SPCH-90006 uLaunchELF wont work

[jrvmbust]

First of all when i first ran uLaunch it worked (v4.42). Several weeks later it just wont boot, when i try to run it again it just go to the Browser menu.
Then i tried the older versions (v3) it did boot but then the same problem emerges.

Any help?
(oddly any backup Game will work in my PS2 but as far as i know i have no modchip installed. Quite convenient perhaps)

[dlanor]

First of all when i first ran uLaunch it worked (v4.42).

In referring to the program, please use its full name "uLaunchELF", or its official abbreviation "uLE".
This helps in keeping terminology consistent, and the latter form helps keep statements about it brief.

Several weeks later it just wont boot, when i try to run it again it just go to the Browser menu.
Then i tried the older versions (v3) it did boot but then the same problem emerges.

Any help?

No specific help, because you've left out the most crucial information of all:
Whatever special boot method do you use to boot uLE, or any homebrew for that matter ?

An unmodded console as delivered from Sony is unable to do that. For some models homebrew boot systems can be installed on a memory card, and that is a popular method of booting uLE, but that method was blocked by Sony starting in mid-production of the SCPH-900xx models, in the third quarter of 2008. All models produced after that date require a modchip or special (pressed not burned) boot discs to boot any homebrew software. You might possibly have one of the few SCPH-900xx consoles that still have the old bios which allows MC boot methods, but it is very doubtful. (Can be checked when a modern uLE version works, in the "Debug Info" menu. If the rom0:ROMVER string starts with "0220" you have the old bios, but "0230" or higher number means the MC boot methods are blocked.)

If a boot method that originally worked no longer does so, then something has changed.
Most likely you've messed up something on a memory card which makes uLE unable to boot or work properly.

Simply configuring widely spaced uLE versions can in itself cause such problems, as the oldest uLE versions have configuration files which are not compatible to the modern versions, which can cause display problems (we've had to switch display libs for the program a number of times). For such cases it might help if you use any version of uLE that does work for you to delete any "LAUNCHELF.CNF" file found either in the same folder as the uLE elf file (normally named BOOT.ELF), or inside the standard homebrew config folders "mc0:/SYS-CONF/" and/or "mc1:/SYS-CONF/". Once all its CNF files are gone uLE should launch properly using defaults for all settings.

(oddly any backup Game will work in my PS2 but as far as i know i have no modchip installed. Quite convenient perhaps)

If all backup games work with your console, without first using a special boot disc, then you do have a modchip.

Some unmodded consoles can also boot some backup games, but always with severe restrictions:

The MC boot method FMCB normally uses (transparently) a companion program named ESR to run backup DVD-R games, but that method requires patching every backup ISO using a special patch program on a PC, before burning the patched ISO to DVD-R. And ESR is not able to boot any games on CD-R discs, so such a setup is definitely not able to run all backup discs.

Another type of unmodded console which can boot burned discs are the test consoles used by Sony testers, but they do not have SCPH product codes like yours.

After thinking some more about your problem (while writing this post), I've remembered another possible cause for a boot system deteriorating over time like you describe. The same thing did happen to me with some of the cheap chinese 64MB memory cards I tried to use. I've used two different types of such cards (5 cards in total), and all these cards suffered from gradual corruption of the MC content. If you are using such cards I can only advise you to switch to some better type ASAP.

In fact all 64MB MCs should be avoided, though the ones from Datel do work right (I know of no others that do), but several games are unable to store their gamesaves on those cards simply because they can't calculate the free space correctly. The binary 16 bit count of 1KB sectors becomes a negative number for that size. And some games do treat that index as 'signed'.

Another bad feature is that most MC access speed is proportional to the square of the total size, so a 64MB MC is four times slower in all usage than a corresponding 32MB MC.

Stick to 32MB MCs or smaller, from a known good manufacturer such as Datel or Sony.

NB:
If you are using an MC-based boot system, then you will need to install that anew on any replacement MC before you switch over.

And that can not be done simply by copying from one MC to the other, as such boot files must be modified/signed using the Magic-Gate ID code of the MC it is to be booted from. Else the bios will not accept it as bootable. If necessary, read more about this in the subforums of FMCB == Free MC Boot.

Best regards: dlanor

[LocalH]

NB:
If you are using an MC-based boot system, then you will need to install that anew on any replacement MC before you switch over.

And that can not be done simply by copying from one MC to the other, as such boot files must be modified/signed using the Magic-Gate ID code of the MC it is to be booted from. Else the bios will not accept it as bootable. If necessary, read more about this in the subforums of FMCB == Free MC Boot.

Best regards: dlanor

I'd like to add one note - it should, nonetheless, be possible to fully duplicate the MC onto a fresh one of the same size, with MC Annihilator, then reinstall FMCB on the new card to properly sign the KELF, that way the rest of your setup should stay the same. Might just be simpler to install freshly then copy all other files from old MC to new MC with uLE (that would depend on how full your existing card is, as the more individual files that are present, the [slightly] longer it will take to copy as uLE doesn't buffer multiple files, whereas MCA does a raw copy from first to last sector).

Edit: Just noticed something else. He's using a 90006. Thus, he's probably not using an MC boot method (unless his is an 8B or prior machine). You already covered that tho :P

[jrvmbust]

Every backup game that i burned does work without booting to swap magic, etc. The console is unmodified.
Also my uLaunchELF booting method is just running from disc.

EDIT: I still use my original 8mb Sony PS2 Memory card.
Also after repeatedly rebooting the console (like 30 times), every uLaunchELF Disc i have works.

[dlanor]

Every backup game that i burned does work without booting to swap magic, etc. The console is unmodified.

Sorry, but I think you are simply wrong. Someone must have installed a modchip in that console without telling you.

