God of War?

[drZaius09]

Anyone have it yet? If so, is it HD compatible?

Thanks!

[adelgary]

I think it most likely wont be compatible, unfortunately.

The demo wasn't compatible. Most big first party Sony games aren't compatible (Ratchet & Clank: UYA, Jak 3), I think they do it on purpose. And I think the game is on DVD9 (the preview code came on 2 DVDs).

[mideon1981]

There was a patch for Jak 3 that made it work 100% so fingers crossed :-pray:

[bird.house]

Someone I know just got the game and said it didn't work with all modes enabled...

[Phreaker47]

Can that person you know tell you if its dvd9 or not?

[Brandon Heat]

From what I heard, there is little to no loading at all, so I guess it's all good. But still would be good to have it stored on the HDD.

- D

[bird.house]

I think it's a dvd-9. He said that when he put it in his comp it said 8 gb...

[Liquid Swordz]

Other people are also claiming that its DVD9 and 8gb. This sucks because my PS2 works hard when loading these types of games

[NoMoreNIU]

I hope this works with HDD!!! Please confirm if someone knows, thanks!!

[mideon1981]

I heard that it does not work either.

It is made by the same people who made twisted metal black and that works 100% so there may be a way around it, man I hope there is a way to get it working this game looks amazing and my ps2 gave up playing DVD9's a long time ago :(

[Brandon Heat]

Yeah, this game is getting high reviews. All of them (the one I checked, anyway) say it's one of, with some even saying it is, the best PS2 action game of all time.

BTW, do you guys think they're using a similar method used by Polyphony Digital in GT4?

-

[adelgary]

BTW, do you guys think they're using a similar method used by Polyphony Digital in GT4?-

God I hope not.

[jozefx]

I wonder if anyone has tried installing this game properly yet. I.e. flattening it to DVD5, then copying it to the HDD. Of course it's not going to work if you just rip it and copy ISO to a HDD, or let HDLoader rip it itself (it would only rip layer 1)

[rumble_sushi]

is it being released in Japan?

[Angelus3X]

If it is a DVD9 then it would of been smart of Sony to put in the same protection as GT4 or at least a variation of it.

[Clinton514]

it doesn't work. play it from the disc it. the loading times aren't even bad

[mideon1981]

Damn do you think there will be a fix for this because I ordered the USA version yesterday and I have a PAL PS2 so the only way for me to play it is from the HDD :(

[khafan]

Have you tried to patch the ioprp file with console media patcher 1.1 and then build the single layer iso? this patcher can remove the dvd9 check from some of those dvd9 games, maybe it works with this one too.

[Mikerocosms]

Have you tried to patch the ioprp file with console media patcher 1.1 and then build the single layer iso? this patcher can remove the dvd9 check from some of those dvd9 games, maybe it works with this one too.


Thats exactly what I was gonna suggest.




M

[mideon1981]

I dont know how to do any of that sorry guys :(

[weeman666]

no it does not work, at all. i am pissed now someone needs the make a patch.

[tajora]

Hey guys. I'm holding God of War in my hands now. My friend bought it. I'm copying it to my HDD via my PC right now. In My Computer, it reads as 4064 Mbs. So, I'm hoping it is DVD-5. Anyways, I'm copying DBZ Saga's and God Of war now...i'll let you know how it goes.

[freeb0y]

yes its says 4064 megs if you use isobuster or ultraiso... but if you copy using dvddcrypter is 8323 megs and says duel layer!!! for some reason i think ultra and dvddvrypter are only reading layer 1. and if you look in the files it says part1.pak that is a little over 4 gigs. so im thinking thers a part2.pak hiding somewhere!!!

[freeb0y]

yes its says 4064 megs if you use isobuster or ultraiso... but if you copy using dvddcrypter is 8323 megs and says duel layer!!! for some reason i think ultra and dvddvrypter are only reading layer 1. and if you look in the files it says part1.pak that is a little over 4 gigs. so im thinking thers a part2.pak hiding somewhere!!!
btw the game loads to first screen then freezes!

[CrysDark]

ps*hd.com list the game as incompattible even after flattening. Seems the days of loading new games from the hdd are over. (or lets hope Krevnik comes up with a miracle)

[ice2790]

Rented today and copied onto HD without flattening. Does not work. Freezes at copyright screen as does all SCEA games. Have not tried flattening yet, i dont know how to :oops: can somebody try flattening and playing? Then explain to me how flattening works? :dance:

[strikeuk]

It doesn't work. Don't bother with flattening it because someone else has already tried it.

[Antony]

Doesn't this and GT4 use Sony's new anti piracy software check?

[strikeuk]

I'm guessing so since both games stucks at the launch screen

[Brandon Heat]

Well if it is using the same or similar method as GT4, I guess the closing thing to a good news, if you could call it that, is that GT4 have released for a month now and people have been trying to crack it for the same period of time. So that's a month of progress and people are closer compare to a month ago. So I guess when GT4 is finally crack, it'd be easier to crack this one up. But cross your finger that this game is easier than GT4.

-

[ojomvas]

I hope you're right, but i'm afraid gt4 won't be cracked at all, or not in a near future.

[mideon1981]

Someone has managed to make a DVD5 version of the game, I will report back if it works or not. Fingers crossed cause the DVD5 version of Kessen III worked fine on HD Loader. :-pray:

[MasterSun1]

Even after flattening God of War from Dual-Layer to Single-Layer, the game still freezes after the initial Sony title screen. Hopefully a patch will be out soon. What are all the current DVD9 games in the US?

Champions of Norrath
God of War
Gran Turismo 4
Madden NFL 2005: Collector's Edition
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance
The Guy Game
Xenosaga Episode I

Is that it?

[Breathern]

I think splinter cell pandora tomorrow was another..

[Fax-Trolla]

No, pandora tomorrow is DVD5.

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is DVD9 (at least the PAL version). But it was sucessfully ripped to DVD5 and works if burn to a DVDR, but im not sure if works with HDloader...

[Mikerocosms]

Even after flattening God of War from Dual-Layer to Single-Layer, the game still freezes after the initial Sony title screen. Hopefully a patch will be out soon.



MasterSun1, Ive just scanned the SLUS with the PS2HD Patcher and it found 1 patch location. Its the "FromSoftware" fix thats needed. Im wondering if that was patched and then the game flattened and uploaded like you tried, if it would work.




M

[MasterSun1]

MasterSun1, Ive just scanned the SLUS with the PS2HD Patcher and it found 1 patch location. Its the "FromSoftware" fix thats needed. Im wondering if that was patched and then the game flattened and uploaded like you tried, if it would work.
M

I'm not very familiar at all with how patches work, etc. So I honestly have no clue whether or not it would work.

[Mikerocosms]

Well someone in the PS2HD channel tried it for me and said it still didnt work. Neither the Genius release or the Retail worked after being patched. Im beginning to think more and more games are now using more than one type of antihdd string.



M

[KaylaKaze]

Well hopefully the homebrew HDL project will get done eventually and those kinds of things won't matter. The main reason (in my opinion) the games won't work with HDL is simply because it wasn't open source and therefore no one can fix the bugs.

[Mikerocosms]

Well I think that if more people opened up a hex editor and looked at their SLUS's more we'd have more fixes. Sony wont stop at just one type of HDD disabling hex.





M

[gmtmaster]

Someone has managed to make a DVD5 version of the game, I will report back if it works or not. Fingers crossed cause the DVD5 version of Kessen III worked fine on HD Loader. :-pray:

I tried the DVD5 version on HDAdvance2.0, didn't work.. then I burned it on DVD disc, and use SwapMagic 3.3, and the game loaded fine.

[MasterSun1]

I've heard positives and negatives about the game running when burned to a disc. I know it boots, but I've also heard it freezes at certain parts in the game. I know for sure that it won't run properly on the HD yet.

[Phreaker47]

All releases are officially nuked and confirmed to freeze while loading level 4.

[gnudi]

But now theres a proper from confusion. hope this is the last one ;-)

[MasterSun1]

From what I hear, Confusion's release has gotten past the certain parts that freeze. However, it still does not mean it's perfect (until somebody finishes that game, we won't know). However, it still won't run off the HD.

[jollyrancher]

Confusion is pretty good... I would assume the game makes it to the end. Anyway, the HD patch should be pretty easy... similar to patching Soul Calibur to work on the HD. I'll make the patch myself in a day or two... ok so my Project Snowblind SM patch sucked, but it was my first attempt at a patch. This one I'll test out before I upload it.

