Caetla

Hi,

I havent actually made an xflash disc yet, im in the process of getting all the different flashes together so it can be used for the AR and GS.

If the xlink software isnt working then you have a communication issue somewhere. Are you sure that your cable is working or has the correct wiring inside? test it or try a different cable..

if I were you I would establish communications using xlink first and once you have that working move on from there and flash caetla.

You could use the xflash software to flash caetla to your cart but if you cant establish communications there isnt any point as you need a PC to use it properly.

I dont think it actually matters what you have your LPT port set to in the BIOS, mines as ECP but ive had it working on other machines in other modes. Is the base address for the port definately 0x378 ?

Dan

 

Yes, it's 0x378. I set it to that in the bios, and XP confirms that in the device manager.

Could you give me every step to perform? For example, when should the PSX be switched on, and should the Xplorer be set to "on"? That's the guesswork that I was talking about.

And that cable has worked fine with an old printer.

 

yeah the psx should be on and the xplorer should be sat at the xplorer menu (switched on).

What xplorer do you have, is it a pro? or a normal one?

Dan

 

It's an Xplorer FX model.

 

hmm think thats your problem. I have three different versions, but i cant communicate with the FX version I have. Im sure they have a larger flash memory on them (512Kb vs the 128kb on the others).

I have an FX that I will check for you but dont want to brick it, it might be doable with xflash but then I dont think I have any way of backing it up.

Ill have a play with xflash and get you some instructions sorted now I know whats what.

Dan

 

I bricked mine before when I attempted to make a Caetla X-flash disc a while ago, but I also included the Xplorer rom on it. With this bricked cartridge plugged in the whole time I was unable to flash it, but once I removed it and booted the CD and then hot-plugged the cartridge back in, it detected the cartridge, flashed it and everything was good again. So it's definitely recoverable

 

That could be the problem. Im not 100% sure if caetla will run on a FX cartdridge or not. The two I have it running on are the standard and Pro versions with the smaller flash rom.

 

I'm pretty damned sure that I have heard of others and their success stories with the FX though.

 

I was just wondering, do X-link/X-killer not work for you at all?

 

So is your issue getting the FX to communicate with the PC at all, or just getting Caetla onto it? Because it's the communication that does not seem to work with me...

 

danhans115, why are you bladelibs? They are outdated, lack basic features like vblank/root counter callbacks and many things do not work on the real hardware.

You can try using my PSXSDK instead. A bit of a shameless plug (;P), but hey it's the most recent you can get.

 

Lol..

;-P Ive downloaded your SDK and had a quick look but I have windows on my current machine. I have only been playing with bladelibs because at the time it was the only free solution about as your SDK wasnt available.


Does it build under Cygwin?

Edit: Just checked your homepage again, you have now built for cywin. Saves me a job

 

Update

I managed to flash my xplorer fx with caetla 0.35 using x-flash..

Burn this CD image to a decent CD-R (use Nero, I couldnt get it to work when burned with imgburn - its BIN/CUE format).

http://rapidshare.com/files/424883699/xflash_d.zip

Boot your PSX with the xplorer switched on, and start game without cheats.

when the menu appears press START then select caetla 0.35 from the list and press X. Reset the console.. Job done.

Good luck

Dan

 

OK, I burned the file and booted it on my PSX through the Xplorer, but when I select Caetla and press X it does not respond. It just sits there; no "updating EEPROM" status bar like you get when flashing the Xplorer ROM. When I reset it I just get a blank screen, and the Xplorer ROM is gone. No Caetla, and the console does not boot with the cartridge plugged in... I had to boot up the disc without the cartridge, and then hot-swap the cartridge in at the menu to get Xplorer back.

 

In that case buy another explorer?

It would seem that it the caetla rom isnt supported by your particular xplorer or something> My FX model is detected as an 'OLD' version 29F040 flash.

A xplorer pro went on ebay the other day for £1 + £2 delivery surely that would be easier?

 

Mine is "ATMEL 29C040A" OLD version. So does yours get the "updating EEPROM" bar when you flash with Caetla? Mine just sits there.

And I can't see any cheap ones on eBay currently.

 

Yeah there are only two expensive ones on ebay at the moment, complete rip off - Yes mine gets the updating bar and completes successfully. Wonder if its struggling to read from the CD or something?

Are you in the UK? If so, and you want to send me your xplorer FX and i will send you mine flashed with Caetla 0.35, or I will flash it for you?

Dan

 

In fact I just tried flashing with the "official" German roms on the CD, and they just hang too! So perhaps it is a CD problem... I don't have Nero, so I tried with IMGBurn and it burned fine. Since it burned succesfully it shouldn't make a difference, right?

And yes I'm in England, but I want to give this another go before giving up. But I'll keep that in mind as a last resort, thanks for that offer.

 

Im not sure,

Whenever I burn a PSX iso with imgburn it never seems to work for me which is why I used nero. I dont own a copy so got hold of a 'portable' version of it from an, erm *cough* site...

But i mean if its booting it should work okay I guess. Possibly try burning at a slower speed or try doing it with the console on its side (daft idea I know but it does work sometimes).

 

All right then, I'm "acquiring" a copy right now, and will try it. IMGburn has always worked great for PSX backups for me, but I'll still try Nero.

Normally I burn at 24x, and have played entire games with zero skipping and that play perfectly at that speed, but I'll try slower. What speed do you suggest? It's an SCPH-1002 console from the launch day btw...