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

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A

aika-san

New member
Read my previous reply, and step 12 of the original document. You have exoboot buried in too many folders. Put it all in c:\exoboot and try again.

youre nearly there. fix the directory path problem and you are done. everything should work fine then.

aikasan does 2 things. makes a copy of bonito.drv and renames it to 1st_read.bin

if bonito.drv does not exist then aikasan program will exit without doing anything.

don't worry, I been programming for a few years now. It won't hurt anything.

you reckon your tired. :p

reply ASAP if you have it going please 'cause I really need to go out. It's 10:39 AM here.
 
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dreamer

New member
dude, its working! damn, that took a long time...anyways, thanks a LOT for the help at this late hour, i just hope the game wont crash as much as the USA version. thanks a lot!
 
OP
A

aika-san

New member
:party: :party: :party: :party: :party: :party: :party: :party:
:party: :party: :party: :party: :party: :party: :party: :party:
:party: :party: :party: :party: :party: :party: :party: :party:
:party: :party: :party: :party: :party: :party: :party: :party:
:party: :party: :party: :party: :party: :party: :party: :party:

I probably won't post on these forums much anymore, unless anyone has more problems with Skies Of Arcadia as that was the only game I wanted to see running for everyone.

There is enough info in the threads I have posted in for everyone to be able to get the game running, so I will leave the other members to handle any newbies trying to get it going.

Later on (a month or 2), I may have an attempt at another RPG, but now I'm going to take a break.

I have also updated the original step-by-step document so you won't have any of the problems that are listed in this thread. If you follow it, to the letter, you won't have any problems.

Seeya everyone (at least for a while),
aika-san
 
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OP
A

aika-san

New member
aika-san said:
I have also updated the original step-by-step document so you won't have any of the problems that are listed in this thread. If you follow it, to the letter, you won't have any problems.

Did you use the new/updated version of my document. It includes updated instruction and an 'aikasan' program. Pay very careful attention to what is written in red!

dreamer said:
dude, its working! damn, that took a long time...anyways, thanks a LOT for the help at this late hour, i just hope the game wont crash as much as the USA version. thanks a lot!

It appears to be working for everyone else....

http://www.emutalk.net/showthread.php?t=23418&page=1&pp=15
 
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Fina

New member
This worked for me. I had two issues though.

After the .cdi image was 100% complete, it told me that there was no IP.BIN and asked if I wanted to create one. You have to tell it Yes, create the IP.BIN file. Next, it will ask you for some file name. Type 1ST_READ.BIN and hit enter. The program will then save the .cdi image.

Second problem was an IO error in chankast. This was fixed by downgrading my Daemon Tools.

Now the game works! It's so damn beautiful too.

http://dynamic3.gamespy.com/~soaworld/iB_html/uploads/post-13-76033-Trio.jpg

Thanks for your help.
 

moxing

New member
thanks...............but the disc 2 1st_read.bin is 3 mb
use this tools make cdi easy. only xxx.bat.

////removed////

sorry,it's chinese and simply eng..............
how can I do it? disc 2 BONITO.DRV....................


///Edit////

Don't post that again
 
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OP
A

aika-san

New member
Fina said:
This worked for me. I had two issues though.

After the .cdi image was 100% complete, it told me that there was no IP.BIN and asked if I wanted to create one. You have to tell it Yes, create the IP.BIN file. Next, it will ask you for some file name. Type 1ST_READ.BIN and hit enter. The program will then save the .cdi image.

Second problem was an IO error in chankast. This was fixed by downgrading my Daemon Tools.

Now the game works! It's so damn beautiful too.

http://dynamic3.gamespy.com/~soaworld/iB_html/uploads/post-13-76033-Trio.jpg

Thanks for your help.

Excellent. Unfortunately I have not got the echelon version, so it has been difficult for me to help properly especially when you consider the small amount of feedback I have been getting on the walkthrough which I have worked so hard to produce. This is all set to change though, as I will have disk 1 of the echelon version myself shortly, then I will be able to do all the tests I require in order to make the walkthrough as accurate as possible for disc 1. Then I will work towards getting echelon disk 2, which may or may not require a different patch. Maybe Strange can make a bonito.drv disk 2 patch (hint, hint) and upload that (please help one last time Strange).

