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

[danhans42]

Working great here. Use it to boot my old yaroze boot disc and Caetla works great with Gregs USB tool.

the auto psxserial thing is way cool!

Just such a shame you have to put a disclaimer on there due to people selling your free work on eBay there are some a**holes about.

Thanks for your hard work

[sickle]

@vxbinaca
Aaah, I knew that games as Kurushi! Can you post the exact .ISO somewhere and I'll take a wee look at it?

@danhans42
Cool, glad to know it works! At least all the menu shortcuts and stuff work behind the intro, hahah :p

(P.s. wrong forum but I had a look for a 5552 psx for you the other day, only had PSOnes though!)

[vxbinaca]

@vxbinaca
Aaah, I knew that games as Kurushi! Can you post the exact .ISO somewhere and I'll take a wee look at it?

Watch your PMs in the next day.. I'll include a Bin/Cue so you can reproduce the game on your end. My original, Kurushi Final, isn't working. I'd be willing to buy you a copy if it came down to you not being able to reproduce the problem.

And thank you very much. If you've ever played this game, it's superior to the original IQ/Kurushi. Namely Dualshock support, a level editor, more characters and game modes and music that's just as good

[Bodzio_2]

I have a problem with running games using this method. Perhaps you could help me how to solve it. I have Game Hunter CD Version. I managed to upload on it UniROM Standalone. Everything seems ok but unfotunately it doesn't read any CD-Rs that I have. I press R1 and then R2 and I got a loading screen. The console works and tries to read CD but unfortunately it can't do it. I check it with different CD-Rs and different PS1 model. On 5002, 5552, 7002, 7502 I get screen Loading. Hang on. And on 1002 the console doesn't boot at all. Do you happen to know what may be wrong?

[likeabaus]

What speed are you burning you discs at? Also are you creating proper iso's/images before actually burning them to a disc? Copying from one drive to another is a very bad practice when it comes to console games. Also the slower you burn your discs the more accurate they'll be. I usually burn my discs at 4x (not really though, that's what I set my burning software to and it forces my burner to burn as slow as possible. Most drives these days don't go as low as 4x anymore). Also using good media helps quite a bit. I personally recommend Verbatim brand.

[Bodzio_2]

I guess it's 12 or 16x because it's the lowest speed I can use. However I don't think it has much in common with burning speed because I have also modified consoles on which these CD-R games work.

[sickle]

That's a bit of a bugger, huh :-Solid advice from likeabaus there (maplin still sell verbatim CDRs in the UK btw, failing that Tesco brand work crazy well).
-I've tested everything on 1002->5552 models too, so that shouldn't be a problem.

There must be something else at play here - maybe something GameHunter does differently or it flashed with errors or something. Honestly, I'm kinda stumped. All I can think of is that your GameHunter doesn't make all of its memory readable. (e.g. the 512k Xplorer carts can have 512 flashed in, but you can only read back 384k of data via the parallel port, as that's all that's wired in. The other 128k is treated differently) ... or maybe there's a loose connection, causing similar kinda effects?

I guess you have no other carts to test on?
What happens if you boot with "fastboot" instead?
Does it make a difference when you *don't* push R1 first ( you don't have to )?

[Bodzio_2]

I think it's flashed without errors. I did it a few times with the same result.

"Fastboot" means I press R2? i tried to press R1 and then R2, and I tried to press them both. Each time I have loading screen and hang on info. The disc is running but nothing else happens.

I have the second card. It's Equalizer Even The Odds but I don't want to lose it's original soft.

PS. Do you know where can I find Game Hunter V6.0 soft? I lost it, and I can't find anything else to flash my GH. Only Action Replay 1.93 works but I'd like to have sth different. Is there a list of this all softs with information about their size so that I can choose some for my card?

[sickle]

"Fastboot" is the piece of text that says "Fastboot" :p
(Below the R2 option. It has a little more info)

You might have some luck finding the original ROM here:
http://xianaix.net/museum.htm

XFlash (if it can recognise the chip) will say how much space you have, just compare it to the file you download.

[Squaresoft74]

I'd like to have sth different.

Check krHACKen's overburn mod of X-Flash.

[ClobberingRush]

Tried to install to Xplorer FX, but got Checksum error. How do I fix this?

