SD-Boot non-working games list

[slashpts]

Game not working on SD-BOOT v0.4RC4. I remember playing Crazy Taxi and MGS but it was probably on v0.3.ame, black screen
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Game Name: Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes
Number of Discs: 2
Issue: Shows an error message after the Konami logo. It says something about a module being too big

MGS Twin Snakes works if you turn OFF the "AUDIO STUTTER FIX" option

[WiiPower]

I have seen that Pokemon Box is a not compatible game on SD-Boot. Is that right?

I got it to work in NeoGamma as backup disc, but i don't like the method i used. Instead of writing the backup plugin to 0x800018000-0x80003000, i write it to the end of the memory for this game. NeoGamma also patches the memset functions of the games to not overwrite the plugin memory area(don't know if that's important here).

I would like to know if the same method helps in SD-Boot and/or if it's really 100% related to the memory area 0x800018000-0x80003000.

[emu_kidid]

WiiPower, so you patch memset to avoid the range? I hadn't thought about doing that myself..

[WiiPower]

99% of the gamecube code i'm using is from WiiGator and over a year old. Well what i was saying is that if i avoid using the memory at 0x1800 at all, the game works.

Is that sarcasm and this feature was copied from SD-Boot? Well if it's not, you may want to take a look at the GC source from NeoGamma, the reloader for multi .dol games is working nicely but just a bit slow. And the 2 disc game support on multi game discs is also nice.

[emu_kidid]

No it wasn't sarcasm. I'll take a look at the source. I don't particularly care for 2 disc support on multi-game discs but that's easy to do anyway

[emu_kidid]

I had a look at Pokemon Box, it writes some data to 0x80001800 and 0x80002600, and it appears that data is used again later.. WiiPower, do you know if XIII works in your loader?

[WiiPower]

Sorry i don't have it and i don't know if it works. But the compatiblity list for WiiGator's loader says this:
Tested with WiiGator's Backup Launcher 0.2 - Game Loads and will play if you press "start" at the Backup launcher load screen. The first mission will start but Wii restarts itself after the flashback scene.

WiiGator's loader turns the reloader off after doing 1 reload, NeoGamma doesn't. I guess the game loads some .dol several times and it may work in NeoGamma now, but i don't have any reports on it.

Do you know where the Bootloader/IPL/whatever that is loaded to 0x8130000 is located on the disc? I want to speedup the reloader by reading all .dols and the bootloader in the loader, virtually patch them and remember the disc offsets that need patching. This way the reloader should almost be as fast as regular loading, and maybe i also get more free memory, but that's not important.

Thanks for the info on Pokemon box, so i'm doing the right thing, as my plugin is 5.9x KB big now and i can't move it to 0x1900-0x2500 or something.

PS: 2 disc support is a bit important, as some games don't allow you to save between the discs, Metal Gear Solid for example

[emu_kidid]

2 Disc games are working. I'm inferring to 2 disc games on the same multidisc disc (doesn't happen much on a GC since the disk is only 1.35GB).

The bootloader is not on the disc, pokemon box has many .dol files, you may pre-patch them to avoid issues, but you'll need to have 0x80001800 clean and use another memory area as you are.

[WiiPower]

2 Disc games are working. I'm inferring to 2 disc games on the same multidisc disc (doesn't happen much on a GC since the disk is only 1.35GB).

The bootloader is not on the disc, pokemon box has many .dol files, you may pre-patch them to avoid issues, but you'll need to have 0x80001800 clean and use another memory area as you are.

You are not using discs, so multi game discs don't make too much sense. But i'm talking about games that don't allow to save at the end of disc 1/start of disc 2. If you don't have any method to switch the discs while the game is running, you can't talk about a minor issue.

I'm using discs, and i want them to be as clean as possible. So i have to do the patching while the game is running, but it seems to work well, just a speed issue.

[WiiPower]

Hmm, i thought the bootloader is on the disc, because of the follwing test, if i use this code:

Code: Select all

	if ( !override && (reloader_enabled != 1 || (u32)addr_end <= 0x80003000 || ((u32)addr >= 0x80800000 ) ) )
	{
		return; // Don't patch
	}	

instead of this one:

Code: Select all

	if ( !override && (reloader_enabled != 1 || (u32)addr_end <= 0x80003000 || (u32)addr >= 0x81400000
		|| ((u32)addr >= 0x80800000 && (u32)addr_end <= 0x81300000) ) )
	{
		return; // Don't patch
	}

then the reloader stops working. No multi .dol games are working anymore, and resetting games by pressing the wii's reset button resets to the wii menu instead of the game's main menu.

addr is the offset where data from disc is read to, it's necessary to patch the memory that is read to 0x8130000 and YAGCD says that's the offset of the bootloader. Ok, if that's not the bootloader, it's the code that does the actual .dol loading. Where is that located on the disc?

[emu_kidid]

I don't know how things work on Wii with MIOS and such, but on Gamecube this is what happens:

1. Start the gamecube, the IPL (0x81300000) starts up and loads whatever, lets say in this case, sd-boot.
2. SD-Boot unpacks itself to 0x81300000 with some relocation and overwrites the ipl completely.
3. User boots a game in SD-Boot, as it's booting, it's patched to read from SD and to know the second disc location if there is one.
4. Game boots, at some point the user is asked to swap discs, the user opens/closes the lid and sd-boot switches the SD card base offset.
5. Disc 2 is now being simulated with no issues.

You do not need to patch the second disc DOL as the DOL is never reloaded. Disc 1 and 2 of games have the exact file layout 95% of the time, and even then, the DOL is 100% the same on both discs. This is because there was a standard to follow when making two disc games.