[anigamer]

I'm getting the release as I type this post. Hope it works!!! At least with the previous release, I played the first couple levels.

[mideon1981]

You played the first few levels on HDD or off a disc?

[NoMoreNIU]

This is one awesome game. I just beat it in about 7hrs or so over 3 days. I normally put the game on HDD, but this game doesn't have a lot of load time, so it played fine off the DVD on my v4 PS2.

[mideon1981]

I have heard there is a patch at PS2*wnz but since they kindly banned my IP I cant check this myself

[anigamer]

Off the disc of course.

[SleeplessHunter]

Turns out theres a way after all... (and as for pstwo.clownz getting the info ONLY from THEIR member named sonix, they can shove it cause its a free download from his site)

*** THis was taken from Jizmak(who uses sonix's method, no less) on the afterdawn forums, so dont thank me, I just found the info.***
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
*except the bonus movies*
*NOTE*
This fix does not work for use on a HDD only
for dvd-r backup

All credits go to SONIX.
His website is:
http://www.backuptools.co.uk/

If you enjoyed this release then please drop
by and let him know that.
He is currently working on a GT4 fix,
But it is still far from bieng done.

All THAT BIENG SAID

You will need
1)dvd decrypter
2)cddvdgen
3)apache 2
4)SONIX GOD OF WAR TOOL (availible at his website)

First open dvd decrypter and decrypt the .iso
to your hdd.

A complete .iso of 7.97gb is what you need to
extract both layers.

You have to use apache 2 to extract both layers.
The files must be placed together and fully
extracted (not in .iso form).

(Iso-buster will not work as it wont extract the
second layer.

Extract both layers of the dvd9 into the same directory.

You are looking for 16 files 7.97 gb
(make sure you got pak2 file from layer 1 and
place in same directory as the other files)
Run the tool click browse, select the GODOFWAR.TOC file and click extract button.
Sit back and wait....
Once all files have been extracted you may notice that the total size of files extracted is smaller than the two large files, this is because there are many dupes inside the large files.
To make a working dvd5 backup, delete all files with the extension *.PSW and delete all the BONUS*.PSS files too. That should leave you with a folder size of about 3.5GIG.
Run the tool again, select the GODOFWAR.TOC file and click rebuild button.
Sit back and wait...
After a while the relink screen will popup, first, click the 'Auto-Relink Dupes' button and that will take care of most of the relinking.. the rest of relinking needs to be done manually. Relink all the *.PSW files to their *.PSS counterparts, e.g.
relink A01P01.PSW to A01P01.PSS. Relink all the missing BONUS*.PSS files to any available PSS file you want.
Once all files are relinked you can close the tool.

You will now have 2 new files in the game folder:
GODOFWAR.TOC_NEW
PART1.PAK_NEW

Delete the original PART1.PAK, PART2.PAK and GODOFWAR.TOC files and rename the new files to remove the _NEW from their names. Delete the 'Extracted' folder.

a) OPEN CDVDGEN.
b) SELECT ?CREATE NEW PROJECT? AND THEN SELECT ?DVD-ROM
MASTER DISC?. DRAG CDVDGEN TO THE LEFT SIDE OF YOUR
SCREEN.
c) NAVIGATE TO THE FOLDER THAT YOU CREATED ON YOUR HARD
DRIVE BACK IN STEP 2 AND OPEN IT ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF YOUR SCREEN.
d) PLACE THE FILES INTO THE SAME ORDER AS THEY WERE ON THE GAME DISK .
e) CLICK ON EDIT > SELECT ALL.
f) DRAG ALL THE FILES INTO THE RIGHT SIDE OF CDVDGEN.
g) LOOK FOR A SLUS OR SLES FILE AND WRITE DOWN THE FULL NAME AND THEN CLICK ON THE ?VOLUME? TAB IN CDVDGEN.
h)TYPE SLUS OR SLES (WHICHEVER YOUR FILE NAME IS) INTO THE 1ST BOX NEAR "DISC NAME"
i) TYPE ALL OF THE NUMBERS FROM YOUR FILE NAME, WITHOUT THE PERIOD, INTO THE 2ND BOX.
j) TYPE PLAYSTATION FOR THE PRODUCER NAME AND SELECT THE APPROPRIATE LICENSE AREA.
k)CLICK ON "REC...".
l)SELECT YOUR DESIRED STORAGE LOCATION AND NAME THE FILE gow.IML
m)YOU WILL GET 2 ERRORS, JUST CLICK OK FOR BOTH.
(If you get one error message, then you have to download ?WNASPI32.DLL? www.Nero.com/us/WNASPI32.DLL.html
and put it in your windows system 32 folder.
n)THE RECORDING SCREEN WILL POP UP, CLICK ON FILE > EXPORT IMAGE AND SAVE IT ON ONE OF YOUR HARD DRIVES (NOT IN A FOLDER) NAME IT gow.LST
o) WHEN IT'S FINISHED, YOU WILL HAVE 4 FILES NAMED gow.000 gow.001 gow.oo2 gow.003.

Open apache 2. Load gow.iml Create .iso

Burn your .iso with dvd decrypter

I take no credit in this as it should all go to
SONIX.

Keep up the good work.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope this helps guys!!! (I dont have the original disc, so can't try it) :dance:

----SH----

[importtuner]

Nice.... now all we need is someone to work it off the HDD. This game looks good enough to pick up.... but I'd still like to play it off the HDD....

[mideon1981]

edited by w1ze0ne:
Quit begging for patches.

[NatureX]

So is the new release, the proper dvd5rip one, ready to burn? OR does it still require patching. If it does, im just gonna go through the whole method myself.

[alucard_x]

confusion release should work fine from what i've read.

[importtuner]

confusion release should work fine from what i've read.

Could you perhaps supply a link to where you've read this? From the sites that I've went through, the Confusion release isn't compatible with HDL....

[mideon1981]

Yeah I tried the Confusion Release today works fine from DVD but not from HDD im busy working on a fix for it now.

[vincatzero]

a fix you say? that would be awesome. any eta?

[mideon1981]

Well its my first attempt and I have tried all of the different methods used to fix other games to work on the HDD but I am having no luck so I think thats about all I can do. We better leave it to the experts and wait. :)

[itdbesam]

Yeah I tried the Confusion Release today works fine from DVD but not from HDD im busy working on a fix for it now.


yea same here i got it to work from dvd but not from hdd. Its a really goood game. I'm glad i saved before lvl 4 crash in the other release.

[CrysDark]

ps*hd.com now shows the game listed as Toxic OS compatiable. What is so different about Toxic (other than it's not free).

[vincatzero]

dont you need a modchip to run toxic os?

[ps2feen]

yes you need dms4 pro but hopefully somone will make a no-chip version

[richln]

Well I just made my DVD5 backup using SONIX's patcher. Thanks SONIX! Seems great so far, but I have only played it for about an hour. However, SONIX himself said he has played his backup DVD5 all the way through without freezing. I have also read that the Confusion DVD5 rip works well, but nobody has made a successful HDD patch yet.

[bronigs]

I dont know about that HDD compatibility, sorry, but I have the DVD5 release from Genius, yes it freezes and sometimes even before lvl 4, depending on if you die alot or not, but Im getting the confusion release now and everyone is saying it plays 100% until the end, its a short game so I believe it.

I also heard about DMS making a bios/OS that can run backup DVD9 games, I dont know about this but it be good if someone can confirm it. Although this board doesnt support DMS but there chip seems very complete.

[NatureX]

Hopefully someone can shed some light for me. I followed the instructions to rip my DVD9 to DVD5, however something most definatly goes wrong.

I get to where its supposed to be 955 files @ 7.12Gb, everything is fine untill here. Then I delete the BONUS.PSS files, however, I dont haev any .PSW files in my folder. SO I cant delete them.

I continue on to see what happens, and rebuild, but when I have to re-link my files manually, I cant re-link them, because there are no duplicates.

Any help would be great.

THanks

[richln]

Get Sonix's tutorial from his website. It is very thorough.
http://www.backuptools.co.uk
There are quite a few .PSW files. Windows may be hiding the extension, so you may have to change that setting in Explorer. The BONUS??.PSS files have to be relinked to any other .PSS file if you want to make a DVD5. They are too big to keep.

[jollyrancher]

Ok, I'm testing my God of War HD patch right now... uploading via HDLDumb... so slow... I'll report back later.

[gnudi]

Cool , let us know...

[Mikerocosms]

Even if it doesnt work Jolly let us know what you did. That way we can try other things and build off everyones mistakes.



