V12 with HD Connect and Matrix Infinity problem

**hellohole** · 10-09-2006,02:39 PM

Hello! I have a little problem with my PAL V12 PS2 with HD Connect and Matrix Infinity installed.

I cannot seem to access the HD (which worked with my V7 PS2). I used Dev2install from the Infinitymod website and installed uLaunchELF 3.94 as the BOOT.ELF file. I can now start it up with DEV2 mode.

The problem is that whenever I try to access the HD with uLaunchELF, it is empty, and I cannot do anything in the command list (R1).

I tried starting an HD Loader 0.8B ELF file from a CD-ROM, and it said there was no HD connected.

What could be the problem? Since I can START uLaunchELF with DEV2 mode, it must work - but why can't any of the programs access/write to it?

Is there any other (better) solution to this? A better ELF loader or something?

Any help much appreciated.

**retro** · 10-09-2006,03:12 PM

My guess is that it is something wrong with the hd connect install. but thats just a guess... did you do it yourself?
If you can, open it and check all wires.

**hellohole** · 10-09-2006,03:22 PM

I installed it myself and I've checked the wires and it looks okay, but there might be some problem.

What puzzles me is that uLaunchELF does boot from the hard drive, but can't access it after it has booted.

Or does Dev2install put the BOOT.ELF file on the chip's internal flash? If so - maybe that's why uLaunchELF boots - it's from the flash and not from the hard drive. Could this be possible?

I tried the DMS Format Tool and it said the hard drive wasn't formatted, but when I put it in my PC and checked it out with WinHIIP, it was functional, and there were plenty of PS2 game partitions on it.

**dlanor** · 10-09-2006,04:15 PM

Originally Posted by hellohole

Hello! I have a little problem with my PAL V12 PS2 with HD Connect and Matrix Infinity installed.

I cannot seem to access the HD (which worked with my V7 PS2). I used Dev2install from the Infinitymod website and installed uLaunchELF 3.94 as the BOOT.ELF file. I can now start it up with DEV2 mode.

Good, but I suggest you replace that ELF with the latest version. Not because it will fix your particular problem, but simply because it helps in analyzing problems, by not having to consider all aspects of old versions too.

The problem is that whenever I try to access the HD with uLaunchELF, it is empty, and I cannot do anything in the command list (R1).

That's weird. I never saw this myself, but then I never had a v12 either.

I tried starting an HD Loader 0.8B ELF file from a CD-ROM, and it said there was no HD connected.

As I recall this was the normal response with all 'Slim PStwo' models, until someone invented a small patch that is used nowdays, and which is also included in uLE. It is that patch which allows the HDD driver to work on a 'Slim PStwo', or at least it usually does. Apparently it somehow fails for your console though...

What could be the problem? Since I can START uLaunchELF with DEV2 mode, it must work - but why can't any of the programs access/write to it?

Apparently the patch to the HDD drivers that we use is not sufficient on your console (and probably some others too then), even though it does work for some v12 users.

The HDD drivers used by the MI developers are probably quite different, and must have been worked on specifically to work with all known PS2/PStwo models, as that is of prime importance to any maker of mod-chips. If their chip isn't compatible with the new console models, then it won't sell anymore, so that is their top priority. But we have no way of using their drivers, so that won't help us with this problem.

Is there any other (better) solution to this? A better ELF loader or something?

The problem is not with the ELF loading code, but with the HDD driver. Unfortunately I don't know exactly what problem it is this time, so I have no solution. And since I have no similar equipment to test with, my chances of producing a working solution are nonexistent. Someone else will have to do this.

Best regards: dlanor

**hellohole** · 10-09-2006,04:36 PM

Thanks for your response. The only possible thing I can imagine is that the HD Connect kit isn't properly installed. I will look into this tomorrow.

I just upgraded to uLaunchELF 4.05. I checked the HDD Manager and it says CONNECTED: NO / FORMATTED: NO.

This puzzles me so much, how can it start from the hard drive when it can't discover the it?

