manging partitions ?

[iCEQB]

ICEQB, nice to see you around here!

I'm always with the best communities
Nice to see you too around here

I didn't knew ExecFTP had anything in common with uLE regarding partition mounting
Thanks to you, now I know

Still have to figure out this HOST:\ thingy and how to remove this "__" prefixed partitions

Thanks,
iCEQB

[unclejun]

As I said earlier, try to remove your "__" prefixed partition with hdl_dump, if it doesn't work I might have an utility that can...

[dlanor]

OK, just checked if I can remove "__Applications" I created with WinHIIP, but uLE doesn't let me, the option "Remove" is greyed out, so no chance there .
But anyway...maybe one day I wipe it all again create a fresh one

And maybe one day uLE will gain the ability to handle the other partition types too, but due to erroneous results with early attempts we have had to block most commands from those partition types. Some of them, such as the "__Applications" you created, or the standard ones "__boot" and "__common" can still be used for all normal file storage you like, using the usual uLE FileBrowser commands Copy+Paste to transfer stuff. But to allow HddManager commands to handle those partitions we first need to modify some of the methods used.

EDIT: OK I created a "+OPL" and "+Emu" partition. So now I need t o ask two things:

1) How to transfter stuff via FTP from my PC to PS2? When I go to "/hdd/0/" and want to enter my "+OPL" partition I land here -> "/pfs/0/", whats going on? Do I somehow need to mount this partition? If so how ?

The reason why you 'landed' there is because your attempt to directly browse hdd0: partition content was an error (the "hdd0:" device is not browsable for any content, it is only browsable for the partition names), so the modified FTP server of uLE auto-mounted that partition from the HDD device driver to the primary mountpoint "pfs0:" of the PFS device driver. This is how ALL access to files and folders on a PS2 HDD is always done, though it is usually better hidden from the user. But in the FTP operations it is not possible to hide it completely (like we do in the FileBrowser).

2) I have absolutly no idea how this HOST:/ stuff works ... where to configure anything?

The main part of HOST configuration is to be done at the PC end, by choosing the HOST client program, and configuring it as to what PC content to share with the PS2.

How can I give the PS2 my PC's IP adress within the network?

This is done by the same IPCONFIG.DAT file as used for nearly all networking homebrews on the PS2 (same as for the FTP server, so you already have it). This is configurable in lots of such homebrew programs too, including uLE. (The 'Configure' menus include one for network settings.)

EDIT 2: Strange things going on around here.

@dlanor: I am the guy who asked you this FlashFXP Memory Card thingy in the uLE Forums if you remember.
So I did connected actively to my PS2 and everything seems fine now.

So the thing is inside "/hdd/0/" there are 4 Partitions now I can see with FlashFXP:

dr--------   1 ps2      ps2             0 Jul  6 22:36 __applications
dr--------   1 ps2      ps2             0 Jul  6 22:36 HDLoader Settings
dr--------   1 ps2      ps2             0 Jul 19 01:33 +OPL
dr--------   1 ps2      ps2             0 Jul 19 01:34 +Emu

Yep, partition names is the only thing that the HDD device allows direct access to. For access to the contents you must also use the PFS device, after mounting one of the partitions to a PFS mountpoint.

HDLoader Settings is currently the only partition with files inside. Problem is, if I enter this partition with FlashFXP it redirects me to "/pfs/0/", but it shows me nothing. If I now do a right click -> Refresh, it shows me the files inside.

If I now open "+OPL" for example, it again redirects me to "/pfs/0/" but lists me the files that are inside the "HDLoader Settings" partition

Do you know whats going on there?

This is all due to the schizofrenic Sony method of implementing the PS2 HDD device drivers, with a split personality. There is no single device driver that can process a complete path to an object stored on the HDD and access it. This always requires using two different but related device drivers. The HDD driver to find the partition, which can then be mounted to a mountpoint of the PFS driver, and it is only through "pfs?:" mountpoints that any partition content can be accessed...

uLE attempts to auto-mount some stuff even in the FTP server, but it can't be done as well as we'd like, especially if the client has caching active. Because then it may rely on old cached content for content accessed through a mountpoint path, even after the partition mounted to it has been changed. (Part of the reason why you saw erroneous content for some cases.)

EDIT 1 and 2 are driving me crazy

This is one of many reasons why most people prefer using the "host:" device in the uLE FileBrowser for networked transfers instead, as this allows the complexities of the Sony HDD implementation to be hidden by the FileBrowser operations, as always.

This allows you to treat the PS2 HDD almost as if the access system had been designed for more normal use, like on normal computers...


But if you insist on using FTP, then you are on your own, and will have to learn how to define and use custom site commands in FlashFXP to handle mounting and unmounting of partitions.

For example, the following command line will allow a selected HDD partition to be mounted as "pfs0:/":
site mnt /pfs/0/ hdd:%f

And a similar command to just unmount "pfs0:/" could look like the next line:
site umnt /pfs/0/

Such unmounting is needed to avoid confusion as to what partition contents the mountpoint should access in normal access commands to follow. And that confusion of the drivers is what led to some of your own confusion that you mentioned above...


Summary:
Drop your FTP experiments and learn how to use HOST protocol instead.
This will allow you to get a lot more useful work done in much less time.

Best regards: dlanor

[iCEQB]

Is there any manual / tutorial / whatever on how to use HOST ? I can't anything anywhere about it

Thanks,

iCEQB

[dlanor]

Is there any manual / tutorial / whatever on how to use HOST ? I can't anything anywhere about it

I'm not sure what tutorials are available on it, but like I said before, the configuration for the PS2 side is really simple as all you really need is the IPCONFIG.DAT, which you already have (since you used FTP).

The only other config you can make for HOST use by uLE is to give it write access permission by changing the value of one config variable named "NET_HOSTwrite" from 0 to 1 in "LAUNCHELF.CNF".

If that is not done all the HOST fileshares are treated as write-protected by uLE. So that config change is only needed if you want the ability write and delete stuff on the PC from the PS2.


On the PC side you will need to get a HOST client, for which I like to use "PS2ClientLoader"+"PS2Client.exe" (the first is a GUI for the other which is a commandline program). But another popular HOST client is "RadHostClient".

Whichever client you choose, its GUI allows you to configure both how to connect with the PS2 and what PC folders to share with the PS2. I think most of what you need to do will be clearer once you have such a client running on your own PC.

When you do have the PC-side client configured and running you can start using "host:" in the uLE FileBrowser almost like any other PS2 device (like "mc0:" or "mass:" etc). One difference is that you must browse once per session into "host:" without seeing any content, because the first attempt to browse it is what tells uLE to start the service, and it is only after this that the PC-side client can connect (shown by a green icon in 'system tray' of the PC).

The next time after that connect when you browse the uLE FileBrowser into "host:" you should see the shared folders from the PC, and can then proceed to browse those folders (and their subfolders) as you please, just as if they were on a local device of the PS2. And that naturally includes the ability to Copy+Paste any of those files and folders from the PC to the PS2 storage devices. (and vice-versa if you set the "Net_HOSTwrite" CNF variable)

Best regards: dlanor

[l_oliveira]

Dlanor, it's not "schizofrenic", it's just meant to allow an developer to use an custom filesystem within an APA block/partition instead of PFS if wanted/needed to.

So you see ...
Just like with linux, flexibility comes with the price of complexity.