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

alexfree · Jul 24, 2022

Tonyhax International is the first universal softmod that works on all regions of Playstation 1 consoles, and all regions of PS2 consoles up to the SCPH-39000. Building off of the original Tonyhax, Tonyhax International includes even more features and capabilities then it's predecessor.

The biggest new feature is the Tonyhax International ROM. A BIN+CUE format CD image is provided that can flash a GameShark or similar cheat device to boot into the Tonyhax International loader when the PS1 console is powered on. Once you flash the GameShark/Cheat cart with the flasher CD-R, the cheat cart can be plugged into any SCPH-1000 to SCPH-750X console of any region (all the models that have the parallel IO port on the back for plugging in the cheat cart) and you can instantly gain the ability to play backup and import discs.

If you don't have a cheat cart/GameShark to flash or all of the stuff required to do so, there are so many more options to access the Tonyhax International backup loader on completely stock unmodified PS1/PS2 hardware!

All consoles will play PS1 games containing CD audio perfectly when using Tonyhax International. If you have an American or European console, the CD/DVD drive will also be unlocked allowing you to swap discs in games that span multiple discs with ease.

Tonyhax International is the first solution available for SCPH-10000 to SCPH-39000 Japanese PS2 consoles to play backup/import PS1 games to the best of my knowledge. It is also the first to provide correct CD audio playback in games that contain CD audio on the SCPH-1000 and SCPH-3000 PS1 consoles.

I could of never of done this without MottZilla, Socram8888, and many others! This is a team effort, the scene will never die!

I am still too new to these forums to link directly to the web page. My website is in my account profile, and you can find the Tonyhax International page link on the homepage.

duwen · Aug 4, 2022

Cool stuff. Regular tonyhax works fine for my usage on PS2, but the extra functionality of your build will definitely be beneficial to many people.
I'll post the link on your behalf https://alex-free.github.io/tonyhax-international/

alexfree · Aug 4, 2022

Tonyhax International v1.0.6 https://github.com/alex-free/tonyhax/releases/download/v1.0.6i/tonyhax-v1.0.6-international.zip
Added support for:
Castlevania Chronicle Japan (first release only (rev 0), rev 1 is not supported... yet)
Castrol Honda SuperBike Racing Japan
Castrol Honda VTR Japan
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 Japan (now it's actually tonyhax

)

Castrol Honda VTR Japan and Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 Japan use checksum byte(s) to validate the memory card saves (unlike the other releases in other regions which don't have any checksums). Me and MottZilla created a checksum updater program for these games which is included in the source here: https://github.com/alex-free/tonyhax/bl ... uccesscu.c
So now we are at 8 Japanese games!

alexfree · Aug 8, 2022

Tonyhax International v1.0.7 update: https://github.com/alex-free/tonyhax/releases/download/v1.0.7i/tonyhax-v1.0.7-international.zip
Changes:

The Tonyhax International loader memory card save file is now named HAX instead of BESLEM-99999TONYHAX to allow for more exploitable games. You will need to update both the save game exploit file for your game as well as the Tonyhax International loader file to use v1.0.7 if you are using a previou version of the save game exploit file for your game that is already on a memory card.
Removed the SetSessionSuperUltraCommandSmash and replaced it with MottZilla's new method of re-reading TOC data for VC0 A, VC0 B, and VC1 A CDROM Controller BIOS firmwares. This change reduces the time it takes to re-read the TOC data on the backup CD-R or import PS1 disc from 2-10 minutes on the SCPH-1000, SCPH-3000, and some SCPH-3500 japanese consoles to around 30 seconds with 100% reliability!
Added save game exploit support for Tekken 3 Japan/USA/PAL thanks to Patchouli (karehaani) and krystalgamer.
Added save game exploit support for Tekken 2 Japan (rev 1 only), USA (rev 0 only), and PAL thanks to Patchouli (karehaani) and krystalgamer.
Added save game exploit support for Downhill Snow Japan thanks to Patchouli (karehaani).

KleinesSinchen · Aug 11, 2022

Nice to see all PS1 (and early PS2) consoles now have the possibility to load backups with software methods. Sony's decision to include a backdoor... but not for Japan never really made sense to me.