[ploder]

I just wanted to post a little update of my experience in case anyone finds it helpful. I finally managed to get hold of another Xplorer to flash. Previously I had a Game Hunter (one that allows booting of backups) but it kept saying unknown rom with the X-flash CD. Initially the Xplorer was saying the same thing and wouldn't let me flash. It didn't matter what the position of the switch was and on the second attempt the console wouldn't boot even the cheat cartridge's screen anymore. Oh great, I thought I had fried the devices and I was about to give up but followed the procedure for one last time and it actually detected it! So I did the following to flash my Xplorer on a PS1 with no modchip:

1. Insert Game Hunter into SCPH-5552 PAL PS1. Insert spring into PS1 lid button. Flip switch to 'on' position.
2. Placed a genuine retail edition of Ace Combat 3 PAL into the PS1 and switch console on.
3. Wait until the disc stops spinning and insert the Unirom v6 X-flash CD (I burned the .cue using Imgburn x4 speed. The media was Verbatim x52 700MB CDR. This one )
4. Press circle to 'start game'
5. X-flash CD should now boot on an unmodded PS1.
6. Remove the Game Hunter from the PS1.
7. Insert the Xplorer with the switch set to the off position. (the CD should still be spinning at this point)
8. Press R2 to detect EEPROM. It should come up with Xplorer.
9. Press start to go to the ROM selection menu
10. Scroll down to option 11 (Xplorer is big enough to fit both Caetla and Unirom. Switch down boots Unirom and vice versa) and press X.
11. It will now flash Xplorer with Unirom Caetla option.
12. Switch off PS1 and remove spring (no need for spring now since you can direct boot backups by pressing R2)

Here are some backups i have tested. They all appear to boot fine (issues will be added as comments next to individual games). Images are redump verified:

NTSC USA
Brahma Force
Breath of Fire 3
Bushido blade
Chrono Cross disc 1
Devil Dice
Einhander
Hogs of War
Resident Evil Director's Cut (non-dualshock version)
Rogue Trip Vacation 2012
Suikoden 2
Team Buddies
Valkyrie Profile

NTSC J
Castlevania: SOTN (english patched) *ps1 will boot into cd player instead of unirom rarely (I don't think this is game specific). There is audio skipping of bgm rarely.
Rittai Ninja Katsugeki Tenchu: Shinobi Gaisen

PAL
Bishi Bashi special
Colin Mcrae Rally 2
Micro Maniacs
Wipeout 3 SE

*on the rare occasion my ps1 doesn't boot unirom from xploder. It just does a normal ps1 boot. Don't know whether this is a hardware issue with the parallel p/o port, xplorer cartridge or unirom software itself*

There is one thing that is concerning me and that is the sound of the PS1 laser. I don't suppose it is anything to do with Unirom since it is the same with retail games, but I don't remember the read-seek sound from loading disc data being so loud (it sounds like the laser). There is no problem actually reading the data though (it doesn't freeze or hang at all). I had a grinding sound on booting up my slim PS2 which I fixed by greasing the worm gear, but I am not sure whether this is a similar issue that I can safely deal with in the same way on my PS1? When going into/out of doors/menu in Valkyrie Profile there are particularly loud - but brief - disc reading noises. Is that normal? Should I just ignore it as long as the games play fine and there are no problems with freezing/hanging? I would hate for the PS1 to give out on me before I have finished testing this great software. Any advice?

[likeabaus]

Are you able to record a quick video of this happening (the sound), so myself or others can let you know if it sounds OK or not? The psx (big gray models) tend to be pretty loud, but its better to be safe than sorry.

EDIT: nice work on the tutorial BTW!

[ploder]

Ok here is a sample I recorded using my tablet. I was holding it directly over the ps1 when I turned it on, went to unirom and started Valkyrie Profile 1. I then paused the recording, went between rooms in the game so you can hear the volume of the read/seek sounds (it is not making that sound continuously, only because i am going between rooms but there is a lot of that in this game). You can hear the PS1 power button being pressed at the beginning. There are also few bumps towards the beginning where I knocked the tablet against the cabinet above (the knocks are not part of the PS1's operational sounds). Is this recording normal operational behaviour?

[darius]

Hello all
Great job! Congratulations!

Do you think I can flasher an Xplorer blaze?





