get your BBA MAC address.

Once the green screen appears, note down your MAC address. It should look something like: 10:04:5d:2b:0f:4d

Computer side (not necessary if using pre-built DHCP version)

We'll use the arp function to get your computer to "give" an IP address to your Dreamcast based on its MAC address.

Under a Windows Terminal

First we need Administrator access to add an arp entry.

Start-Process PowerShell –Verb RunAs

After you have this PowerShell instance open we will add our entry:

New-NetNeighbor -InterfaceAlias "Ethernet" -IPAddress "[IP address]" -LinkLayerAddress "[MAC address]"

• If using Wifi, the interface alias is likely "Wi-Fi"

This is the command I use:

New-NetNeighbor -InterfaceAlias "Ethernet" -IPAddress "192.168.2.200" -LinkLayerAddress "00-D0-F1-02-5E-8F"

This should be fairly straightword to modify for your needs and network setup. This will be a permanent addition which will persist across restarts and shutdowns.

Expected Output:

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> New-NetNeighbor -InterfaceAlias "Ethernet"  -IPAddress "192.168.2.200" -LinkLayerAddress "00-D0-F1-02-5E-8F"

ifIndex IPAddress         LinkLayerAddress      State       PolicyStore
------- ---------         ----------------      -----       -----------
18      192.168.2.200     00-D0-F1-02-5E-8F     Permanent   ActiveStore
18      192.168.2.200     00-D0-F1-02-5E-8F     Permanent   PersistentStore

Notes

• [IP address] is any valid IP address that you want to assign to your Dreamcast.
• [MAC address] is your Dreamcast's MAC address, look at step 2.

The IP address should be in the same range as your local network. In my setup, my ethernet port is set on port 192.168.5.100 and my [IP address] is 192.168.5.99. If you don't know your network range, you can use ifconfig in a terminal to find out. I won't cover this here.

The following can be executed from within Windows or WSL (Linux)

At this point, you should be able to see if your Dreamcast is connected.

A simple ping command should do the job.

ping [IP address]

You should get a message like: 64 byte from [IP address] .... blabla ... time=xx ms

Testing your code

You can now use the dc-tool-ip program to send your file to the DC. Make sure your Dreamcast is running dc-load-ip.

dc-tool-ip -t [IP address] -x /path/to/your/.bin/or/.elf/file

You can always run dc-tool-ip without any command to get some info on how to run it. The -c option is useful if you need to use files that are located on your pc. You can use them with the '/pc' path.

Notes (for non-DHCP use)

Adding a host name (Linux)

Also, you can add a line to your host file in order to replace [IP address] to a more friendly name.

sudo nano /etc/hosts

then adding the line:

dreamcast [IP address]

Adding a host name (Windows)

1. Press the Windows key.
2. Type Notepad in the search field.
3. In the search results, right-click Notepad and select Run as administrator.
4. From Notepad, open the following file: c:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts
5. Add a new entry to the file. e.g. dreamcast [IP address] on a newline
6. Select File > Save to save your changes.

You can now refer to dreamcast instead of your usual [IP address]