Really stupid question...

[_zaphod_]

Can this emu load cds on an unmodded ps2? I thought such a thing would be impossible, unless neo geo CD present themselves as audio. And if the Ds ODO ahve an iso fiel system, yet this emu can read them on an unmodded ps2, than this is big news indeed!

[evilo]

hi zaphod,

well first things to know is that NG CD are not audio cd but cd with both a data track (of course with a filesystem) and cdda tracks, so there is no reason for the ps2 to dectect them as a audio cd, and most important is that they are actually recognized as data + cdda.

concerning the unmodded ps2, in theory it should only be possible to read original CD but not backup cd-r... but not having a unmodded ps2 myself, i cannot verify !

[Nachbrenner]

concerning the unmodded ps2, in theory it should only be possible to read original CD but not backup cd-r... but not having a unmodded ps2 myself, i cannot verify !

Just made a test with a "virgin" PS2 (SCPH-35004).
Due to the missing propietary SONY bootblock (or whatever you call that) it does not recognise original NGCD, you can check this also with PS2MENU exploit.

Out of curiousity i built an UMCDR from an NGCD (and read it with successfully with PS2MENU).
Unfortunately NEoCD does not accept it. I think there is no UMCDR support in PS2DEV SDK.

[EugeneWE3RD]

Just made a test with a "virgin" PS2 (SCPH-35004).
Due to the missing propietary SONY bootblock (or whatever you call that) it does not recognise original NGCD, you can check this also with PS2MENU exploit.

Out of curiousity i built an UMCDR from an NGCD (and read it with successfully with PS2MENU).
Unfortunately NEoCD does not accept it. I think there is no UMCDR support in PS2DEV SDK.

Well, UMCDR was discontinued before PS2SDK came out which is why there isn't any support for UMCDR in PS2SDK. You can add support for UMCDR in PS2SDK & NEOCD/PS2 (if you can find the UMCDR version of CDVD.IRX) since the source to both of these programs are avaliable.

Unfortuntely, finding the UMCDR tools will be hard since the author has requested that we not put the UMCDR downloads such as the UMCDR version of CDVD.IRX (you can find this in the Altimit zipfile), PGEN 1.2.5, UMCDRWIN, et al on PS2 Scene. The only avaliable UMCDR tool is now CDGENPS2 3.0 .

[_zaphod_]

so you DO need to chip your ps2. that's what I thought.

Doing a UMCDR won't help either, because many games use redbook audio.

Oh well. it was a thought. only way to get the emu working on unmodified ps2 is support ISO images on alternate media (hard drive, perhaps?) or use swap trickery.

As for UMCDR, here's the list of stuff that uses it.

1) ps2menu 2.6b Still available from official sources. NOT ps2menu-k!
2) pgen 1.25. no longer availalble.
3) altimit, no longer available.
4) cdgenps2. Thsi app is rather questionable, as it's been mucked with by Hermes who rippe doff UMCDR in the first place.
5) Max media Creator. Available from www.codejunkies.com it's media CDs you burn are readable by all released UMCDR tools.
6) MaxMedia PLayer. this software reads UMCDR.
7) COdejunkies PGEN. comes with Max Media Creator. Also supports pen drive with latest revision. also a lot more bloated than 1.25!
8) PADISO.EXE converts ISO to UMCDR, not available anymore.
9) UMCDR.IRX, dropin replacement for CDVD>IRX, no longer available.
10) if you have umcdr, irx, ANY app that loads CDVD.IRX will support UMCDR with a simmple file swap.

[evilo]

note that you can load games without directly using the cd game, only limitation is that you will loose the audio tracks but as cdda are not supported for the moment...

you just need to copy the files from your original game to a "cd" folder in the the neocd directory. I use it to debug/run the emulator.