M

[crazyc]

The DVD9 works (at least the first two levels) with the hdloader patch romz and I came up with in the hddemolisher thread. Probabaly, it will work with the From Software patcher too; did someone already try that?

[Mikerocosms]

Interesting theory Crazyc Ill look into it as soon as I get on my lunch break. Im at work currently.



M

[lordinfamouz]

Ok, I'm testing my God of War HD patch right now... uploading via HDLDumb... so slow... I'll report back later.
i didnt know a hd patch was out for god of war..if that is so, i hope it works

[jollyrancher]

Ok, the first attempt didn't work. I'll try again after work.

[ojomvas]

The DVD9 works (at least the first two levels) with the hdloader patch romz and I came up with in the hddemolisher thread. Probabaly, it will work with the From Software patcher too; did someone already try that?

I may have missed something, could you tell us more precisely what were those patches made for, and where could we find them?
I couldn't find anything relating to this on the board, and i sure would like to give them a try.

[snake3]

Hopefully someone can shed some light for me. I followed the instructions to rip my DVD9 to DVD5, however something most definatly goes wrong.

I get to where its supposed to be 955 files @ 7.12Gb, everything is fine untill here. Then I delete the BONUS.PSS files, however, I dont haev any .PSW files in my folder. SO I cant delete them.

I continue on to see what happens, and rebuild, but when I have to re-link my files manually, I cant re-link them, because there are no duplicates.

Any help would be great.

THanks
hit view -> details the .psw may be labeled as pasword backup or something like that, it was on mine

[BraveDog]

I can confirm that the crazyc/romz patch to hdloader can get GOW running on the hd.
Great job guys.

[importtuner]

What's the patch may I ask? Just curious....

[Mikerocosms]

BraveDog does it get past the 2nd level as crazyc claims it doesnt? Or have you tried the Ps2hd Patcher with the FromSoftware patch on it too?


M

[malckdaddy]

yeah not trying to be a hastle but could you tell us where to get this patch?

[ojomvas]

I think this (http://www.ps2-scene.org/forums/showpost.php?p=237545&postcount=143) is what they call the crazyc/romz patch, not sure what a 'decrypted' hdloader is though. For the from software patch, take a look at ps2hd.

[malckdaddy]

yeah i've tried the From software patch, no go. by 'decrypted' i'm not sure either. Is that a uncompressed hdloader.elf or an image of the Hdloader disk made with decrypter?

[malckdaddy]

ok im not sure but is it the same as the Viewtiful Joe NTSC Patch?

[ojomvas]

viewtiful joe patch was about patching the game's iso, it seems there that it's about patching hdloader itself.

[mideon1981]

Yeah I cant find the patch anywhere either :(

[thereal_zap]

good to see BraveDog has it working!

so let me ask for a definitive method. is it done with ps2hd patcher, FromSoftware patcher (can someone please post these?), or is it done with the crazyc patch that ojomvas links to? or is it something else? :)

also, if it is the crazyc patch, seems a bit strange cuz even with an unpacked hdloader, there is no offset 0x699468, and if this is a decimal offset, then the bytes that he lists "01 00" don't live there. the final offset is 0x2D6FFF. anyone know what's the deal here?

thanks

[malckdaddy]

This is what made me think mabey it was it " Re: Viewtiful Joe NTSC Patch
I think it was CrazyC that discovered the offsets." that was in the viewtiful joe patch thread at ps2HD. I'm probably wrong about that being it though. It would make things too simple. LOL. :)

[dlanor]

Re: HDLoader Patch by crazyc & romz

The offset 699468 == 0xAAC4C is in fact the correct offset into the unpacked ELF file of HDLoader, but (as stated by crazyc) it is not enough that the file be unpacked, as it also needs to be decrypted !

The original HDLoader ELF file, apart from being packed, also had parts of its code and data tables encrypted, simply to make it harder for others to learn how it works... crazyc, zero-x and/or others have had to reverse engineer that encryption in order to create the HDL patchers that we all use. These decrypt the necessary parts of the ELF before patching them, and leave them decrypted even though then repacking the ELF.

Thus what you need to do is merely to take a copy of the patched HDLoader you use now (assuming you do, otherwise patch one now). Unpack that copy, and you should find the correct byte values of hex "01 00" at offset 0xAAC4C. Change these bytes to hex "25 02", and save the changed file. Finally repack this ELF and you're all set.

Best regards: dlanor

[vincatzero]

awesome!!! i really hope that works. i'd test it now but i'm not sure how.

is there a chance that this could make other games not work?
is there a chance this could make GT4 work also?

[BraveDog]

dlanor,
I couldn't have said it better. That is exactly what you need to do.
I made it to level 6 - Temple of the Oracle and no problems.

[malckdaddy]

Hey guys, thanks for helping us noobs out. Now i need to figure out how to do all that with WinHex. :)

[w00tazn]

can u refer me to the unpack and packing software??

if its not kosher dont bother.

[thereal_zap]

Re: HDLoader Patch by crazyc & romz

The offset 699468 == 0xAAC4C is in fact the correct offset into the unpacked ELF file of HDLoader, but (as stated by crazyc) it is not enough that the file be unpacked, as it also needs to be decrypted !

The original HDLoader ELF file, apart from being packed, also had parts of its code and data tables encrypted, simply to make it harder for others to learn how it works... crazyc, zero-x and/or others have had to reverse engineer that encryption in order to create the HDL patchers that we all use. These decrypt the necessary parts of the ELF before patching them, and leave them decrypted even though then repacking the ELF.

Thus what you need to do is merely to take a copy of the patched HDLoader you use now (assuming you do, otherwise patch one now). Unpack that copy, and you should find the correct byte values of hex "01 00" at offset 0xAAC4C. Change these bytes to hex "25 02", and save the changed file. Finally repack this ELF and you're all set.

Best regards: dlanor

i feel like an idiot, thanks a lot dlanor. i was using an original hdl.elf file and not a patched one and big as day the bytes are there.

[malckdaddy]

I just have one thing to say of you dlanor,crazyc & romz....GODS AMONGST MEN!! Thanks. Works like a charm as well as i can see. :D

[vincatzero]

any chance this'll fix GT4 or cause problems with any other game on the HDD?

[DigitalGuy]

I have HDAvance MC Exploit version...why not just post the patched .elf you guys have that works...I have not way of doing the fix myself...

[dlanor]

vincatzero:
We're modifying the return value of a driver function in an IRX here. Of course it is possible that some game may dislike this non-standard value, but for those cases it is very likely that the same game would also dislike the value returned by unpatched HDLoader even more, since that value was one (according to romz and crazyc) absurdly low.

The value in question is intended as the version code of the IRX, and normal drivers apparently start at 0x0100,whereas the unpatched HDL returned a value of 0x0001, which made it very easy for HDL-hating game developers to sabotage the game when HDL was detected. This patch changes that value to 0x0225, putting it in a reasonable range for drivers normally used by the games.

Apparently the function is also intended to give different results depending on various parameters, but that isn't how HDL implemented it, as it always returned 0x0001, regardless of parameters. I believe the patched value is more reasonable, but keep a copy without the new patch for safety's sake.

As for GT4, I find it very unlikely that this patch will affect its problems in any significant way, as those are of an entirely different nature (dual-layer methods).

Best regards: dlanor

[dlanor]

I have HDAvance MC Exploit version...why not just post the patched .elf you guys have that works...I have not way of doing the fix myself...
Posting such files is forbidden here.
Even asking for them to be posted is forbidden.
You probably didn't know that, but NOW you do,
so do NOT repeat it.

Best regards: dlanor

[malckdaddy]

In case anyone wants the elf i put it up at Blackcats. And i gave all credit to those who deserve it. I hadn't used any type of hex editor since the late 90's when i made gameshark codes on my PS1!!

[dlanor]

can u refer me to the unpack and packing software??

if its not kosher dont bother.
That software is proper homebrew stuff, so no warez at all...
They may be spoken of or even posted freely here and elsewhere.

You may find this old thread of mine useful:
http://www.ps2-scene.org/forums/showthread.php?t=25754&highlight=super+simple+elf+patching

Best regards: dlanor

[malckdaddy]

BTW thanks for that packing/unpacking stuff, dlanor. Works like a charm.

[importtuner]

Working for me so far.... thanks a bunch!

[ojomvas]

I guess i'm mistaken somewhere, on offset AAC4C I got FC 85, not 01 00.
My hdloader elf is ok I think, unpacked size is 2.908 kb.

[importtuner]

Follow what dlanor said and you should be fine. I just started from a fresh HDL elf. Just repatched everything up and applied the Hex Edit. Then I packed it up and reinstalled. Works like a charm so far and I must say, great game. Rented it, but I think I'll buy it later.....

