Here is an update to Free McBoot, a softmod for the PlayStation 2 allowing you to get homebrew running and more. This release offers more functionality while been smaller in size. Please read the full release and release thread here in order to get things setup correctly.
FMCB v1.90 has been released! It now supports the Protokernel consoles (mostly, but there are issues), the HDD OSD and the PSX (DVR unit).
It's intended to be the next-generation version of FMCB, since it now supports the HDD unit (with FHDB, the HDD-enabled version of FMCB). FMCB v1.8C is to become the stable version of FMCB, until the v1.90 series has been tested and proven to become stable.
What is FMCB?
Free Memory Card Boot (FMCB) is a homebrew software which is designed to setup your PlayStation 2 console and provide you with a means of launching homebrew software, without the need for any extra hardware, modifications to your console or dangerous tricks like the legendary swap trick.
FMCB was originally developed by Neme and Jimmikaelkael, but they have been kind enough to provide me with access to its source code, for me to make some improvements to it.
What is FHDB?
Free Harddisk Drive Boot (FHDB) is basically FMCB that gets installed onto the PlayStation 2 console's HDD unit. It does everything like FMCB does, but is meant to be used with the Sony HDDOSD (Browser update v2.00).
Patched/modified copies of the HDDOSD may not work, although non-Sony disks are supported by FHDB itself.
***Whether the hacked HDD OSD supports non-Sony disks or not depends on whether it was modified to support non-Sony disks.***
Modifying or getting a pre-modified copy of the HDDOSD is not under this project, which is why that topic will not be discussed here.
What does FMCB v1.9 offer?
For mere humans:
Smaller, faster and more stable. :P
The HDD unit is now supported.
The "Early Japanese"/PCMCIA units (SCPH-10000, SCPH-15000 and SCPH-18000) are fully supported.
Chinese consoles are now supported (e.g. SCPH-50009).
When you leave the CD/DVD tray ejected, FMCB/FHDB will not stall.
Your play history will now be updated (The towers in the background of the "Sony computer entertainment" screen should continue to grow taller and greater in numbers)
Technical changes:
Initialization code has been cut down.
Some IRX modules (init.irx and chkesr.irx) have been removed (superceded by code that runs from the EE, like their Sony originals).
DVD player selection code has been replaced with one similar to the one used by Sony.
The console initialization code has been replaced with a Sony-like version.
CNF parsing code has been optimized.
The memory map has been adjusted slightly, so everything now fits below Sony's idea of "user memory" (below 0x00100000).
Support for the Protokernel and all HDD OSDs have been added.
(For the HDDOSD version of FMCB only) ELFs can be booted from any partition on the HDD. The format of the path is <partition>:<full path to file on pfs:/>. (e.g. hdd0:__sysconffs:/FMCB/FMCB_configurator.elf).
This can be easily set using the included FMCB/FHDB configurator.
The CD/DVD drive will now be stopped if a normal ELF is started (Under the assumption that most homebrew ELFs probably won't ever use the drive).
The user's history file (the file which affects the towers within the "Sony Computer Entertainment" startup screen) will now be updated whenever Playstation/Playstation 2 game/software discs are launched, as well as DVD video discs.
Reloading the OSD from within the OSD triggers a full reload of FMCB, because the protokernel OSDs seem to become really unstable after a few resets.
(I couldn't find out why... so a full memory wipe and reload by the kernel is probably the best way to do it).
The location of ESR will now be checked only when ESR is requested to be loaded.
The embedded EELOAD module has been cleaned up, and loads at 0x00082000 instead (Like rom0:EELOAD does).
FMCB has been split into two. The part of FMCB which remains resident will be copied into its place during runtime, allowing the initialization part of it to have the entire PlayStation 2 for initialization and drawing something nice on the screen (Not done at the moment as it makes FMCB quite a fair bit larger).
Full support for the SCPH-10000 and SCPH-15000. Not only will it patch up the SCPH-10000 v1.00 kernel fully (Applies OSD argument-passing patch), it also includes its own HDD support modules and can act as a replacement for the Sony system driver update.
Prototype support for the PSX. Its OSD is not supported, meaning that there will be no hacked OSD for the PSX.
Supports non-Sony HDD units (Support for non-Sony HDD units within the HDD OSD/browser v2.00 update depends on the HDD OSD itself).
New FMCB configurator program which supports the HDD unit.
Added support for the Chinese consoles (Magicgate region 09, folder letter C. e.g. SCPH-50009).
FMCB v1.9 Released
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