Good, detailed documentation and manual as well.

Good work!

=============
A few comments on the part about burning CD-Rs for the PS1:
(Consider this a reply on https://github.com/alex-free/tonyhax/blob/master/readme.md)

I've yet to do systematic tests if quality is in fact (still?) depended on burning speed. There is much parroting in this regard and very little information ("hard facts"). Once the weather gets a little cooler and I can stay on the attic for a longer time, I'll do a bit in this regard.

74min/650MB media is hard to get nowadays, but I can confirm the PS1 does seem to love wider track of old CDs. Never had a CD-R backup running this smooth and good and silent like a 74min Kodak Gold Ultima. Not economically viable to buy many of those though.
On the other hand, I've had no problems with good media in the PlayStation regardless of the speed setting (even if setting a newer writer to insane values like 48x). No read errors, boot failures or crashing games whatsoever.

Problematic advise is using IMGBurn for all PS1 games. While it is certainly a good and mature image writing software, it writes CDs in SAO or DAO mode -- not in RAW-SAO+Sub96 or RAW-DAO. Writing in RAW mode with uncorrected subchannel data is required for successfully creating backups of LibCrypt protected games. LibCrypt games will crash if burned with IMGBurn -- I just tried it a few minutes ago with V-Rally 2.
Either use a RAW burning application for those games... or they need to be patched. Having a stupid crack intro on the disc is suboptimal in my opinion.

alexfree · Aug 27, 2022

KleinesSinchen said:
Nice to see all PS1 (and early PS2) consoles now have the possibility to load backups with software methods. Sony's decision to include a backdoor... but not for Japan never really made sense to me.

Good, detailed documentation and manual as well.

Good work!

=============
A few comments on the part about burning CD-Rs for the PS1:
(Consider this a reply on https://github.com/alex-free/tonyhax/blob/master/readme.md)

I've yet to do systematic tests if quality is in fact (still?) depended on burning speed. There is much parroting in this regard and very little information ("hard facts"). Once the weather gets a little cooler and I can stay on the attic for a longer time, I'll do a bit in this regard.

74min/650MB media is hard to get nowadays, but I can confirm the PS1 does seem to love wider track of old CDs. Never had a CD-R backup running this smooth and good and silent like a 74min Kodak Gold Ultima. Not economically viable to buy many of those though.
On the other hand, I've had no problems with good media in the PlayStation regardless of the speed setting (even if setting a newer writer to insane values like 48x). No read errors, boot failures or crashing games whatsoever.

Problematic advise is using IMGBurn for all PS1 games. While it is certainly a good and mature image writing software, it writes CDs in SAO or DAO mode -- not in RAW-SAO+Sub96 or RAW-DAO. Writing in RAW mode with uncorrected subchannel data is required for successfully creating backups of LibCrypt protected games. LibCrypt games will crash if burned with IMGBurn -- I just tried it a few minutes ago with V-Rally 2.
Either use a RAW burning application for those games... or they need to be patched. Having a stupid crack intro on the disc is suboptimal in my opinion.

Noted thanks for the reply. I have included more info in the docs pertaining to some of this.

Version 1.0.8 (8/26/2022)

tonyhax-v1.0.8-international

source code

Changes:

Fixed the anti anti-piracy functionallity regression for American/European consoles. You can now play backup or import PS1 games that have anti-piracy features (i.e. Dino Crisis or Spyro: Year Of The Dragon) without issue on all American console and European consoles.

Removed the PAL licensed ROM flasher CD image, as it is not actually not needed. Any console that supports cheat carts (SCPH-1000 up to SCPH-750X models) will boot a CD-R burned via the current tonyhax-rom-flasher.bin+tonyhax-rom-flasher.cue files just fine.

Updated documentation on burning PS1 backups. Added info on games containing anti-piracy and or libcrypt protection. Also added info on replacing and modifying PS1 CD drives and changing bias/gain/laser resistance values.

Cleaned up build proccess and source tree.

alexfree · Sep 25, 2022

Tonyhax International v1.1.0 Update Is Out: https://github.com/alex-free/tonyhax/re ... tional.zip
Changes:
Updated to FreePSXBoot v2.1 (my own fork for now so that it compiles on Fedora). This means among other things that those 'fake' 64KB chinese PS1 memory cards now work with the FreePSXBoot images.
Tonyhax International FreePSXBoot memory cards no longer need to be removed after booting the loader if they are in slot 2 of the console. I have completely removed Socram8888's old FreePSXBoot patch. The new 'memory card timeout to disable' patch from the FreePSXBoot builder is now used instead of the 'pretend memory card is corrupted' patch from the original Tonyhax. The new patch works with all games, some games did not like the old patch method used. The new patch also works correctly on every single PS1 BIOS version, including BIOS v1.0, v1.1, and v2.0. The old patch never worked on BIOS v1.0, 1.1, or 2.0.
Added tonyhax_scph-3000_v1.1_slot2.mcr, tonyhax_scph-3000_v1.1_slot1.mcr, tonyhax_scph-3000_v2.1_slot2.mcr, and tonyhax_scph-3000_v2.1_slot1.mcr FreePSXBoot memory card files (as there are actually 2 different BIOS versions found in SCPH-3000 consoles).
All FreePSXBoot images are now created with the -fastload option on to improve how fast Tonyhax International starts with the FreePSXBoot exploit. The -fastload option also provides that cool loading screen you can see in Unirom.
Japanese PlayStations with VC2 and VC3 CDROM drive controllers are now re-calibrated to improve CD tracking and read performance for these CDROM controllers. VC1 and VC0 do not have equivalent commands, hardware, or even a need for this really since Bias and Gain can only be set manually.
TOCPerfect changes have been merged from PS1 DemoSwap Patcher.
Removed documentation on PS1 CD drive repair as it is getting it's own webpage/document in the near future. Reduced the size of releases dramatically by using better compressed images in this document (thanks Berion of PSX-Place).

Added notes about video mode switching support on PS2s using PS1VModeNeg v1.0.1 (thanks Berion of PSX-Place)
Cleaned up source tree and we are back to a consistent coding style (Socram8888 would be proud).
Stock (non-modchipped) SCPH-1000 and early SCPH-3000 can now play any real import discs or backup CD-Rs of games containing anti-piracy detection (excluding PAL region games that also contain libcrypt protection) with 100% compatibility, even better then the anti-piracy bypass for American/European consoles actually

alexfree · Oct 30, 2022

Massive update now available, Tonyhax International v1.1.1i.
https://alex-free.github.io/tonyhax-international
https://github.com/alex-free/tonyhax/releases/download/v1.1.1i/tonyhax-v1.1.1-international.zip
Many, many things have been changed and improved. But the biggest feature of this update is the new system to bypass the additional anti-piracy copy protection routines found in some later PSX games. Since the beginning of Tonyhax International, Japanese consoles that were not the SCPH-1000 or early SCPH-3000 models could not play games with anti-piracy features such as i.e. Dino Crisis. This included Japanese PS2s.
The American and European consoles could play **some** but not all games with additional anti-piracy copy protection routines with the original Socram8888 bypass BIOS patch method found in the last version of the original Tonyhax project by Socram8888.
Now thanks to @MottZilla 's method to apply gameshark codes from inside Tonyhax International, this all changes. Initial support has been added for the new anti-piracy bypass system. Many games are already supported, and when a game is supported with a bypass, every version of it that I can test is supported. Rev 0, Rev 1/Greatest Hits, Demo, doesn't matter. If it contains additional anti-piracy copy protection routines which prevent the game from working on a stock console using Tonyhax International, I want it supported. Please see the website's section on this new support for more info and a complete list of currently supported games:
https://alex-free.github.io/tonyhax...games-with-additonal-copy-protection-routines
For those of you who are curious of how this works, give this source file a look: https://github.com/alex-free/tonyhax/blob/master/loader/patcher.c
I have wrote many gameshark codes (as noted in the above source file) to progress this support further, and plan to add more in the future. I actually have found something like a 'backdoor' in the standard implementation of these copy protection routines which I have been levering to add this support faster then otherwise possible. I plan on doing a writeup explaining more on that soon.

eyeliner · Nov 4, 2022

I could say a lot of things. But truly, thank you.

alexfree · Nov 9, 2022

Version 1.1.2 (11/9/2022)

Changes:

Added support for bypassing the additional anti-piracy copy protection routines found in all versions of Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories, Cool Boarders 2001, Disney’s The Emperor’s New Grove, Resident Evil: Survivor, and Tomba! 2.
Added support for bypassing the additional anti-piracy copy protection routines found in Pocket Jiman, thanks to the code by m4x1mumrez generated with APrip.
Fixes a regression in version 1.1.1 that could possibly cause Japanese consoles to freeze before booting the game completely.

SylverReZ · Nov 9, 2022

alexfree said:
Version 1.1.2 (11/9/2022)

tonyhax-v1.1.2-international

source code

Changes:

Added support for bypassing the additional anti-piracy copy protection routines found in all versions of Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories, Cool Boarders 2001, Disney’s The Emperor’s New Grove, Resident Evil: Survivor, and Tomba! 2.

Added support for bypassing the additional anti-piracy copy protection routines found in Pocket Jiman, thanks to the code by m4x1mumrez generated with APrip.

The SetSessionSuperUltraCommandSmash v2 now disables interrupts, enables interrupts, and stops the motor (for the CD drive to initialize later). This is similar to what was previously done but more optimized the reintializing the whole BIOS again. This fixes a regression introduced in v1.1.1i that could cause the Tonyhax International loader to possibly freeze at the Configuring kernel stage right before booting a game on a SCPH-1000 or early SCPH-3000 console.

I've got more games to add to the list. I'll PM you with details.

alexfree · Dec 1, 2022

Version 1.1.3 (11/30/2022)

tonyhax-v1.1.3-international

Changes:

Added support for bypassing the additional anti-piracy copy protection routines in Crash Bash/Crash Bandicoot Carnival, Koko Hore! Pukka, Love Hina: Ai wa Kotoba no Naka ni, and Love Hina 2: Kotoba wa Konayuki no You ni (thanks M4x1mumRez).
Added a Known Incompatible Games section, which documents games that currently do not work with either the original Tonyhax OR Tonyhax International.
Rewrote the Building From Source instructions for clarity and simplicity.
Fixed Pop'n Music 6's anti-piracy bypass and 'boots to black screen' issue.
Added support for bypassing the additional anti-piracy copy protection routines in Pop'N Music: Animation Melody (thanks trappedinlimbo).
Merged all new applicable changes from the latest O.G. Tonyhax where applicable (as of 11/30/2022 this is up to date with the current source tree). See commits 8284633c435a9325dcfd7028d9788bacae94de69, b72b08e5ba814196f07993491b483e5ec8e3fc93, and 8934a2bb614973064e45a6638e03fd0c7426e5fc for full details.
Changed everything to be cleaner and closer to the latest source tree of the original Tonyhax. There will now be a diff comparing the loader directory of the current Tonyhax loader directory with the Tonyhax International loader directory, enabling easy comparison/documention/review of the current code differences between the fork and upstream. You can find this diff in the docs/tonyhax-vs-tonyhax-international-diffs directory in the source tree.

alexfree · Dec 2, 2022

Version 1.1.4 (12/2/2022)

tonyhax-v1.1.4-international

Changes:

Added support for bypassing the additional anti-piracy copy protection routines in Pop’n Music: Disney Tunes, Beatmania featuring Dreams Come True, Dancing Stage featuring Dreams Come True, Oha-Studio Dance Dance Revolution, Dance Dance Revolution: Disney’s Rave, Dance Dance Revolution: Extra Mix, and Beatmania Best Hits (thanks trappedinlimbo).
Controller input in Japanese consoles reverted to proper silent debug_write message polling as in v1.1.2 and below

SylverReZ · Dec 2, 2022

alexfree said:
Version 1.1.4 (12/2/2022)

tonyhax-v1.1.4-international

Changes:

Added support for bypassing the additional anti-piracy copy protection routines in Pop’n Music: Disney Tunes, Beatmania featuring Dreams Come True, Dancing Stage featuring Dreams Come True, Oha-Studio Dance Dance Revolution, Dance Dance Revolution: Disney’s Rave, Dance Dance Revolution: Extra Mix, and Beatmania Best Hits (thanks trappedinlimbo).

