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CD-i Internet Connection

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 11:19 am
by Bas
Would it be possible to somehow connect the cd-i to the internet again? Or do you NEED the cd-online server?

Wouldn't it be possible in a technical way? Why not?

Just wondering ...

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 12:19 pm
by Devin
I remember having this discussion with someone else!!

My memory fails as to who it was at the moment but at the time we were talking about creating a website just as a bit of fun that would be complient with the CD-i net on your set disc. Anybody fancy a little side project :D

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 1:14 pm
by dealstokie
that would be very nice.

Not that could do it. :x

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2005 8:50 pm
by OlderGames
Devin wrote:I remember having this discussion with someone else!!

My memory fails as to who it was at the moment but at the time we were talking about creating a website just as a bit of fun that would be complient with the CD-i net on your set disc. Anybody fancy a little side project :D
Anything is possible. Heck it should only be a matter of
setting up ISP services. It can get a bit costly though...

EDIT: Keep in mind that the HTML if it's easily supported
would have to be in an old format like HTML 1 or something.
I'd take a stab at this but it would be a pain to get something
like the forums working without a patch for the browser.

Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2005 12:25 am
by Devin
Interesting in theory, but an awful lot of efffort for something nobody would end up using!! :cry:

Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2005 12:39 am
by cdifan
Making a PC program to act as "gateway" between the CD-i player and the Internet would seem much lett hassle. This needs only basic packet relaying with a bit of address translation.

In effect the PC would be playing both CD-i modem and ISP; the required cable would be a CD-i nullmodem cable. Hey, what a coincidence, maybe this cable is actually a generally useful thingy :)

Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2005 12:40 am
by Devin
I feel a game of Ram Raid coming on :wink:

Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2005 12:42 am
by cdifan
That would need a server somewhere, or it the original one still online?

Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2005 12:48 am
by Devin
cdifan wrote:That would need a server somewhere, or it the original one still online?
Blimey!! I doubt it somehow :?

Then again the CD-Online NL site is still operational!!

Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2005 2:44 pm
by XCLTempesT
Does anybody have any technical specs on the modem connection that is made when dialing in on a CD-I ?

I have been experimenting with getting the CDI online, but without much luck. First I tried a PC dial-up server.

I used the windows 98 setup on this page:
http://consolevision.com/members/mterlouw/

It is intented for the dreamcast, but uses a standard ppp connection.
I added a home telephone central, because "blindial" options never worked for my dreamcast, and I doubted that wouyld work for the CDI.

The dreamcast works perfectly, but when I try to connect the CDI, the PC just doesn't pick-up the line.


next I tried A "internet server": a small router with a RS-232 connection to connect an analog modem. I connected a V90 56k pocket modem, and configured the router for remote dial-in acces. I added a user named "Dreamcast" and with password "sega" .
Again I tried connecting with the dreamcast, and it works perfectly.
I tried connecting with the cd-i, and again the router doesn't pick-up the line.

I also have a more complex netgear RM356 modem router and I could configure a Linux machine for remote dial-in access. (works way better than windows) But since I still have no idea what kind of connection is supposed to be made, I still don't know where to start.

Also I have one of the latest cd-online discs (97-10) , there you can add a slightly longer number in the prefix code in order to dial-in (7 digit local dial-up number). Sadly I don't know of any provider that uses local dial-up numbers in my city. I live in the Netherlands, and have an Xs4all account. They do have local dial-up still, but since i live in Den Haag, I would have to call to Zoetermeer and still use 10 digits.
If I could determine that the CDI can dial-up onto a normal ISP account, that would help a lot in setting up my home dial-in server.

So does anybody here know a 7 digit internet dial-up number in the Netherlands? Or does any of you live in Zoetermeer, so I could pop round and perform this experiment? or does any-one of you have the technical specs on the modem connection used by the CDI?

I also would like to know what the dial-up process of the CD-online accounts was like on a normal PC. the website with this information on http://www.cd-online.nl/beginners/ isn't available anymore .
What are the username and paswords that you used to fill-in? (maybe the CDI adds "@cd-online.nl" or something to the username)

Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2005 3:06 pm
by Bas
http://web.archive.org/web/199701301820 ... inner.html

With the Internet Archive you can track a lot of 'lost' cd-online pages.

Unfortunately i don't have any knowledge about the cd-i internet connection myself, but i'm highly interested in any progress!

way-back machine about cd-online.nl

with the site still up and running, perhaps someone would listen when you send an email to feedback (at) cd-online (dot) nl

Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2005 3:14 pm
by XCLTempesT
I did try that one, but even the archive didn't have the file (but I checked only briefly)

in the link you provided the html pages start with "x" , I looked at different ones, maybe they have them, i'll check.

Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2005 12:42 pm
by Bas
do you know which files are needed to run the application via the cd-online server?

do you know who owns the cd-online.co.uk URL?

Do you have the original 14.4K Modem from Philips?

Is there anyone who have tried the cd-i online functions in the late ninetees?

Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 2:12 pm
by XCLTempesT
I don't know anything about the dial-up servers used. I probably was something very generic, that also was used for the PC .
In Holland the CD-online users could also use the service with there PC's.

The dutch Cd-online service was provided by world-online, now part of Tiscali.

Some time ago, I could browse to "cd-online.co.uk" and get to the cdinteractive site, so I guess that the people behind this site owns the url.

But you do not need the homepage at all in order to dial-in. The cd-online page was just a portal with links, nothing special.
But for some reason I can't get my PC to pick-up the "phone" when the cd-i is dialing.

And, yes I have the original 14.4 modem, that is what I was experimenting with

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 8:09 pm
by Bas
XCLTempesT, have you done any more experiments with this? I'd like to know if something worked out!