USB: add Namco UE PCB (AN986 USB-Ethernet) device with built-in netplay - #105
USB: add Namco UE PCB (AN986 USB-Ethernet) device with built-in netplay#105boostedmans-hub wants to merge 1 commit into
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Thanks for your transparency and PR! I will take a look soon. Quick glance shows some bloating in the code, but nothing serious. |
Emulates the ADMtek AN986 "Pegasus" USB-Ethernet board Namco used for cabinet-to-cabinet versus play on System 246/256. The game's own AN986.IRX driver and AVE-TCP stack run unmodified on the emulated IOP; ethernet frames are tunneled over TCP between emulator instances (1P hosts and acts as an N-way hub, 2P-4P join), so 2-4 player versus works on one PC or across a LAN/VPN. Register-level AN986 behavior (MII PHY, EEPROM MAC, link events) was modeled on captures from a real UE PCB. Includes three runtime IOP-side patches for stock-stack behaviors that break without real PHY hardware (link-up flag, netif broadcast address, RX dispatch gate). Verified with Gundam SEED Destiny: Rengou vs. Z.A.F.T. II - full 2P and 4P matches, same-PC and cross-PC. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Taito was also known for using a slightly different AN986 based USB-ethernet adapter that's only compatible with Battle Gear 3 and Zoids. The Namco UE PCB on the other hand isn't compatible with said two mentioned games even on hardware. It's possible Taito used different USB descriptors from this adapter too compared to the Namco UE pcb. Here are two pics of the adapter itself: |
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The Namco UE PCB is also used for stuff like ALL.Net server connectivity for things like Tekken 5 (5.0, 5.1, 5DR)'s Live Monitor or for niche stuff (to this emulator, probably) like Akemasu (The IDOLM@STER) and it's idol-to-producer text messaging (one of the most iconic IM@S mechanics in later console-based titles). Hydreigon does have a point. Zoids and BG3 use a "Pegasus II"-based "LANEGG" USB NIC that has extra registers compared to the "Pegasus"-based Namco UE PCB, but being able to have head-to-head or two-on-two Gundam matches is a good start, of course. Once someone manages to follow Isra's lead and implement card emulation (only if Isra is unable to source an EX-CARD PCB), we could definitely have the possibility for Tekken.Net or NESYS emulation, or most likely Druaga Online finally being playable. Only time will tell! |
Card reader is coming one way or another there is a bounty for making an app that can reset the usage counter for the IC Cards on SDBZ (or remove the card necessity altogether) |
So happy to read this! Is the pcsx2x6-imas fork of any utility or is it too hacky for now? I developed a tool that uses the same named pipe that fork provides for the card reader comms and would love it if it's kept as is, dunno what could be the negatives about that implmentation
I just RE'd the death counter on the Akemasu cards... maybe I could give it a chance |
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I had test other gundam vs games, Gundam vs Gundam Next has failed to link. |
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How to run this plugin? |
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I got Druaga Online working based on this patch with some additional changes plus an ALL.Net emulator. |
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Description of Changes
Adds a new USB device: UE PCB (Namco arcade net) — the ADMtek AN986 "Pegasus" USB-Ethernet board Namco used for cabinet-to-cabinet versus play on System 246/256, with a built-in TCP netplay transport.
[data] usb=so the UE PCB selection survives reboots.Register-level behavior was modeled on captures from a real UE PCB.
Rationale behind Changes
Restores arcade versus play for System 246/256 network games without real UE PCB hardware. Verified with Gundam SEED Destiny: Rengou vs. Z.A.F.T. II — full 2P and 4P matches, no comm errors, same-PC and cross-PC (VPN).
Limitations: emu-to-real-cabinet play connects and boot-syncs but desyncs in-match (pure lockstep + cycle mismatch) — a raw-L2/pcap transport for real-cab experiments exists locally, possible follow-up PR. Netplay sessions aren't savestate-safe.
Suggested Testing Steps
Same-PC 2P (two portable installs, each with its own ini):
Cross-PC: enter the 1P PC's LAN IP in "1P's IP" on every PC (same value); TCP 7500 reachable on the host (added automatically on Windows).
Related GameIDs
renza2 (Gundam SEED Destiny: Rengou vs. Z.A.F.T. II). Other UE PCB titles (A.E.U.G. vs. Titans DX etc.) untested.
Did you use AI to help find, test, or implement this issue or feature?
Yes — substantially, and I want to be fully transparent: the reverse-engineering (IOP/IRX disassembly, real UE PCB protocol captures) and most of the implementation were done with AI assistance (Claude). I did the direction, all hardware/real-cabinet testing, multi-PC playtesting, and debugging iterations. I understand if this doesn't fit the LLM usage policy as-is — happy to walk through any part of the design and adapt as maintainers prefer.
🤖 Generated with Claude Code