Dreamcast and Saturn AOL Instant Messenger Guide

@Dreamcast

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Dreamcast

 · 6 years ago

 
            Dreamcast and Saturn AOL Instant Messenger Guide 

                       by Benjamin Paul Galway 
                       benjamin@boobietime.com 

                           August 18, 2002 

   This guide and all information from it is to be used for personal 
   use only. No profit may be derived either directly or indirectly 
   from its use. This document may not be altered in any way, nor be 
   distributed electronically. I only grant permission for this guide 
   to appear on the following sites: 

                             My FAQs Page 
                  [ http://www.boobietime.com/faqs ] 
                               GameFAQs 
                     [ http://www.gamefaqs.com ] 

   This is a short, ugly guide to getting AOL Instant Messenger to run 
   on your Sega Saturn and Sega Dreamcast. I have explained everything 
   as simple as possible, and I will not answer any questions or 
   respond to comments about this. All credit goes to Matthew at 
   zevils.com for creating this fantastic gateway. I just wrote this 
   because so many people are lazy to look stuff up for themselves to 
   even know this existed. Of course, GameFAQs is littered with "people" 
   pestering others on message boards asking questions about games that 
   are already answered in the very FAQs the site hosts and is named 
   for... but I digress. 

   Getting AOL Instant Messenger on your Dreamcast and Saturn is thanks 
   to a program called IMIRC. It is a great program which allows most 
   every Internet device that cannot normally access AOL Instant 
   Messenger to use it in a roundabout way. You can read more about 
   IMIRC, check out all of the available AIM commands, and download it 
   if you wish to configure your own IRC server here: 

               Instant Messenger to Internet Relay Chat 
               [ http://www.zevils.com/programs/imirc/ ] 

   As far as I'm aware, only the PlanetWeb browsers feature IRC. While 
   the Sega Saturn Netlink only has the various PlanetWeb browsers 
   available, the Dreamcast has a couple of others in Japan or available 
   through "tricks" with games. IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat, an 
   old, somewhat archaic chat system but it works. You can still order 
   the Dreamcast PlanetWeb browser from the developer's site, but you 
   can only download the Saturn one (meaning you'd already need the disc 
   to get on-line to download it): 

                    PlanetWeb 3.0 Dreamcast browser        
             [ http://dreamcast.planetweb.com/upgrade/ ] 
                    PlanetWeb 4.035 Saturn browser 
           [ http://www.planetweb.com/netlink/upgrade.html ] 

   Finally, you'll already have to have a registered AIM name. You can 
   do this by visiting the AIM site and registering for a screen name 
   here: 

                  AOL (R) Instant Messenger (TM) 
                      [ http://www.aim.com ] 

   You will need to reply the e-mail sent to secure your account, but it 
   should be ready to use once you've signed up. You can use your 
   PlanetWeb browser to register an account if you like. Now with your 
   PlanetWeb browser in your console and with it connected to the Internet, 
   you can follow the instructions below: 

   1) Get on IRC. In a PlanetWeb browser, this is accomplished by going to 
      the URL bar at top and typing the following: 

                   pwchat://irc.server.com:6667 

      Note that "irc.server.com" is any server equipped with IMIRC. You can 
      get a complete list here: 

                         IMIRC Networks List 
          [ http://www.zevils.com/programs/imirc/imstat/ ] 

   2) Once you're on, be sure to read all text that pops up as you log on. 
      Note that IRC primarily uses two symbols to initiate a command: "/" 
      and "#." The forward slash instructs the server to do something, and 
      the pound sign prefaces every room listed (so a chat room called 
      "Sega" is located at "#sega"). Now you can sign-on to your AIM 
      account by typing the following in the message bar at the bottom: 

                   /msg aimserv signon USERNAME PASSWORD 

      "USERNAME" and "PASSWORD" should be obvious enough, but remember to 
      leave out any spaces when entering them. Realize that all server 
      commands are only readable by the server, so don't think everyone 
      can see your name and password. If you're still unsure, you can 
      always create a new room before signing on by typing: 

                              /join ROOMNAME 

   3) Now you're signed on. You can communicate with everyone on IRC and 
      AIM. To access your Buddy List, join the room channel that the text 
      that is displayed after signing on tells you to. It should be like 
      this: 

                         /join #aimchan-USERNAME 

     Notice how all names on your Buddy List are prefaced with "AIM-" so 
     whenever you want to message a person on your Buddy List, type: 

               /msg AIM-USERNAME Your message blha blah blah 

     Yes, it is a pain, but it works. The nice thing is that you can 
     join an AIM chat room which will remove the need to specify who you 
     are trying to message. There are other commands linked to this guide, 
     but this is enough to get you started. 

 
                            End of Document