[chemicalx]

I guess i'm mistaken somewhere, on offset AAC4C I got FC 85, not 01 00.
My hdloader elf is ok I think, unpacked size is 2.908 kb.


i'm too. my HDAdvance unpacked elf file. different from HDL elf file ?

[El_Grego]

I'm so happy to know that I might be able to play god of war very soon (hdloader is my only way to play import games)...

But I don't understand how to obtain the correct hdloader.elf file... If someone could help me here... ?

[kwik]

i also can't find the right offset, there is one 699456 = AAC4O with values
01 00 should i change these ones ?

[dmdarkmagic]

thanx for the info too bad this dont work for gt4...unless the god of war patch that make the iso works on gt4 too then iwe can try to see if this work too.... well thanx again i am so happy to hear that i can play god of war on my ps2 hdd

[strikeuk]

Just read again what dlanor said, you have to first patch your unpacked hdl elf and then hex edit it.

[tuider]

You have to patch it with Zer0-X's HdlPatch first, then unpack it, hex it, pack it? Am I correct? Also another question, could I make an .iso with the patched/hexed elf and then boot it via hdadvance and after that boot my backup? (probably won't work i guess.)

[strikeuk]

You have to unpack first then patch it with zero-x's hdlpatch then hex it.

[tuider]

That's what I meant, sorry. Just wasn't sure what patch I should use. Going to try it later today, thanks.

[dlanor]

It seems some clarification is needed...

ojomvas & chemicalx (& possibly others):
The data you're looking at is only unpacked, but not decrypted. The only tool to decrypt it is the HDL-patcher by zero-x, as part of the act of patching. You can use that as-is or by aid of some front-end (like HDL_AIO etc). The front-ends will normally pack the file again, so then you need to unpack it yet again, to get a file that is BOTH unpacked and decrypted. Hex edit that file as described, pack it again (to save space), and you're all set.

kwik:
NO, NO, NO !!!
The program is over two and a half millon bytes long, and there are bound to be many hundreds of locations containing that same data, but only ONE of the locations will affect this specific function as intended. Random patching will not help, but only harm...

tuider:
As you already guessed, using one version of HDL to boot another is NOT a valid method, but the other stuff you mention is basically correct. The number of pack/unpack operations needed depends on which patch tools you use, as some of them enforce both unpack and pack operations as part of the patching.

Hopefully this made things clear. ("as mud" adds my pessimistic side ;) )
Best regards: dlanor

[SimonW]

what is the best hex editor to use for this?

[tuider]

@dlanor

Hehe, thought so, wouldn't make sense anyway. It was the lazy voice talking in my head. Thanks for clearing it up.

[chochu3]

offset AAC4C I got FC 85 if this is your case as it was in mine, change that to 25 02 and load it up to mc or hdd.

Update
For those of you who haven't followed along the post do not try this method just get a working version from exploitstation or bittorrent, This will only cause different hdl.elf files then when decoded same values will not be their and it will be a bastard trying to get it uniform if HDL ever needs another patch with the correct offsets after decryption.

[vincatzero]

any idea if this same problem affected any other games that might work now?

[dlanor]

chochu3:
NO, NO, NO !!!
You can't patch encrypted data like that.
First you must make sure it's decrypted as described in earlier posts.
Then the data at that offset WILL BE "01 00", ready for your patching.

The patch you made in your way is not valid, so discard that file.
(It is no longer valid for decryption.)

Best regards: dlanor

[Angelus3X]

OMG this game rocks!! Got the modified ELF from black cats thanks crazy!!

BTW Quick question if I'm booting HDL from my HD does that mean it will load quicker if its unpacked as I dont need it to be a small file if its on the HD.

[chemicalx]

It seems some clarification is needed...

ojomvas & chemicalx (& possibly others):
The data you're looking at is only unpacked, but not decrypted. The only tool to decrypt it is the HDL-patcher by zero-x, as part of the act of patching. You can use that as-is or by aid of some front-end (like HDL_AIO etc). The front-ends will normally pack the file again, so then you need to unpack it yet again, to get a file that is BOTH unpacked and decrypted. Hex edit that file as described, pack it again (to save space), and you're all set.

kwik:
NO, NO, NO !!!
The program is over two and a half millon bytes long, and there are bound to be many hundreds of locations containing that same data, but only ONE of the locations will affect this specific function as intended. Random patching will not help, but only harm...

tuider:
As you already guessed, using one version of HDL to boot another is NOT a valid method, but the other stuff you mention is basically correct. The number of pack/unpack operations needed depends on which patch tools you use, as some of them enforce both unpack and pack operations as part of the patching.

Hopefully this made things clear. ("as mud" adds my pessimistic side ;) )
Best regards: dlanor

thanks for your advice ;-)

here is my method (mine is hdadvance)

1. unpack hdloader/hdadvance
"ps2-unpacker hdadvance.elf HDA.ELF"

2. apply zero-x's hdlpatch_0.5c
"hdlpatch_0.5c /n /c /s /l HDA.ELF HDA.ELF"

3. hexedit HDA.ELF with ultraedit and save.

and here is my hex edit screen.

[dlanor]

chemicalx:
That method looks fine to me, though I must add two comments.

1: The hdlpatch switch combination is not good for V9/V10 models of PS2.
(Will cause lockup on those models if you boot without disc in tray.)
But it's fine for other PS2 models.

2: I strongly advice packing the final ELF, to reduce space cost.

Best regards: dlanor

[mideon1981]

Thanks alot I got it working now :)

[jaynice23]

Can someone explain?
Will this patch allow us to play GOW DVD9 flatten or one of the DVD5rips?

[El_Grego]

dear dlanor, could you please tell me if I'm right or not:

I got a V9 PAL PS2 with no modchip. If I :
1) unpack ("ps2-unpacker hdadvance.elf HDA.ELF")
2) patch ("hdlpatch_0.5c /n /c /s /l HDA.ELF HDA.ELF")
3) Hexedit
4) repack
5) put it on the MC in BEDATA-SYSTEM with a correct TITLE.DB (corresponding to my PS1 demo disc) and a correct SYSTEM.CFG.
6) patch the original GoW DVD9 iso with sonix patcher
7) install the patched GoW to my PS2 HDD using HDL_Dumb 0.8

Then I'll be able to play GoW ? Right ?

Thanx in advance for your answer.

[anigamer]

This would be cool if I got it working. I accidentally shorted out my hard drive while taking it out, well at least that is what I think I did. Anyway, I changed the offset as dlanor said. Hope it works!!

I wonder, as well, if this change makes other games compatible.

You have to give thanks for these guys. They're awesome in making this possible.

[NiTE]

I have a chipped PS2 so I'm just loading HDAdvance by burning an image of it. Can I replace the .elf file on the hdadvance cd with this modified elf? How would I go about doing that? I have a bin/cue image.

[MaceNL]

CONFUSiON freezes also :(

[chris5]

Are you sure confussion release freezes? I've seen in many posts that people have played it all the way through with no glitches except for some minor sound issues in cutscenes. Have you personally experienced a freeze with this release?

[Aramir]

I finished confusion release yesterday. It works fine.

The only problems are music is broken on several levels and one long loading time on the "cliffs of madness" level. (long = 2-3 minutes, I almost gave up..)

[anigamer]

The only problems are music is broken on several levels and one long loading time on the "cliffs of madness" level. (long = 2-3 minutes, I almost gave up..)


Mine only lasted for a couple of secs.

I haven't experienced any sound issues during the cutscenes, only the music during the levels.

[Aramir]

Mine only lasted for a couple of secs.I guess it depends on how worn out your laser is. Mine is 3 years old :)
I haven't experienced any sound issues during the cutscenes, only the music during the levels.same here, but the music issues are *really* bad, more like no music at all during several levels.

[Angelus3X]

Any sound problems I would assume come from dodgy installs to the HD, have you guys tried reinstalling GoW to your HD?

BT

[Snakehands]

thanks for your advice ;-)

here is my method (mine is hdadvance)

1. unpack hdloader/hdadvance
"ps2-unpacker hdadvance.elf HDA.ELF"

2. apply zero-x's hdlpatch_0.5c
"hdlpatch_0.5c /n /c /s /l HDA.ELF HDA.ELF"

3. hexedit HDA.ELF with ultraedit and save.

and here is my hex edit screen.

