Hi to all,
I'm new to the forums but not new to emulation and been toying around with Chankast for awhile now, I wanted to share my instructions on anyone still having problems on how to save and load there games using the vmsbrowser.exe. Im NOT posting as a moderator(of course
) but instead would like to help if I can. This is how I got mine to work, please read on.....
Things will need are as follows:
1.vmsbrowser.exe (should already come in the Chankast Alpha .25 package) assuming that everyone has already uncompressed the .zip or .rar package.
2.VMS.bin or VMSB1.bin(you usually will get this when you open up vmsbrowser.exe and click "write VMS.bin" on the right hand side.
Ok so first things first, doubleclick on vmsbrowser.exe, you'll get the window that shows the picture of Dreamcast VMU's on the left hand side, which are called VMS files as you should see above them. Then in the center youll see an empty box area where the "List of files on VMS memory" will be when we save something. Then finally on the right hand side you have several boxes "Reload VMS.BIN" "Write VMS.BIN", "Import Save", "Export.DCI", "Export RAW", "Delete File" and "Fix CRC". At the moment we're only going to worry about Reload and Write VMS.bin. So first we need a VMS.bin file click "Write VMS.bin", if you look in the folder where you extracted all the CHankast files you should now see a VMS.bin file if you already didnt have one, if not nothing to worry about, we will definately be getting one very soon. Close vmsbrowser.exe.
The next thing we need to do is fire up Chankast with NO games! Just click "Start" under "Run" you should now be looking at the Dreamcast Menu for settings/options. Using your control pad or however you have your directional keys setup, select "File" now you should be looking at Controller A and Controller B, both with there VMU files below them. Lets work with Controller A, select the VMU under controller A, when you do you should see a confirmation screen of either to "Delete all(Memory reset), or "Cancel", well since we have nothing saved on here anyways we're going to "Delete all", basically we're formatting this VMU so we can free up the 200 blocks it has on it, you may be asked to select a picture of your choice and if you want the VMU a different color, choose those if you wish. Once your all done exit out of the menu of the Dreamcast(close everything).
Next, doubleclick the vmsbrowser.exe, once you're in the vmsbrowser window click on the top VMU the one that has your color and picture on it, if you set one, and to the right you should see that this VMU now has 200 free blocks on it, now its time to finally save something. So now to the fun part, fire up Chankast with the game you want to test and save. A good test is to get a game that you can change the settings on how you prefer them when you play, go to the options of the game set difficulty, change controller, speed, sound, ya-da, ya-da. Now, since we didnt close out vmsbrowser.exe(because I didnt say to close it...hehe)you should see the vmsbrowser window on your taskbar still, when you are all done with the settings of the game click on the vmsbrowser window, click on the top VMU the one we have 200 blocks for, then click on "Write VMS.bin", to check to see if it saved, your VMS.bin file should have the same time and date of your computer(good verification). OK now you should have a saved file, to see this in the "List of Files in VMS memory" you need to click "Reload VMS.bin" your file should now appear in the window, and when you click on the file itself it should give you all the pertanent info on the right hand side, file name, how many blocks the game is using, date, time and so on.
Ok so now moving onward we are now going to load the file for the game you want to play, start up vmsbrowser.exe, click "Reload VMS.bin" to get your files in the list on the memory, its easier to see your saved game files this way and manage which files you want to reload and so on, and may I also suggest you keep vmsbrowser open while playing that way you can load and save easier. So now fire up the game you want to play, click on the VMSbrowser window then click the game file displayed for that game, then click "Reload VMS.bin", the game should now put you at the point in which you last saved with all your settings. When your finished playing, to save just click "Write VMS.bin" and your file should now be saved with the current time and date of your computer.
Well Congratulations! You now know how to save and load your games! Hopefully this helps clear up some confusion and if you have questions please post em.....Thanks!
IF you want to use someone else's saved file, try "Import Save", I havent done this yet but its pretty clear what it says.
NOTE: This was intended to help those having trouble with vmsbrowser.exe, and reduce the amount of posts about saving/loading.
