Usb Advance testing

[jimd]

I am trying to test usb advance out on my ps2 with a usb pen drive.( a cd game has been copied onto the pen drive using usb extreme)
I have a slimline modchipped with matrix infinity - when i insert the usb advance burned cd - after the initial playstation logo the screen stays black and no menu appears - this happens with or without the pen drive in the ps2 usb slot.
My main question is do i have to bite the bullet and buy a proper usb hard drive in order to get usb advance working or is there something wrong with my setup or hardware? Should the Usb advance menu be showing even if no usb drive is inserted?
Also are there any size minimum/maximum restictions on the hdd when using usb advance?
Thx for any help.

[dlanor]

I am trying to test usb advance out on my ps2 with a usb pen drive.( a cd game has been copied onto the pen drive using usb extreme)
I have a slimline modchipped with matrix infinity - when i insert the usb advance burned cd - after the initial playstation logo the screen stays black and no menu appears - this happens with or without the pen drive in the ps2 usb slot.

This is a well known issue with the Matrix Infinity, and all related mod-chips (many clones stole the design from that chip). It is caused by the "Macrovision" feature, which must be turned off to make USBAdvance work.

Note that this can only be done with a 'real' Matrix Infinity chip, as most cheap clones will 'die' if settings like this are modified...

To modify settings, start by pressing both Triangle and Circle during a console startup/reset, until you reach the MI configuration menu. Then start looking for the Macrovision entry and turn it off.

My main question is do i have to bite the bullet and buy a proper usb hard drive in order to get usb advance working or is there something wrong with my setup or hardware? Should the Usb advance menu be showing even if no usb drive is inserted?

Yes, the menu will be showing, and the field for game listing will contain a single line saying "Insert a USB Device". The same is also displayed during the device identification process, when you do have a drive inserted. And when this process completes that text is replaced by the game list.

Also are there any size minimum/maximum restictions on the hdd when using usb advance?

Not for the drive size. FAT32 can accomodate rather large drives, and USBAdvance itself will accept very small ones too. I use it both with a 64MB HP Disgo flash memory (for very small homebrew ISOs) and with an 80GB USB HDD. (Not simultaneously of course, but one at a time.)

The absolute requirement is that your drive must not have more than one partition, and the partition must be formatted to the filesystem FAT32. The recommended way to ensure that is by using the companion program "ul_format.exe".

Another requirement is that files in FAT32 are limited to just under 2GB in size.
(The max positive value of a 32-bit signed integer)
But you don't really have to worry about that, as USBAdvance will split large games to as many segment files as required, using a max segment size of 1GB.

Other possible requirements (which I am unsure about) relate to how different CD/DVD formats may be simulated by USBAdvance. I'm not at all certain whether it is capable of dealing correctly with games on DVD9 discs, for example.

Best regards: dlanor

[jimd]

Thankyou for the very comprehensive reply.
I purchased my console new with the chip installed. I believed it to be original but now find out that it is a clone.( i cannot access any menu by pressing both Triangle and Circle during a console startup). Is there any way to get usb advance running safely ?
Also is a clone chipped conlsole likely to die or cause problems in the near future?
Thx again

[dlanor]

Thankyou for the very comprehensive reply.
I purchased my console new with the chip installed. I believed it to be original but now find out that it is a clone.( i cannot access any menu by pressing both Triangle and Circle during a console startup).

That is very odd. I never had such a clone myself, but it was my understanding that they too have that menu. The problem is only that if you were to use that menu to change settings of a clone, then the chip dies...

I did have an MI chip earlier (a genuine one, not a clone), and I found it a bit odd in how it performed a normal startup sequence. From 'standby' mode (red LED lit) it was never enough to press the reset button once for a proper startup. Doing so would start the console, but without activating the chip fully, so it could respond to any pad command keys. (Not just the command for config menu, but also the ones for Dev1 and Dev2 booting.)

Instead I always had to press reset twice, with a brief interval (1-2 sec) to get the console started with chip fully active, and immediately after that press the command keys and hold them down until the command was executed. Perhaps your chip is like that too, and that's why you didn't get the menu, in which case it might still be a genuine MI... It's worth trying some variations on that method anyway, as it just might save the day for you.

Is there any way to get usb advance running safely ?

Not with the Macrivision fix active, which is the default setting for all MI chips and all clones of it. The only way then to make USBAdvance work is to disable the whole chip (assuming the clone allows that), and boot an MC exploit instead (triggered by a PS1 original game).

If you go for that method, then I suggest that you use a tool like LaunchELF for the exploit BOOT.ELF, and use that to start USBAdvance (and other homebrews) for you. I have tested this kind of booting myself, so I know that USBAdvance is capable of starting games when booted from LaunchELF this way.

Also is a clone chipped conlsole likely to die or cause problems in the near future?

The clones I've heard about all die if you do either one of two things:

1: Use the config menu to change any settings.
2: Attempt to upgrade the MI firmware with a flash upgrade CD.

For more normal usage I don't think they are more or less likely to die than any other chip. The basic circuit elements are similar, so they should age in similar manner. But a clone is never as safe to use as the original, because the clone chips are not quite the same as the originals (which is why you can't upgrade or configure them), and the firmware was debugged by the Matrix team, only for use in the original chips.

