Author Archives: omegalfa

Bringing back Internet to CD-i

Frankie0815 from the Philips CD-i Discord is definitely not the 1st person trying to connect his CD-i player to internet, but he is for sure the one who is dedicating a maximum of efforts to reach his goal.
He is using original modems sold by Philips to get a connection. Of course, if you are one of the people who also tried it, you have for sure seen this screen:

Along his quest many people from the Interactive Community started helping him with ideas and tests.
To be able to get internet from the new generation connections, Hipsofjw told him to use a DreamPi, (a Raspberry Pi created by Kazade used to connect a SEGA’s Dreamcast, a Saturn and even a Nintendo’s GameCube online) to convert the old modem connection into a high speed internet for Ethernet or Wifi.

A modem will always be needed so he first used a US ROBOTICS 14400 (from the original CD-Online UK kit) but got that error “The Modem can not detect a dialtone, check the connections”, using several Dream Pi versions like 1.2, 1.5 and 1.7 (latest one) keeping the same settings as for the Dreamcast.
A CD-Online disc is also needed to get a connection, he first tried CD-Online Disc 02
Christa Lee joined forces with some tests from her side, trying to guide him to new possibilities. Then TwBurn (from the USB to CD-i device), Maartje (from the Bluetooth to CD-i device), Rosewood (from Retrostuff.org), cdifan (from CD-i Emulator & The World of CD-i), Seph (SephDB – itch.io) and kivan helped with some tips to get a dial connection.

Many problems had to be solved like making cables to connect the modem to the CD-i player (2 types of cable was used depending of the modem), use a connection under a SLIP or a PPP, try different DreamPi settings, tests with other CD-Online discs, a 14400 or a 33600 baud modem… all to try to get the modem recognised.

Frankie0815 then got a new LVI (Line Voltage Inducer) and a new version of DreamPi, he tried again and got something new:

This time the problem is a “Connection timed out” error, that means the modem is now recognised. Much better!
Later he confirmed the compatibility between a 14400 or a 33600 baud modem.

Still, no successful connection, so he went back to basic, plugging the modem to his PC using a USB to RS232 adapter, using a puTTY terminal program he sent AT commands to the modem. Turned the modem speaker ON and loud to listen to the dialtone. Unfortunately, nothing were listened.
He then decided to increase the LVI voltage from 18V to 20V to see if something changed… and… he got a dialtone loud and clear, the modem dials and even gets a connect from DreamPi. If you can do it on a PC, you also can do it on a CD-i!

He tried the CD-Online Disc 97-10, and got an handshake for a few seconds but lost connection right after.
The fact a login/account was needed back then from a specific site is also an issue that must be solved.
Look at the CD-online and Web-i websites (from Wayback Machine):

www.cd-online.com
www.cd-online.co.uk
www.cd-online.nl
www.cd-online.be
www.web-i.com

Another modem has been tested, the official one, included in the Internet Kit, a Philips branded 14400 baud.

Also several internet discs have been used, because different protocols were used from disc to disc (SLIP, PPP or even SLIP and PPP).

CD-Online Disc 01, from the internet kit was specifically for Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg and UK.
In CD-Online Issue 02 and later discs you could select your country from the main menu.

About what he did, Frankie0815 says:

I have tested 3 modems: U.S. Robotics Sportster 14.400, which was distributed with the UK CD-Online set, Sportster 33.600 which I got, before I could get the 14.400, and the complete Netherlands Set Internetten op je T.V. with the Philips 144 modem.
I tested several versions of the CD-online Software, Netherlands and UK. I have 2 different modem cables, one is self made, the other from the Holland set.
Before testing with the CD-i, I built the DreamPi, and made 2 different Line Voltage inducer. With this setup, and a PC terminal (PuTTY) I dialled my first connections, to verify, that the DreamPi and Line Voltage Inducers are working properly.

That was pretty hard, as it turned out, that the Voltage of the LVI was very important and different for each modem. The LVI is needed for the modem, to recognise the Dialtone, which is produced by the DreamPi.
This was the best effort I could get. After a few seconds, modem lost connection due to missing CD-Online servers. There is a login procedure, where your account was checked. But the server isn’t not there anymore.

The connection with PPP through the DreamPi setup is working well. I made a dial-up connection to the Internet with PC, DreamPi and modem. Slow, but working. So the setup is working.

For now it’s been as far as he’s gotten so far…
We all should thank him for all the efforts he made.

It is a question of time before someone finally make it possible. Soon or later the CD-i will be connected again to the internet, of course, the actual websites are to much advanced for what the CD-i can read. A dedicated website will need to be created, with basic html coding. A different approach may also be needed to reach a connection.
We hope more people will jump into this adventure!

Why not play RAM Raid online again?
It’s a question of time…


New 10Kg arrival from Italy

Another package fully loaded with CD-i material arrived today from Italy.
10 kilograms that includes CD-i players, titles included games, kids and multimedia, accessories and something special to me… mmmmm… I can’t tell you yet… all right, just one tip: “an Italian collection set”. 😛

Like the other 3 packages, I will keep only a part of it, the rest will be for sell on our Forum’s Market Place!
Everything will be preserved by my brother UnlockerPT, 😉

As soon as possible, I will make all the videos, catalogue everything, and I will also try not to be killed by my wife… 🙂
Another Spanish extra package is expected, but maybe only for June.

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When mail rings with 24Kg of CD-i material

I never play with important things, and when we are talking about CD-i, then, there is no place for bullshit.
I’ve just finished to receive 3 packages from Spain, fully loaded with only CD-i material, 24 kilograms of Interactive stuff. I know what is inside, I just don’t know in which box it is. It includes CD-i players, and tons of software (including some dupes), most of them exclusive from Spain.

