Possible to boot Free MCBoot hacked OSDSYS from MI Dev1/Dev2?

[jmjohnson85]

I was reading dlanor's post here (Modbo 4 - Dev Mode) and I found myself wondering if it would be possible to run the hacked OSDSYS of Free MCBoot directly from Dev1/Dev2.

Obviously any system that supports Dev2 would be able to directly run Free MCBoot anyway but for someone with a v18 it could make a very nice alternative.

Not that using uLE is a bad solution, I just think it would be nice to have the nice Free MCBoot launch menu instead.

Edit:
So, does anyone know the answer to this?

[dlanor]

I was reading dlanor's post here (Modbo 4 - Dev Mode) and I found myself wondering if it would be possible to run the hacked OSDSYS of Free MCBoot directly from Dev1/Dev2.

Obviously any system that supports Dev2 would be able to directly run Free MCBoot anyway but for someone with a v18 it could make a very nice alternative.

Not that using uLE is a bad solution, I just think it would be nice to have the nice Free MCBoot launch menu instead.

Edit:
So, does anyone know the answer to this?

The OSDSYS add-on file of FMCB is not a normal elf file, as usable with Dev1/Dev2.
It is an encrypted+signed MC KELF file, which can not be launched by normal elf launchers.

uLE is able to launch FMCB from MC, as is the FMCB installer too, only because they do NOT treat it like a normal elf, but instead invoke it in the same way as the bios would do, when performing the normal reset/power-on sequence.

The Dev1/Dev2 implementation of a normal modchip does not include the ability to do this, so the closest you can get is to have the Dev1/Dev2 feature start some normal elf file (such as uLE), and then have that file invoke the OSDSYS add-on KELF which FMCB is.

Best regards: dlanor

[jmjohnson85]

Hmm... Is it possible to have uLE automatically and seamlessly launch FMCB, immediately upon execution?

[djflexmaster79]

Hmm... Is it possible to have uLE automatically and seamlessly launch FMCB, immediately upon execution?

Yes you just need to assign the QUICK LAUNCH KEYS.

And hold it down as the PS2 boots..

DJ

[jmjohnson85]

That's right. I did realize you could do it with the quick key launch. There's probably no way to make it launch automatically. That wouldn't really make sense for it to even let you set it up that way, because obviously you would have no way of actually using uLE for its intended purposes any longer....

Unless of course there was a feature that let you override such an "automatic KELF launch" causing uLE to load normally.

Feature request maybe?

[dlanor]

That's right. I did realize you could do it with the quick key launch. There's probably no way to make it launch automatically. That wouldn't really make sense for it to even let you set it up that way, because obviously you would have no way of actually using uLE for its intended purposes any longer....

Unless of course there was a feature that let you override such an "automatic KELF launch" causing uLE to load normally.

Feature request maybe?

There's no need to add any new features as what you want is already implemented.

In addition to the quicklaunch button definitions in the uLE configuration menu there is one more such "Default:" definition not using any button. If any program path is assigned to that defintion then that launch path will be used automatically at uLE launch, after a 'Default' Timeout which can be set in the submenu for "Startup Settings...". The number entered there is the number of seconds to delay, and zero is an allowed value.

Even with a zero delay it is possible to override the automatic launch, simply by pressing and holding a button before uLE even begins to boot. uLE always checks for an override button at least once before using the default launch path, even when the delay is zero, so you can always override it when needed. And suitable buttons to press for that purpose are Dpad_Up or Dpad_Down, since those are never used as command buttons in uLE (only used for scrolling between commands etc).

So with that delay zeroed and the "Default:" launch path set to "MISC/OSDSYS", you should reach FMCB with minimum delay and without any button pressing required, while normal entry into uLE will happen if you press and hold Dpad_Up or Dpad_Down while uLE is starting to boot.

Even so, the usefulness is limited when booting a v18 console by SwapMagic, since a disc in the drive then means that FMCB will have to auto-open the Sony browser to avoid launching the disc again, and this means that you still won't 'land' directly in the FMCB menu. Instead you will 'land' in the Sony browser and have to back out from it to reach the FMCB menu. But with Dev1 that problem should not apply.


NB: For all of this to work properly, especially the initial button sensing, you may also need to have a non-zero "Initial Delay:", also found in the "Startup Settings:". That delay is an absolute delay in seconds before uLE makes any decisions based on interface inputs, and is needed to avoid confusion in 'half-initialized' states. I need a value of 3 for this on the console booted by SwapMagic (though I use zero on all other consoles). The 'Default' timeout will of course only start after completion of the "Initial Delay", so as to allow an override as mentioned above. Here I'm not sure how the MI initialization compares to others, but it is possible that its Dev1 booting may need some "Initial Delay" as well. That is something you'll have to test on your own, since I don't have that chip...

Best regards: dlanor

[jmjohnson85]

Well holy moly, that is pretty freakin' sweet! I will have to mess around with that later. Thanks so much for your always very clear explanations dlanor!