Errcode -6 VMC

[Halo-101]

I Used memory card enhialtor to dump my 16mb memory card into a 32mb (hoping that i will have my data on the VMC With 16mb free) as i do not wish to buy a new memory card so i mounted the dumped vmc in slot0 using unofficial ulaunchelf 4.42 and 4.40 only to get a -errcode 6 anyhelp to solve this prob;lem thnx.in advance

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Halo-101

[dlanor]

I Used memory card enhialtor to dump my 16mb memory card into a 32mb (hoping that i will have my data on the VMC With 16mb free) as i do not wish to buy a new memory card so i mounted the dumped vmc in slot0 using unofficial ulaunchelf 4.42 and 4.40 only to get a -errcode 6 anyhelp to solve this prob;lem thnx.in advance

So what am I supposed to do with your VMC now then ?
Without access to it, there is nothing I can even try to do.

The only thing I can do is to tell you the meaning of error code -6 as given by the VMC device driver, for which that is defined as "VMCFS_ERR_VMC_SIZE". But you could have checked that yourself in the file "Source\vmc_fs\src\vmc.h" of the uLE release package, which includes all the VMC driver error codes.

Apparently something is wrong with the size of that VMC file, indicating that something went wrong in its creation or even earlier. (An MC with invalid filesystem headers or FAT tables might not dump correctly to a file.) But since you didn't state the exact size, I can't even check that.

Btw:
I'm not familiar with the word "enhialtor". Shouldn't that have been "annihilator".
I'm here assuming that you meant that program by ffgriever.

I should also add that I haven't tested any VMC dumps by that program with uLE, so I'm not really sure how compatible they may be.

Best regards: dlanor

[ffgriever]

I experienced this error few times. The problem always was that there was not enough space on my usb drive to create the image (so it was smaller than it should). So then when I tried to mount it in uLE, I got this error... It doesn't seem to be a problem of uLE itself.

In this case you dumped 16MB into 32MB file. The superblock says it's 16MB, the file is 32MB. This results in size mismatch, so the error message is displayed. Your image is probably fine, but it doesn't pass some sanity checks . You can't expect general use application to accept such weird conditions.

EDIT: Note one thing though. The VMCFS driver seems to set the block size to 16 pages (which is the value that original 8MB cards have). Most cards bigger than 8MB will have the value set to 32 or even 64. So the vmcfs should read the images of such cards (block bigger than 16pages) but it will probably screw the card if you try to write anything. I didn't really investigate the vmc code, though (but I tried a perfectly fine 16MB image of my card with crazyc's branch of OPL and it failed... probably due to the 32 pages per block... That's why the old mcsio emulator needed the mci descriptor file - all the informations are stored in superblock, so it was only necessary for blank images to format properly and retain all the needed configuration...). It really depends on how close the the mcman the vmcfs driver behaves (block clearing and such... I mean, whether it's filesystem driver or emulator) - I'll check it if I'll have some time.

[dlanor]

I experienced this error few times. The problem always was that there was not enough space on my usb drive to create the image (so it was smaller than it should). So then when I tried to mount it in uLE, I got this error... It doesn't seem to be a problem of uLE itself.

In this case you dumped 16MB into 32MB file. The superblock says it's 16MB, the file is 32MB. This results in size mismatch, so the error message is displayed. Your image is probably fine, but it doesn't pass some sanity checks . You can't expect general use application to accept such weird conditions.

That certainly does explain his size error.

I also though it was odd that he didn't start by making a pure backup of the card, exactly as it was. But I'm not familiar enough with your MC annihilator to know that a dump made to the larger size would be abnormal (though it does make sense of course).

EDIT: Note one thing though. The VMCFS driver seems to set the block size to 16 pages (which the value that original 8MB cards have). Most cards bigger than 8MB will have the value set to 32 or even 64. So the vmcfs should read the images of such cards (block bigger than 16pages) but it will probably screw the card if you try to write anything. I didn't really investigate the vmc code, though.

That's interesting. As you may be aware it was Polo35 who wrote that device driver code, but if you can tell me where in the VMC file to check that blocksize precisely, I'll have a go at testing/correcting this.

