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Hacking PS1/2 Tonyhax International: Backup Loader For All Japanese, USA, and PAL PS1 Consoles/Early PS2 Consoles + GameShark/Cheat Cart Flasher

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scph 100 and TH freepsxboot asks for ntsc-j discs only.

Tried a PAL game which resulted in disc error type D code 22 x 10 and code 12.

I also have the ps-x-change v2 boot disc. That works without problem booting a PAL game with color video either through cvbs or s-video cable.

scph 100.pal disc.jpg
 
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torrent_get said:
scph 100 and TH freepsxboot asks for ntsc-j discs only.

Tried a PAL game which resulted in disc error type D code 22 x 10 and code 12.

I also have the ps-x-change v2 boot disc. That works without problem booting a PAL game with color video either through cvbs or s-video cable.

View attachment 519182
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If you’re talking about when it first starts, yes you need to put in a Japanese disc. That disc then spins up and slows down before then stopping. Then you can put in anything (pal, USA, CD-R, no license data disc even).
 
torrent_get said:
^ Ah thanks @alexfree that did the trick.

I am also using a 1st Gen Bitfunx psxmemcard and can report that the official firmware now supports GameID.
Click to expand...
That’s great news. I’ll have to update the docs. The next update is being worked on since last year but with moves and setup changes it’s been delayed till sometime this year.
 
All the Dead Or alive 1 and tekken 3 gaming has made me a monster at tekken 8 on PS5 (yes I’ve entered this decade and bought one before the price hike). New tonyhax international has been in development for awhile now, hopefully I’ll get that out this year too. Financially been alot better recently for once so I can get the old setup back together. Plus I have a very, very early SCPH-1000 with one of the lowest serial numbers (53xxxxxx, basically pre launch only internal Sony employees or on launch day people got these) I want to make use of soon.

It’s so weird not using an Xbox 360, PS1, PS2, Dreamcast, or a 2012 Mac mini (media machine maxed at 1080p) and actually seeing 4k on this TV.
 
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I’m taking a small break before releasing tonyhax international v1.6.0 later this year. I’m currently doing a write up on how PSX copyright protection works… 31 years of history! There is no console that has a more interesting story in regards to so, and all of the failed attempts at band-aiding it to being effective. Believe it or not in some ways at least without hard-modding the PSX security is still undefeated! But many clever workarounds have been figured out by the likes of me and the many before me I credit in this project. All of this will be explained from 1994-2025 in said write up to the best of my ability, as the only softmod developer actively working towards a 100% compatibility with all PSX games… slowly but steady we will win in the end as our target is not moving and I came up with insane automatic tools to defeat even advanced copyright protections. Hopefully by Sunday my document will be finished but there is still much to do and I wish I had done this when it was even fresher in my head.
 
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alexfree said:
Believe it or not in some ways at least without hard-modding the PSX security is still undefeated!
Click to expand...
Using characteristics outside the actual data stream was an ingenious idea by the engineers.

Some pieces of information and speculations I have read over the years lead to my own (very vague) imagination a possibility to replicate tracking error based copy protection (not with increased pit size and Yamaha DiscT@2 mentioned on PSXDev). Sadly I'm missing the skill (hardmod on a CD writer) to put this to a test.

alexfree said:
as the only softmod developer actively working towards a 100% compatibility with all PSX games…
Click to expand...
👍 Thanks for your hard work. I've Tonyhax International in active usage on not hardmodded consoles.
 
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KleinesSinchen said:
Using characteristics outside the actual data stream was an ingenious idea by the engineers.

Some pieces of information and speculations I have read over the years lead to my own (very vague) imagination a possibility to replicate tracking error based copy protection (not with increased pit size and Yamaha DiscT@2 mentioned on PSXDev). Sadly I'm missing the skill (hardmod on a CD writer) to put this to a test.


👍 Thanks for your hard work. I've Tonyhax International in active usage on not hardmodded consoles.
Click to expand...
My document is going to be about working around the “wobble”, all the band-aids and swap trick detection, how Sony tried to fight it, the secret back door datel put into the GameSharks, modchip detection, and libcrypt then how it was all worked around. The “wobble” gets an explanation of course but maybe you would be willing to send me your own via DM?
 
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alexfree said:
I’m taking a small break before releasing tonyhax international v1.6.0 later this year. I’m currently doing a write up on how PSX copyright protection works… 31 years of history! There is no console that has a more interesting story in regards to so, and all of the failed attempts at band-aiding it to being effective.
Click to expand...
Will you be documenting the anti-mod / LibCrypt / ECC checks in full instead of a shorter summary at one point? I'd be certainly interested in reading this. As for the "wobble groove" protection, it's been fully known now for 20-years or more-so, there's even a thread that's still going about in PSXDEV about reversing the "wobble groove" and finding ways to replicate the same methods used by Datel's factory (Thin Ice Media) and Sony themselves for pressing discs - a more up-to-date write-up would be good, as there's quite a lot of info that has either been lost or misleading based on theories, and also the new discovery where somebody got to burn it onto their own CD-Rs using a custom burner firmware.