I think that if I were more talented I could flasher directly through the parallel port

Is this the method to follow? (thanks you ploder )

1. Insert Game Hunter into SCPH-5552 PAL PS1. Insert spring into PS1 lid button. Flip switch to 'on' position.
2. Placed a genuine retail edition of Ace Combat 3 PAL into the PS1 and switch console on.
3. Wait until the disc stops spinning and insert the Unirom v6 X-flash CD (I burned the .cue using Imgburn x4 speed. The media was Verbatim x52 700MB CDR. This one Image)
4. Press circle to 'start game'
5. X-flash CD should now boot on an unmodded PS1.
6. Remove the Game Hunter from the PS1.
7. Insert the Xplorer with the switch set to the off position. (the CD should still be spinning at this point)
8. Press R2 to detect EEPROM. It should come up with Xplorer.
9. Press start to go to the ROM selection menu
10. Scroll down to option 11 (Xplorer is big enough to fit both Caetla and Unirom. Switch down boots Unirom and vice versa) and press X.
11. It will now flash Xplorer with Unirom Caetla option.
12. Switch off PS1 and remove spring (no need for spring now since you can direct boot backups by pressing R2)

[ploder]

That's the same Xplorer I used and it worked after a few times of trying. I have the same packaging with the Tekken 3 sticker on the front too . Like my steps show, you still need a way to boot the xflash cdr, like a modchip or cartridge that allows for swapping backups. I don't really like to 'hard swap' discs while spinning so I think either of those 2 options are better.

[darius]

This is a very powerful replay action, the port sub25 to the back actually connects to the parallel port of an old PC!
It's the only one to do this: everything is other need a comlink-cart kind interface

I have hacked PS1 and I would test ca dice I would have a little time

I know some people have increased the ram of action-replay to make development
I would like to have information above

[danny19901]

@Sicklebrick sorry to bother you but if you get a chance I have a PS1 very 1st edition I believe with very old bios and yes unirom barely works properly on it I tried with xplorer cart however I did get some games to boot with really long load times audio issues or just very temperamental however I recently bought another PS1 and tried the cart with unirom and it works flawless have to say great work it's played everything I threw at it however cutscenes/ FMV's seem laggy at times (rugrats, parasite eve, gex3) but games 100% playable I want to donate my other very old ps1 to you to see if you can improve unirom to support that ps1 also I hope to see FMV's improvement if possible and maybe a bigger better cheat database

[Administrator]

Your PSX must be a PU-7 with the early BIOS. We had the same problem with Fastboot and it took us a while to find out what was going on. It's to do with the kernel setup address pointers. They are both different. I'll send some logic to Sickle to use so he can fix this issue when he has time

[sickle]

Hi, sorry for the silence recently - work's been fuckin' nuts

Teaser though: there's a reasonable chance the next version will have a NTSC->PAL coverter built in (Though not PAL->NTSC, one thing at a time, eh?). I've had it working with SOTN, Kurushi, Gran Turismo, Destruction Derby 3 but it's pretty fiddly. Will be getting back to this in January when things calm down a little.

@danny
Hey, yeah, like Shadow says those old ones have a slightly different BIOS. I've disassembled them and have a reasonable idea of the differences (most of the time it's just addresses being off by a few bytes) - but with nothing to test on I didn't want to blindly claim support. If you're up for donating one, sure I'll certainly patch in support!

@Shadow
Wasn't it me who last fixed that? >.< haha Failing that, I've rewritten a few chunks of the fastboot to be a little clearer. Possibly usefull, possibly just for reference.

I think originally they (datel/xplorer folks) were checksumming expecting there might eventually be more than 2 variations of the boot routine in the BIOS ( afterall, Sony had already changed it once ) but with the benefit of 20 years and hindsight, it seems they only ever did that one change.


@darius
yepyep, I build and test on XPlorers through the DB25 - very handy. Just use a CD and swap/modchip though!

@ploder
I can't get the flash file to play right now but I'm pretty sure I know the sound. The PSX is struggling to read those CDRs and your laser will die a little quicker in my experience. Ditch the verbatim disks (they used to be good when they had the dark/blue dye but suck now). Weirdly enough, go grab a cheap stack of Tesco CDRs, they're about the best of my recent purchases. (vs. like Verbatim, TDK, etc etc)

Edit: burn at 1x or 2x.