A possible way to import saves to VMCs?

[PewnyPL]

Hello everybody.
I think I may have a way to copy .psu saves to Virtual Memory Cards. I think it could be done, by launching an .iso file with uLaunchELF (or any memory card manager that can import saves (if there is any)). But so far I was unsuccessful with it. The image downloaded from sksapps crashes at white screen. I then tried to modify a game image and change it's executable to uLE. Still no success (game booted, but it hangs at black screen and nothing happens). Last try was to modify a multi-elf game (like Age of Empires 2) and change any other ELF than main exec. It also didn't work, but that may be fault of AoE2, with doesn't work with my USB dongle (forgot to mention, I'm using USB for all this), as it crashes after chosing language (it loads a different ELF at that moment).
Since I only checked it with official 0.8 release, I wasn't able to try running this on any SVN version, so could anyone check if it would work with newer revisions?

[dlanor]

Hello everybody.
I think I may have a way to copy .psu saves to Virtual Memory Cards. I think it could be done, by launching an .iso file with uLaunchELF (or any memory card manager that can import saves (if there is any)). But so far I was unsuccessful with it.

That approach is a dead end.

The VMC drivers of OPL were made to activate when a commercial game loads and initializes its MC drivers from the game disc image, which never happens with homebrew programs, as they normally use MC device drivers from the bios ROM (like old uLE versions), or special MC device drivers embedded in the program file (like modern uLE versions).

The image downloaded from sksapps crashes at white screen. I then tried to modify a game image and change it's executable to uLE. Still no success (game booted, but it hangs at black screen and nothing happens). Last try was to modify a multi-elf game (like Age of Empires 2) and change any other ELF than main exec. It also didn't work, but that may be fault of AoE2, with doesn't work with my USB dongle (forgot to mention, I'm using USB for all this), as it crashes after chosing language (it loads a different ELF at that moment).

None of those methods will work, because regardless of how a homebrew elf is started, it will not use the commercial game function libs and device drivers. And that is the only way to activate the VMC drivers of OPL.

Since I only checked it with official 0.8 release, I wasn't able to try running this on any SVN version, so could anyone check if it would work with newer revisions?

Such checking would be pointless, as the reasons given above for why it doesn't work apply to all OPL versions.

But fortunately none of that really matters, as there are better ways to do it...

What you should do is to place a backup copy of the VMC file you want modified onto a FAT32-formatted USB drive, which you plug in to a PS2 running a modern version of uLaunchELF, booted normally from MC or USB or whatever (but NOT from a virtual disc image). This will allow you to use uLE's built-in VMC support to access the content of VMC files.

The latest bugfixes to the uLE VMC driver were applied in beta version "uLE v4.40i", so if you use 'stable' release versions you need "uLE v4.41" or newer. The latest release is "uLE v4.42a", and I strongly recommend it.

With such a uLE version running you can use its FileBrowser to visit the folder on the USB drive holding the VMC file you need to access, and with that file highlighted you open the R1 menu and use either of the commands "Mount vmc0:" or "Mount vmc1:". Those commands will open the VMC file and 'mount' it for use in the corresponding "vmc0:/" or "vmc1:/" device which is then created in the drive root list of the uLE FileBrowser, and you are also auto-browsed into the root of the newly mounted VMC. (In the rest of this text I assume that you chose to work with "vmc0:/", just to simplify the text a little.)

That auto-browsing is ideal for cases where you want to backup gamesaves from the VMC to another medium. But for placing new stuff in the VMC you will need to navigate to the source of that stuff, which for a PSU file will probably be the same USB drive you just left...

After browsing to the PSU file and selecting it, you use the 'Copy' command in the R1 menu to memorize it for uLE, and then browse back to the "vmc0:/" device (now present in the device root directory), where you then use the R1 menu command 'psuPaste'.

Note that in writing to a VMC file it is safest to only psuPaste a single gamesave per command, though it is quite safe to go in the other direction with multiple gamesaves selected for 'Copy', when creating PSU files from a VMC.

The virtual devices "vmc0:/" and "vmc1:/" only exist for the duration of the FileBrowser session in which they were created (by the mount commands), so they will disappear when you leave the FileBrowser (such as by pressing [Select]), at which time the open VMC file will be closed.

NB: That closure is VERY IMPORTANT...!!!

It is when the VMC file is closed that any remaining write data in cache is written to the physical drive, so it is crucial that this is done (leaving FileBrowser) before you remove the USB drive from the console. Because if you remove it prematurely, with the VMC file on it still open, then that VMC file is likely to be corrupted or at least lack some of the data it should have contained. (The last few write operations.)

