DreamPi is software that lets a Sega Dreamcast use its built-in dial-up modem to access modern internet connections. It runs on a Raspberry Pi and bridges the Pi’s Ethernet or Wi-Fi connection to the Dreamcast through a compatible USB dial-up voice modem and phone cable.
This approach makes it possible to use compatible Dreamcast games and web browsers online without a traditional dial-up ISP. DreamPi is especially useful because the Dreamcast Broadband Adapter supports only a limited selection of games, while DreamPi works through the console’s standard modem.
DreamPi runs on all Raspberry Pi models except the Raspberry Pi 5. Download the prebuilt image from the repository’s Releases page; each release includes an image asset, such as dreampi-2.1.zip for version 2.1.
- A supported Raspberry Pi and compatible power supply
- A microSD card
- A microSD-card reader
- A computer running Windows, macOS, or Linux
- A flashing utility, such as Raspberry Pi Imager or balenaEtcher
Warning: Flashing overwrites the entire selected microSD card. Copy off anything important before continuing.
- Open the Releases page and select the release you want to install.
- Under Assets, download the
dreampi-<version>.zipfile. For example, DreamPi 2.1 providesdreampi-2.1.zip. - Extract the ZIP archive. It contains the DreamPi
.imgdisk image. - Insert the microSD card into your computer.
- Open Raspberry Pi Imager or balenaEtcher.
- Select the extracted DreamPi
.imgfile as the image source. - Select the correct microSD card as the target device.
- Start the flash process and wait for it to complete. If the tool offers validation, allow it to verify the written image.
- Eject the microSD card safely and insert it into the Raspberry Pi.