UniROM 8.0.K - GDB Debugging, install/backup to/from memory card, homebrew from memcard, etc

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Post by sickle » January 31st, 2018, 9:02 pm

TriMesh wrote: January 31st, 2018, 8:36 pm I am starting to think maybe I have too many PlayStations, though...
That's not a thing, be more sensibles.
WolfyAmbassador wrote: January 31st, 2018, 2:21 pm Please elaborate a little more on the swap issue.
Okie, so like Trimesh explained, you can't just "unlock" the jap consoles via code.
You can however (and this works in caetla/explorer and other stuff to) just:
1- put a spring or something in the cd lid sensor so it keeps spinning with the tray up
2- start the psx with a black disk in
3- let it spin for a few secs
4- just grab it while it's spinning and swap it out for an import/cdr
5- boot the game via your cart

"Enable Swap" in unirom just stops the disk so you don't have to grab it while it's spining, which is a little better for the machine.

Notes
CDRs are still bad for the laser, long term.
IIRC in older action replays you had to go into the cd file explorer on the black disk, then back out first.
Explorers should be fine
You need a slightly different swap if not using a cart (e.g. the normal BZZZZ..wooosh,blingblingbling screen)
There are pure-caetla rom hacks (Ahoy 0.34 for example) which auto-stop the CD for you. (completely off topic, but it's pretty cool, they stuck the code for that in the unused portion of the license text. I like that)

Edit: Totally forgot
There used to exist unlicensed black disks (by datel or something) that let you boot imports and CDRs the same way. IIRC You could also do the same with the XPlorer CD version (CD9000 or something)

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Post by TriMesh » January 31st, 2018, 11:29 pm

OK, I just had a look at the code, and noticed a few things to do with the region detection.

1) You are reading 0xBFC7FF52 and comparing it with 'A' and selecting NTSC mode if so - this results in the code switching to PAL mode on consoles with a Japanese ROM, which is the wrong thing to do (tm). I suggest you change this to compare it with "E" and select PAL in that case.
2) In the nocash unlock code, you are also reading 0xBFC7FF52 and testing for 'J' - this is plausible, but ends up doing the wrong thing on the SCPH-xxx3 Asian consoles since they have a US boot ROM but a Japanese CD controller. Maybe use CD command 0x19,0x22 and check the result? (Fail = old Japanese, "for Europe" = PAL, "for U/C" = NTSC:U/C, "for Japan" = Newer Japanese)

The menus are also a bit messed up when displayed in NTSC mode - this happens even when running on a PAL console, so you should be able to see if just by defeating the PAL/NTSC check.

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Post by WolfyAmbassador » February 1st, 2018, 4:04 am

TriMesh wrote: January 31st, 2018, 8:36 pm
WolfyAmbassador wrote: January 31st, 2018, 2:21 pm Hopefully it will be compatible in the future, because damn, I was going to use it to play backups and japanese games on this ntsc-j model. Please elaborate a little more on the swap issue.

Thanks.
The "nocash unlock" bit is never going to be compatible with any console with a Japanese CD controller - this isn't a deficiency in Unirom, it's simply that SCEI intentionally disabled the backdoor commands that the nocash unlock uses in their consoles. You can't do anything about this because the program is built into the chip at manufacture time.

I suspect there is some sort of deeper incompatibility with the Japanese boot ROM, though - I have an Explorer FX flashed with the Caetla+Unirom combo and have been using it on my SCPH-7003 (PU18, JP CD controller, US boot ROM), and it works - taking the same cartridge and connecting it to a Japanese machine doesn't - Caetla will boot correctly but if you put the switch in the off position then you get a blank screen. Just to make sure this wasn't a bad connection, I tried it on 3 different NTSC:J consoles (2 x SCPH-7000, 1 x SCPH-7500) and got the same result each time. Interestingly, a few times I got a blank screen in PAL mode, although the mode was correctly detected as NTSC on the SCPH-7003.