Chemicalx, thanks for ur guide. Little problem on step 1. I have the original named "HDA.ELF" and when I run ps2-unpacker with this commandline "ps2-unpacker hdadvance.elf HDA.ELF" it says cannot find output file. Then I changed the name of the original to "hdadvance.elf", now when I run ps2-unpacker it looks like its working but I don't get an output file. Where am I messing up? Plz advise. Cheers

[anigamer]

I never installed on the HD yet. Just talking about the release. I can't wait to put it on the hd drive though.

As for you Snakehands, it depends on your elf files. I have a couple and unpacking only worked on one of them. The others had errors with them.

[vincatzero]

anybody try this with the full dvd9 game?

[Angelus3X]

Okay I must be thick or something! I open HDL.ELF (unpacked) with a hex editor (tried 2 different ones) and did a search for "699468" and "0xAAC4C" but it says no string found!? How do I find the location to patch??

Thanks

[alucard_x]

the search function you're using is probably search for that string, not that line number. manually scroll down to line 0x0AAC40 then the C'th spot is the 12th one from the left. remember when you count columns, it starts with 0 not 1,

0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E,F for hex, so C represents 12

[strikeuk]

You have to patch your unpacked hdl elf first then you hex edit it. Use a program call xvi32, i use that to patch mine.

[chemicalx]

Chemicalx, thanks for ur guide. Little problem on step 1. I have the original named "HDA.ELF" and when I run ps2-unpacker with this commandline "ps2-unpacker hdadvance.elf HDA.ELF" it says cannot find output file. Then I changed the name of the original to "hdadvance.elf", now when I run ps2-unpacker it looks like its working but I don't get an output file. Where am I messing up? Plz advise. Cheers

i think your command was wrong :D

try as "ps2-unpacker INPUT_FILE OUTPUT_FILE"

INPUT_FILE: your home brew hdloader/hdadvance elf file (could be 350k)
OUTPUT_FILE: your new unpacked file name (will be 2.83M)

good luck.

[vincatzero]

has anybody gotten this to work with the full DVD9 version of the game?

[pholly]

I just started playing with the dvd9 version of the game. It got through the first level without a problem. The only problem I did have was watching the extras video. The only one I could try was the making of since it's the only one unlocked from the beginning, not sure what the problem is unless I need to flatten the image.

[sokixx]

Any way to do this for unfortunate people like me who have retail HDLoader? :(

[pipexman]

marvellous work, i hope we can get GT4 on HDL soon :)

[adelgary]

Wow, great job by the people responsible for this.

Now if I only knew how to flatten the dual-layered game...

[ojomvas]

Thanks to you all for your help, it woks really nice, only played the first level so far. I flattened the image and all, though it seems like trailer videos freeze.

[Snakehands]

i think your command was wrong :D

try as "ps2-unpacker INPUT_FILE OUTPUT_FILE"

INPUT_FILE: your home brew hdloader/hdadvance elf file (could be 350k)
OUTPUT_FILE: your new unpacked file name (will be 2.83M)

good luck.

Thanks for helping. I am doing something wrong still. I had 2 versions of packed HDA.ELFs and it wouldn't work with the newer one. The one that worked is 412k and the unpacked file is the same size. Then when I apply Zero-x's patch with this command "hdlpatch_0.5c /n /c /s /l HDA.ELF HDA.ELF" I get 'hdlpatch_0.5c' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file. I am still stuck but I will keep at it. BTW if I get it to work is it safe to replace the HDA.ELF on my memory card with new one without any risk of losing games on the HD? Cheers

[importtuner]

BTW if I get it to work is it safe to replace the HDA.ELF on my memory card with new one without any risk of losing games on the HD?

Dunno about your problem, but I managed to change ELFs on my MC. I deleted my old one and replaced it with my current modified ELF, everything works fine and dandy.

[pipexman]

Dunno about your problem, but I managed to change ELFs on my MC. I deleted my old one and replaced it with my current modified ELF, everything works fine and dandy.

yea, its just like changing from hd loader to hd advance your games are untouched.

[Snakehands]

yea, its just like changing from hd loader to hd advance your games are untouched.

I still can't get the HDAdvance to work. So you're saying I should be able to replace the HDA.ELF on my MC with the patched HDL.ELF, that Malkdaddy posted on Blackcats, without messing up my games. Thanks for all the help guys.

[pipexman]

I still can't get the HDAdvance to work. So you're saying I should be able to replace the HDA.ELF on my MC with the patched HDL.ELF, that Malkdaddy posted on Blackcats, without messing up my games. Thanks for all the help guys.

Let me rephrase that, this pre made patch is only for HD loader, you have to do the hex editing or wait for a HDA.ELF.

[Snakehands]

Ok, good thing I didn't try it and mess things up. I thought if switching HDL to HDA on the MC doesn't effect the state of the drive/games it would work the other way around too. I'll keep tinkering with the HDA files here and hopefully I'll get it to work and load it up on Blackcats myself for others unless someone beats me to it. Peace Out

[chochu3]

i know what your saying dlanor, unpack, patch to decrypt, then change offset. But I did it this way and every thing worked fine, maybe their will be problems in the future that have not surfaced yet, but does show that the particular offset decrypted or not when changed does make GOW work. I will now work on the other method. Thanks for the advice.

One more comment it work on my other HD backups:
T3, POP, NCAA, GT3, GTA SA, and thats all I tried.

[pholly]

Well, it just locked up on me. After the movie that plays for the pandora level as soon as gameplay starts it freezes. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with flattening the image as I mentioned earlier or if I need to make a dvd5 version of it myself. I'll try both tomorrow, hopefully flattening it will fix it :)

[tuider]

@sokixx
I have a retail hdadvance 2.1 and got it working. You just have to install the independence mc exploit and load the patched/hexed hdloader from the mc. There are some minor problems though installing the mc-exploit, hda 2.1 doesn't seem to work with execftps, freezes on loading the ps2hdd module. Use ps2os 0.3b, it has an integrated ftp server. You can install the ps2os cd image (google it) with hda/hdloader. And you need a ps1 disk, obviously. That's how I got the patched HDL on my mc and it plays my backed up GOW without any problems.

[Snakehands]

I got it to work as well. I just gave up one trying to deal with the confounded HDA.ELF and just uploaded HDL.ELF as well and assigned a different key to launch it. Now I have both HDA and HDL on my MC and the game works fine with the latter. I hope it doesn't freeze as pholly just mentioned. Thanks all for your contributions.

[chochu3]

Got a version of HDL.elf for GOW from exploitstaion, made a flatten DVD9 and tried to load up the final battle off of memory card; it locked up. I tried loading up the pits of hades it locked up there too. Then tried loading from road to anthens worked.
Ok so I decided to follow the instruction from backuptools.co.uk on turning it to a DVD5, and everything loaded up fine. Hope this helps if you ruyn into the problem. Oh sound seems perfect and God Challenge even works. I haven't had no problems yet but will post any.

[dlanor]

i know what your saying dlanor, unpack, patch to decrypt, then change offset. But I did it this way and every thing worked fine, maybe their will be problems in the future that have not surfaced yet, but does show that the particular offset decrypted or not when changed does make GOW work. I will now work on the other method. Thanks for the advice.

One more comment it work on my other HD backups:
T3, POP, NCAA, GT3, GTA SA, and thats all I tried.
You were lucky, in that the encryption used by original HDL is very simple, so that changing a part of the encrypted material only affects the same part when decrypted.

That is not at all the case for advanced encryption methods. Changing just one byte of the encrypted material may then very well garble the whole file when decrypted.

You were also lucky that the current anti-HDL tests of this kind merely check for a specific constant in a value returned by an HDL function, so that only one particular constant triggers the anti-HDL measures. In future attempts they may check for any 'non-standard' value returned by that function, and then your patch will probably fail again, as you don't even know what your value is (after decryption).

If I were you, I'd definitely regard this only as a temporary solution, and make a proper patch later.

Best regards: dlanor

[vincatzero]

anybody have any ideas what i did wrong?

i extracted the full game disc using iso buster
extracted both layers using apache
made an iml of both using cd/dvd gen 2.0
used hdl_dump to put the iml on the hdd

it gets to the first screen (sony computer entertainment america presents) then freezes. it does this no matter what mode is on.

any ideas?

[adelgary]

Got a version of HDL.elf for GOW from exploitstaion, made a flatten DVD9 and tried to load up the final battle off of memory card; it locked up. I tried loading up the pits of hades it locked up there too. Then tried loading from road to anthens worked.
Ok so I decided to follow the instruction from backuptools.co.uk on turning it to a DVD5, and everything loaded up fine. Hope this helps if you ruyn into the problem. Oh sound seems perfect and God Challenge even works. I haven't had no problems yet but will post any.


