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2 of 2 files mentalcube

2004 December 15

"it appears that some fucker leaked a -PRE-ALPHA- version two days ago together with a screenshot (fuck you Vincenzo)".
  • Text / NFO file or scene release
[+] Configuration Copy text
░ ░ ░ ┌──────────────────────────── ▒▓ ────── ▒▓ ────────── ▒▓ ──────────────────┐ │X ░█▀▄▄ ░█▀▀ ▄█▀▀ ▓█▀ ▀▀▄ ▓█ ░▄▀█ ░▄ █ ▓█▀█ ░█▀▀ X│ │ ██ █ █ ██▀ ██ █ ██ ▓█▀█ ██ ██ ▄ ██ █ ██ █ ██▀ │ │ ░ ▒ ▓ █ ▓█ ▓ █ ▀█▓█ ██ ▓ ▀█▓▒ ▀██▓ ▀█▄ ▀█▓█ ▀█▓█ ██▓▀ ▀█▓█ █ ▓ ▒ ░ │ ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ │ │ - COBRA FOR VIPER GC V0.2 - │ │ (Proof Of Concept Version) │ │ │ │ 15th of december, 2004 │ │ │ │ │ │ You didn't expect it to be true, right? Well, guess what... it IS! │ │ As of today, no need for PSO anymore, you can boot your code directly │ │ from the GC drive using DVD-R or Mini-DVD-R! This also includes the │ │ ability to boot your backups. │ │ │ │ So what do you need exactly ? │ │ - A Viper GC chip │ │ - This very flash file │ │ - Some Compatible Media and a DVD- burner │ │ │ │ In fact, we wanted to release the first version of our Viper BIOS │ │ around Xmas time, but it appears that some fucker leaked a -PRE-ALPHA- │ │ version two days ago together with a screenshot (fuck you Vincenzo), │ │ together with a screencap. We decided to release a proof-of-concept │ │ version as soon as possible so that people can stop spreading rumor │ │ about it (and DON'T USE the pre-alpha as it has some major bugs). │ │ We feel it's totally natural that most people did doubt it was true, │ │ as most of them have been waiting for such a solution for years! So │ │ now those people can try the thing for REAL :-). │ │ │ │ USER MANUAL │ │ │ │ - Flash the Viper GC with this BIOS then remove the parallel port │ │ connector from the programmer (well, their manual says so) │ │ │ │ - Turn on your GC with an ORIGINAL DISC in the drive. │ │ If there's no Title Screen coming, but the original BIOS instead │ │ it's probably that you messed up your viper install:-) │ │ Check that it's clean (and no wires crossing each other etc...) │ │ If you have a black screen coming, it's probably because you have │ │ some wierd BIOS we don't support (and don't know about) yet. │ │ │ │ - While turning on your GC: │ │ - Hold X if you want to boot Original BIOS instead │ │ - Hold Y if you want to boot Original BIOS with region-free hack │ │ - Don't hold any button if you want to run DVD-R :-) │ │ │ │ - "PLEASE WAIT" should appear. then "SWAP DISC NOW!" and the GC │ │ disc is stopped (and laser off). As soon as you see the disc is │ │ slowing down it's safe to remove the original disc and put your │ │ DVD-R instead. After a few seconds the drive will start to spin │ │ again and disc will boot (if you didn't have enough time to do the │ │ swap trick, turn off the GC and try again) │ │ │ │ - Remove the top of your GC if you want to use full-size DVD-R │ │ │ │ THE MEDIA │ │ │ │ The GC drive only eats DVD-R, MINI-DVD-R and single-layer silver DVD, │ │ it doesn't work with + media or DL at all. │ │ But, like Xbox thomson drive, it is very "sensitive" to the brand of │ │ media you're using. Some are working better than others, some even │ │ NOT AT ALL! So better check what media other users recommend. │ │ │ │ After a few tests here is what we think: │ │ │ │ - For DVD-R, most media are working, except some cheap no-names. On │ │ some drives only the best media is working really fine. │ │ │ │ - BUT FOR MINI-DVD-R it's more tricky. We tested the following brand: │ │ SONY DVD-R 1.4GB handycam: doesn't work │ │ TDK DVD-R 1.4GB scratchproof: doesn't work │ │ MAXELL DVD-R 1.4GB: sometime boots, but then loose sync │ │ DATAWRITE DVD-R 1.4GB: on some drives it works 100% like the │ │ best DVD-R, but on some other drives it just can't sync │ │ (when it does its