openMSX network device emulation

Resident (39)

11-10-2018, 10:24

Hi all,
ever since I've looked back on the MSX scene I'm sold to get things running again and experiment a bit more with this old and great system. I don't have any MSX hardware anymore. Although I'm tempted to get a NMS8250 or alike in the future, for the moment I'm using (with a ton of fun and pleasure) openMSX.

I'm wondering, is there any way to emulate a network connection, like the GR8Net adapter, for openMSX?
Thanks upfront for any input on this.

By DarkSchneider

Paladin (769)

11-10-2018, 15:08

That would be great. I am very interested in network for MSX. Unfortunately we face another problem, the lack of a standard API, using each device its own one.

One API to rule them all, please.

By Wolverine_nl

Paladin (1001)

11-10-2018, 15:12

isn't there one that we all use from Konamiman's website ? Or did you mean within the device itself and not the software?

By DarkSchneider

Paladin (769)

11-10-2018, 15:21

There is one for UNAPI, but each device has its own. So the UNAPI one is not standard for all devices. Maybe this changed, not sure, but I think is not the case. I see fortunately that GR8NET implemented UNAPI 1.0, but probably other devices not.

Anyway I'd program for this one, and then require a compatible device.

By Wolverine_nl

Paladin (1001)

11-10-2018, 15:22

well, if future software uses UNAPI 1.0, then hardware coming out in the future should obey that minimal specification for it to matter for users.
Then GR8NET should be possible to be used in emulation in the future.

By PatrickR

Resident (39)

11-10-2018, 17:57

Thanks for your input guys, looks like I'll have to wait until I can get my hands on an msx2 machine and gr8net adapter.

By Grauw

Enlighted (7793)

11-10-2018, 18:03

@DarkSchneider The standard API is UNAPI, GR8NET originally shipped without it but it was added in an update. I think all the others (ObsoNet and DanyoNet) support UNAPI as well. So there should be no fragmentation.

By DamnedAngel

Expert (101)

11-10-2018, 19:38

Patrick,

It is tricky, but people have reported running ethernet emulation via UNAPI in BlueMSX.
Maybe this helps.

[]s

By edoz

Prophet (2112)

11-10-2018, 20:06

What I like about the gr8net is that it supports the UNAPI, but also have this very very large basic support in commands. If you buy it you can boot from the gr8net cloud with no need for any software. Or you can use the internal web browser. It just works out of the box. Next to that it have all the hardware inside you can dream about .... For me it is just the number one most used hardware. In facts, since I have it all the rest of my hardware seems obsolete.

By PatrickR

Resident (39)

11-10-2018, 20:58

@DamnedAngel how does BlueMSX work in Wine? I'm using linux on all my machines here and have no windows at home.

edit: nvm, just tried it and that's a no go, utter garbage turns into a black window when started. It's also marked as garbage on the WineAppDB. I'll stick with openMSX