ISO Loader 0.8.x Beta + preview of DreamShell v4.0 RC 5

[SWAT]

(19.09.2023 14:07)CrisMod писал(а):  I'm trying to watch on the list of @pcwzrd13 to test around, and I noticed that with the new IsoLoader 8.x he found the problems with `SEGA RALLY 2` that doesn't work with new Firmware, he has Random Freezing .

On my side I found the perfect settings and the game perform perfectly; I made many rounds, Game-Overs and restart, and play with it for awile and I don't have any issue, no sound problems, no freezing and so on.

The magic happened if I turned ON the `Low-level` Option, somebody can explain what for this Low-level option , please?

So I attached the Isoloader 8.26 working settings below.

Low-level is not a magic, this special mode that uses syscalls from 0.7 loader. In this mode on IDE works almost games and it's known. But this mode doesn't support CDDA, VMU emu, screenshot, fragmented files, CSO and CDI images.

[CrisMod]

(19.09.2023 14:37)SWAT писал(а):  

(19.09.2023 14:07)CrisMod писал(а):  I'm trying to watch on the list of @pcwzrd13 to test around, and I noticed that with the new IsoLoader 8.x he found the problems with `SEGA RALLY 2` that doesn't work with new Firmware, he has Random Freezing .

On my side I found the perfect settings and the game perform perfectly; I made many rounds, Game-Overs and restart, and play with it for awile and I don't have any issue, no sound problems, no freezing and so on.

The magic happened if I turned ON the `Low-level` Option, somebody can explain what for this Low-level option , please?

So I attached the Isoloader 8.26 working settings below.

Low-level is not a magic, this special mode that uses syscalls from 0.7 loader. In this mode on IDE works almost games and it's known. But this mode doesn't support CDDA, VMU emu, screenshot, fragmented files, CSO and CDI images.

That's cool, thank you SWAT!

[fafadou]

I'm pretty sure too, dreamshell is the best

[VeraBecker]

Wow! new pre-release, perfect!, I have to review it.

[Freudi93]

So startech adapter works worser than the cheap Chinese ones. Now revolt is not starting with this Adapter

[CrisMod]

(19.09.2023 18:47)Freudi93 писал(а):  So startech adapter works worser than the cheap Chinese ones. Now revolt is not starting with this Adapter

Ha how.... Sorry what kind of lenghts IDE cable are you using for this mod don't tell me 40 CM......

[fafadou]

I put my CF around 30cm and my ssd at 40cm and everything works well, I have to try the last released now

The xbox arcade chihiro system used a CF reader, sometimes with naomi too.
But for xbox users the sata to ide suggest by crismod looks than the perfect one.
So probably, it's possible to reach the perfect loader with both, but dreamcast has so capabilities : cdda, two OS, two datatransfer bus (PIO and DMA) etc...

[CrisMod]

(19.09.2023 19:38)fafadou писал(а):  I put my CF around 30cm and my ssd at 40cm and everything works well, I have to try the last released now

The xbox arcade chihiro system used a CF reader, sometimes with naomi too.
But for xbox users the sata to ide suggest by crismod looks than the perfect one.
So probably, it's possible to reach the perfect loader with both, but dreamcast has so capabilities : cdda, two OS, two datatransfer bus (PIO and DMA) etc...

Guys you are crazy . Too long the cables...

As soon it's working and you are happy about it, but the resaults could be unespected.

If you don't trust, Dragoncity it makes a lot of installations per year, and he was shocked when they have found that the cable 14 CM with not so nice resault from some games, so did shorter 3CM (what is 3 CM, nothing...) and they got games to run better and better on SATA side.

You can ask him , he has the account here.

[fafadou]

You said right, but I have to connect my ssd outside the console.

[CrisMod]

(19.09.2023 19:56)fafadou писал(а):  You said right, but I have to connect my ssd outside the console.

If you don't have other solutions or you have your own reason I completely understand you, as soon as you are conscious that could face some problems.
Sorry if I ask you, but how you connect the CF with a shorter cable and the SSD with longher? You did a conncector IDE on the Dreamcast Shell?

[CrisMod]

@Freudi93, now that i'm thinking about, did you place the Jumper to the right place on `Slave`????
On Startech the Jumpar it's on `Master` by default, if you don't put it on Slave will not run.... And make the cable shorter.

[MastaG]

So there is no way to connect your CF-reader in slave mode when a GDEmu is connected?

[megavolt85]

GDEMU has a bug in the code, it takes up the entire width of both the master and slave

[fafadou]

I wish to try the doom unreleased made with wince but the track01 is in .iso and the track 03 is in .bin !?! Strange...

@Crismod, my cable has three ide connectors, one is in the console the others are outside.
I choose this way because it's more easy to remove the ssd and add contents.
I'll share you a picture.

If you look at the video I shared with CF in a chihiro system, you'll see the cable is around 50cm long
I have the same question how do have build a 3cm ide cable ?
Super runabout is a game you should try, with CF the game runs, with ssd the game crash at loading after the scenario choice.

I'll try this new released :
- shadow gangs, runs well, I had some little crashes with cdda. Don't remeber if I had them before.
- xenocider : runs like a charm, thank you so much megavolt !! cdda and loadings are very good.
sega rally 2 jap : still freeze after the end of the first race but this time, I feel the game runs smoother, I didn't have the sensation it could freeze at any moment, and I saw the second race loading screen perfectly, so for me this gcc is better (except the 7.1 )
sega rally 2 pal : does't boot.

