[Tutorial] Memory Card Emulator

[Bootlegninja]

Tutorial Revision 1.2 ~slicer74~
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New files include
HD Project - Made by Kamikaz3 - Games with HD_GUI
HD Project - Made by slicer74 - Games with VMC using HDLoader

Memory Card Emulator Tutorial – Based on Polo35’s version of the program.

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Files to download:

Polo35's HD Project v1.07
HDP.CNF - in v1.06 of the HD Project, you need to have this file on your memory card in folder SYS-CONF. If you don't the program will not boot and result in a Black Screen Of Death (BSOD) Dont know if it's really need with the new release v1.07

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Background

This program is intended to allow the user to save their games to the HDD or the USB instead of a memory card while playing their game from either CD or DVD (and from the HDD - Tuto 1.2a south of here will explain it to ya). The HD_Gui.elf will not run from HDL or USB Advance/Extreme.

The VMC will run from an internal HDD/USB and will not allow the VMC to run from a USB HDD.

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Initial Setup

First, (assuming that you have either the exploit setup running uLaunchELF {ULE} or ULE setup in DEV1 by way of an installed mod chip.

X : choose option
^ : return to the menu
select : exit a browser

Process:

1. Extract the MC Emulator
2. Using uLE, copy the folder HD_GUI.ELF found into HD_Project_1.07/bin to a partition into your HDD. (Example I use __boot and a subfolder called MCEMU (that u can create).
3. At this point, you can setup a shortcut in uLE if you like to the HDD0/_boot/MCEMU/HD_GUI.ELF
4. Run the Hd_GUI.ELF

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EXPLORING THE GUI

SETTINGS

Screen Settings

-TV Mode : Auto, PAL or NTSC

- Screen Settings : x - move horizontally the screen
y - move vertically the screen

VMC Settings:

- Virtual MC Path – This is the path for ur virtual memory card. So when the game start, it will look there. Currently, u can have memorycard0.bin and memorycard1.bin.

- Auto Open Tray - On or Off. – This allows the tray to auto eject when you get ready to start a game.

Misc Settings

Don’t touch any of these settings - Except for the EXIT PATH. The program is still buggy and can error with any of these options altered.

- Exit Path : Set - Wich allow the MC Tools to exit via the path set here. So, for PSOne Exploit users, set to MC0:/B*DATA-SYSTEM/BOOT.ELF. (* being specific to your region - A = USA NTSC - E = PAL - I= Jap NTSC)

DEV1 users would naturally set this to mc0:/BOOT/BOOT.ELF
DEV2 users would set this to hdd0:/__boot/boot.elf

Save Settings
Once you have modified your settings to your liking, select this option and it will create a file on your physical MC called HDP.CNF in your SYS-CONF folder.

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GO HOME

So, if u set the correct path under MISC Settings/Exit Path, u can use it to return where u want.

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POWER OFF

Do I really have to explain what it does :hyper:

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MC TOOLS

MC EMULATOR

- Start the game with the virtual MC that u set under SETTINGS/VIRTUAL MC SETTINGS/VIRTUAL MC PATH.

If u leave the auto-eject to ON, the tray will open and u simply have to put ur game in.

MC DUMPER

MC Dumper allow u to copy ur MC into a VCM in the HDD/USB.

- Port : 0 or 1 (0 will dump the mc0 into memorycard0.bin and 1 will dump the mc1 into memorycard1.bin)

- Slot : 0 or 1 (no effect, this option will be removed)

- Store VMC Path : On or Off (Set to ON will save the path under ur SETTINGS/VIRTUAL MC SETTINGS/VIRTUAL MC PATH.

- Info File - On (leave it like that)

- Destination File : Here u will choose the path where the vmc will be dump. Once u have highlighted the folder where u want to put the dumped VMC, press start and now u can see the path at the bottom screen. Press select to exit the browser.

Prensently, u cannot combine two physical MC into one VMC

- Start Dumping : Will copy ur physical MC into a VMC.

The process is about 10x faster if u choose the HDD than the USB.

MC CREATOR

- VMC Size : Choose the size of ur VMC between 8 and 1024 MB
Keep the X button down and the size will go up fast.
Remember that more the size of the VMC is big, longer it will take to create one.
Remeber also that the USB is slower than the HDD.

It takes me 1+ hour to create a 64 mb into my USB stick.

- VMC Port : 0 or 1 (0 will crate a VMC like if it was in slot 1 and 1 will create a VMC like if it was in slot2)

- Store VMC Path : On or Off (On will save the new VMC path under SETTINGS/VIRTUAL MC SETTINGS/VIRTUAL MC PATH.

- Destination File : USB/HDD - Press start when the folder of ur choice is highlighted to select where u want the vmc to be created and u'll see the path appear in the bottom screen.

- Start Creation : Choose this option if u're ready to create the VMC with ur settings.

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Please note that some games are not compatable with this program, so feel free to post which ones do and which don’t in this thread.

I just update the tuto whit the latest release v1.06 while it's more simple with this version. ~slicer74~

Tutorial Revision 1.2a ~slicer74~

This version will explain how to play a game from the HDD using the HDLoader and the memory card emulator. To do so, we have to modify the ISO while adding the USBMCEmu in.

Things to download

ffgriever's USBMCEmu

IsoBuster

CDGenPS2

Winhex

Initial Setup

Using the HD_Gui_v1.06, create or dump a VMC into ur USB pendrive (MASS:\)

Modify the game iso

1) Extract the ISO of ur game with ISOBuster.



2) Extract a file list in txt format in the same folder of ur game.