Sincerely,
Jester15x
I'm new to the forums but not new to emulation and been toying around with Chankast for awhile now, I wanted to share my instructions on anyone still having problems on how to save and load there games using the vmsbrowser.exe. Im NOT posting as a moderator(of course
) but instead would like to help if I can. This is how I got mine to work, please read on.....Things will need are as follows:
1.vmsbrowser.exe (should already come in the Chankast Alpha .25 package) assuming that everyone has already uncompressed the .zip or .rar package.
2.VMS.bin or VMSB1.bin(you usually will get this when you open up vmsbrowser.exe and click "write VMS.bin" on the right hand side.
Ok so first things first, doubleclick on vmsbrowser.exe, you'll get the window that shows the picture of Dreamcast VMU's on the left hand side, which are called VMS files as you should see above them. Then in the center youll see an empty box area where the "List of files on VMS memory" will be when we save something. Then finally on the right hand side you have several boxes "Reload VMS.BIN" "Write VMS.BIN", "Import Save", "Export.DCI", "Export RAW", "Delete File" and "Fix CRC". At the moment we're only going to worry about Reload and Write VMS.bin. So first we need a VMS.bin file click "Write VMS.bin", if you look in the folder where you extracted all the CHankast files you should now see a VMS.bin file if you already didnt have one, if not nothing to worry about, we will definately be getting one very soon. Close vmsbrowser.exe.
The next thing we need to do is fire up Chankast with NO games! Just click "Start" under "Run" you should now be looking at the Dreamcast Menu for settings/options. Using your control pad or however you have your directional keys setup, select "File" now you should be looking at Controller A and Controller B, both with there VMU files below them. Lets work with Controller A, select the VMU under controller A, when you do you should see a confirmation screen of either to "Delete all(Memory reset), or "Cancel", well since we have nothing saved on here anyways we're going to "Delete all", basically we're formatting this VMU so we can free up the 200 blocks it has on it, you may be asked to select a picture of your choice and if you want the VMU a different color, choose those if you wish. Once your all done exit out of the menu of the Dreamcast(close everything).
Next, doubleclick the vmsbrowser.exe, once you're in the vmsbrowser window click on the top VMU the one that has your color and picture on it, if you set one, and to the right you should see that this VMU now has 200 free blocks on it, now its time to finally save something. So now to the fun part, fire up Chankast with the game you want to test and save. A good test is to get a game that you can change the settings on how you prefer them when you play, go to the options of the game set difficulty, change controller, speed, sound, ya-da, ya-da. Now, since we didnt close out vmsbrowser.exe(because I didnt say to close it...hehe)you should see the vmsbrowser window on your taskbar still, when you are all done with the settings of the game click on the vmsbrowser window, click on the top VMU the one we have 200 blocks for, then click on "Write VMS.bin", to check to see if it saved, your VMS.bin file should have the same time and date of your computer(good verification). OK now you should have a saved file, to see this in the "List of Files in VMS memory" you need to click "Reload VMS.bin" your file should now appear in the window, and when you click on the file itself it should give you all the pertanent info on the right hand side, file name, how many blocks the game is using, date, time and so on.
Ok so now moving onward we are now going to load the file for the game you want to play, start up vmsbrowser.exe, click "Reload VMS.bin" to get your files in the list on the memory, its easier to see your saved game files this way and manage which files you want to reload and so on, and may I also suggest you keep vmsbrowser open while playing that way you can load and save easier. So now fire up the game you want to play, click on the VMSbrowser window then click the game file displayed for that game, then click "Reload VMS.bin", the game should now put you at the point in which you last saved with all your settings. When your finished playing, to save just click "Write VMS.bin" and your file should now be saved with the current time and date of your computer.
Well Congratulations! You now know how to save and load your games! Hopefully this helps clear up some confusion and if you have questions please post em.....Thanks!
IF you want to use someone else's saved file, try "Import Save", I havent done this yet but its pretty clear what it says.
NOTE: This was intended to help those having trouble with vmsbrowser.exe, and reduce the amount of posts about saving/loading.
Sincerely,
Jester15x
Last edited:
