9 replies to this topic

[spaztecho]

Tutorial on how to use a ps2 game disc and a modified backup of that disk as a swap disk.

Why I Did this:
I wanted to install the free mc boot exploit but did have a swap magic disc or a mod chip.
I didn't what to buy a swap magic disc because I didn't really what to spend 25 $ on some thing I would only ever use once. After the free mc boot exploit is installed you never need a swap disc again it's sort of like the independence exploit with out the need for a ps1 trigger disk.

How I did this:
Step 1:
First you need to be able to swap discs on you ps2. For the fat you need to make a swap tool out of an old credit card to change discs with out pushing the eject button just Google ps2 swap tool. If you have a slim like me just follow this Tutorial
http://www.instructables.com/id/Mod-a-Play...-NO-CHIPS!/

Step 2:
Making your swap disc:
What you will need:
Original PS2 game disc I used 007 agent under fire.
Apache v 1.1 newer version will not work
Dvd Decrypter or other dvd burning soft capable or raw write
Launch.elf v 4.21 other home brew launch might work don't know

The game you use needs to have multiple elf binaries on it (irx might work don't know) preferably with self explanatory names so you know when it's launched.
007 agent under fire has 3 elf binaries in the root of the dvd movie.elf, action.elf and driving.elf
driving.elf is launch when a driving level is loaded. With action I think that's loaded when any other level is loaded, but I'm not sure I modded the driving file.

Burn a iso of the game you are going to use for this hack.
If you are using dvd decrypter select insert you ps2 game in the dvd drive select mode from the dvd decrypter menu and then iso then you chose where you want the file saved and you click decrypt.

Hack the game:
In this step you are going to replace one of the elf binaries with the uncompressed version of launch.elf (the compressed version might work I don't know)

To do this you need to use apache v 1.1 if you use magic iso or ultra iso it will change the TOC values and the LBA and the hack will not work.

Load the iso using apache v 1.1 select the file you are going to swap for the hack in my case driving.elf
click iso tools then click change TOC for selected file do not change the LBA, change the size of the file to the size of launch.elf the size is in bytes so for launch elf 4.21 you would change it to 877420 ( I don't think you can change this value to a larger size and have it work but I might be wrong) now rename launch elf to the file you are replacing in my case driving.elf then in apache select iso tools again and click update, selected file then browse to the location of your renamed launch.elf and select it. Now close apache and burn the modded iso to disk. In DVD decrypter insert a blank dvd, select mode, iso, write, select your modded iso and then click burn.

Step 3: swap it
Insert the original game in the PS2 power it on let it load past the intro and all the various splash screens and into the game menu now swap the original game with your hacked copy.

The next step differs depending on the game you use and the file you replaced, if you used 007 agent under fire like me and replaced the driving.elf then load up your saved game slot then go to select level and select the level where you are driving. Then you will get a loading screen and instead of loading the level it will load launch.elf which you can use it to load any exploit you want. I used launch.elf to load the free mc boot installer from a thumb drive.

If you deleted your bond saved games then you might want to try replacing the action.elf with launch elf instead I think this will load launch elf on the first mission but I'm not sure I didn't try it. If you used a different game it's up to you to figure out how to trigger the exploit. A couple of the games I looked at had a credits elf I would assume to trigger that if that's the file you replaced you would have to beat the game.

Sweet you are done if you don't believe this is possible I've included a video of the exploit in action. If you think this is way to much work you can always just buy a swap magic disc.

PS don't try and put the launch.elf cnf on the disc it will mess up the toc and launch.elf run fine with out it.

Video of hack in action
http://www.youtube.c...h?v=0i0MoJp8uwA

Home page with links to all the software needed
http://spaztecho.free2hoxt.com/

[Devia Eleven]

From my standpoint, (a person who has Swap Magic), it's a great alternative for people who don't want, or cannot throw out the extra buck to purchase Swap Magic. As a homebrew loading process it takes much longer, but for free there's not really much room for complaining.

[fdp]

Hi, I tried with WE9, i put boolf.elf in "ntgui2.elf", doing exactly what you said, but it does not work;
i think there is a new check from the ps2;
this way of booting elf may depend of which game is used.
The same way is explained on a french forum and a few members only could boot launch.elf.

i have a pstwo slimline, and i do not know if it can work on it ?

Thanks

Edited by fdp, 16 August 2008 - 01:24 PM.

[tiger1020x]

Anyone know where to find apache 1.1? can't seem to find it anywheres nevermind it's on http://www.sksapps.com

Edited by tiger1020x, 21 October 2008 - 11:59 PM.

[tiger1020x]

I can verify that this does work on disks that don't have multiple binaries and the elf doesn't have to be on the root of the drive...i can also unfortunately verify as well that other bond games even with a driving.elf do not work..i managed to pull it off with a jakk2 demo disk of all things..best luck to all

[U-Said-it]

Can everybody who has done this successfully start a compatibility list with the games that work?


So far we have:

007 - Agent Under Fire, Region = Ntsc (U), "driving.elf" =
Jakk 2 - Demo, Region = Ntsc, "???.elf" =








--Edit--
It seems the link to the required files is down, and I didn't want to double post.
So, would someone be able to specify exactly what programs and version are needed?

I googled launch elf 4.21, and I all came up with was a "uLaunchElf" 4.21. Is that the same thing?
The link from two posts above has the Apache (v1.1), but also has the uLaunchElf program on-site.

Edited by U-Said-it, 23 November 2008 - 03:10 PM.

[tiger1020x]

Can everybody who has done this successfully start a compatibility list with the games that work?

So far we have:

007 - Agent Under Fire, Region = Ntsc (U), "driving.elf" =
Jakk 2 - Demo, Region = Ntsc, "???.elf" =



The jakk2 demo disk was NTSC-U..and the executable was suspiciously named boot.elf already

[jland252007]

Thanks A millon i was having trouble getting apache to update the file with .elf on the end but if u bring up without .elf and rename while its still open . elf stays

[tiger1020x]

If anyone wants this done and has a free official sony memory card..I'll be more than happy to do it.just leave me a pm.

Edited by tiger1020x, 29 April 2009 - 10:21 PM.

[davepal]

hi there i was just wondering how do you find .elf files in the binary manny thanks in advance

Admin edit: No need to quote long-ass first posts