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September 16th, 2007, 01:17 Posted By: Chameleon
Via Noobz
As we promised a long time ago we have now finished a version of eLoader which can be run from a custom firmware and HEN.
I know that a lot will probably wonder what the use of this is now that we have Pandora out so that anyone can downgrade, well the main reason is the PSP-Lite. As a lot of people are finding out the PSP Lite is unable to run 1.50 kernel, this means that old homebrew games are not able to run on the PSP Lite custom firmware, however eLoader makes it possible to run some of these older games without needing to recompile them. So I hope all you new PSP Lite owners enjoy getting to see some of the old homebrew games running on the new device.
For further details on how to install and use eLoader v1.000 see readme.html in the ZIP file.
This program builds on the original work done by Saotome to load homebrew EBOOT.PBPs into PSPs with HEN or Custom Firmware (CFW). Although HEN and CFW can generally load most modern homebrew, eLoader offers a way to improve compatibility with older programs.
eLoader is of most use for PSP Lite owners running CFW. This loader will allow them to run homebrew based on 1.50 kernel which otherwise would not be able to run due to the incompatibility of the PSP Lite and the 1.50 kernel.
Since eLoader will also run in any CFW it will be also useful for those developers not having a PSP Lite and wanting to check that their code will run on it.
It currently cannot run all known homebrew, but it uses a number of tricks to get substantially further than ever before. Known limitations are:
Can't run most kernel-mode applications.
That means anything that emulates ISOs/UMDs.
Some minor system calls are still unsupported.
It's also still very much in development, so you should expect a few bugs, and for not every EBOOT to run perfectly. An up-to-date list of known working EBOOTs can be found at the homebrew database listed above.
Major new features in this release
Added support for HEN and custom firmwares including the PSP Lite.
Details of Kernel Mode Support
In eloader 1.000 it is possible to make use of kernel mode using "constructor" procs, this therefore gives the ability to patch kernel memory before the user mode thread starts (in the same way that firmware v1.5 can)
The main thing that you can not do at the moment is start a new thread in kernel mode. Note that this is the same level of kernel-mode support as the 0.995 release. We intend to dramatically improve kernel-mode compatibility in future releases.
To install eLoader
Copy the contents of the MS_ROOT folder to the topmost folder on your PSP memory stick. If you've done this correctly, you will end up with a set of files within the folder
/PSP/GAME/eLoader
on your memory stick.
Installing Homebrew
If you've chosen to install Installotron, then you can automatically download and install a selection of popular homebrew to your PSP, so long as you have a network connection configured on your PSP. Just run eLoader as described below, and then select and run Installotron, to select the homebrew programs to install.
Otherwise, or if the homebrew you want to use is not supported by Installotron yet:
Copy the homebrew you want to run to your memory stick. Usually, this means unzipping a directory that contains an EBOOT.PBP file to somewhere under /PSP/GAME/. The exact location and folder name usually doesn't matter, but for best compatibility you should try to use the same names as originally shown in the homebrew ZIP file.
If the instructions with the homebrew contain separate steps for v1.0 and v1.5 firmwares, then usually you'll get best results by following the v1.0 instructions.
NOTE: If the homebrew is written in LUA, you need to copy it to a subdirectory under the your LUA Player "APPLICATIONS" folder.
Running eLoader : via HEN and Custom Firmwares
In order to run eLoader just goto to the "Game" menu on the PSP menu, then "Memory Stick", then select the "eLoader IPA" program.
This will cause eLoader to load up its menu ("eMenu") from which you can choose the homebrew you would like to load.
Using eMenu
The loader displays a list of folders in ms0:/PSP/GAME and ms0:/PSP/GAME150. Use the up and down buttons to change the current selection (highlighted with a black line), and X or O to run the homebrew in that folder.
NOTE: To load LUA applications, you need to run LUA Player first, which will launch Lowser and let you browse to open the application.
Once you select some homebrew to load, the menu will exit, and after a few moments, the loader will either display an error message, or the homebrew will start.