Thankyou for your feedback. Other people should take note, as this makes my job much easier. Until I have the echelon version, I can only go by what people tell me. If people don't tell me anything then I can't really do anything.
 

Strange

New member
Then I will work towards getting echelon disk 2, which may or may not require a different patch. Maybe Strange can make a bonito.drv disk 2 patch (hint, hint) and upload that (please help one last time Strange).
Hmm, whats the point in making patch for CD2 when you can just use my 1st_read.bin for all 2 CDs? BTW, thats 1st_read.bin what i used for patch was from CD2 none eshelon Europe version...
 
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OP
A

aika-san

New member
Strange said:
Hmm, whats the point in making patch for CD2 when you can just use my 1st_read.bin for all 2 CDs? BTW, thats 1st_read.bin what i used for patch was from CD2 none eshelon Europe version...

Apologies. Yeah your right!!! What am I thinking? I'm starting to get lost myself and I don't even have the echelon version yet.... :blush: :blush: :blush:

At the moment my mind is in a bit of a shambles. I'm building a fully optioned pentium 4 3.2 ghz for work, and trying to get this Skies problem sorted out, and also programming my rpg, amongst the other things that 'normal' life entails.... :whistling

There is another method of getting CD2 going as well. I posted a version of this technique a while ago but no-one said whether it works using the echelon version though. Can't see why it wont, though...

-mount patched cd1 using daemon tools
-start chankast in window mode
-boot to the new game screen using patched cd1.
-pause chankast using the menu option 'run->pause'
-unmount patched cd1 and then mount unpatched cd2
-unpause chankast

the game then continues working and i can start a new game even though i now have cd2 mounted.

basically, i managed to swap from cd1 to cd2 at the new game screen without resetting the emulator, but i don't have the echelon version yet to test whether it works using that.

Anyway, I'm certain we are all very close to having our problems solved. I just need this echelon version, and a few days to whip up a much improved walkthrough...

This has been interesting up until now. I don't think it is impossible to do, just difficult for newbies who have never done this type of stuff before. We've gotten past the problem to some degree and I just hope that it turns out to all work properly for everyone in the end.
 
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Fina

New member
My SoA disk 2 already had the bonito.drv file on it. Both disks converted without incident. However, if you have disk1 'loaded' and try to load a save-game from disk2, the game will not recognize disk2 when you 'load' it in. The game will tell you "This is not Disk 2, please insert Disk 2." It works fine if you start the game up on disk2 and load the game from there.

As far as the game stability, I've only had one crash so far. Unfortunately, it was at the very last boss after some long fights. :|
 
OP
A

aika-san

New member
Thankyou very muchly Fina. Maybe the crash was a one-of thing.

I just got the standard european echelon version of cd 1. This is the most popular version. I have applied the patch and it boots and plays perfectly (except the normal graphic/sound glitches). There is NO echelon problem and NO black screen when exiting the inventory (I must have done this around 20 times and it has not black screened yet). The game has not crashed yet, but I have not tested extensively so this issue may appear at a later time. It's likely that future versions of Chankast will fix these things anyway. The main thing is that the echelon and black screen issue are fixed. There are a few things that I have failed to mention in the walkthrough which may be causing issues for the newbies. Things like setting the bios to english permanently. Anyway, I am so happy, because IT IS GOING TO WORK!!!! Now I need to assemble/program my new newbie-proof walkthrough. I am thinking that I might bundle the whole lot together into one download and automate the whole process as this will make it even harder people to make mistakes. My questions are:

To Exoskeletor - Would it be permitted to bundle the correct version of exoboot with the patch, and automate the installation/running of exoboot so people don't have the pathname problems?

To Strange - Can I also modify and put your patch in this bundle also, for the same reasons?

I will make sure that everyone who gave help gets a mention!!

