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How to get Skies Of Arcadia (echelon) working properly!!!!

aika-san

New member
Skies Of Arcadia - Echelon Patch (SOAPatcher) v3.01

SOAPatcher v3.01

Here is the patch to make the standard echelon version of Skies Of Arcadia work properly on Chankast. This program automatically removes the echelon trainer plus there are solutions to all the known major bugs contained within the SOAPatcher documentation. This is version 3.01 of the patch. Make sure to read the 'Manual.txt' file BEFORE running the program. All the instructions you require are in there.

Programming - aika-san
Original Patch - Strange
Title and Logo Design - Fina
Beta Testers, Bug Reports and Bug Solutions - Fina, dreamer and Siro
Additional Help - Elorien, Machiney, elifecyber, BountyJedi, WALFER, alien{S}py, Frank Russo and moxing

Enjoy!!!

IMPORTANT : This new version 3.01 fixes several major bugs where the patch may not be applied sucessfully under certain conditions. The entire program has been re-written from scratch. Daemon Tools v3.29 is also now included in the download, just in case you have trouble finding it. This version 3.01 also contains much more extensive documentation.

If you are using an earlier v1.0, v1.1, v1.2, v1.3 or v2.0 version of the patch, you are recommended to download and use this one instead. THE OLDER PATCHES DO NOT APPLY THE PATCH SOMETIMES DEPENDING ON WHICH FOLDER YOU RUN THE PROGRAM FROM.

Your feedback on whether this works for you or not will be greatly appreciated.

I also won't take any responsibility if this program damages your computer in any way. All versions posted have worked fine for me. You, however, use it at your own risk.

This version supports both CD1 and CD2. There will be no further updates until:

1 - Someone posts a problem with v3.01 in this thread. In the event this happens I will quickly release an interim v3.02 version which will address and hopefully fix their problem.

2 - Someone completes the entire game with SOAPatcher v3.01. Then I will release v3.1 which will be the same program but with additions to the documentation detailing solutions and workarounds to all bugs found in the game. This version 3.1 will then be the final release.

You will find the link to download SOAPatcher v3.01 just beneath the picture. This picture was taken while running the SOAPatcher modified version of Skies Of Arcadia with Chankast v0.25 and Daemon Tools v3.29.
 
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OP
A

aika-san

New member
DarthDazDC said:
Can this work for the echleon version of ready 2 rumble round 2 and other echleon boot games then?

If u can find someone with a working non-echelon version then it would be possible to get them to make a patch in a similar manner. Then you could use the same type of technique to remove the echelon stuff and it may work. I almost started tearing my hair out doing Skies Of Arcadia though. :yucky: It would have been easier/quicker if I had the echelon version myself (hard to fix something you haven't got/seen). The people who have helped did an excellent job though. Maybe you can get some help on getting another echelon game going in the same way I have done for this game. :bouncy:
 

dreamer

New member
i'm up to here: '9. The patch will now be applied and you will find that the 'bonito.drv' file has got a lot larger. It will probably be around 5MB in size now. Rename this new 5MB file to 1ST_READ.BIN and place it in your Exoboot data folder OVERWRITING the original 1ST_READ.BIN that is already in there. You are finished with LIPS now.'

it doesnt overight the old 1ST_READ.BIN because it says the original is a .BIN, and the new 1ST_READ.BIN is really a device driver. :\
 

dreamer

New member
nope. it wont work for me, i get stuck when i create a patched .BIN
it wont create a BIN, it creates a DR or something instead, what's going on...
 

dreamer

New member
Machiney said:
sorry fot the dumb question, but how can i make a copy of that bonito.drv file? where? lol :(

it's already in the 'data' folder than you copied the skies of acradia disk into...so you highlight it and copy.
 

Machiney

aufs Maul?
dreamer said:
it's already in the 'data' folder than you copied the skies of acradia disk into...so you highlight it and copy.
sorry i didnt get it..
which data folder do you mean? exoboot/data?
sorry the folder was empty..
 

DarthDazDC

An Alright Guy
Just click once on the dummy file, right click, select copy, then go to any folder and right click, then go on paste and voila.
 

Machiney

aufs Maul?
which dummy file?! are we talking about exoboot now? sorry, maybe i am blind, but i couldnt find something like this..
nub needs help, thx
 

dreamer

New member
Machiney said:
which dummy file?! are we talking about exoboot now? sorry, maybe i am blind, but i couldnt find something like this..
nub needs help, thx

the folder 'data' should be in exothingy, you said its empty. mount SOA on a virtual device and load it up, it should come up with a box saying 'open with' (it does for me). choose open as folder, and you get the contents, highlight all of this and right click. copy this and paste into the emtpy data folder, this may take a few minutes.
 