Did you try Mode 2? Isn't that supposed to be enabled for DVD9 games? If that doesn't work can you also try Mode 3 and report back?

[ojomvas]

used hdl_dump to put the iml on the hdd
any ideas?
I guess you mean you put the iso on the hdd, not an iml?

[vincatzero]

the hdl_dump i use can load it from an iml, but yeah basically

[vincatzero]

Did you try Mode 2? Isn't that supposed to be enabled for DVD9 games? If that doesn't work can you also try Mode 3 and report back?


but now you have no bonus movies right?

[adelgary]

but now you have no bonus movies right?

I didn't try running the game from HDD yet, I was just suggesting that he tries Mode 2 and/or Mode 3 with the flattened DVD9 version of the game... I'd really like to know if the full DVD9 game can be played from the HDD to the end without problems.

[pholly]

I hadn't tried any modes either, I'll try that first and see if that helps with the lock up. I hope so, it's gonna take a while to rerip the game to a dvd5 :(

[vincatzero]

was it locking at the same screen i mentioned for you, or a different place?

[pholly]

It locked at the beginning of the pandora level, not sure which level that is by number. It played fine up to that point. I'm trying different mode combinations now, hopefully one will work :)

Also, when it freezes the sound still plays. Not sure if that helps any.

Edit: I tried modes 2, 2&3,
2, 1&2&3, 1&2, 2&3 Locked up when loading my save which is during the desert level
1, 3, 1&3 Locked up at the beginning of the pandora level again.

So, mode 2 locks it up. The other 2 do nothing. I hope it's not a bad rip, I will assume it's a good one until someone else posts different results with the same settings on a dvd9.

[anigamer]

That's lvl 4. It freezes right at the point after he climbs the Titans back right? That's where the layer change is supposedly.

[vincatzero]

well my freezing point was different, but basically same results. it froze at the very first screen for me

[pholly]

Oh yeah, Vincatzero, you do know that there is a "hack" for hdl. That may be why your's locked at that screen.

[vincatzero]

the hex editing hack right? i was using that

[pholly]

Yeah, that one. Does anyone know a way to edit the games I backed up to my hdd? Winhiip doesn't do it and I have a couple of things I want to try on the image.

[DuFrAn3]

i am also having trouble with the game locking up. I performed the hex hack so that I could play it on my hard drive. And it plays fine, up until I defeat the Hydra, ya know, you have to defeat the 2 little ones, then the 1 big one. Anyway, after defeating them, I climb up on the boxes, and slide down the rope. After that, there is a save point at the bottom of the rope. I step into the light, press R2, and it asks if I want to save, i said yes, etc. Then shut off game. Wanted to play again, turned on, loaded save, and it froze, showing my guy standing in the light...did that a few times, then decided that it might just be a corrupt save. So I started new on my other memory card. In the same spot, after going down that rope, I go into the light, press R2, it asks if I want to save, and is frozen on that screen. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks!

[pholly]

How did you rip it? Sounds like a bad rip, it shouldn't have stopped there. Not sure why it stopped there for you, do you have any modes on?

[DuFrAn3]

I downloaded the DVD5 no bonus features rip. I transferred to HD using WinHIIP. I currently have been playing with no modes turned on.

Thanks again for the help.

[PS2player00]

Im trying to unpack my HDLoader.elf, but the ps2-unpacker program gives me this error "Out of range memory read: 02000000 at 01B01410". Does anyone know how to fix this? Thanks

[thetenthday]

I downloaded the DVD5 no bonus features rip. I transferred to HD using WinHIIP. I currently have been playing with no modes turned on.

Thanks again for the help.
Was this the 2nd one, the proper release from Confusion? The initial DVD5 release was supposed to have hte problem of not getting past level 4...

[pholly]

I just flatened the image and that didn't do any good, still freezes. I did however "get" a confused dvd5 version that will get pass this point ;) The only difference I found was one file that is missing and one file that is a different size. If anyone knows how to open/extract the .pak files let me know. Maybe I can figure out what the difference is to get it working for those of us who bought the game :D

[alucard_x]

to those that ripped the game themselves, you have to use dvddecrypter to rip the full .iso image. Isobuster isn't going to work from my understanding. Then you can use apache and all that other shit to make a working dvd5 version. same goes for trying to flatten the image and play the full dvd9 version (dont think this works yet)

[aznoutlaw]

Got a version of HDL.elf for GOW from exploitstaion, made a flatten DVD9 and tried to load up the final battle off of memory card; it locked up. I tried loading up the pits of hades it locked up there too. Then tried loading from road to anthens worked.

i'm trying to load up the "hall of hades" and it locks up at the "Loading..." screen too... so i tried a save before this which was at "amphrites temple" or something like that and get the same results... i've been saving my game from a dvd5 version of the game i made from sonix's tutorial on making a dvd5 version with his GOW tool ripping...

i got the flattened dvd9 image to load with HDL but just wanted to know if it's going to be possible to access the bonus stuff after i finish the game using my dvd5 version?

Edit: tried all the modes and no go either... but when i do enable mode 2 on any combination, the hdd light shows one activity at the loading screen then stops... when i don't include mode 2 in a combination, i don't get that one hdd light activity at the loading screen... weird... we need a mode 4... j/k...

[DuFrAn3]

Was this the 2nd one, the proper release from Confusion? The initial DVD5 release was supposed to have hte problem of not getting past level 4...

I do believe I downloaded the proper release. I cannot be 100% sure of that however. The part where it is freezing on me, I don't believe it is level 4 yet, that's why i didn't think that was the problem.

[Angelus3X]

Kool! I H4x0red de bytes of my HDA!! God of War totally rocks!! I think I will leave it though for now, still need to finish MGS3, Punisher and San Andreas!!

[pholly]

Has anyone tried the GOW patcher yet? It supposedly fixes it, not sure how since I haven't downloaded it yet but I would like to know if it works before I go through the trouble of building and copying another iso.

[pipexman]

I completed the Confusion release running on my HD, there was one level i think it was 8 it took a while to load.

[vincatzero]

any idea why after patching hdl and doing all the steps i did to flatten the dvd it still froze at the copyright screen?

[thetenthday]

I do believe I downloaded the proper release. I cannot be 100% sure of that however. The part where it is freezing on me, I don't believe it is level 4 yet, that's why i didn't think that was the problem.
Ya, that's actually level 1, I got through it today. That's a weird problem you have. I did save it right afterwards without a problem.

[pholly]

If you bought the game and follow the instructions for using the god of war tool you can rip a working version of gow. It's at www.backuptools.co.uk, you have to sign up to download and the process will take a while but if you just have to have the game on your hdd now this is the way to do it unless you want to wait for a patch or something.

[Superboot]

I completed the Confusion release running on my HD, there was one level i think it was 8 it took a while to load.

any modes or patches or just straight?

[pipexman]

any modes or patches or just straight?

no modes, just the patched HDL.

[dick_onion53]

What do you mean 'patched'? I am downloading the confusion release, anything else i need to do before i install it?

[pholly]

Yeah, you need to patch hdl or download a patched one.

[dlanor]

There is a new patch for HDLoader, which is needed for this game (and some others). That has been discussed in this thread for a couple of days now, so if you scroll back to read those posts you're sure to find it.

Best regards: dlanor

[unknown_g]

Just fyi, I downloaded the complete iso to my HD. Didn't do the ripping at all. Did do the HDL hack, and using Mode 3. Works like a charm. I just stopped at the end of the board where I rescued the Oracle. No freezing at all yet. Will post any more updates.

Oh I used WinHIIP to get the iso on my HD.

[dmdarkmagic]

u dont have to set any modes for god of war on the hacked hdl

[lostinnil]

Found a general 'bug' about patched HDLoader.elf, not only the method described in this thread. This may be found by others before but I encountered this only today. I have a v7, my friend has a v5 or v6. When you launch patched HDLoader.elf from MC or HDD if the tray is open HDLoader will freeze at splash. However as soon as you push the tray in with or without a disc it will continue to load gamelist from where it freezed. I thought it is a bug caused by this specific patch, but I soon found out it applied to patch like HDL_patch 0.5c too. It does not affact gameplay in anyway.

