Xploder PRO

BIOS, Controllers, Memory Cards, Serial I/O, Parallel I/O, etc.
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CosmoGuy
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Post by CosmoGuy » August 23rd, 2012, 12:51 am

Hi there

I wasnt here long time ago.
I was thinking seriously last days about buying Xploder for my console to test some demos froms cene and try to port my own GL programs.
Working with emulators isn't very effective because of plugin crashes and bad emulator code at all.
My PC is quite modern but i have RS-232c and COM port so doing these thing with PSX are possible i think. I just need Xploder app to upload app and its there...


Here i found attractive offer [it was last time in April and there isnt such hardware in my country anymore or i dont know everything]:
http://allegro.pl/xploder-professional- ... 12784.html

The main point is... Do i really need this? It looks pretty tempting and nice, but thats the only offer i have.

I also have cartridge named "Game Hunter" probably from England.
Here are some photos of it:
Image

Image
Shouldn't here be mounted ROM memory?

Image
All of it

Image

It uses microprocessor from AMD [what is writed on it]

AM29F010
-90JI
9834DBA D
(c) 1991 AMD

I cant program it because i havent official software to it. From Blaze isn't compatibile.

Also do I need special card for PC to do anything or just plug cable to port from normal mainboard and go on?
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Post by Orion_ » August 23rd, 2012, 6:11 am

from what I have always read on internet, those classic action replay are not compatible with the parallel port from PC, only the xploder is.
so you need a special ISA card to connect those classic action replay, BUT, the ISA format is pretty old (older than PCI) so you need a really old Tower PC for this :/
I wonder if someone could make an easier way to communicate with the playstation (and even with the psone which have no parallel port), because the only easy way for the moment is finding an xploder, and sometimes it's not easy to find.
Retro game development on Playstation and other consoles http://orionsoft.free.fr/

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Post by Shadow » August 23rd, 2012, 11:11 am

It wont work without the COMMS LINK ISA card. I have one (thanks to a friend), and I could not get it to work.
All of the 'fake' cards you see/have with the parallel port are almost useless. They are only good for cheats (hex editing). You will have to pick up an Xplorer. Do not get an FX series because it will not work.
I already gave you a link in the IRC chat for one on eBay. You will need to buy that if you wish to upload/download from the PSX.

Orion_ wrote:I wonder if someone could make an easier way to communicate with the playstation (and even with the psone which have no parallel port), because the only easy way for the moment is finding an xploder, and sometimes it's not easy to find.
I'm working on it.
Development Console: SCPH-5502 with 8MB RAM, MM3 Modchip, PAL 60 Colour Modification (for NTSC), PSIO Switch Board, DB-9 breakout headers for both RGB and Serial output and an Xplorer with CAETLA 0.34.

PlayStation Development PC: Windows 98 SE, Pentium 3 at 400MHz, 128MB SDRAM, DTL-H2000, DTL-H2010, DTL-H201A, DTL-S2020 (with 4GB SCSI-2 HDD), 21" Sony G420, CD-R burner, 3.25" and 5.25" Floppy Diskette Drives, ZIP 100 Diskette Drive and an IBM Model M keyboard.

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CosmoGuy
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Post by CosmoGuy » August 23rd, 2012, 6:48 pm

Hi It's me again...

That offer has only 3 hours from now on

That's he description [original from Blaze site]

Description of ALL of that hardware:
http://www.psillustrated.com/psillustra ... ation.html

The Xploder Professional also allows you to interact with your PSX using a computer. With a printer cable and the free downloadable software, you can save screenshots and even ?xplore? your games to make up your OWN cheat codes
What is more, it has something called "X - Assist"
Image
It's that one with buttons and D-Pad.
No i dont mean its for playing purposes xD.
I mean IT can be plugged into a PC and programmed instead of cartridge. How do you think?

Shadow: I really cant buy anything from e-bay until i have credit card and PayPal account :) I have to wait for it at least 2 weeks.
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Post by Shadow » August 23rd, 2012, 7:23 pm

I don't know if the professional will work. However, that 'X-Assist' thing with the keypad and buttons allows you to write and edit HEX values directly to the Xplorer, so you don't have to use a PC. From what I know, it sucks.
Development Console: SCPH-5502 with 8MB RAM, MM3 Modchip, PAL 60 Colour Modification (for NTSC), PSIO Switch Board, DB-9 breakout headers for both RGB and Serial output and an Xplorer with CAETLA 0.34.

PlayStation Development PC: Windows 98 SE, Pentium 3 at 400MHz, 128MB SDRAM, DTL-H2000, DTL-H2010, DTL-H201A, DTL-S2020 (with 4GB SCSI-2 HDD), 21" Sony G420, CD-R burner, 3.25" and 5.25" Floppy Diskette Drives, ZIP 100 Diskette Drive and an IBM Model M keyboard.

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Post by CosmoGuy » August 23rd, 2012, 8:27 pm

So...

Don't waste money and wait till I can buy something on ebay?
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Post by Shadow » August 23rd, 2012, 9:22 pm

Yes. Wait until you can buy the standard Xplorer from eBay.
Development Console: SCPH-5502 with 8MB RAM, MM3 Modchip, PAL 60 Colour Modification (for NTSC), PSIO Switch Board, DB-9 breakout headers for both RGB and Serial output and an Xplorer with CAETLA 0.34.

PlayStation Development PC: Windows 98 SE, Pentium 3 at 400MHz, 128MB SDRAM, DTL-H2000, DTL-H2010, DTL-H201A, DTL-S2020 (with 4GB SCSI-2 HDD), 21" Sony G420, CD-R burner, 3.25" and 5.25" Floppy Diskette Drives, ZIP 100 Diskette Drive and an IBM Model M keyboard.

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CosmoGuy
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Post by CosmoGuy » August 23rd, 2012, 9:31 pm

Ok thanks ;) Topic can be closed.
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Post by Orion_ » August 24th, 2012, 7:58 am

shadow wrote: Do not get an FX series because it will not work.
I have an Xplorer FX and it's perfectly working for me !
shadow wrote: I'm working on it.
nice to ear that !! good luck :)
Retro game development on Playstation and other consoles http://orionsoft.free.fr/

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Post by Shadow » August 24th, 2012, 2:10 pm

Orion_ wrote:I have an Xplorer FX and it's perfectly working for me !]
You have it working as a COMMS LINK device using CAETLA 0.35?
Development Console: SCPH-5502 with 8MB RAM, MM3 Modchip, PAL 60 Colour Modification (for NTSC), PSIO Switch Board, DB-9 breakout headers for both RGB and Serial output and an Xplorer with CAETLA 0.34.

PlayStation Development PC: Windows 98 SE, Pentium 3 at 400MHz, 128MB SDRAM, DTL-H2000, DTL-H2010, DTL-H201A, DTL-S2020 (with 4GB SCSI-2 HDD), 21" Sony G420, CD-R burner, 3.25" and 5.25" Floppy Diskette Drives, ZIP 100 Diskette Drive and an IBM Model M keyboard.

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Post by Orion_ » August 25th, 2012, 12:14 am

My Xplorer FX is directly linked to the parallel port of my PC, and I installed caetla 0.35 and 0.37 on it using catflap.
Before having a desktop PC, I had a laptop and I used an express-card to provide a real parallel port to my laptop and it worked great too, just the default port number that I had to change because of the express-card bridge.
Now that I have Win7 64bits I recompiled catflap to use inpout32.dll (because the old catflap driver was not compatible with 64bits) and it's working perfectly well :)
you can find this version of catflap on my website.
You must use the -XP option on catflap to specify the Xplorer mode.
Retro game development on Playstation and other consoles http://orionsoft.free.fr/

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Post by Shadow » August 25th, 2012, 12:46 pm

Well Avanaboy and I tried our Xplorer FX's and they did not work at all. So, I dubbed them 'not worth buying and to not take a chance'. Now that you said it works, I am not sure.

I will be releasing the FreeWing soon for everyone to buy. This will let you use ANY fake or real Action Replay / Game Shark with CATFLAP or CAETLA for that matter.
Development Console: SCPH-5502 with 8MB RAM, MM3 Modchip, PAL 60 Colour Modification (for NTSC), PSIO Switch Board, DB-9 breakout headers for both RGB and Serial output and an Xplorer with CAETLA 0.34.

PlayStation Development PC: Windows 98 SE, Pentium 3 at 400MHz, 128MB SDRAM, DTL-H2000, DTL-H2010, DTL-H201A, DTL-S2020 (with 4GB SCSI-2 HDD), 21" Sony G420, CD-R burner, 3.25" and 5.25" Floppy Diskette Drives, ZIP 100 Diskette Drive and an IBM Model M keyboard.

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