working perfectly) │ │ │ │ In fact, we have some idea on how to improve the compatibility with │ │ bad media in our next BIOS. For now we really suggest you to find │ │ a good full-size DVD-R media, and get the opinion of other users. │ │ │ │ You don't need to encrypt the disc or use a special burner firmware │ │ to write the disc. Just burn your ISO/GCM (we use Nero). │ │ │ │ Maybe different burners will lead to different results too, for now we │ │ just tried a cheap NEC burner. │ │ │ │ │ │ TROOBLESHOOTING │ │ │ │ REMEMBER, THIS IS A PROOF-OF-CONCEPT-VERSION ! │ │ There are probably lots of bugs we need to fix including: │ │ │ │ - Sometime the "SWAP DISC" message doesn't appear (or disc doesn't │ │ slow down/laser is still on). If this happen to you just turn off │ │ your GC and try again (ok, this is clearly our fault :-) │ │ │ │ - If sometimes after you swapped a disc there is a sync problem with │ │ the DVD-R and origial BIOS is not loading, then try again. If this │ │ happen very often, then you need a better media. │ │ │ │ - If the drive becomes idle for a couple of minutes, depending on the │ │ media you're using it might loose sync, and hang. This is also a │ │ bug of ours we will track. For now, if this happens to you, avoid │ │ "PAUSE MODE" in games. │ │ │ │ - Audio Streaming doesn't work. So, the games/programs using the │ │ special streaming commands will work, but instead of a nice MUSIC │ │ you'll hear annoying NOISE :-). We'll have a look at those issues as │ │ well ! │ │ │ │ - Doesn't work with multi-discs games yet │ │ │ │ REMEMBER, THIS IS A PROOF-OF-CONCEPT-VERSION ! All those problem │ │ could be fixed in a next update, except for media maybe (if someone │ │ wants to try laser tweaking we'd be interested by the results!) │ │ │ │ Note that on screen there's a two digit number corresponding to your │ │ GC version (right after the Cobra Version). Here are the current │ │ versions we support: 14,16,18,24,26,28,34,36,38,44,46,48. If you have │ │ another version, then we don't know about it yet... │ │ │ │ IF YOU MAKE BACKUPS, DON'T USE ANY "WIPE" TOOLS TO SAVE SPACE. Unless │ │ you know it's REALLY working. Most of thoses tools only work because │ │ the current pso loaders patch libraries routines to emulate DVD. But │ │ on REAL HARDWARE, each file/fst has to be aligned on a 4-byte boundary! │ │ Else nothing will work. Audio Files (for audio streaming) even need │ │ to be aligned on a 32kb-boundary ! So forget current "WIPE" tools until │ │ they are fixed. │ │ │ │ THE FUTURE │ │ │ │ Apart from fixing the current bugs, we have plans to make a (better │ │ looking) real GUI, and some other surprises :-) │ │ │ │ For coders it's a bit(!) annoying to burn DVD-R for each test. We'll │ │ try to work on a better solution (either using BBA or viper debug │ │ IO) │ │ │ │ CLOSING WORDS │ │ │ │ Special thanks to E*Flash for his help, and RoM for the early units. │ │ │ │ You are free to redistribute this package as long as it's not changed, │ │ patched, ported, or whatever. │ │ │ │ Our code is free of any copyrighted code from third party. │ │ It is also free of any GPL licensed code, we have strong respect for │ │ other people's hard work. We only ask you to show similar respect │ │ toward our work. To put it in other words, if you are in the "right" │ │ side, draw the line between learning and stealing. Thank you. │ │ │ │ That's it for this NFO, hope we didn't missed some important point. │ │ │ │ Have a nice day :-) │ │ │ │ ░ ░ ░ │ ├──────────────────────────── ▒▓ ────── ▒▓ ────────── ▒▓ ──────────────────┤ │ ░█▀▄▄ ░█▀▀ ▄█▀▀ ▓█▀ ▀▀▄ ▓█ ░▄▀█ ░▄ █ ▓█▀█ ░█▀▀ │ │ ██ █ █ ██▀ ██ █ ██ ▓█▀█ ██ ██ ▄ ██ █ ██ █ ██▀ │ │X ░ ▒ ▓ █ ▓█ ▓ █ ▀█▓█ ██ ▓ ▀█▓▒ ▀██▓ ▀█▄ ▀█▓█ ▀█▓█ ██▓▀ ▀█▓█ █ ▓ ▒ ░ X│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
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