[CrisMod]

(20.09.2023 02:03)fafadou писал(а):  I wish to try the doom unreleased made with wince but the track01 is in .iso and the track 03 is in .bin !?! Strange...

Did you tried to Optimized it?

Цитата:@Crismod, my cable has three ide connectors, one is in the console the others are outside.
I choose this way because it's more easy to remove the ssd and add contents.
I'll share you a picture.

I understand now how you did, should be as I had to do it too but after discovered this cable lengths compatibility issue I needed to rethink to all my entire Mod project

Цитата:If you look at the video I shared with CF in a chihiro system, you'll see the cable is around 50cm long
I have the same question how do have build a 3cm ide cable ?

Yes, I saw the video and thank you to share it, and it's so funny to see this cable with long hair, but there is a differentiation there, the system is arcade with PC component and it is normal that it is more solid and versatile in terms of circuitry. This obsession with cable length (it's funny ) but mostly only affects the Dreamcast, because there are no other systems that I know of that have these cable issues. I don't know if you've ever replaced the GDROM cable that connects the Laser to the motherboard, well some time ago I replaced that cable with one 2 CM longer, and the Dreamcast laser no longer works .

[SWAT]

Long length of wires is only SATA adapter problem.
My first mod used standard PC IDE cable with master/slave connectors and looks ugly, I couldn't close plastic body: http://www.dc-swat.ru/blog/hardware/874.html
I have broken many different wires by reconnecting the hard drive at testings. And all these wires worked perfectly, provided that a native IDE with two high-quality devices is used. I used IDE HDD 3.5" Seagate Barracuda with external power a while. But IDE SATA adapters are not the highest quality devices.

[CrisMod]

(20.09.2023 06:41)SWAT писал(а):  Long length of wires is only SATA adapter problem.
My first mod used standard PC IDE cable with master/slave connectors and looks ugly, I couldn't close plastic body: http://www.dc-swat.ru/blog/hardware/874.html
I have broken many different wires by reconnecting the hard drive at testings. And all these wires worked perfectly, provided that a native IDE with two high-quality devices is used. I used IDE HDD 3.5" Seagate Barracuda with external power a while. But IDE SATA adapters are not the highest quality devices.

You made me shed a tear @SWAT, because in the past I have studied and learned a lot on your documentation, and I only relied on your documentation without looking at other documentation made by others who were then based on yours . So thank you for doing all this, and thank you for clarifying that CF Cards are not affected by this problem, I personally, not having CF Cards, believed that the length implementation was something that affects any mod in the Dreamcast as I found this problem even on the Laser connected to the GDROM board.

Even though it seems like a crazy the G1-ATA Mod 1ver. that you did in the past, but I believe that the Sandwich Mod is a piece of art .
I'm curious to ask, how you initially discovered that you could use IDE technology to "Emulate" the passage of data that needed to go into the GDROM?

[Freudi93]

Is there better compatibility If i use a Notebook IDE HDD with this Adapter: https://www.ebay.at/itm/394324450228?mkc...media=COPY

[SWAT]

(20.09.2023 07:43)CrisMod писал(а):  Even though it seems like a crazy the G1-ATA Mod 1ver. that you did in the past, but I believe that the Sandwich Mod is a piece of art .
I'm curious to ask, how you initially discovered that you could use IDE technology to "Emulate" the passage of data that needed to go into the GDROM?

It wasn’t me who guessed that GD-ROM uses a standard IDE ATAPI (and where is ATAPI there is ATA). I think the theory arose due to the fact that for Naomi 2 slot machines there was such an option for storing game data on CF card:
https://aliexpress.ru/item/1005004230995513.html

This cool Sandwich adapter was sent to me by OzOnE. He sent it to me and the current custodian of the KOS - BlueCrab. By the way, OzOnE did his first tests on a CF card.
By that time I had already mastered GD-ROM emulation on the SD loader. So all that remained was to write a driver for use in the loader file system. Although of course a lot of work has been done since then.

[CrisMod]

@SWAT, to solve the error "REQdcREQCmd: 36" that I passed to you some post ago, on Tomb Raider Chronicles for SATA MOD combined with the latest Firmware 8.27 (and future firmwares) what should be done , or how can I help on that?

I don't want that I created the working debug hardware for nothing, at least on my side i can contribute to report future bugs. Because only this game it has this problem with latest Firmwares from my side, and should be somenthing to the system that it doesnt' like it; and 40 minutes of testing that was fine i believe it's not enough to say that everything goes perfect till the end...

Цитата:It wasn’t me who guessed that GD-ROM uses a standard IDE ATAPI (and where is ATAPI there is ATA). I think the theory arose due to the fact that for Naomi 2 slot machines there was such an option for storing game data on CF card:
https://aliexpress.ru/item/1005004230995513.html

This cool Sandwich adapter was sent to me by OzOnE. He sent it to me and the current custodian of the KOS - BlueCrab. By the way, OzOnE did his first tests on a CF card.
By that time I had already mastered GD-ROM emulation on the SD loader. So all that remained was to write a driver for use in the loader file system. Although of course a lot of work has been done since then.

Interesting story, I believe it takes billions of testing on development perspective. Thank you for sharing this historical and important piece.