Machiney

aufs Maul?
dreamer said:
nope. it wont work for me, i get stuck when i create a patched .BIN
it wont create a BIN, it creates a DR or something instead, what's going on...
now i have the same problem like you..

btw thx ladies for your help :)
 
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aika-san

New member
Machiney said:
btw thx ladies for your help

Just had a quick look to make sure. Nope, not wearing panties.... :happy:

dreamer said:
it doesnt overight the old 1ST_READ.BIN \

I never said it does overwrite the old 1st_read.bin. You do that. Apply the patch to a BACKUP copy of bonito.drv and bonito.drv gets bigger. The reason why is because the patch actually changes the data in the bonito.drv file into the data that should be in the 1st_read.bin So, all you have to do is rename the new, patched, bigger bonito.drv to 1st_read.bin and it is now effectively a new 1st_read.bin, NOT A DEVICE DRIVER.

You then copy this new 1st_read.bin into the exoboot data folder overwriting the old 1st_read.bin that's already in there.

dreamer said:
the new 1ST_READ.BIN is really a device driver.

One final time (for clarity), the patch actually changes the data in the bonito.drv file into the data that should be in the 1st_read.bin So, all you have to do is rename the new, patched, bigger bonito.drv to 1st_read.bin and it is now effectively a new 1st_read.bin, NOT A DEVICE DRIVER.

If you cannot understand this concept, I can't really help you. I have described it as plainly as I can. You do understand that this patch COMPLETELY changes ALL of the data in bonito.drv into a working 1st_read.bin, and the only thing you need to do is rename the patched bonito.drv to 1st_read.bin and put it in exoboot's data folder overwriting the old 1st_read.bin (its has nothing in common with bonito.drv anymore), then you can continue with step 10.

I hope this makes it clear enough for. All you have to do is apply the patch, rename the file, and put it in the data folder. It's pretty straightforward. Don't say, but it's still a device driver, because bonito.drv was only 21.8kb, whereas the file you copy to the data folder is around 5MB in size. Which, amazingly enough, is about the same size that the 1st_read.bin should be. That's because bonito.drv has now become 1st_read.bin, all you had to do was rename it.

dreamer said:
nope. it wont work for me, i get stuck when i create a patched .BIN
it wont create a BIN, it creates a DR or something instead, what's going on...

Your not IPS patching the 1st_read.bin file, you are IPS patching bonito.drv, so it won't be called .BIN until you rename it to 1st_read.bin, which is what you are meant to do after IPS patching it.

Please be more specific, DR or something is not good enough. I am taking the time to type everything out in simple terms. How can I help you if you can't be bothered to find out the correct name of the "DR or somethin" file it creates. A pair of screenshots of the contents of the LIPS folder just before and just after the patch has been applied would help too. Take both screenshots with the patch and the bonito.drv files in the LIPS folder, one before you apply the patch and one just after you apply the patch. Make sure you select "view -> details" on the window before taking the screenshot, so that file sizes are displayed. Also make sure extensions are displayed too.

BTW, I just tried the patch on my non-echelon bonito.drv which is 36kb in size (not even the correct size), and it does make the bonito.drv about 5.3MB in size without creating any new files, so I know it works properly, even on my incorrect bonito.drv file. What size is your bonito.drv then??? Is it the correct size (as described in my walkthroug), or is it 36kb (like my non-echelon version), or is it a different size again??

Now, please don't take this the wrong way. I'm getting the impression that most people now have the game running, as you and Machiney are the only ones who have reported problems. However, judging by all the problems you are having with my walkthrough, I also get the impression that you don't fully understand what you are doing when following these instructions. Have you ever applied an IPS patch before this one? Do you understand what an IPS patcher does? Have you ever used Exoboot to rebuild a .cdi image before? If the answer to 1 or more of these questions is no, then you should really read through some more threads with information pertaining to what area you are lacking in. That's how I learnt all this stuff, by reading as much as what I could about what I wanted to know. Your search tools are your best friend. I don't know everything about PC's (i don't think anyone can), but I do know how to find the information I need to learn whatever is required. No-one ever gave me explicit instruction like I have done for you, but I can't help you if you cannot describe the problem explicitly.

Hope this helps. :happy:
 
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dreamer

New member
okay, i understand that. but when you said 'replace' i thought it would actually replace the file, as it was the same name. as i had tried to follow your guide as best i could, i had put the new file (yes, about 5 mbs) into the data folder, and tried to make an image. i deleted the old 1st_read_bin because it doesnt overright the file automatically, is this wrong? anyway, it gave an error while trying to make an image and said there was no .bin file in the folder.

i am probably having problems with this because i have never used these programs/patched/ips/hacked any other DC games. hmm, i shall report back after i try the whole thing again.

my only question is when you say 'Replace' do i delete the old 1st_read_bin, or just put them both in the same folder. it doesnt automatically overright even when they are named the same for some reason. okay
later
 

dreamer

New member
man...im lost...i get completely what your saying, just Exoboot wont make the cdi, i have selected the data folder when it is open, but it's always the same -


'Preparing directories and copying files:
Please Wait....
The system cannot find the path specified.
The system cannot find the path specified.
The system cannot find the path specified.
The system cannot find the path specified.