Best regards: dlanor

[ffgriever]

That's interesting. As you may be aware it was Polo35 who wrote that device driver code, but if you can tell me where in the VMC file to check that blocksize precisely, I'll have a go at testing/correcting this.

Best regards: dlanor

Nah, ignore it. I've seen the setDefaultSpec function, but didn't actually see that it reads the block size from superblock. So the vmcfs should work fine for these (I know it does for reading, didn't try writing anything, but I can't see a reason why it wouldn't work). Crazyc's opl branch can't read these for some reason, though (tried it few times with different images, even artificially created ones - was always getting info that there were no saves of the game on mc... it worked with my 8MB card image though).

[dlanor]

Nah, ignore it. I've seen the setDefaultSpec function, but didn't actually see that it reads the block size from superblock. So the vmcfs should work fine for these (I know it does for reading, didn't try writing anything, but I can't see a reason why it wouldn't work).

OK, I'll drop it for now then, but keep it in mind for the future.

Crazyc's opl branch can't read these for some reason, though (tried it few times with different images, even artificially created ones - was always getting info that there were no saves of the game on mc... it worked with my 8MB card image though).

The default values (whatever they are) definitely should be set up for 8MB cards, so even if the code ignores some MC struct value, 8MB VMC sizes could work just as well anyway.

So it's probably a good thing that I opted for 8MB size in my own VMC collection for OPL, currently with 232 VMC files in the "VMC" subfolder of my OPL fileshare... Though I naturally did that to limit the space cost too. A total cost of 1.81 GB for those VMC files is wasteful enough as it is...

Best regards: dlanor

[ffgriever]

So it's probably a good thing that I opted for 8MB size in my own VMC collection for OPL, currently with 232 VMC files in the "VMC" subfolder of my OPL fileshare... Though I naturally did that to limit the space cost too. A total cost of 1.81 GB for those VMC files is wasteful enough as it is...

Best regards: dlanor

I did a quick check and it seems that the opl vmc code also properly reads the block size from superblock... so it's not the case (well, the only thing it could affect anyway is the backupl blocks location, as AFAIR, it is the only thing which location is referred by block.

PS. I've checked the image again (compiled current crazyc's branch), and it seems to work now just fine in opl... Something tries to make an idiot of me. Few weeks ago I tried the exact same 64MB image (0xff clear, 32 pages per block) and few games I tried couldn't find anything on the mc)... Oh well, glad it works

Anyway, to conclude everything. The problem that Halo-101 is getting is not a problem at all.

[Halo-101]

Thank you all for your help so if i create a blank 32Mb VMC File using VMCMaker (PC Side) And Dump My 16mb MemCard Into A 16MB VMC And mount my newly dumped Memory card would it be possible to then use revision check in my 16mb dump copy and then paste all files into the blank 32mb file?.Thnx in advance and thank you guys for your help

[ffgriever]

Yes, you can. But note that I had some mixed results (tested it just few minutes ago). Images are always being read fine in uLE (created with genvmc), but writing is a hit or miss. Sometimes it works flawlessly, sometimes it fails at random file, sometimes it freezes uLE completely (always when I try to copy from mass while the vmc is on hdd). Tried with psu paste, not with regular copy. Copying files between vmcs might work better... or not (can't say... I never use this feature of uLE, I use mymc on PC to do such thing... though I have to convert the images to add ecc data first, as it expects it in the image it seems, then once editing is done, I simply convert the file back and get rid of ecc data - mymc works really well, it's yet to fail me).

[Halo-101]

i have vmc_creator where can i find genvmc? also is it possible to somehow open up the memorycard0.bin file and import my saves using a pc as it seems that mymc is only for .ps2 files and all vmc for ps2 are .bin and i am yet to find a convrter.Thnx In Advance

(Also i noticed the random freezes and crashes aswell is there a way to stop this from happening whilst copying files from MC To Empty VMC? Also whenever i use HD Project/your MC Emulator i get black screen as i wish to emulate a memory card for both CD/DVD Games And OPL Format.Thnx So Much In Advance.


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Halo-101