G1-ATA Devices

[OzOnE]

Hi,

I'm just trying out Dreamshell 4.0.0 RC2.2, and it's great!

I see a lot of things have been tidied up and improved.
Really nice job, guys.

I'm just trying to find a spare HDD for testing atm. I'm sure I have one somewhere. lol
I have a few that I can try (I received the same SATA adapter as [darc] is using.)

@SWAT - could you possibly write a short list of what each different custom BIOS does atm?
eg...

sd_loader_with.bios...
Boot DS from SD = Yes.
Boot DS from IDE = No.
Boot DS from BIOS (Romdisk) = No.
Run GDI in IP.BIN mode = Yes.
Run GDI in Direct mode = No.
Stock Syscalls intact = Yes.


The different BIOS images can be a bit confusing atm.
I've now Flashed back to sd_loader_with.bios, and can run things like Ferrari F355 fine from SD in IP.BIN mode (RC2.2 on SD card).

I also tried Flashing using ds_core_rd.bios and see it now boots without the GD drive plugged in at all - superb!
But, does this still run GDI games from SD or IDE?

I've been thinking about how to crack the HOLLY protection too...

Have you found out exactly how it blocks the G1 access yet?
ie. does it seem to block PIO or DMA control signals, or just disable the port altogether?
I'm guessing the BIOS must still be accessible after the G1 gets locked out, so maybe it's just disabling the G1 /CS1 + /CS0 signals?

Is there some way we could maybe brute-force the protection by emulating a BIOS using the FPGA board?
Then, modify a few bytes / words each time, reset the console, then check for G1 access again?

If we could do that in a loop (overnight), maybe we could map out which checksum values seem to work?

With the boot_loader_wsc_bfont.bios, would that allow the very best compatibility with DS if we can pass the HOLLY protection?

Have you made a BIOS yet which completely bypasses the GD syscalls at a low-level, so the RAM-resident loader is no longer required?


Also, I got the design done for the new (simpler) G1 IDE adapter, but it will be a week or so before I can afford to send off for a new batch.
The adapters do away with the need for jumpers and the oscillator module, so it should be a lot easier to use.

People will still need the IDE device set to Slave if the GDD is plugged in though.
The adapter no longer breaks out the CDDA signals either, but I can always get another version made if need be.

I think cybdyn is still working on his G1-Advanced design too, so my simple adapters will be a stop-gap solution until he has his running.


I know that's a lot of info, but I'm having fun playing with Dreamshell again.
If I get the SATA adapter working as well, I'll keep you updated, and might upload a YouTube vid too.

OzOnE.