By using the built-in VMC support of uLE this way you should be able to backup gamesaves from VMCs, or restore existing gamesaves to VMCs. But I recommend that you always work on a backup copy of each VMC file, just in case something goes wrong. Once you know the changes were correctly applied (== readable in a new FileBrowser session) then you can safely replace the original VMC file as used by OPL with the newly modified file.

Also remember that you should not try to mount VMC files over network, using the HOST protocol, since those clients+drivers do not allow safe mounting of VMC files, with corruption of those files being a common result of attempting it. So just don't do that...

Best regards: dlanor

[PewnyPL]

Ah, didn't know that a game must load it's own MC module for it to work, that explains a lot.
But I only thought about it because copying saves TO VMC from uLE doesn't work for me. I was able to delete a save from it, but while trying to copy something to it...

It was standing at this for 5 minutes and nothing, I think uLE just crashed... And yes, just after taking this screenshot i checked if the filename wasn't too long, still crashes.

EDIT: Ah, I forgot, I'm using an USB HDD, not Ethernet.

EDIT2: I thought about copying it from a mounted PCSX2 memcard. It still crashed, as I noticed later, it does so on CREATING A DIRECTORY (tried to do it myself), so I tried deleting just the save files in the dir, and pasting the ones from pcsx2 vmc... No go, I see paste message for all files, but they just don't show up (and, not big surprise, VMC got corrupted)



EDIT3: Disregard EDIT2. I was able to copy using that way a FFX save (but had to create dir myself, else it was giving me paste failed message). But why it won't let me create a save dir for Naruto 5 and copy save data, I dunno (for data it maybe just a save file on pcsx2 vmc corrupted, but that directory problem...)

[dlanor]

Ah, didn't know that a game must load it's own MC module for it to work, that explains a lot.
But I only thought about it because copying saves TO VMC from uLE doesn't work for me. I was able to delete a save from it, but while trying to copy something to it...

----- Freeze screenshot saved for reference, but not quoted here -----

It was standing at this for 5 minutes and nothing, I think uLE just crashed... And yes, just after taking this screenshot i checked if the filename wasn't too long, still crashes.

That is very odd. This never happens to me with that uLE version, though I guess it could also be due to specific details of your PSU files, or even USB drive timing

Of course, I can't test your hardware, but I can test your VMC and PSU files if you'll attach them.
So please do so in your next post, at least for the files that produced this crash.
(Naturally as ZIP or RAR archives.)

Btw:
The filename of the PSU file has nothing to do with the name of the gamesave folder that will be placed on the MC. That folder name is taken from internal data inside the PSU file, so that it will always be identical to the original gamesave that the PSU file is a backup form of. And that folder name has an inherent limit of 32 characters, since that is the limit of file/folder name length for all objects stored in the directory structure of a PS2 MC.

EDIT: Ah, I forgot, I'm using an USB HDD, not Ethernet.

Good, because as yet VMC mounting over LAN does not work for uLE.

I was able to copy using that way a FFX save (but had to create dir myself, else it was giving me paste failed message).

This is crazy...

Here psuPaste never fails to create the gamesave folder, and FFX is one of my all-time favourite games, so its gamesaves have been used in a lot of my own uLE testing.

However, my only chance of recreating your issues would be for me to have access to the same files.

But why it won't let me create a save dir for Naruto 5 and copy save data, I dunno (for data it maybe just a save file on pcsx2 vmc corrupted, but that directory problem...)

As for the above, I can only say that without your files I have no chance to analyze this issue, to determine if it is a real programming issue or a case of corrupt files.

Best regards: dlanor

[PewnyPL]

but I can test your VMC and PSU files if you'll attach them.
So please do so in your next post, at least for the files that produced this crash.

Can't upload it to forum (I get psx-scene main page after uploading >_>) so here it is (both VMC and PSU) pewnypl.cba.pl/vmc.rar

Btw:
The filename of the PSU file has nothing to do with the name of the gamesave folder that will be placed on the MC. That folder name is taken from internal data inside the PSU file, so that it will always be identical to the original gamesave that the PSU file is a backup form of.

This I know, I just thought that uLE itself can have a problem with a too long filename (stupid thought, really ;P)

This is crazy...

Here psuPaste never fails to create the gamesave folder, and FFX is one of my all-time favourite games, so its gamesaves have been used in a lot of my own uLE testing.

OK, I wrote disregard EDIT2, but I had written there another way I tried (didn't try to import PSU file of FFx, just copy it file-by-file)

[dlanor]

Can't upload it to forum (I get psx-scene main page after uploading >_>)

Yes, I know. There is a bug in the file attachment usage of our site ever since the recent site move. But even if it had been working it might refuse some very large attachments, so if your VMC is well filled it might not compress well enough even with RAR to reach a permitted attachment size.

so here it is (both VMC and PSU) pewnypl.cba.pl/vmc.rar

Sorry, but that link is useless to me. Following it only leads me to the picture file "http://cba.pl/cba.png" containing text in polish, apparently an ad for a polish web hosting site. But there is no HTML page, so no way to link on to your RAR file. And when I back to "http://cba.pl/" I reach the front page of that site, which is also useless to me as I don't know the language.

