PSX GameShark Pro...Info and Tools

[kh2k4]

I deleted duplicate codes and games from my codelist which results in 300 games, dumped the codelist then cleared my codelist from the memory card using Select+O but when I transfer the codelist back it's 312 games there's a few repeats like for instance Tomb Raider 3 and Tomb Raider III both with the exact same codes but when I delete one the games and reset the console it always comes back with the same two games as if I hadn't deleted one of them

I only managed to dump the codelist with PSXUTILS v.105-06 using the serial cable with cdx v3.3, gscc wouldn't recognize it since it classes gs v3.x as a LPT port and has no option for serial CDX devices, on the packaged tutorial vhs though it says you can use a Serial to Parallel converter so i'm thinking about seeing if putting a converter on the end of the cable with get it to recognize as a LPT port device in gscc and the other psxutils versions. Also I had to run it under Windows ME since XP just stalls when you try to communicate with the console, I guess that totalio port opener thingy only works for the LPT?

[Mezmorize]

My desktop pc wouldn't never connect to any of the game shark programs properly except for the flashing program. I ultimately had to get out an old windows 98 laptop running xp for the port to work as it should. I do remember having to restart it often if the totalIO service didn't start correctly. Don't make since why it wouldn't save your settings after deleting though.

[kh2k4]

http://www.gsmcables.i12.com/xianaix.htm

hmmmmm

[Mezmorize]

Interesting stuff, one of these days I'll find the free time to get back to messing with the Game Shark Pro.

On that note, I'm just now noticing a post from the co-developer of ar3stop on one of my sites.
5 months later....lol

Anyway here is what he wrote:

Blogger Kamilion Schnook said...

Ahhh, thanks.
Long long ago, somewhere around 2000ish, Herben and I got together and wrote ar3stop.

A friend gave me a SCPH-7501 recently, and I dug out my original GSP3.2 cart that the old ar3stop was developed on, and promptly totaled it due to forgetting about the VMem bug.
Now I have it back thanks to you.

Thanks for finally fixing the VMem issue -- how'd you do it?

Feel free to continue to distribute it to anyone who needs it. You can pass any questions on to me.

Just a note: Hanimar's ar3flash.exe flasher works best with Windows 98's DOS boot disk, with the bios set to "Bidirectional" parallel port.
It also seems to work with FreeDOS as well.

I'll try to recover my old GS code archive, if I'm successful, I'll send you a copy of the raw rom with the updated codelist.

August 3, 2009 2:41 AM
blogspot.com

[CLH]

Im having the hardest time getting this to work.

The method you described with 3.0 users would never work for me.
Yet once I upgraded to AR3stop my backup loaded.

But my main problem is that my backups are loading s-l-o-w.
I cringe everytime I run into a load point (and it being psx, thats all the time).
Can anyone help, im using SONY CD-R and burning at 8x & 16x, both gave horrible results.

Also is their any possible way to use GSpro to boot backups of import games?

[Mezmorize]

A couple months ago, for the first time, I had a hard drive fail with all my more important files...

I obtained another unopened GameShark Pro for a friend to fix up to load burnt games. I decided to just give him my old hacked one and I've been messing around with the flashing tools etc once again in my spare time.

Just thought it would be worth mentioning that I turned this old post into a guide on "how to Import and Export Memory Cards to and from a GSPro/AR3 ROM".

Hanimar's AR3Flash v0.32 is used to extract/flash the ROM to the GameShark Pro, but the guide is for everything else...

[kh2k4]

Well i've just found out that the Planet Psx Cheats volumes are a cut down version of the cdx with the adding cheats, str / tim viewer and cd player removed, it may help me figurer out how to bypass the cdx check.

[Mezmorize]

I have one of those dongle things, and have no disc to go with it.

Thing is, I'm not sure if it's for PS1 or PS2.
It's black and says AR Max, so I suppose it's for PS2...

[kh2k4]

Yeah MAX is for the PS2 that dongle is just a 16 or 32MB memory card.
I went through my demo disc's and found a hidden demo like you it contains a kite and a block of cheese

[kh2k4]

Had a look at executables for AR 4.2 and AR / GS CDX v3.3 in ps2dis today and found that the save paths are different.

Action Replay v4.2

bu00:CODELIST00
bu00:OPTIONS0000

Action Replay / GameShark CDX V3.3

bu00:CODELIST00
bu00:DATELCODES

I tried editing a save from v4.2 to see if it'd bypass the cdx check when using it with cdx v3.3 but the only ps1 save editor I know of is MemcardRex and it has a few limtations that prevent it as Datel didn't follow the 10 letter / digit format format for the product id / save folder as you can in MemcardRex it just reds the last ten letters / digits
TIONS0000 instead of OPTIONS0000
and
DELIST00 instead of CODELIST00
the save title is also shown as blank instead of Options and Code List, i've tried hex editing the save myself but I just end up currupting it

[Mezmorize]

That DATELCODES looks very familiar from the 3.0 and 3.2 GSPro.
I suppose all the 3.x code saves are compatible with each other?
Like if you press select or whatever on the menu of the Pro and dump a game's codes to the memory card, can you load/import them in the v3.3?

I noticed issues with the save format long ago. The very first time that the first dump to the memory card is made is the only clean dump. Each one after that will leave fragments of leftover words from previous games/codes. The GameShark Pro seems to always show the titles correctly though, so I'm sure there's some address that tells it how many characters to read for the title (for instance).

It looks like your MemcardRex is outdated, the current version is v1.4. Here is the homepage.

Edit:
Oh yeah, I meant to mention that I'm considering buying the version 3.1 GameShark Pro that's on ebay right now. I mostly just want to dump the ROM...

[kh2k4]

That DATELCODES looks very familiar from the 3.0 and 3.2 GSPro.
I suppose all the 3.x code saves are compatible with each other?
Like if you press select or whatever on the menu of the Pro and dump a game's codes to the memory card, can you load/import them in the v3.3?

I noticed issues with the save format long ago. The very first time that the first dump to the memory card is made is the only clean dump. Each one after that will leave fragments of leftover words from previous games/codes. The GameShark Pro seems to always show the titles correctly though, so I'm sure there's some address that tells it how many characters to read for the title (for instance).

It looks like your MemcardRex is outdated, the current version is v1.4. Here is the homepage.

Edit:
Oh yeah, I meant to mention that I'm considering buying the version 3.1 GameShark Pro that's on ebay right now. I mostly just want to dump the ROM...

I don't know could you upload a 3.x save for me to try since I get can't any data off the cdx other than that of a using serial cable with cdxutils for uploading and downloading codes, it doesn't show up in the ps1 memory card manager.
I found another tool PSXGameEdit v.160 and it showing the game save title correctly instead of blank like MemcardRex but game id is still chopped short, i tried the updated MemcardRex and it was still the same.

[Mezmorize]

Attached is a save from version 3.2.

I simply added the .txt extension so I could attach it here and not have to use an external site for 8kb, so just delete the extension and it's good to go...

[kh2k4]

ugh I meant as a 128KB save like epsxe .mcr or any of the others, I think what u uploaded is the file you see in the root of the save or a exported single save you didn't specifiy what format it was in.

[Mezmorize]

If you press Select on the GSPro while highlighting a game, that's how you dump the codes to the MC.

That's what I did, and then put the MC in the PS2 to transfer the save to USB.
I never did open it with MemcardRex or anything.

I'm at work now, so It'll be like 10 hours 'till I can upload anything else.
You should be able to import the raw save with Rex and export a full card of your choice.