SPECIAL THANKS:
I want to thanks from the bottom of my heart Diego, known as diego-rbb-93 who is also working with other preservationists for making it possible. I searched for all the materiel in Spain and he managed to get them all from so many different places (an impressive coordination process), he stored them at home, and then sent to me (Portugal). I am buying things since August 2021… 8 months of research and storage.
Thank you Diego, Thank you, Thank you!

A sign of trust and international help.

I will make 3 unboxing videos, not live, to improve better video quality and edition (by djkoelkast).

Some material are already documented on The World of CD-i, others not…
Still, 2 more extra packages are expected, one again from Spain (not from Diego this time), and a second one from Italy with something really special inside… well, all CD-i related material are always special to me. 😛

All the CD-i titles, will be preserved by UnlockerPT my neighbour, literally.

I will keep some part of what is inside, about the rest, some do have already a destination, and the other part will be for sale on our Forum’s Market Place, otherwise… I am a dead man (she will cut my b*lls!) with so many CD-i stuff!

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Stay tuned and stay safe!


New upcoming CD-i demo under work


After the wide success of Nobelia, Twilight Burn (TwBurn) is working on another project for a possible CD-i homebrew game, this time in 3D, based on SkyRoads from 1993.
You don’t know what is SkyRoads? It is a DOS game, you are a spaceship driving on a road with traps. You must stay on the track by avoiding walls (by jumping) and holes (turning left or right). You also can control your speed but will lose time (points). The goal is to reach the end of the road as fast as possible and get access to the next level. Nothing better than watch for the original game to get a better understanding of what we are talking about!

For now the demo is on a very basic stage. No spaceship is placed, only the 3D roads are in movement. 2 short videos has been shared by TwBurn, the first one is a very primitive 3D rendering, being slower when more objects are shown. The second one is much better, with better graphics and a good speed.

Demo 1, very archaic.

Demo 2, better graphics and speed.

As you can see, for now, there is no FX sound or music and no background image.
He is working on placing a background still image and will try to add an Mpeg video, but as he said, “video could add unpredictable performance as the documentation is very minimal, and it’s hard to test/debug”.

As he is still in a very initial work, he still doesn’t know the name of this game but it might not be SkyRoads.
Will it have enemies to shoot? It is also unknown. He firstly wants to get the demo working, by toying with some tech.

To make this 3D visuals he used a Level Editor where he exported the level, then he used a 3D engine in Javascript to draw it, and finally, he converted it to CD-i graphics.

We can expect a pretty cool game based on quick choices, TwBurn has shown he is capable of premium work.

The Future is bright for the CD-i scene in 2022 with many things in the pipeline.
Many brilliant minds are present in our Interactive Community.


CD-i 2 Bluetooth

Maartje Eyskens is an applied computer science teacher in Belgium, she is one of the many other developers from the Philips CD-i Discord server who are enjoying developing new accessories for the Philips CD-i system.

We all know how expensive it is to get an original CD-i gamepad or touchpad, that is why she has developed a CD-i accessory to connect any Bluetooth controller and let you play your favourite titles with.
Her work is based on Anarterb SNES2CDi and TwBurn Controller Library, but with modification to get the Bluetooth working, and she still keep it as an Open-Source on her GiHub.
But she went further… you can pair 2 Bluetooth controllers and play 2 player games! No need to use the same controllers to play Head-to-Head. Any working controller will be OK (the compatible controllers is on this article).

Visit her personal website at www.eyskens.me to discover all the process done since day 1 until the final product.

You can buy them at the official online store. Depending on your skills you can buy different products:

The complete set-box is for me the best choice you can make as it is a ready to go device, including a Mini DIN-8 pin cable!

Compatible controller list:

  • DualSense (PS5)
  • DUALSHOCK 4 (PS4) controller, both 2013 and 2016 editions
  • DUALSHOCK 3 (PS3) controller
  • Nintendo Switch Pro controller Confirmed by community
  • Nintendo Switch JoyCon Confirmed by community
  • Nintendo Switch Online SNES Controller Confirmed by community
  • Nintendo Wii U Pro controller
  • Nintendo Wii Remote and Remote Motion Plus, including Nunchuk and Classic Controller Confirmed by community
  • Xbox Wireless controller (model 1708, not the Series controllers) Confirmed by community
  • 8BitDo controllers Confirmed by community
  • Android controllers
  • iCade controllers
  • Nimbus SteelSeries
  • OUYA controllers
  • Some TV remote controls, like the Amazon Fire TV

From the first attempt until the final product, it just took a few days… incredible!
She worked on it mostly figuring out hardware issues at first, the biggest challenges were to re-work TwBurn library to work on ARM based micro controllers and debugging behaviour of the latest CD-i devices not recognising the controller due to a timing issue.
Only 3 prototypes where needed to get a final full working device, a very efficient work.

With the help of MrMii6 and Victonator, they designed a PCB, produced a prototype batch. Tested in well. Prepared packaging, shipping, assembly, a website a shipping box was made and a website for selling setup.

Congratulations and thank you Maartje Eyskens,you did an awesome work!

A work done by a lady must have a feminine touch, look at the back of the PCB “Made with ♥ in Belgium for the CD-i community”
A HUGE thumb up for the Interactive Community technical experts who contributed to the final product:
cdifan, Rosewood (retrostuff.org) and TwBurn with helpful tips on the community, MrMii6 with testing.