To exit the homebrew, you need to reboot your PSP. The loader contains in-built support for rebooting, by holding the Left Trigger, Right Trigger and START buttons together for a few seconds. If this doesn't work, then you can also reboot by removing the battery, or holding the power switch for at least 10 seconds. Note that sometimes after a software reboot, the loader will hang if you try to run it again. This seems to be much rarer if you enter USB mode briefly, before running the loader again.
Other buttons:
Triangle will turn on USB mode.
Square will take a screenshot of the menu.
The L and R shoulder buttons change the PSP's clock speed.
SELECT will show usage instructions, and rescan the memory stick for new homebrew.
START will exit the menu.
HOLD will put the PSP into 'slumber mode' - the clock speed is set to minimum, and the screen is blanked. You can get further power saving by holding the 'SCREEN' button to turn off the screen, before engaging 'HOLD'.
If you get the message 'Not Homebrew', it means that the selected folder does not contain the file 'EBOOT.PBP' in the topmost subfolder. This usually means that you've incorrectly installed the homebrew.
Using a different menu
v1.000 of the loader ships with a default menu, emenu--.pbp.
It's also possible to install optional alternative menus, such as 'Choice'.
The loader will use emenu--.pbp menu by default. If you want to use one of the alternatives, then edit the loadmenu1000.cfg file (with Notepad, or any other text editor), and change the following line:
menu=ms0:/psp/eloader/emenu--.pbp
to point at the location of the alternative menu's .PBP file.
Troubleshooting
If you have problems with an individual EBOOT getting to the "Press X to launch the program" screen, but crashing immediately after, here are a few things to try:
Make sure you are trying to run it as the first thing you do after a clean reboot of your PSP
Use v1.0 EBOOTs in preference to v1.5.
Make sure that you read any README supplied with the homebrew, and followed the installation instructions (for v1.0, preferably) carefully.
Make sure that any support files (e.g. WAV files, graphics files) contained in the ZIP file are copied into the same place on the memory stick, relative to the EBOOT file.
Experiment with the launcher options in the configuration file. (see below)
someone might already have found a way to make this EBOOT work.
If you see a message during the loading process, saying "Found suspicious hard path", then this means the loader detected that the application depends upon being in a specific location on the memory stick. Usually the path will mention a specific file - try moving the application folder so that the file is in the place shown.
If you find that one of these steps helps, then please send us details on what you did to make the EBOOT work - we can build the workarounds automatically into the next version of the loader.
NOTE: If the eLoader aborted the process before reaching the "press X" screen, then don't bother trying these steps - there's no way that EBOOT will currently work, but please remember to send the details of the error message to me, so that I can attempt to change the code to make it work.
Configuration File
v0.8.5 and beyond of the loader support configuration via a file, /psp/game/eloader/LOADER1000.CFG. See inside the file for basic details on what the various options do. For most purposes, the defaults should be sufficient.
If you want to try to tweak the options for a specific EBOOT, here are some pointers:
Each EBOOT has a special signature that identifies it to the eLoader. To find out the signature, use the bundled Windows program "EBOOT_SIGNATURE.EXE". This will tell you the name you need to use for the config file section header for the EBOOT.
The following options are the most common ones to change to make a specific EBOOT work. Often, changing one of these (more-or-less at random) will fix the more sensitive EBOOTs such as USER_LUA. Try changing these one at a time, in this order, for best results.
passparameters
confirm
callinit
clearscreen
initbssfull
initbsspartial
If you want to suppress screen-spam during loading of a known-good EBOOT, you can try changing these options. You may find that the EBOOT stops working after changing an option - if so, just change it back. confirm displays the 'press X to start' menu.
unknownNIDwarning warns you if some system calls requested by the EBOOT couldn't be identified.
patchkernelwarning warns you if the EBOOT is kernel-mode. For some EBOOTs, this doesn't matter.
ignorefixedpath warns you if the EBOOT contains a suspicious- looking filename, that implies it might need to be run from a fixed location on the memory stick
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