In some regions the retailers even routinely install modchips in all consoles they sell...
That's because they also sell illegal backup copies instead of original games, and they make more profit from those than the cost of the modchips...

An unmodified SCPH-9000x is unable to boot any burned CD-R or DVD-R disc, unless very special methods are used.
Those methods include either 'swapping' of discs during the disc boot, or use of FMCB+ESR or Memento software booted from MC together with patched disc backups.
No other methods for booting burned discs on an unmodified SCPH-9000x are known to exist.

I guess your case could be a 'first', but it doesn't seem likely.
It's far more likely that you have a modchip without knowing it...
(In a case like this I really would like to be proven wrong. It just takes a lot to convince me... )

Also my uLaunchELF booting method is just running from disc.

Now you're really confusing me as to your original complaint, of uLE no longer working.
Do you mean that it is the booting of some such discs that now fails, though it did work earlier...?

If so, then I suspect that you burned the discs incorrectly, so that the photochemical process has continued after the finished burn, altering readability.
This can happen when burning at either too slow (overexposure) or too fast (underexposure) CDVD burning speeds.
Another possible cause of changed readability is if the discs have been exposed long to direct sunlight.

EDIT: I still use my original 8mb Sony PS2 Memory card.

And is it on this memory card that uLE fails to work now ?

If so, then perhaps something has crashed the content of the card.
Perhaps you should back up what you can, and then reformat the card and place a fresh copy of uLaunchELF on it.

Also after repeatedly rebooting the console (like 30 times), every uLaunchELF Disc i have works.

Again you are really confusing me.

Above you said that your normal boot method is to boot uLE from a disc.
And your original complaint was that uLE no longer works for you (presumably from such a disc).
And yet you now say that every uLaunchELF disc you have works.

So exactly what instance of uLaunchELF is it that doesn't work, as complained of in your thread title ?
I just don't get it...

Best regards: dlanor

[jrvmbust]

First of all my console is untouched from the inside. No modchips was really installed also i bought it way back then at a Official Sony retailer.
All i do is just burn and run. Even my old PS1 runs backup games without a modchip...
Also when i reboot only about 30x the discs i made that has uLE in it works but i need to reboot again and again just to make it work. I forgot to put it earlier.

Anyway to fix and make it work without rebooting alot of times?

[mrcordas]

First of all my console is untouched from the inside. No modchips was really installed also i bought it way back then at a Official Sony retailer.

surely you are mistaken, because no original console will play games without a Modchip or software that circumvents the system (sofmod).

All i do is just burn and run. Even my old PS1 runs backup games without a modchip...

only the fact of being able to run games (unpatched) and without ESR + FMCB or other means, surely your ps2 has a modchip, which remains to be seen.
first believe that we are talking about. you probably have a modchip.

can open it to check.

Also when i reboot only about 30x the discs i made that has uLE in it works but i need to reboot again and again just to make it work. I forgot to put it earlier.

Anyway to fix and make it work without rebooting alot of times?

this happens only with uLaunchELF or with other games too?
may be a conflict of a (supposed chip), because I had problems with 9000x consoles and discs apps (. elf)

can try too, if he DEV1 boot enabled:
download ulanchelf (BOOT.ELF) latest 4.42b. and put on a usb flash drive.
when you can launch Ulanchelf disc, put the flash drive. the usb ps2, create a folder called BOOT (uppercase) in the memory card in mc0 :/ (R1> New Dir).
then go to mass :/ (is your flash drive) to copy BOOT.ELF (R1> copy) to mc0 :/ BOOT / BOOT.ELF (R1> paste)

then restart your ps2 and holding R1, see if ulanchelf appears.

[dlanor]

First of all my console is untouched from the inside.

As stated before, that is very hard to believe. Anyone with long-term PS2 experience will agree with this.

I suppose it is remotely possible that your mechacon is somehow faulty in its disc detection methods, but this is very, very, implausible.
Of course any hardware can fail, but that it should do so in the precise fashion required to make it accept burned discs as being original pressed discs is unbelievable.

No modchips was really installed also i bought it way back then at a Official Sony retailer.

It is a known fact that in some countries the retailers DO install modchips mandatorily in all sold consoles, despite the fact that this violates all agreements with Sony, which is also illegal in many parts of the world. And in such countries there are obviously no real official Sony retailers, though some may falsely claim to be such. They just order their consoles from other sources than directly from Sony, while still claiming to be official Sony outlets. (That would never work here, but in some countries the authorities just don't care, as long as local taxes are paid.)

All i do is just burn and run. Even my old PS1 runs backup games without a modchip...

That too is equally hard to believe. The PS1 original discs have special authenticity codes in areas a CD-R burner can not access. So copying those codes is impossible. The only plausible explanation for all of this is that your consoles come from a retailer that mods everything, without telling you...

Also, the fact that you have similar backup ability on the PS1 kills the idea of mechacon malfunction I mentioned above, as it would be a one-in-a-million chance of it happening once, but having similar things happen twice on different hardware in the same family is borderline impossible.

A modding retailer (or more than one) is the only explanation that matches all known facts while remaining very plausible.

Also when i reboot only about 30x the discs i made that has uLE in it works but i need to reboot again and again just to make it work. I forgot to put it earlier.

That sounds like a dying or misaligned CDVD laser.
This too fits the picture of a modded console, since some modchip install methods increase the load on the laser.
(Though some increased load is inevitable just because of using burned discs instead of pressed ones, as they differ in readability even at best.)

Anyway to fix and make it work without rebooting alot of times?

Physical re-alignment of the laser might help, and laser replacement should help.
But this is definitely sensitive hardware work, and might be even more so if there is an unknown modchip hidden in there...

Best regards: dlanor