[dlanor]

Found a general 'bug' about patched HDLoader.elf, not only the method described in this thread. This may be found by others before but I encountered this only today. I have a v7, my friend has a v5 or v6. When you launch patched HDLoader.elf from MC or HDD if the tray is open HDLoader will freeze at splash. However as soon as you push the tray in with or without a disc it will continue to load gamelist from where it freezed. I thought it is a bug caused by this specific patch, but I soon found out it applied to patch like HDL_patch 0.5c too. It does not affact gameplay in anyway.
IMO a bug is something that somehow interferes with normal operations.
Launching games on a PS2 with disc tray open is not a normal operation, and I see no reason why anyone would ever want to do so. I really don't see the point of it !?!

I agree that it would be nicer if booting could proceed regardless of the tray state, but I see this dependency only as an unwanted feature, rather than a bug, since it doesn't prevent or even interfere with any normal usage.

Still, it is interesting to note that such a dependency exists in pre-V9 consoles, as it is clearly related to a more serious dependency of the V9+ consoles (where /S patch causes lockup if no disc in tray).

Best regards: dlanor

[DuFrAn3]

i am also having trouble with the game locking up. I performed the hex hack so that I could play it on my hard drive. And it plays fine, up until I defeat the Hydra, ya know, you have to defeat the 2 little ones, then the 1 big one. Anyway, after defeating them, I climb up on the boxes, and slide down the rope. After that, there is a save point at the bottom of the rope. I step into the light, press R2, and it asks if I want to save, i said yes, etc. Then shut off game. Wanted to play again, turned on, loaded save, and it froze, showing my guy standing in the light...did that a few times, then decided that it might just be a corrupt save. So I started new on my other memory card. In the same spot, after going down that rope, I go into the light, press R2, it asks if I want to save, and is frozen on that screen. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks!


I got another .iso of it from a buddy that I work with. It fixed the problem. However, when you fix one thing, it somehow seems you run into something different. First off, he is using the same image on his PS2 that I currently am using. This new .iso that he gave me fixed the obove "save freeze" problem, now, after defeating the Hydras, I can save at that save point after sliding down the rope with no problem. I kill the bad guys in the next area and proceed to the captain's door. I unlock and go in, I go through hall until next door. After I open that door, there is a cut scene where he bloodies up some monsters. He slices open 2 monsters and then shows you the back of one, his blade splits that monster in two pieces and blood flies everywhere, right after that, it shows him standing there with blood on his chest. The game freezes right there and the audio starts making this "errr errr errr errr" with pauses as shown, over and over until I reset. At first I thought that it was a corrupted save file so I started a new game, and saved to my other memory card, only to have it do the same thing. I then thought, maybe it's the way I patched the HDLOADER.ELF file, but then I remembered that I patched the one for my buddy, and we are using the same file, and his works great. I then thought it was the hard drive, so I formatted one of my spare 40 GB drives, and loaded up GOW. Only to have it do the same thing, in the same exact spot...Someone...anyone....help me out please!!!!

[chochu3]

aznoutlaw

When you ripped to DVD5 you deleted the bonus files and the same duplicate files: bonus*.pss and *.psw, so when you go to load the bonus material it will not play, it will go to what you linked it to when using sonix GOW tool. Another thing you will be able to play the challenge of the gods after beating the game.

[waddpsw]

I got another .iso of it from a buddy that I work with. It fixed the problem. However, when you fix one thing, it somehow seems you run into somADER.ELF file, but then I remembered that I patched the one for my buddy, and we are using the same file, and his works great. I then thought it was the hard drive, so I formatted one of my spare 40 GB drives, and loaded up GOW. Only to have it do the same thing, in the same exact spot...Someone...anyone....help me out please!!!!


It sounds to me like you guys have done the hdloade hack fine but are using the Genius release unpatched ?? Ive got the confusion release and extracted it and ran Sonix's CMP on the files and it patched one of them. I am already past the point you talk about but need to get up to level 11 to test the other point.

Ive got it workign fine from either dvd or hdd, thanks to all the peeps here :)

Regards

Wad

[DuFrAn3]

i'm using Genius Release unpatched. Except for the hex part, I did that. The only thing is, my buddy is using exact same release and everything...

[alucard_x]

the genius release isn't going to work no matter what you do. you need the full dvd9 and do it yourself or get the confusion

[Fess999]

Hi,

I have been reading through this thread and following the instructions to be able to play God of War from my HDD. But I have a couple of problems hexediting my hdloader.elf file.

The steps I have gone through are:
- I have a PS2 V9 with a DMS 3 file
- I have an original HDLoader.elf file 2.908 KB (unpatched)
- I patch the file: hdlpatch_0.5b /N /S hdloader.elf hdl.elf
- Then I go into Ultraedit and open hdl.elf however at offset 0xaac4c I do not have '01 00' instead I have 'FC 85'

Now I am a totally noob using hexedit (never tried it before), so maybe I am missing something.

Otherwise it looks like I have a problem with my HDloader.elf file.

Any help to solve this problem would be appreciated.

[lostinnil]

BTW HDLoader with this patch will not boot MGS3(USA). I just got this info from another forum, and I tested myself. Well that's true.

[dlanor]

I have been reading through this thread and following the instructions to be able to play God of War from my HDD. But I have a couple of problems hexediting my hdloader.elf file.

The steps I have gone through are:
- I have a PS2 V9 with a DMS 3 file
- I have an original HDLoader.elf file 2.908 KB (unpatched)
I assume you mean a DMS 3 mod-chip, not just a file...

- I patch the file: hdlpatch_0.5b /N /S hdloader.elf hdl.elf
That is not the latest version. You should use 0.5c instead.

- Then I go into Ultraedit and open hdl.elf however at offset 0xaac4c I do not have '01 00' instead I have 'FC 85'

Now I am a totally noob using hexedit (never tried it before), so maybe I am missing something.
Well, Zero-X never saw this decryption as a goal in itself, so he only performed it if a patch affected the encrypted area, which evidently is not the case for your choices. Try adding /C as well, as that affects a copyright message, which I'm sure must be in the encrypted area.

Edit: No, /C was not the key, but OMG I see that you have forgotten the most important patch of all, the one which motivated most of this development. You should add /L to enable the 48bit LBA patch. That will cause the encrypted area to be decrypted.

Best regards: dlanor

[Fess999]

Thanks dlanor,

Now it works like a charm.

You are right so far I have not been using the /L option. I started patching my elf to avoid my PS2 from freezing.

Thanks, now I will soon be playing GoW from my HDD.

[beg152]

i am on gow level 9 playing through patched hdloader dvd5 but it stucks there . need a save to get through the level.pls provide me with the save of level 10 or level 11

[crazyc]

>BTW HDLoader with this patch will not boot MGS3(USA). I just got this info from another forum, and I tested myself. Well that's true.

Just tried it and MGS3 works fine.

[kshbug]

Is anyone working on a ppf patch for GoW to work with a retail HDLoader/HDAdvance?

[Elseno]

>BTW HDLoader with this patch will not boot MGS3(USA). I just got this info from another forum, and I tested myself. Well that's true.

Just tried it and MGS3 works fine.

No problem here also, just tested it with date patch 0 and that new crazyc patch

[vincatzero]

so has anybody figured out a way to make the full game work on HDL with bonus movies and everything? When I flattened it it froze at the copyright screen but when I installed just the iso (only first layer) it worked fine (so far at least, I'm on the first level). The trailer in the movie section freezes it up though and I'd like everything to work.

[dick_onion53]

Well, I have hdloader with the crazy c patch and the other patch but I havn't tried it. I was downloading GOW Proper release but it was only going 8kb/s (average) so I just cancelled it. I didn't see any reason to download it for days with the thin chance that it would actually work.

But hey, at least we got another good game that sexbox doesnt have. :dance:

-ONiON

[ShannonLi]

Following all of the Nicly given instructions on this thread I was able to BOOT The game on the hard drive, as of now in the game I am at Pandoras Box no freezing or anything right now just faster load times I THank The person who wrote it

[lostinnil]

>BTW HDLoader with this patch will not boot MGS3(USA). I just got this info from another forum, and I tested myself. Well that's true.

Just tried it and MGS3 works fine.
Hmmm.... That's strange.... More tests needed.

Edit: Test again, no problem at all... ;)

[int3gra3]

Does anyone have a full version with the bonuses running from hdd? Some ppl like me with 200gig dont really care about space... i want to enjoy the bonuses too....

[vincatzero]

Does anyone have a full version with the bonuses running from hdd? Some ppl like me with 200gig dont really care about space... i want to enjoy the bonuses too....


I have the full version (both layers) installed and everything seems to be doing fine. I unpacked it with Apache, built it as an IML in cd/dvd gen, made it into an iso with iml2iso. I'm only on the first level though so I dont know if it's going to work all the way through.

