PS2 TOOL DTL-T10000 Black Screen/No Debug info while launching PS2 Games

I'm attempting to run a retail PS2 game via my PS2 TOOL. I make it as far as the screenshot attached below. I get no debug info like I see in this video at 7:14:



I'm running on a single hard drive, if that makes any difference. The screen for the PS2 side will flash but I will get no image. But I do have the "TOOL" image before I attempt to launch a game.
I've tried GT3 and True Crime Streets of LA.

 

How are your switches set, could you make a pic of that?

Are you trying burned retail games? these need to be patched as masterdisc first.

 

I'm using retail discs, not burned games. Here are some pictures of switches (my cover is off because I needed to switch drives due to the booting drive being broken):
EDIT- Does it matter which ribbon I attach the hard drive to?

 

You most likely need to update your flashrom.

Read: https://assemblergames.com/threads/ps2-tool-questions.62897/

 

If you're wondering what actually happened:

• The other HDD contains the oldest known versions of all software.
• Your TOOL somehow has the very first version of the flash ROM flashed onto it.
  
• When you issue the reset command, the running program is terminated and the PS2 side's peripherals are reset (which hence also clears the screen).
• You're using an early ROM, which is why the test mode is not implemented. Originally, developers had to write a small program that executes the boot file from the CD/DVD with LoadExecPS2, to test their master discs.

The other HDD is usually connected to the AIF board (for TOOL sets without the DTL-T14000 DVD Emulator board), which is also an unused feature. I believe it is meant to be used with PS2Linux, under the (canned) WorkStation (WS) mode. So connecting a HDD there does not do anything very interesting.

The WS/TOOL mode switch selects which flash ROM to use, other than causing the TOOL's operating mode to change (which is an unused feature). WS mode usually has ROM v1.00 and has been ever exclusively used as a fail-safe mode to recover the TOOL when flashing of the TOOL mode's ROM fails.

 

I'm attempting to test the disc drive to see if it's even working. So, if I understand correctly, the only way to do so is to flash the PS2 TOOL with newer firmware? Is "PS2 SDK 3.0.3 - June 2005" what I'm looking for? I found it here: https://assemblergames.com/threads/ps2-sdk-3-0-3-june-2005.40575/
I recently acquired the development tools of a "Dale Desharone". More information about him can be located here:
http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,3472/

Here are some pictures of some of the items (minus the PS2 TOOL because I have it partially disassembled at the moment):

 

Hmm, you don't need the secondary HDD, the TOOL will function fine without it.
I have many TOOL units and I see that your DECI2 Manager is outdated, some TOOLs used in studios weren't supposed to actually run the games that they make. (Excluding the T15K which was designed for game optimisation) Most developers used the unit to write and test scripts individually. Also remember that TEST units exist, what some developers would do is i.Link the IOPs from a TEST and a TOOL together and test games like that, They would run the games on the TEST and debug the game on the TOOL through the i.Link connection. If you check the 2005 SDK it says in the i.Link document about debugging games like this. There is even a mini-guide for developers on how to connect the TEST/SCPH-1000 to each other and the TOOL.

Some advice:
Don't flash the ROM in WS mode - WS would have been used in the DTL-T14000 CD/DVD Emulator - I have documentation including WS mode in it btw Though i'll have to find it.

Also, I have a DTL-T10001 - Anyone even know about it's existence?

 

What are the differences and pc side specs?

 

CPU: Pentium MMX
Co-Processor: Installed
CPU Clock: 233MHz
Base Memory: 640K
Extended Memory: 64512K
Cache Memory: 512K
HDD A: 1.44M 3.5in
HDD B: None
Display Type: EGA/VGA
Serial Port(s): 3F8 2F8
Parallel Ports: 378
Bank0 DRAM Type: EDO DRAM
Bank1 DRAM Type: None
Cache L2 Type: Pipe-Burst

 

That's basically the same specs as the older model DTL-T10000
The DTL-T10000 H had 566 Celeron / 128MB 133MHz DIMMS.

What exactly is different on the 10001 model?

Doesnt Sony usually use that last number just to indicate region?

 

I myself am unsure. Everything looks the exact same as a standard T10k
I posted a guide thread that includes a YT video.
https://assemblergames.com/threads/...ginners-guide-setup-and-running-retail.67268/

 

The only difference I see is the foot. Looking at the property sticker It might be a TOOL coming from Sony internal, and probably not one that was sold to Developers, which would maybe explain the 1 at the end.

 

Ah yes, I do believe that this unit is European (Judging by the IP addresses noted on the crate) looking closer though, it already had the 2003 ROM when I got it and it was dated as tested in 2005 March
Also, it would make sense that it is from SONY themselves and not a developer as the system was basically brand new when I got it.
The last commands were typed in 2005 and they were to test the unit (the dates match the ones on the test sticker) Also the PS2 side had never been posted before. I removed the vertical stand as I do not need it, when I removed the stand I found a stick tag with the name, "Arnaud" written on it. From what I know is the Arnaud was an engineer back in the day. Amazing what you can find with these units.

 

The TOOL's flash ROM is supposed to match the SDK that the game was developed with. Even if it is possible for the TOOL to be reboot with the IOPRP images that games ship with, the DECI2 modules and kernels will still be old.

There are a few implications here. Other than simply losing newer features like the EE thread extension, I am pretty sure it is difficult to run a modern game on the original ROM v1.00 because the game would incorrectly patch the TOOL's EE kernel (it identifies as an early kernel, but the region of free space reserved for the patch is not the same as a CEX/DEX's).

Are you sure about this? If you've actually seen this happen, that would be really news to me. But I have doubts that the developers link the TOOL and the DEX that way because there would have to be also PlayStation 2-based software on the TOOL to handle debugging like that.

If you do find it, can you show us the part where it mentions that?

Can you confirm whether its sticker really reads "DTL-T10001"? Your TOOL's information screen has a mispelled name there ("DLT-T10001"), and I didn't see you show its model information sticker number in the video.

If it's really a DTL-T10001, then it would have been a US unit. Usually, a "01" there indicates that the set is a US set.

 

Hmm, I’m not completely certain about i.Link being used as debug. I do remember something about debug via the IOP like that... once again not certain, it’s a faint memory. Do you know the serial mod (used in retail fat consoles) I do remember some similarities to how it works. It wasn’t intended to deploy the games (I can imagin trying to load a game through an i.Link cable XD) It may have been done on the PC side using Putty...if it was like the serial mod. Once again, not sure.

that may have been my bad about the IP
Although I did obtain my unit in Europe so that might explain the ip.
If I find where I remember seeing the I.link and WS information I’d be happy to post it.

Here is my sticker and info screen

 

I think he is talking about the the official model number on the rear of the system:


The image that you have provided is just a sticker added by the studio.
That may have just been used internally to identify the unit.

 

Okay, mine says the same as yours, so mine is a t10k. Thanks for clearing that up xD
I remember turning it on and seeing 10001 and I was so confused.

 

No problem.
The hostname will also have just been used to identify the unit internally.

 

You probably made the whole TOOL community choke for a moment!

 

xD I'm extremely rusty as I haven't used a TOOL machine in about a decade. I intend on making a homebrew game starting today and finishing it Feb 2018 for a Personal Project to get marks. :3 I am a student. I am required to document everything and assemblergames is the place to do it!
thb even i had a laugh at that xD