There is also an image alignment issue with NTSC (the screen is moved up, the banner at the top is clipped and there are lines at the side of the screen), but this is purely cosmetic and doesn't affect the operation. I also tested on a SCPH-5502 and it all displays correctly. This seems to be a PAL vs NTSC thing since a SCPH-7501 displays with the same errors as the SCPH-7003.

I am starting to think maybe I have too many PlayStations, though...

Image
Damn, I wasted $50 on a Japanese playstation with accessories. I bought it because I thought it was in better condition compared to the other US models that were listed thinking I was going to be able to use Unirom with it regardless.

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Post by iaiajo » February 1st, 2018, 11:00 am

Hi sicklebrick, I'm not yet sure but what you said is that in my case the problem is unirom and not my hardware right? sorry just want to make sure :P I can wait for a fix whatever time it takes but want to be sure is nothing on my end, thanks a lot for your software :) and once again sorry for my broken english.

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Post by TriMesh » February 1st, 2018, 1:08 pm

WolfyAmbassador wrote: February 1st, 2018, 4:04 am Damn, I wasted $50 on a Japanese playstation with accessories. I bought it because I thought it was in better condition compared to the other US models that were listed thinking I was going to be able to use Unirom with it regardless.
The swap method should still work as long as you have at least one original NTSC:J disc to use.

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Post by kHn » February 2nd, 2018, 5:20 pm

Something weird that was reported to me recently :
UniROM V6 with Caetla, flashed in an Xplorer V1 cartridge.
When connected to a SCPH-1002 console, Caetla runs, but UniROM does not. It goes to the normal PS OSD instead.
This very same reflashed cartridge works fine in a SCPH-5502. I mean, UniROM does run. :shrug
Is this a confirmed bug which affects the SCPH-1002, or the gentleman's console is just damaged ?

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Post by HatMusic » February 7th, 2018, 1:37 pm

Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but is it possible to have Unirom standalone on the "off" switch position, with the original ROM at the "on" position for 512kb carts?

Also, if I swapped to standalone instead of the +caetla+plugin, would that mean I regain on/off functionality of the switch?

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Post by Octane » February 9th, 2018, 9:45 am

HatMusic wrote: February 7th, 2018, 1:37 pmAlso, if I swapped to standalone instead of the +caetla+plugin, would that mean I regain on/off functionality of the switch?
I want to know this too, but I don't have my Playstation at hand right now, so I can't test it myself.

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Post by kerobaros » February 11th, 2018, 1:42 pm

Is there a list of which devices are known to be flashable, and what size EPROMs they have in them? I'd like to buy a device to use UniROM on, but since I don't have a local source, I don't want to waste too much time and money. Alternatively, if someone can point me at a known-working device for sale, preferably with a larger EPROM, it would be appreciated.

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Post by rama3 » February 11th, 2018, 4:39 pm

Look for original devices, avoid the cheap looking / sounding clones.
Originals are the Explorer, Exploder (lol), Gameshark, etc.
The clones have variations of those names, or something completely different.

The reason you want the originals is, their EEPROMS are usually supported.

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Post by Shadow » February 11th, 2018, 6:00 pm

*Xplorer and Xploder.
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 Octane » February 12th, 2018, 1:26 am

rama3 wrote: February 11th, 2018, 4:39 pm Originals are the Explorer, Exploder (lol), Gameshark, etc.
I have the PSXterminator, which is the Japanese version of the Xplorer/Xploder. Gameshark was the US rebranded version of the Action Replay series, but I think some of the early ones aren't supported by X-flash. Also, Action Replay was sold under the brand Karat in Japan.

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Post by kerobaros » February 12th, 2018, 10:57 am

That's really helpful, thanks! So as far as GameShark versions go, what version number should I be looking for? Something in the 2.x range? Do I want one of the older, boxy models, or should I look for one of the curvier, black Pro models?

