ulaunchElf "failed to write launchelf.cnf"... WTF?

[marco rodrigues]

Hi guys!

I´ve just got ulaunchelf v3.94 and I´m using it through a CD-R. The program starts ok, but if I change any configuration it will give the message "failed to write launchelf.cnf". I´ve been looking for some answers for this mistery and found some guys telling me that I should create a SYS-CNF directory in my MC. Well, I did it and it didn´t make any difference...

After that, they told me that my launchelf CD should not have any CNF file. Thus, I´ve burnt another CD with launchelf (this time without the file launchelf.cnf). Again, it didn´t solved my problem...

It seems to me that no matter what I do, launchel will look for the CD CNF file to load and save new configurations... How can I change this?

Just another piece of info (who knows, maybe it helps): Before this whole story I was using launchelf v3.4 and it worked... Any hint?

Thanks, guys!

[JNABK]

Did you delete the old .CNF from 3.4?

[E P]

The directory name is SYS-CONF not SYS-CNF. The configuration file format changed, as JNABK alluded to, so older versions of the settings file are no longer compatible with the current versions of uLaunchELF.

As for it not saving the configuration file, it won't save to SYS-CONF if it does not exist. ULaunchELF won't create the directory either so you have to do it yourself. LaunchELF handled this the same way though.

[marco rodrigues]

Oh, man... I can´t believe i was naming it wrong... Ok... Thanks guys! I´ll create this SYS-CONF and hopefully everything will be fine!

Thanks, guys!

[steam]

i'm having the same prob using 4.01. So i should just create a sys-conf folder in the MC?

[dlanor]

i'm having the same prob using 4.01. So i should just create a sys-conf folder in the MC?

Well, not quite, because "sys-conf" is the wrong name for that folder. The proper name is "SYS-CONF", with all letters in upper-case form.

With such a folder present, uLE will save it's CNF files there, unless it already loaded a CNF from the same folder as the ELF, in which case it will continue to use that folder. But that can be fixed simply by removing that CNF file and restarting the program. Then it will use the SYS-CONF folder for all CNF files.

Best regards: dlanor

[spkleader]

Hi there Dlanor!
I'm having the same error, but I'm trying to run from HDD!!
How to fix it? I guess uLaunchELF could write the .cnf file straight in the hdd, in the same folder as the ulaunch elf.. but I'm wrong?
The scenario is.. I'm trying to setup a sking that is located in the same dir a ulaunchelf.. (it even loads ok) but when I try to save the settings.. boom! Error writing the .cnf file
Any workarounds or I'm being silly?

Thanks in advance!
SpkLeader

[dlanor]

Hi there Dlanor!
I'm having the same error, but I'm trying to run from HDD!!
How to fix it? I guess uLaunchELF could write the .cnf file straight in the hdd, in the same folder as the ulaunch elf.. but I'm wrong?

That is normally NOT possible, because of how HDD access is implemented on PS2. Each HDD access is made not through one logical device, but through two. One for the partition choice, and one for the filesystem on the partition. And only one of those paths can be passed to the called program. It either loses the info about the partition used, or the info about the local path on that partition. For homebrew programs there is a workaround called 'fakehost' which simulates a device driver to allow access of the launch folder (ONLY). However, that workaround still doesn't *tell* the called program what real HDD partition and launch path was used. That remains unknown.

Also, when launching uLE you normally need IOP reset (for safe reinit of all drivers), and that ultimately kills the 'fakehost' driver.

uLE has yet another workaround for that, in that it can and will load LaunchELF.CNF from the same folder (if present) via fakehost before resetting the IOP, but since the path information used for that access is faked, you must then have a special directive in the CNF file to tell the program what the real path is. like this:
CNF_Path = hdd0:/+some_partition/your_uLE_Path/

Then, and only then, can uLE continue to find the proper folder on your HDD.

Unfortunately the entire system of workarounds breaks down if you use Dev2 boot, as implemented by various mod-chips, because they don't use fakehost, but have a launch method of their own, for which we have no documentation.

For such cases there is no other workaround than to create the memory card folder "mc0:/SYS-CONF/", which is the default location of uLE CNF files. Then it will use that folder for CNFs, whenever launched without any CNF in the folder of the ELF (which is how you should launch it for Dev2).

The scenario is.. I'm trying to setup a sking that is located in the same dir a ulaunchelf.. (it even loads ok) but when I try to save the settings.. boom! Error writing the .cnf file
Any workarounds or I'm being silly?

For workarounds, read the above, but be aware that I think it's a bad idea to put such things on HDD. Using MC is much simpler and also allows for easy portability, making setups that can be moved to other PS2 consoles just by moving the MC (when it's independent of any content on HDD).

Best regards: dlanor

[subichan]

This question is so silly I'm really wondering if it's ok to do it here.. But do I have to put the .cnf file inside my exploit installer cd ? i would like not to put it since i want to set everything by myself, but will it work without the .cnf file inside? Thanks in advance,
subichan

[dlanor]

This question is so silly I'm really wondering if it's ok to do it here.. But do I have to put the .cnf file inside my exploit installer cd ? i would like not to put it since i want to set everything by myself, but will it work without the .cnf file inside? Thanks in advance,
subichan

When launched without a CNF file uLE will assume defaults for everything, including the default storage path for the CNF files, which is "mc0:/SYS-CONF/". That is also the default path for other configs, such as networking setups etc, so it is strongly recommended that you create such a folder on your memory card in any case.

With such a folder on the MC, you should have no problem starting uLE without any CNF at first, and then have the settings you make saved to that folder when you use the uLE configuration menus.

Best regards: dlanor