**dlanor** · 10-09-2006,04:39 PM

Originally Posted by hellohole

I installed it myself and I've checked the wires and it looks okay, but there might be some problem.

Sometimes it's impossible to see visually whether connections are properly made. I've known cases where a thin layer of resin isolated a lead, even though it looked perfectly soldered. Only measurement of each connection can verify them for sure.

What puzzles me is that uLaunchELF does boot from the hard drive, but can't access it after it has booted.

Like I said in my earlier post, I don't think the MI stuff uses the same drivers we do, and apparently their PStwo adaption is more reliable than ours.

But this booting does verify that all major data leads are correctly connected, though something still interferes with our driver functionality.

Or does Dev2install put the BOOT.ELF file on the chip's internal flash?

No. It's placed in the root directory of the partition "__boot", and the file is named "boot.elf" (all in lower case).

Dev.Flash (as the DMS4 people call it) is not available on the MI chip, as far as I know.

If so - maybe that's why uLaunchELF boots - it's from the flash and not from the hard drive. Could this be possible?

No. I had an MI chip previously and used it with my HDD then, so I know that it's installed as I described above. Replacing that "boot.elf" file by other means than their Dev2 Installer did cause the new elf file to be booted by Dev2, so that is definitely how it works.

I tried the DMS Format Tool and it said the hard drive wasn't formatted, but when I put it in my PC and checked it out with WinHIIP, it was functional, and there were plenty of PS2 game partitions on it.

Since you had those partitions from the start, and uLE never got access to the drive, it naturally remains unchanged, except for the Dev2 install made by the MI software.

The big question here is why all homebrew drivers refuse to see your drive, even those which are patched so as to see the drives of other v12 PStwo consoles. But that is a problem I can't even try to solve myself, as I lack the necessary equipment.

Best regards: dlanor

**jenko** · 10-09-2006,04:45 PM

it is probly you install but also make sure you did inclue the v12 patch coz after i installed my hd connect i couldnt figure out for the life of me why it disnt work but i eventually reolised it was the elf i was using it was a pre made hdl but it didnt have the v12 patch.

**dlanor** · 10-09-2006,04:55 PM

Originally Posted by hellohole

Thanks for your response. The only possible thing I can imagine is that the HD Connect kit isn't properly installed. I will look into this tomorrow.

I just upgraded to uLaunchELF 4.05. I checked the HDD Manager and it says CONNECTED: NO / FORMATTED: NO.

This puzzles me so much, how can it start from the hard drive when it can't discover the it?

I realize how frustrating it must be, but it is not necessarily all that strange.

It could simply be that they use a slower DMA mode, so that signals have more time to stabilize, so that they are stable by the time they are latched in, even if they passed through an 'iffy' high-resistance connection, or if levels are weird due to badly connected decoupling caps. In either case a longer period for signal settling could resolve the problem.

But it may also be some specific adaption to a v12 variation that we homebrewers don't know about. After all, each of us usually have hands-on experience of only a few consoles. But developers of a commercial chip have to test each design on lots of consoles of many models, as they could lose massive amounts on money if they start mass production of a faulty design.

With that kind of testing they may have found some limitations of the v12 that we have missed, and then they have naturally adapted their drivers to it. This is just a hypothesis, so it may be true or false. We have no way of finding out (unless someone knows a Matrix insider ?!?), but if true it would explain the results you see.

Best regards: dlanor

**hellohole** · 10-09-2006,04:56 PM

Yes I believe I used HD Loader with the v12 patch. I used a clean file and applied the following patches to it:

I also used the latest uLaunchELF which appears to be using the same driver as that HD Loader patch, so I guess it just won't work on my PS2. I'm going to re-install HD Connect and test it afterwards.

Is there any MI software that will work as an ELF loader? I guess not, but that might have worked.

**j c** · 10-09-2006,06:55 PM

Don't have any of those problems with my V13 + HDCombo.

The DMS tools don't work right because they were written before slim HDD kits where around and never updated afterwards.

But my uLE works fine from DEV.1/2/Flash on my DMS4 SE + HDCombo and I can use the HddManager and do file operations to hdd:/

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