3) Extract USBMCEmu, copy in the same folder where the files of the game were extracted, name it SLUS_999.99

4) Open NotePad. Drag and Drop the SYSTEM.CNF

5) On the first line u have
BOOT2 = cdrom0:\SXXX_XXX.XX;1
replace to BOOT2 = cdrom0:\SLUS_999.99;1



6) Exit and Save

7) Start Winhex and open SLUS_999.99

8) Look for offset 00004C00 and u see at the right side
cdrom0:\IOPRP234.IMG;1 => u need to replace the IOPRP234.IMG with the same .IMG u have in ur game.
ex : If u have IOPRP300.IMG under IRX folder, u will type at the right side cdrom0:\IRX\IOPRP300.IMG;1

If the game dont have any IOPRP, then u will write the DNAS of it.

9) Now a little bit down, u see cdrom0:\SLPS_250.88;1 => replace the SLPS_250.88;1 with the SXXS_XXX.XX of ur game.



10) Exit and save

11) Open CDGenPS2
a) clic Advance, Import tree file, from IsoBuster (LBA no fix)
b) open the filelist.txt from the folder of ur game
c) drag and drop the SLUS_999.99 from the same folder
watch out for this error {negative value} if u have a real big file. U may use method 2 ($ony CD/DVD Generator v1.50)

d) clic IMG on the left side, choose ISO type and save
e) wait until the boat arrive at port

Method 2
a) Open CD/DVD Gen v1.5
b) Create New Project
c) DVD-ROM Master Disc
d) Drag & Drop all the files in the same order as the filelist or rearrange them in ascending order in xcel.



e) Clic Volume Tab then... Fill those informations...



f) Clic File, then Export IML File, give a name and save somewhere
g) Open IML 2 DVD, browse for ur IML u just created and browse for "SAVE ISO AS". Wait a bit.

12) Install the new IMAGE on ur PS2HDD and enable mode3. Named the boot file to SLUS_999.99

13) Connect ur USB stick and start HDLoader and try ur game

Good luck.

[Hirotaro]

wassup dudes!!! one question... I have a ps2 slim silver NTSC with a matrix infinity chip, and I used ULE to load the Hd_Gui, and the Memory card emulator and when it told me to change disc,I put the game disc and it said: wrong image file.Then I saw that it could be that ps2 didin't read the disc because the lid opened for the disc change,so I opened the play and covered the sensors with scotch tape so that the ps2 didint find out that the lid was opened in the disc change.
Then I used ULE to load the Hd_Gui, and the Memory card emulator and when it told me to change disc,I put the game disc and it said: Image file found and it worked perfectly but only with PAL games.
When i put a NTSC game, the Memory card emulator it reads the disc but it starts to load the sreen goes black.
I would like to know if there is a way to fix it????

[gyigyo]

Can I ask something? how can i delete my save game file becase i dont need hitman blood money save game file but the other i need.! i dont see any usb browser in hd project elf. THX and srry my bad english

[Jarod5001]

That's a little long...
Is there any way to make a boot disk that creates a virtual MC directly on usb stick, and then insert a game and launch it...

[ps2dragon]

I posted this correction over at console-exploits, but since this tutorial is also here, I wanted to make sure this one was corrected also.

I was playing around with this tutorial recently and noticed there is some confusing directions in the beginning under the "Process" section. It asks you to create a subfolder called "MCEMU" in the __boot partition, but then it says create a shortcut in uLE to "HDD0/_boot/HD_GUI.ELF", so shouldn't the shortcut be "HDD0/_boot/MCEMU/HD_GUI.ELF"? There is no reference to this "MCEMU" folder at all throughout the tutorial after this point, so I assume it wasn't ment to be used at all? Also, the "HDD0/" part should say "HDD0:/" and "_boot" should be "__boot".

[Bootlegninja]

I'm waiting on slicer74 to take care of it there. Once he does, I'm going to do a copy and past of what he does since's the one who made tons of additions to the tutorial. since he's taken over the tutorial, I just sit back and wait for his updates.

Personally, I haven't messed with VMC's in quite a long time now.

[dlanor]

@ps2dragon & Bootlegninja:
Here I must break in and add that this tutorial also contains several cases of the most common noob error in PS2 file handling, which is inconsistent and incorrect use of character casing.

This applies both to "HDD0:" and "MC0:" which must be changed to "hdd0:" and "mc0:" to work in reality. Most users would eventually discover this for themselves, but it is best to use the correct forms in all tutorials.

Best regards: dlanor

[ps2dragon]

@dlanor, true I actually noticed this later too, but didn't say anything since bootleg said he was waiting on slicer for the corrections. But better address it here and now, since people will still be using this tutorial in the meantime. Whenever I write up a tutorial, I always try to emphasize the case-sensitive files/folders or at least make sure references to files/folders are in the proper case, since I agree it's a common mistake amongst new users. I see it all the time, including in more experienced user's replies, which can cause the initial confusion for new users.

[Bootlegninja]

At this pint in the game with slicer's revisions, I don't even want to sift through and do the corrections on a topic I'm not proficent at. I'll leave him a message at c-ex and sksapps so he won't be able to miss noticification here.

[Bootlegninja]

added slicer's edits.

[dlanor]

I just want to remind you that some of the character casing errors for file paths still remain unchanged, as do some sentences that make absolutely no sense.

eg:

Originally Posted by Bootlegninja

The VMC will run from an internal HDD/USB and will not allow the VMC to run from a USB HDD.

For a reader without internal HDD that sentence will rescan as:
The VMC will run from USB and will not allow the VMC to run from a USB HDD.

So which is it ? Will it or won't it ?

Best regards: dlanor

[Bootlegninja]

I'll either work on this when I get time or delete this thread as I don't use VMC's anymore and I really don't want to maintain a tutorial that another has taken over.

[micpet1997]

So in a game would Memory Card Slot 1= VMC1, and the game no longer looks in Memory Card Slot 1 but rather in VMC1 ?

Thank you