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Post by Octane » February 13th, 2018, 10:17 pm

kerobaros wrote: February 12th, 2018, 10:57 am That's really helpful, thanks! So as far as GameShark versions go, what version number should I be looking for? Something in the 2.x range? Do I want one of the older, boxy models, or should I look for one of the curvier, black Pro models?
Well, I know that some of the boxy models aren't supported, but the Pro models are, and there's plenty of space for both Unirom and Caetla.

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Post by masternoxx » March 16th, 2018, 10:34 am

sicklebrick, May I make a couple requests?
-In next version can you re-map fastboot to R2 as it was before? While keeping the auto-unlock code?
-Could you make an alternate version without x-flash integrated, therefore smaller size? This will allow others to add plugins and possibly still fit on a 128k cartridge. The plugins will allow anti-mod and games not working with unirom to be possibly played without disc swap.

Thank you for your work sickle

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Post by JomSpoons » March 19th, 2018, 6:07 am

Hi there. First of all, I'd like to give my sincerest thanks, sicklebrick. I didn't think softmodding on the PSX was even possible, and for quite a while it wasn't. But thanks to you we now can, which is fantastic since I prefer to softmod over hardmod. This is super helpful for me, so thanks again.

Now, apologies for my probable noobishness (since this is my first time getting into PSX modding), but what exactly is the Fast BIOS Boot supposed to do? I'm using an unmodded original PlayStation with a flashed GameShark, which has Standalone UniROM V6 on it. Whenever I try to select "Fast BIOS Boot", it hangs on the loading screen and the disc continues to spin quite fast. The normal Fast Boot seems to work fine, but for some reason the Fast BIOS Boot doesn't. Again, I apologize if that's a stupid question. Thank you!

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Post by Shadow » March 19th, 2018, 8:17 am

Sicklebrick isn't really active here as much anymore unfortunately. UniROM has been in need of an update for several months now.

What PlayStation model do you have? I think Sicklebrick used an old lookup table so it hangs on certain BIOS's because the offsets of the addresses are different.
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 JomSpoons » March 19th, 2018, 8:45 am

Shadow wrote: March 19th, 2018, 8:17 am What PlayStation model do you have? I think Sicklebrick used an old lookup table so it hangs on certain BIOS's because the offsets of the addresses are different.
It says “MODEL NO. SCPH-5501” on the bottom of my console. My console is also “NTSC U/C”

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Post by masternoxx » March 19th, 2018, 9:38 am

I have scph-7501. When I tried unirom v6 bios boot did not work I think, but it does work on v44. I would say v44 is better since you can just push r1 then r2 to boot game, I don't want to have to navigate the menu every single time like with v6. I believe there is no compatibility improvement anyways.

Not having a real good success rate with games on unirom. About 40 percent work properly, others, and it is always this, they either do not load the next area of a game, load it slowly or strangely, or at times load the wrong sector. I just tried NFS2 and when you press start (for new game) the game says loading but then it goes back to the intro and same part as when you first boot the disc.

Sicklebrick please come back and save the day! :crying

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Post by kHn » March 19th, 2018, 10:53 am

masternoxx wrote: March 19th, 2018, 9:38 amI have scph-7501. When I tried unirom v6 bios boot did not work I think, but it does work on v44. I would say v44 is better since you can just push r1 then r2 to boot game, I don't want to have to navigate the menu every single time like with v6.
V6 2M does boot with R2. V6 standalone does not.
masternoxx wrote: March 19th, 2018, 9:38 amI believe there is no compatibility improvement anyways.
Some games which constantly rebooted with 0.44 now work with V6.

To sum it all,
1M cartridge owners can use 0.44 to boot with R1 and R2, without having to navigate the menu. Some games may require another disc like an Action Replay/GameShark CD to be run first, so they stop rebooting. With V6 you have to navigate the menu to launch the game.
2M cartridge owners can go for V6+Caetla/V6+Caetla+Plugin. Still the best option, there are issues with noCash unlock on Caetla though.

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