One thing that's really bothering and worrying me is in the "Treasures" screen. The making of god of war movie works fine and one of the trailers (the one where you press square). When i try the other one (press X) it freezes no matter what mode or combination of modes.

Does anybody have that particular movie working?

[ojomvas]

Someone said earlier that a flattened god of war on the hdd would freeze at level 4. I flattened it myself, and the trailer videos freeze as well, and I guess that level 4 will freeze. There might be a way, what makes it freeze, aren't the files from the second layer found? Maybe like the dvd5 rip method instead of deleting we could relink all files from second layer in a way in order to get it to work.

[Hello_Kitty]

jomvas, a patcher has been released at http://www.backuptools.co.uk/

[ynbh7]

Is there a working full version release? I want to get the movies and cut-scenes but I dont think the confusion release has that. I would do what vincatzero did but I dont have a dvd drive in my computer.

[pholly]

Why don't you try buying the game int3gra3, then you CAN enjoy the extras.

[chais82]

If u didnt pirate ur games then whats the big deal on haveing the bonus features removed? You better becarefull in what u say!

[dick_onion53]

Why don't you try buying the game int3gra3, then you CAN enjoy the extras.
Maybe he doesn't have an extra 50 bucks to spend on a video game. I know I don't (and never do).

[InfinaRacer]

I'm playing on the ripped version of GoW, and it keeps freezing (Says Loading...) at he point after the Challenge of Hades, where you have to rearrange the Rings of Pandora. I'm running down the hall and it just stays on Loading... while the music plays, stops, then repeats. Anyone else get this?

[ps2feen]

hmm,. i got this working on my v7 200gb.. i sed the modified elf. set it as r1 on launchelf hold r1 and wala god of waR works

[infiniteshamoo]

OK, I just bea the game with the HD patch.

It ran flawlessly, loading times are like 1 sec. No lag or chop.

[John R]

yea i just beat it too, no problems what so ever!! now maybe i'll buy or rent it cuz i want to see the bonus movies.

[KaylaKaze]

InfinaRacer, are you sure you're using the working rip by Confusion?

[InfinaRacer]

Yes I am, KaylaKaze. And this isn't the first time it says Loading... In the middle of a level, however at least before this point, I can continue playing. Now it just freezes that way with Kratos in mid-run lol

[sofakng]

Ok, I got the game to boot after -finally- getting the correct, unpacked .ELF file. The KEY to everything working is that you use the "/L" parameter with HDL-Patch.

With that said, I'm wondering if this GOW-Fix can be applied to the hdl-core v0.2 update by zero. In that update, he specifically says you CANNOT use the LBA patch (and thus, the offset isn't decrpyted in the elf file).

As a temporary solution I have to hdloader.elf files on my memory card...

[ShannonLi]

:( The game froze on me during the aries fight after the dream sequence where Kratos has the new sword froze when aires hit me :(

[ltdc2004]

ive applied the gow fix to the hdl/toxic 0.2 seems to work only played the first 2 levels though. whens it ment to freeze? its the genius release btw

[InfinaRacer]

I'm playing GoW off a dvd+r btw, not hdd. And I get the freezing thing.

[MaxSTeel]

Hey gang, I have a v10 ps2, and can't seem to get my newly created elf's to work.. it'll do the "flash" as if it's going to load, but all I get is a black screen.
I tried to find a pre made elf with the crazyc patch for v10 out there, but I cannot seem to find specific ones (if anyone can help me there shoot me a priv msg), i've tried others from various sites, and even they just give me a black screen. thankfully i backed up my good non patched working one :)

Otherwise, any ideas? I think I'm cursed at times for have a v10 model...

[InfinaRacer]

I finally got past arranging the rings, now the fmv when the statue comes up out of the ground at Pandora's temple, stutters and freezes. arghh i even burned it again.

[waddpsw]

Ive extracted and run CMP v1.1 on the confusion release also updated my Hdloader image thanks to upload at BlackCats by someone here.

Ive had it freeze on me once but i rebooted and it ran fine the second time after seeing Aries.

Im using DVD -R my ps2 dosnt like DVD+R (v7)

I am in Pandoras temple at the moment.

Regards

Wad

[tot31]

I used Sonix's method with Genius release to make a new iso.Did cracyc's method on my HDL.It is working flawlessly without any freezes or hangs and I'm at the final level fighting with Ares.I'm using a cdr to boot up my HDL.

[vincatzero]

is there anybody who's figured out how to install the full game and have the bonus movies work?

[Aramir]

is there anybody who's figured out how to install the full game and have the bonus movies work?Tha problem with full image on the hdd is that Sonix' tool does not allow to create pak file larger than 4096Mb. It is discussed here (http://www.backuptools.co.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=46). Join, ask.. Maybe Sonix will update his great tool...

[Ferio]

Ok, I got the game to boot after -finally- getting the correct, unpacked .ELF file. The KEY to everything working is that you use the "/L" parameter with HDL-Patch.

With that said, I'm wondering if this GOW-Fix can be applied to the hdl-core v0.2 update by zero. In that update, he specifically says you CANNOT use the LBA patch (and thus, the offset isn't decrpyted in the elf file).

As a temporary solution I have to hdloader.elf files on my memory card...


I updated my HDL to v0.2 core and after that hex edited it to play God of War. It's working fine till now.

[vincatzero]

isn't the GOW hex edit different on the v0.2 core?

[anigamer]

I got gow to work with the 0.2 core as well. Kickass!!

Yeah the offset is different.

If you are going to add the crazyc god of war fix to this updated hdloader, the correct offset is 0xAA8F4 / 698612.

[bird.house]

Sorry, I didn't bother reading all 16 pages, but I'm gonna ask my question anyway:

Is there a way to play GoW with an unpatched hd loader by patching the game itself?

I know there is a way byu patching hdloader.elf or something like that, but that isn't an option for me. I can only patch the .iso itself.

So, is there a way?

[DiabloTerrorGF]

^I'm in his shoes, maybe we can run a modified HDL through HDL....

[sokixx]

Same here as well; in the same boat as bird.house and DiabloTerrorGF :[

[Ferio]

Till now the only way to run God of War is by modifying HDL itself. Maybe someone will make a patch for the ISO, but I don´t think this will happen.

[NiTE]

Um... you can just modify the elf, and burn it along with a system.cnf file if you want to boot HDA off a disc. That's what I did.

[waddpsw]

Yes, patch the files with CMP v1.1


Extract all the files from your .iso using Isobuster or similar and then run Console Media Patcher v1.1 on the .img file (from memory)
Just select all files and patch, the program wont patch anything unless it is a valid file that needs changing. Make sure you set the option DVD9-DVD5 before selecting your files.

Remake the .iso using Ps2CDgen or CD/DVDgen, which ever you know and reburn from there.

Working fine for me on the confusion release

Regards

Wad





Sorry, I didn't bother reading all 16 pages, but I'm gonna ask my question anyway:

Is there a way to play GoW with an unpatched hd loader by patching the game itself?

I know there is a way byu patching hdloader.elf or something like that, but that isn't an option for me. I can only patch the .iso itself.

So, is there a way?

[sillietd]

Alright, I read over this thread a bunch of times and I just have a few questions that hopefully yall can answer.

I'm trying to run my copy of GoW off the harddrive, basically so I can save my laser.

I patched my elf a while back with all the important patches(/L, etc.), but I never packed it. So if I took that unpacked elf and hex edited it (01 00 --> 25 02 at offset 0xAAC4C), would GoW work once I use this edited elf?

Also I was wondering, did this little hex edit "patch" for the elf work on a flattened DVD-9 iso on the HD or a DVD-5 rip iso on the HD.

Thanks in advance guys.

[born1969]

I am using patched HDL with /C /S /F /L /D3 /P 82,2D and the Hex Fix. Flattened DVD-9 iso. Working without any problems. Currently at Pandora's Temple (Level 9-I think).

Correction: I just reached kronos, the titan, climbed up to Pandora's temple and the game froze!

Tried using the Toxoc 0.2 core, still froze.
Game won't even load when set to mode 2.
Mode 3 did nothing.

[breezy]

sillietd,

Exactly, Im using the dvd-5 not sure of dvd-9.

[aznoutlaw]

sillietd,

Exactly, Im using the dvd-5 not sure of dvd-9.

yeah the flattened dvd9 image works but i can't load any of my saved games which are way past the pandora save point... these saves were off the dvd5 image i made...

so i can start a new game with the flattened dvd9 image but i think it'll crash at the pandora save point since i can't load any of my save games that are after that...