Controller input in Japanese consoles reverted to proper silent debug_write message polling as in v1.1.2 and below

Finally, somebody managed to fix the issues with DDR that I was having some time ago. Thanks "trappedinlimbo", send my wishes to them.

alexfree · Dec 3, 2022

Version 1.1.5 (12/3/2022)

tonyhax-v1.1.5-international

Changes:

Added support for bypassing the additional anti-piracy copy protection routines in Koneko mo Issho.
Fixed entry.S header temp buffer address.
More size optimizations (specifically in ap-bypass.c).

alexfree · Dec 4, 2022

M4x1mumReZ said:
Version 1.1.6b (12/3/2022)

(This is a beta version of Tonyhax International, report any bugs that may unexpectly occur to the official GitHub issues page. Bug fixes and newest additions will be added to the next official release.)

Changes:

Added support for bypassing the additional anti-piracy copy protection routines in i-mode mo Issho - Doko Demo Issho Tsuika Disc.

Please do not report bugs from an Unofficial version on the official issue tracker.

SylverReZ · Dec 4, 2022

alexfree said:
Please do not report bugs from an Unofficial version on the official issue tracker.

(Updated)

alexfree · Dec 10, 2022

Version 1.1.6 (12/10/2022)

tonyhax-v1.1.6-international

Changes:

Implemented many speed and size optimizations for the tonyhax international loader. Can boot games quicker in some cases.
Applied this commit from OG TonyHax to better simulate how the BIOS boots games. As of 12/10/2022, where applicable Tonyhax International is current with the original Tonyhax.
Added support for bypassing the additional anti-piracy copy protection routines in Strider 2, Rockman X5, Rockman X6, Rockman 5, Dance Dance Revolution: Best Hits, Dance Dance Revolution 2nd Remix, Dance Dance Revolution 2nd Remix: Append Club Version Vol. 1, Dance Dance Revolution 2nd Remix: Append Club Version Vol. 2.
Added support for bypassing the additional anti-piracy copy protection routines in i-mode mo Issho: Doko Demo Issho Tsuika Disc (thanks M4x1mumRez).
Added information on games with additional EDC Checks found in some games (most notably such checks are found in the Dance Dance Revolution games that I’ve just added support for bypassing their additional anti-piracy measures). You must burn games containing EDC Checks in a specific way for them to work.

SylverReZ · Dec 10, 2022

alexfree said:
Downloads
Version 1.1.6 (12/10/2022)

tonyhax-v1.1.6-international

Changes:

Implemented many speed and size optimizations for the tonyhax international loader. Can boot games quicker in some cases.

Applied this commit from OG TonyHax to better simulate how the BIOS boots games. As of 12/10/2022, where applicable Tonyhax International is current with the original Tonyhax.

Added support for bypassing the additional anti-piracy copy protection routines in Strider 2, Rockman X5, Rockman X6, Rockman 5, Dance Dance Revolution: Best Hits, Dance Dance Revolution 2nd Remix, Dance Dance Revolution 2nd Remix: Append Club Version Vol. 1, Dance Dance Revolution 2nd Remix: Append Club Version Vol. 2.

Added support for bypassing the additional anti-piracy copy protection routines in i-mode mo Issho: Doko Demo Issho Tsuika Disc (thanks M4x1mumRez).

Added information on games with additional EDC Checks found in some games (most notably such checks are found in the Dance Dance Revolution games that I’ve just added support for bypassing their additional anti-piracy measures). You must burn games containing EDC Checks in a specific way for them to work.

Congrats on the update.

alexfree · Dec 10, 2022

M4x1mumReZ said:
Congrats on the update.

Thanks for the bypass code as well. Look forward to inching closer each release to 100% compatibility with APV2 games.

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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