And what I meant about 2 disc games from discs is that the new version supports discs too (2 disc support will work from anywhere, be it SD or DVD, etc.)

[WiiPower]

This time i was talking about a 2nd .dol on the same disc. How does SD-Boot work on Zelda Collector's Edition for example? The .dol files inside the .tgc files on disc need patching or else they will try to access the dvd drive.

On NeoGamma it works this way:
The gamecube loader reads the apploader, main.dol and stuff. Then it writes the backup plugin to 0x800018000 and patches the main.dol to use the dvd commands of the backup plugin, then starts the game. If the reloader is activated the backup plugin checks the data that is read from disc if it needs patching. It needs to patch data that is read to ~0x80003000 where .dol usually are loaded to and something that is loaded to ~0x81300000.

When loading via SD-Boot the game calls the SD-Boot code that's still at 0x81300000 to load the 2nd .dol?

To be honest, i thought that regaring gamecube loading, NeoGamma and SD-Boot only differ in the fact that NeoGamma reads from the drive with DVD-R commands and SD-Boot reads the data from SD-Gecko. I thought that almost everything else is the same, but it seems that i was wrong, sorry for stealing your time.

[emu_kidid]

No you're right, for games which have multiple DOL files, I use a pre-patcher.

[WiiPower]

No you're right, for games which have multiple DOL files, I use a pre-patcher.

If one of these .dols is something that is loaded to 0x81300000, then i understand it. If not, it's really strange that the wii reads some bootloader from disc to that offset, while the gamecube doesn't.

Most stupid question ever(sorry but i have to ask):
Do multi .dol games actually work in SD-Boot?

[emu_kidid]

Yes, I run a pre-patcher program on the .gcm files and they are patched. It checks a number of files, it checks for .dol, .elf, .dol or .elf inside a tgc and apploaders.

[DSman59]

MGS: Twin Snakes works on v0.4 Final but it freezes after the Konami logo on other versions. The problem is that I finished the first disc but v0.4 Final doesn't have a 2-disc option so I'm stuck. It would be great if the next SD-BOOT version had the same compatibility as v0.4 Final and also had features from other versions.
Last month I wrote in this thread that Speed Kings and Crazy Taxi are unplayable on v0.4RC4, but they work fine with messed up music on Final. It seems like RC4 breaks compatibility with games that have Audio Streaming. Why?

[emu_kidid]

Yeah, that's known, but the next version fixes all that you just mentioned

[WiiPower]

Yes, I run a pre-patcher program on the .gcm files and they are patched. It checks a number of files, it checks for .dol, .elf, .dol or .elf inside a tgc and apploaders.

Now i think i know what's going on. I bet the apploader trailer is the bootloader, i have never seen any info about it, but it's on all discs and actually bigger than the apploader itself. And i kinda confirmed that (at least) the wii reads some data from disc to ~0x81300000 which boots other .dols or reboots the main.dol on reset. I guess you just patch the whole apploader file instead of looking what it says about the apploader size?

I have a suggestion about the forum organisation:
How about an own sub forum for SD-Boot only? With development talk, feature requests, non compatiblity list, logo contest, name contest, setup guide etc. as threads?

Just a suggestion, if you don't like it, please just ignore it.

[emu_kidid]

it's a great idea, i'll do it near release.

[slashpts]

I remember others bugs, in MARIO PARTY 5 and 7:
- Sometimes the music STOP during dice roll;
- After get a star, sometimes freeze.

Emu_kidid, a sugestion: Edit the first post in this topic with all issues in others posts n' pages (6 in total )... This make easy for new posters!

And the question of all us: How much time for new "sd-boot" (with other name) release?

Tks!!

[kevstah2004]

Game name: Resident Evil : Code Veronica X
Numer of discs: 2
Issue: Game hangs on DRE screens after picking up various items, opening doors or exiting / rentering the inventory the disc stops spinning and then when you come to do one of the actions I mentioned you get the DRE screen this with it being ran from a sdcard, I haven't tried it with a mini-dvd backup yet, it also need to be fixed with the audio stutter option as it lags / buzzs on the 1gb sdcard I got with sdml.
Update: Tried it via DVD and there wasn't any problems

[slashpts]

Game name: PHANTASY STAR ONLINE EP. I & II PLUS
Number of discs: 1
Issue: Don't boot and show only a black screen. Tested with Audio Stutter ON and OFF.

[emu_kidid]

ooh Phantasy Star 1 & 2 is fixed in the next version, I personally made sure of that

[WiiPower]

ooh Phantasy Star 1 & 2 is fixed in the next version, I personally made sure of that

Can you please tell me what you did to get them to work? My loader can't play them.

[slashpts]

MORE GAMES...

GAME: Pikimin
DISCS: 1
ISSUE: Before select "Start Game" freeze with black screen.

GAME: Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II - Rogue Leader
DISCS: 1
ISSUE: Don't boot, black screen.

Not sure for next:
GAME: Killer 7
DISCS: 2 (the 2nd contain game or bonus?)
ISSUE: Game starts, but before exiting a room (don't remeber the name) make a strange noise and freeze.

My download list contains this games:
- KING ARTHUR
- SECOND SIGHT
- P.N.03
- MONOPOLY PARTY
- ROBOTECH: BATTLECRY
- SKIES OF ARCADIA: LEGENDS
- STAR FOX ADVENTURES
- DEAD TO RIGHTS

But I'm not sure if all works fine...

Bye!