Anyway, this new walkthrough will be ready in around 7 days, and will be highly descriptive and checked around 5 times. The only reason that people will have trouble with this new walkthrough will be if they either do not have the correct echelon version or they are simply not following the instructions.

If I get the go-ahead to do the bundle, then I will write a program which checks that everything is correct before the patch is applied. This program will also automate the majority of the process too, so there will be much less areas where people can make mistakes as has been seen previously. It will also output a log file containing errors (if any) which you will be able to upload to me. This will allow me to diagnose and address any problems much quicker.

[UPDATE]

I have just finished testing a method that does almost everything automatically. It works. I am now using the older Fastboot instead of Exoboot. I will upload this new method in a few days. All you need to do with this new method is:

Make sure you have daemon tools v3.29 installed.

1. Mount your original echelon version using daemon tools
2. Copy everything from your mounted echelon version into the Fastboot Data folder. If you find that there is only 1 file on your mounted echelon version, then just reboot your computer while the .cdi is still mounted. Now you should find that you can copy all the files. I think this is a bug with daemon tools.
3. Unmount your original echelon version from daemon tools.
4. Run the SkiesPatch.exe program.
5. Wait for a few minutes as the program creates your new .cdi
6. Mount this new .cdi using Daemon Tools and start playing using Chankast.

Almost everything is done for you. You don't have to type anything. You don't have to worry about pathnames. You don't need to apply any patches. You don't need to rename anything and you don't need to delete anything. All of these things are done for you automatically. This new version will be a single downloadable winrar archive which will contain everything you require except daemon tools, chankast and the bios files

In a few days time I will update the original walkthrough with this new one, and replace the files you currently need to download with the single download version. If you can follow the above 6 steps correctly you will not have any problems.

Why don't I upload it now??? Because I still need to do further tests, and although I can simulate the automation, my SkiesPatch.exe program needs a bit more work yet before it is fully automated.

I'm real happy now, and I await your replies!!!! :bouncy: :bouncy: :bouncy:
 
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Elorien

New member
uuuurrrk Q_Q;

Okay, first off, thanks for the great walkthrough :p

I have a problem though, and I'm not sure why.

I went through the walkthrough a bunch of times (if you guys are still getting the error stuff when you go to create the cdi, make sure you -double- click the data folder. Just single clicking it isnt enough ^_~ )

*cough*

Anyways, once I got the process down, I ran both disks through it. Disk 1 continually comes up as 'Unable to mount image. Improper image file' in daemon when I try to mount it. Disk 2 mounts fine.

Any ideas? ;-; Please?

Edit: Okay, so I'm a stubborn girl :p I remade the image a few more times from the beginning. Last one came up as just under 700 megs, whereas the first was about 550. New one mounts without an image. I'm confused Q_Q but happy it finally worked. Yay!
 
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OP
A

aika-san

New member
Elorien said:
Okay, first off, thanks for the great walkthrough :p

I have a problem though, and I'm not sure why.

I went through the walkthrough a bunch of times (if you guys are still getting the error stuff when you go to create the cdi, make sure you -double- click the data folder. Just single clicking it isnt enough ^_~ )

*cough*

Anyways, once I got the process down, I ran both disks through it. Disk 1 continually comes up as 'Unable to mount image. Improper image file' in daemon when I try to mount it. Disk 2 mounts fine.

Any ideas? ;-; Please?

Edit: Okay, so I'm a stubborn girl :p I remade the image a few more times from the beginning. Last one came up as just under 700 megs, whereas the first was about 550. New one mounts without an image. I'm confused Q_Q but happy it finally worked. Yay!


Thankyou for the feedback. Both issues you mention will be fixed in the new automated walkthrough which I am preparing. Thankyou for pointing these out. I have updated the current temporary walkthrough to include your comment about double-clicking. I'm not sure why your first attempt did not work. I mean, if you do the same thing twice, then you should get the same result twice. Maybe windoze needed a reboot or something like that.

We would not have the echelon version going if I was not stubborn. Those who give up on first attempts are doomed to failure.
 
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