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boot disc
LIl' Wounce - Feb 16, 2003
  LIl' Wounce Feb 16, 2003
i know the boot disc doesn't work with out swapping but i want to see what makes it tick that why i was wondering if any one still have it.

 sizone Feb 16, 2003
www.dcemulation...

image and they might have a thread going somewhere on their message board

that explains how it works

 AntiPasta Feb 16, 2003
anyone have an ISO of the Saturn boot disc? The idea of disassembling it and running it thru my PAR sounds appealing to me...

 Daniel Eriksson Feb 16, 2003

  
	
	

		
		

			The idea of disassembling it and running it thru my PAR sounds appealing to me...


Would that work? Sounds like a good idea to me. Can you run any ISO through a PAR?

 TakaIsSilly Feb 16, 2003
You can't run an ISO tru an PAR, but you can simply download an executable to a PAR, and if that executable is the one on the boot disk, it will provably autenticate and unlock the drive as expected.

 printf Feb 16, 2003

  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by TakaIsSilly@Feb 16, 2003 @ 06:17 PM



You can't run an ISO tru an PAR, but you can simply download an executable to a PAR, and if that executable is the one on the boot disk, it will provably autenticate and unlock the drive as expected.


Actually, I have already done some research into that boot disc matter. I'm afraid there's no good news here.

As for the authentication of a CD, the boot disc is tied into that process from the very beginning. The executable contained in the boot disc will not work through your PAR without some serious manipulation, which is a task I haven't started yet (and probably won't start any time soon).

Disassembling the program might just aid in confusing you. After all, the code is designed to be used off of a disc, and not from the PAR interface. Cartridges have another "view" of how the boot process is organised, while a typical Saturn disc usually authenticates itself through the security ring somewhat early on. This also explains why the changes made by a "swap-aid" cartridge such as Magic Cart V2 or Super Strong Cart are in no way related to what the boot disc does (note: this is a guess).

I am right now too tired to explain this in any greater detail, so I'd just like to say whoever wants to go on turning the boot disc into a "boot cart" should go ahead! I'd really like to see this. However, you should prepare for a long ordeal, as this is going to take a while (unless I overlooked something in my research).

printf

 LIl' Wounce Feb 17, 2003
What I want to do is to break it down and see how it does it. This will help me on my research. I tryed to code my own but with no sucess,and also I need a host program for my hex editor(gameshark),and I think tis is the perfect thing to add it to.

 ExCyber Feb 17, 2003
FYI: the actual boot program is about 3K of AIP code (i.e. in the boot area). The big "0" file doesn't contain anything useful.

 AntiPasta Feb 17, 2003
well, this program HAS to do something with the CD interface, apart from authenticating itself... otherwise no cd's inserted after the boot cd will run, will they? However, there might be the remote chance the security ring is special and makes the Saturn 'forget' the CD protection for awhile...

damn I guess the aforementioned confusion is setting in already

 TakaIsSilly Feb 17, 2003
As ExCyber said, the code is in the the boot area of the CD. This is interesting, never the less, aren't there any hard calls to the CD-ROM registers in the code?

 AntiPasta Feb 18, 2003
I think that stands beyond doubt... otherwise the whole thing wouldn't work would it?

 printf Feb 18, 2003

  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by TakaIsSilly@Feb 17, 2003 @ 04:01 PM



As ExCyber said, the code is in the the boot area of the CD. This is interesting, never the less, aren't there any hard calls to the CD-ROM registers in the code?


(digs up what's left of the boot disc thing)

Well, yes there are "hard calls" but I don't know how far they go, or what they are doing. There's a lot of confusing code, and I'm not really sure if you could discard the calls to the CD-ROM registers if you made a PAR version. The code actually expects to find a drive still at work with something I believe, since it checks for the status of a couple of registers (IIRC). Oh, and there's some work on command register, too. I can't find it all just now, maybe another day or if you remind me in PM.