Possibly the link you provided is intended for and valid only for logged-in members of that site, which does not include me and never will, since I don't know the polish language and it appears to be a polish_only site. And I think that ad I saw is where all non-members will land when trying to use that link, or others like it.

However, if this is a real hosting site, then you should be able to obtain a link that outsiders can use to access the hosted files without membership or any form of login. So post again with a more useful link, whether it is there or at some other hosting site, and I'll try to check out your problem on my own consoles.

This I know, I just thought that uLE itself can have a problem with a too long filename (stupid thought, really ;P)

Not stupid, as there is always some limit. But this name was nowhere near the generic name limit of uLE as that is set to 256 bytes. (With a max combined path string length of 1025 bytes.) It is only on MC that the name limit is reduced to 32 bytes, since that is all the MC file system can store for any object, be it a file or a folder.

Best regards: dlanor

[PewnyPL]

Sorry, but that link is useless to me. Following it only leads me to the picture file "http://cba.pl/cba.png" containing text in polish, apparently an ad for a polish web hosting site. But there is no HTML page, so no way to link on to your RAR file. And when I back to "http://cba.pl/" I reach the front page of that site, which is also useless to me as I don't know the language.

Sorry for that, when I typed this address myself I could download it, so I thought it will be OK. Anyway http://pewnypl.cba.pl/vmc.html this has to work now.

[dlanor]

Sorry for that, when I typed this address myself I could download it, so I thought it will be OK. Anyway http://pewnypl.cba.pl/vmc.html this has to work now.

Yes, this time it worked, and I have downloaded the RAR file.

But I probably won't experiment with it until sometime tomorrow, as it is close to midnight now (and I still haven't had any dinner).

Best regards: dlanor

[dlanor]

@PewnyPL:
I've now tested your files and determined what the problem is, and as you can see from the title of this post it is due to a bug in the VMC drivers of uLE. This bug affects deletion or overwriting of existing files/folders, which is the reason why your attempt to psuPaste that PSU file into that VMC failed, since it already contains a gamesave with identical folder name.

Unfortunately this means that uLE is not fully capable of being used as a backup+restore tool for individual gamesaves. Backup to PSU files works fine, but restoration only works for gamesave folders that don't already exist in the VMC.

Thus you can backup an entire VMC to PSU files, and later restore all or part of those files to a clean new VMC. And you can also restore a PSU file from elsewhere to a VMC that doesn't have any matching folder. But you can't update an existing gamesave in a VMC file by psuPaste (like when you need to back to a previous game chapter), since that would require an overwrite, and would thus trigger the bug.


@EVERYONE:
The above means that you should NOT use uLE v4.42a (or older) to delete any gamesaves in a VMC, nor to overwrite any existing gamesave in a VMC, since either of those operations could corrupt the VMC content.


Btw: I found two 'suspicious' folders in that VMC, containing zero-sized files with weird names. The folder names are quite normal though, being "BESLES-820421G000001" and "BESLES-820421G000002", which should be gamesaves for the Euro release of "Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence". The problem of those files may be related to another known uLE bug, which fails to properly copy gamesaves containing zero-sized files. I mention it here mainly to make you aware that those two gamesaves are invalid on your VMC.


I am now going to spend some time searching the source code of uLE for ways to fix these bugs, and when that is completed you can expect a new uLE release. But I'm not promising any specific ETA for that...

Best regards: dlanor

[PewnyPL]

@PewnyPL:
I've now tested your files and determined what the problem is, and as you can see from the title of this post it is due to a bug in the VMC drivers of uLE. This bug affects deletion or overwriting of existing files/folders, which is the reason why your attempt to psuPaste that PSU file into that VMC failed, since it already contains a gamesave with identical folder name.

And that explains a lot! Thank you for checking that.

Btw: I found two 'suspicious' folders in that VMC, containing zero-sized files with weird names. The folder names are quite normal though, being "BESLES-820421G000001" and "BESLES-820421G000002", which should be gamesaves for the Euro release of "Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence". The problem of those files may be related to another known uLE bug, which fails to properly copy gamesaves containing zero-sized files. I mention it here mainly to make you aware that those two gamesaves are invalid on your VMC.

About this two files I know. I wanted to play MGS3 but it fails to save on VMC (progress bar goes about to half and then "Save failed" or something like that, so yes, I'm aware of that), so it is not uLE bug, just something wrong with either MGS3 (USB VMC may be too slow for it) or OPL.