KleinesSinchen said:
Some pieces of information and speculations I have read over the years lead to my own (very vague) imagination a possibility to replicate tracking error based copy protection (not with increased pit size and Yamaha DiscT@2 mentioned on PSXDev). Sadly I'm missing the skill (hardmod on a CD writer) to put this to a test.
Click to expand...
Not to mention that you don't need to use the DiscT@2 drives to burn images to the disc, there's already a program that makes it possible with consumer burners rather than professional grade with this feature built-in. https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-com...e-lightscribe-the-technique-works-on-any-disc
 
Last edited by SylverReZ,
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SylverReZ said:
Will you be documenting the anti-mod / LibCrypt / ECC checks in full instead of a shorter summary at one point? I'd be certainly interested in reading this. As for the "wobble groove" protection, it's been fully known now for 20-years or more-so, there's even a thread that's still going about in PSXDEV about reversing the "wobble groove" and finding ways to replicate the same methods used by Datel's factory (Thin Ice Media) and Sony themselves for pressing discs - a more up-to-date write-up would be good, as there's quite a lot of info that has either been lost or misleading based on theories, and also the new discovery where somebody got to burn it onto their own CD-Rs using a custom burner firmware.


Not to mention that you don't need to use the DiscT@2 drives to burn images to the disc, there's already a program that makes it possible with consumer burners rather than professional grade with this feature built-in. https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-com...e-lightscribe-the-technique-works-on-any-disc
Click to expand...
Yes that’s the idea. Instead of a high level explanation (like in tonyhax international docs) the idea is to explain the actual commands and how the bypass techniques work. And to also document the history of bypassing the wobble.

That last link is crazy! I gotta read back up on the PSX dev thread.
 
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great work! is there any future plans for allowing JP region consoles using freemcboot to not require an original JP disc swap at the beginning?
 
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dozzyrok said:
I don't know if this is a good place to put it, but I can't log into my github to make an issue. Addie no Okurimono: To Moze from Addie has APV2. Does anyone know about this? Would be good for someone to patch out :)
Click to expand...
Fix works on Japanese and USA consoles with this beta: https://github.com/alex-free/tonyhax/issues/78#issuecomment-3995631941 still working on PAL console support (tricky so far...).

EDIT: PAL BIOS detection bypass now working, this game will be supported in v1.6.0 out this month.
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TONYHAX INTERNATIONAL V1.6.0 (3/4/2026)
Changes:

  • Improved the game-id.md documentation. I now have made mu own custom firmware which works better then any other for FreePSXBoot exploit using a BitFunxMemCard Pro.
  • Addie no Okurimono: To Moze from Addie APv2 protection bypass and PAL BIOS protection bypass! AFAIK no one has ever been able to play this on a PAL console before now. This is an EDC protected game as well though so make sure you are using either PlayStation Disc Burner in raw mode or Alcohol 120% in protected mode (SafeDisc v1 equievelent) to burn it. This game is the first to introduce MottZilla's idea of the 'PS-EXE' write system, where for some anti-piracy bypasses we don't need to use GameShark codes at all but rather can patch the loaded EXE in RAM.
  • J.League Jikkyou Winning Eleven 2000 APv2 bypass implemented!
  • Dino Crisis 2 Japan Demo features APv2 anti-piracy protection, which was already handled by previous versions of Tonyhax International. Something else very interesting related to it however recently came to my attention in this YouTube video. This demo contains an earlier beta build of the entire game. Saving and loading even work, with the idea that one could buy the full retail game on release and continue your progress. The only limitation is a 45 minute timer. Well back in the day Unicorngoulash discovered this and created a GameShark code disabling the timer. Capcom never released a demo of a full build limited by a timer ever again after that. And now, this is enabled in Tonyhax International when booting that demo disc by default!
  • The Tonyhax International GameShark Generator (THIGSGEN) has grown up and become it's own separate project (found here) that is no longer bundled with the Tonyhax International releases. This is simply because I am now supporting Mac OS, and I can't cross compile for the Mac OS targets I want from Linux all in one go in the way I want it to work with the Tonyhax International build system currently. Please download it at https://github.com/alex-free/tonyhax-international-gameshark-generator. Perhaps other PSX soft-mods want to use the same format and can now link to a separate GameShark code save file generator program as well? I think this is for the best.
  • Added additional anti-piracy related info to the documentation thanks to @Sukotto-1999! If anyone has more info they can add to expand the knowledge there, please open a Github issue.
  • Updated submodules for mkpsxiso, psexe2rom, gshax-tool, and psn00bsdk-builder.
  • Updated F.A.Q. question Why does the DuckStation emulator say backdoor failed when using the boot cd? with a new link. I really hope Stenzneck fixes this bug in DuckStation eventually. Using an old DuckStation version forever is not ideal.
  • Updated additonal-games.md, as socram8888 has added many of the previously Tonyhax International only fixes to the main Tonyhax.
  • Fixed missing zlib-static dependency not being installed by make deps on Linux distributions with the dnf package manager such as Fedora.
  • Improved make deps rule by making it GNUMake native. No more executing bash scripts to install dependencies.
 
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Version 1.6.3 (4/12/2026)​


Changes:

  • Added massive PSX.EXE Game ID support update thanks to @Ronniesahlberg. All known PSX.EXE games should be working with GameID now.
  • Improved build documentation with some additional information I think anyone who wants to take a look at the code would like. Also added a necessary dependency (glibc static to both fedora and debian make deps).
 
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