Best regards: dlanor

[jimd]

Thanks very much for your time and the full reply. I have just emailed the supplier of the console and he tells me that the chip is either a Matrix Infinity SE 1.54 or an H2O. There is no 1.54 logo on boot up so i suspect i have the H2O chip.
The memory card exploit sounds a good idea.
Being new to the ps2 scene I have no idea how to get the exploit files onto the mem card. If possible please could you direct me to a begginers guide or similar.
Thx again

[Shapyi]

I thought Sony fixed the memory card exploit in the slim PS2s? My v12 unmodded PS2 does not work with it, but my old big PS2 does that I got around launch.

[dlanor]

I thought Sony fixed the memory card exploit in the slim PS2s? My v12 unmodded PS2 does not work with it, but my old big PS2 does that I got around launch.

You are of course correct. The exploit will not work on a 'slim' PStwo.
I momentarily forgot that 'jimd' was speaking of such a model, so my advice about the exploit is useless to him. And if it is indeed an MI clone chip that he has, then I'm afraid there is no good solution here.

USBAdvance will not work with the macrovision fix active, and turning it off may kill the mod-chip...!!!

Best regards: dlanor

[jimd]

Ok thx for that.
I did manage to install the usbadvance.elf as an exploit into the mc using the independance compiler 3.0 - although i could not boot this by pressing r1 on boot up. But i did manage to launch it using a ps1 game as the title.db launcher. However - i still get the same black screen - i guess this is the macrovision problem?
I cant find a way to access any menu with the chip so i doubt if i would be able to switch the macrovision fix off anyway.
Failing all this - is there a way to delete the boot.elf and usbadvance.elf from my mc without deleting the whole system config file. ( i can browse into the mc and its files with a homebrew mc browser that i found but it wont let you delete any files in the system directory)
Thanks again for all the help

[dlanor]

Ok thx for that.
I did manage to install the usbadvance.elf as an exploit into the mc using the independance compiler 3.0

Yes, that should work on any model PS2.

- although i could not boot this by pressing r1 on boot up.

Matrix Infinity (and its clones) will attempt to launch "mc0:/BOOT/BOOT.ELF" when you hold the R1 button during startup/reset, but that is NOT the same folder where the exploit BOOT.ELF is installed. This will be in either of the following folders:

"mc0:/BIDATA-SYSTEM/" for Japanese consoles
"mc0:/BADATA-SYSTEM/" for US consoles
"mc0:/BEDATA-SYSTEM/" for European consoles

But i did manage to launch it using a ps1 game as the title.db launcher.

Really ?!?
Please try that with another ELF, such as LaunchELF or some other homebrew, that is known to work well on 'slim' PStwo models.

If you are correct, and there is a way to make the exploit work on these machines, that is just about the hottest news for users of such consoles in a very long time. Personally I think you must be mistaken, though it would be great if you are correct.

However - i still get the same black screen - i guess this is the macrovision problem?

Under these circumstances (exploit running on 'slim' PStwo ?!?), all bets are off. By all accounts it is impossible to launch ELFs that way...

I cant find a way to access any menu with the chip so i doubt if i would be able to switch the macrovision fix off anyway.

That is another thing I don't understand. Clones are supposed to have that menu too, though you should not use it with a clone. Are you sure that nothing at all happens if you hold down BOTH the 'Circle' and the 'Triangle' buttons during the entire startup process...?!?

Failing all this - is there a way to delete the boot.elf and usbadvance.elf from my mc without deleting the whole system config file. ( i can browse into the mc and its files with a homebrew mc browser that i found but it wont let you delete any files in the system directory)

Sure. Find "uLaunchELF v3.41t" (search on this site for it). Download and unpack that package on your PC. It contains two binaries named "BOOT.ELF" and "BOOTC.ELF", the latter is compressed and thus more suitable for use on MC (to save space). So copy "BOOTC.ELF" somewhere and rename it to "BOOT.ELF", and then do whatever you need to launch this ELF using your current tools. Once you are running uLaunchELF, it will allow you to replace or erase any file or folder on your MC.

If your modchip is indeed related to the MI chip, then the best place for the new BOOT.ELF is in the folder "mc0:/BOOT/", so you can start it by pressing the R1 button during startup/reset.

And if that button still doesn't work, you need to talk to the people responsible for installing that mod-chip again, as they seem to have botched the job two ways. Not only do they seem to have given you a clone instead of the real thing, but the clone doesn't even seem to work the way those should.

Best regards: dlanor

[jimd]

Thx dlanor - it seems that my chip is not a MI clone - Triangle and Circle for menu and R1 for dev 1 don't do a thing- ahhhhhhhhhhh.
I am trying to find out from the installer what i have but he says he installs many chips and it could be one of several - but he thought it was a MI clone.
Yep - i tried intalling just a launchelf file with the compiler and then booting with a psx cd - no good ( looks like exploits don't work as you say).
Btw your uLaunchELF v3.41t is much better than the one i was using ( i had v 3.41 modified with "stinky's all in one installer" )
Thx for that - a great tool for editing and copying from other mc and usb drive.
If my chip is not an MI clone then i guess there may be another way of entering dev mode and a menu. Do all chips ( clones included ) have these basic features or am i just hoping?
Thx again