Running BINHACK

IP.BIN/1ST_READ.BIN Self-Boot Hacker - Echelon 2000

Enter name of binary: Enter name of bootsector: Error opening 1ST_READ.BIN.

Copying over hacked binary


Mkisofs: Warning: -C specified without -M: old session data will not be merged.
Mkisofs: No such file or directory. Invalid node - C:\Documents
bin2boot - makes selfboot cdi from bin, cue, or iso
beta made by xeal - xeal.cjb.net

filename length: 8
Extension: .iso
The file data.iso does not exist.
Could Not Find C:\DOCUME~1\Jamie\MYDOCU~1\EMULAT~1\SKIESO~1\data.iso
Could Not Find C:\DOCUME~1\Jamie\MYDOCU~1\EMULAT~1\SKIESO~1\*.tmp
The system cannot find the file specified.
Your selfboot game f.cdi is ready.You will find it here:C:\Documents and Setting
s\Jamie\My Documents\Emulation\skies of arcadia worky thiny
Enjoy
Press any key to continue . . .'

whats 'data.iso' i dont have it yet cos the damn thing wont make it >_>. anyway that's what came up in dos...u know what this means? and sorry to bother you with this again.
 
OP
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aika-san

New member
Here. I've made an easier way for you to do it:

1. copy bonito.drv from your mounted image into your LIPS folder
2. put stranges patch there too
3. get the aikasan.exe file i have attached here and put that in there too.
4. Apply the patch to bonito.drv
5. bonito.drv should now be around 5mb
6. don't attempt to rename it. just run aikasan.exe
7. now you should find there is a 1st_read.bin file there, also around 5mb in size.
8. don't attempt to rename it. aikasan program has done it correctly for you!
9. just copy the 1st_read.bin aikasan created into exoboot folder. windows will warn that you are going to overwrite. click yes.

continue with step 10 of the original document.
 
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aika-san

New member
dreamer said:
Could Not Find C:\DOCUME~1\Jamie\MYDOCU~1\EMULAT~1\SKIESO~1\data.iso

dude, you have exoboot buried like how many directorys down. try putting it in c:\exoboot

not c:\blaaahf\ghjvhnbhb\ghjbghkghhjkl\jkbhjbjk ljbn\ghuhjhjklhj\exoboot

exoboot does not like long pathnames or pathnames containing spaces or strange characters.
 

dreamer

New member
hmm, thanks...but before i try that prog (thanks a lot for helping) i must ask - is all it does 'change the file name'? i can see the extentions, and REPLACED the 1ST_READ.BIN.
it is now properly replaced, however, it STILL doesnt work, i appear to be stuck at stage 12, as exoboot finds a whole bunch of errors and refused to create SOA.CDI (soa - just a name for the file). i can copy what the dos window has put here:
' Preparing directories and copying files:
Please Wait....
The system cannot find the path specified.
The system cannot find the path specified.
The system cannot find the path specified.
The system cannot find the path specified.

Running BINHACK

IP.BIN/1ST_READ.BIN Self-Boot Hacker - Echelon 2000

Enter name of binary: Enter name of bootsector: Error opening 1ST_READ.BIN.

Copying over hacked binary


Mkisofs: Warning: -C specified without -M: old session data will not be merged.
Mkisofs: No such file or directory. Invalid node - C:\Documents
bin2boot - makes selfboot cdi from bin, cue, or iso
beta made by xeal - xeal.cjb.net

filename length: 8
Extension: .iso
The file data.iso does not exist.
Could Not Find C:\DOCUME~1\Jamie\MYDOCU~1\EMULAT~1\SKIESO~1\data.iso
Could Not Find C:\DOCUME~1\Jamie\MYDOCU~1\EMULAT~1\SKIESO~1\*.tmp
The system cannot find the file specified.
Your selfboot game SOA.cdi is ready.You will find it here:C:\Documents and Setti
ngs\Jamie\My Documents\Emulation\skies of arcadia worky thiny
Enjoy
Press any key to continue . . .
moz-screenshot.jpg
 

dreamer

New member
aika-san said:
dude, you have exoboot buried like how many directorys down. try putting it in c:\exoboot

not c:\blaaahf\ghjvhnbhb\ghjbghkghhjkl\jkbhjbjk ljbn\ghuhjhjklhj\exoboot

exoboot does not like long pathnames or pathnames containing spaces or strange characters.

oh okay ^_^ lets hope this damn thing works after i put lower the extensions >_> , brb

Edit: i may make mistakes cos im tired, but u know what i mean o.o
it's 2:08 am here!
 

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