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diff --git a/FAQ-psx.txt b/FAQ-psx.txt index 6ec6061..2602bd6 100644 --- a/FAQ-psx.txt +++ b/FAQ-psx.txt @@ -20,3 +20,126 @@ A: http://www.psxdev.ip3.com/ http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/6131/psxprog.html http://home.hiwaay.net/~jfrohwei/home.html http://www.flyonthenet.it/net/psx_faq.htm + http://badtaste.free.fr/ + http://membres.lycos.fr/fennec + + +Q: What hardware do I need to fully do PSX debugging? +A: You first need an Action Replay, or GameShark, or GameHunter, or whatever. + Those things may have many different names. Just don't stick on the name. + Look at this picture, if it looks like that, then it's an Action Replay: + + http://membres.lycos.fr/fennec/mipsice/images/AR.jpg + + Well, I hope I don't say anything wrong, but everytime I saw something + like this, it was an Action Replay. + + We usually call this thing "PAR" for "Pro Action Replay". + + The next thing to buy, is a PC Comm Link. It's an ISA card you plug into + any computer equipped with a free ISA slot, and that you link to the PAR + with a shipped cable. + + To buy those two things, you can go to this website: + + http://www.lik-sang.com + + If you're lucky enough, this link will be still valid: + + http://www.lik-sang.com/catalog/product_info.php?category=0&products_id=234& + + There is actually two versions of PAR. One with 1M of EEPROM, and one with + 2M. Don't buy those with 2M. I got one, and I crashed it when I wanted to + play with it. It is trash now. Well, give it a try if you want. I don't want + to trash any more PAR ;-) + + Ho, and, last thing: it's MegaBits, not MegaBytes. So 1M means actually + 128KB of usable memory. + + +Q: What's exactly a PAR? +A: It's a small device you plug on the parallel port of your playstation. That + means you can't plug them on PSOne, or on playstations model 9xxx. I had to + buy a 5xxx playstation to be able to plug the PAR on it. + + When this device is plugged in, it loads the EEPROM into the memory of the + playstation. The EEPROM contains a small programm that affects the way the + playstation works. So, you'll see a menu with some options, and you will + be able to cheat into any game, or to see the movies on the cd, etc... + + The idea is that you can put into the EEPROM any program you may want. So + you will be able to put, say, a debugging thing as a program. + + +Q: What software do I need to fully do PSX debugging? +A: Here comes the funny part. You need two things. First, you need what's + called "CAETLA". Take care: there is a common mistake. Many people types + "CAELTA" instead of the right name. + + Don't expect to find the web site of Caetla any more. It is closed. The only + way to get it is to look for it into the internet. Just take a look on + the links I gave. + + Caetla is composed of two things. The bios replacement for your PAR, and + some tools. The tools are usually in japanese, but there is some hacked + translated versions that lays everywhere. + + Every tools from Caetla works the same. It takes the sames arguments. The + may one you may want to use is the -P switch. It allows you to select a + PC Comm Link. By default, all the tools look for a PC Comm Link on the port + 0x320. If you want to specify a different port, just do it that way: if your + PC Comm Link is on the port 0x3?0, then add the switch -P?. My PC Comm Link + is on the port 0x330. So I usually type -P3. + + The only good purpose of the DOS versions of the Caetla tools, is to flash + the bios of your PAR, called CAEFLASH. + + This is not a difficult task. You first may want to test if the CAEFLASH + tool is able to do its work. Type the following command: + + CAEFLASH -T + + (add the -P option if necessary). + + It will say something like this: "Trying to talk to the PAR". If your + playstation is switched on, reset it. Otherwise, power it up. + + When the PSX powers up, the TV should get black, you may hear the CD + spinning, and nothing else should happen on the PSX side. On your computer + side, the CAEFLASH should say that it has "detected the PAR, press the + space bar to continue". Do so, and CAEFLASH will then try to detect the PAR + hardware. Say 'y' to the question if the hardware is correct, and the write + test will begin. + + After that, you may want to backup your old BIOS before flashing it. This is + the following command: + + CAEFLASH -B backup.rom + + "backup.rom" is the filename that will be written. You will have to repeat + exactly the same as above. Every time you use CAEFLASH, you will have to + repeat the same operations. + + Then, you can finally flash your PAR bios with the CAETLA bios. Just do + the following: + + CAEFLASH CAETLA35.BIN + + CAETLA35.BIN is the file I got that contains the Caetla 0.35 bios. You may + have a different filename. Note that the 0.35 is the last bios produced by + Caetla. + + When you did that, you will be able to toy with other tools. All the PSX + tools you may want to use are for the Caetla bios. So, you only need to find + a PSX debugger now. PSDEB is a good choice. As usual, look on the links I + gave, and you will be able to find many windows and linux tools that works + with the Caetla bios. + + +Q: Help! When I flashed my PAR with the Caetla bios, it is now all in japanese! +A: Don't panic and press the buttons L2 and Select simoultaneously, and answer + "Yes" (Remember: "Ok" is the 'O' button of your pad) + + +Q: Help! When I flashed my PAR with the Caetla bios, it is now black and white! +A: Don't panic and press the buttons L1 and Select simoultaneously ;-) |